Awww C'mon!! Really??

[Xingu]

Hey Bill... tell me what you really think!  

Personally I don't have a problem with the guy, or guys... eBay allows it legally and they have found a business there.   I don't patronize or look at their auctions. The guy probably isn't a good mechanic!

Back in the day I had a $1000 plus a month business selling car brochures from the 1980s on eBay. The ones collectors didn't want.  I spent every Saturday and a few evenings during the week listing auctions, I spent Thursday and Friday evenings filling the orders. It wasn't free money I earned it with most of my free time.  Truth is, that money allowed my wife to stay home with the kids, and my girls got dance classes and other nice things I couldn't afford on my regular salary.  

I started the auctions at $2.99 each, and let it fly.  People were willing to pay $10-20 or more for these brochures (mostly people who owned the 1:1 cars).  The people were happy to get the brochures and I was happy to provide the service.   Was I wrong too?  This guy is doing the same thing, who are we to judge?

I have done the same thing off and on since 1998 and did what you did.....start the auction price low. If goes high, good for me. If it goes low, good for the buyer. Some people start there auctions where it would be nice if they ended there. That is my only gripe about it. Give us a chance to get a bargain and bow out if it gets out of our comfort zone. Don't start us out bent over the proverbial barrel.

One of my employees tried to make a living on eBay. It didn't go well and he came back begging for a job before he lost his house. I think it is the exception, when someone can sell on eBay and call it their job. I do agree that it is pretty easy to get close to an hour into each item from start to finish, but a large percentage of folks do it in their spare time to supplement their income and do not build in the actual time associated with selling an item.

Whoever said the auctions were free doesn't understand how eBay nickle and dimes you to get their cut. It is far from free. It costs a lot more to sell there now than it did years ago.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Whoever said the auctions were free doesn't understand how eBay nickle and dimes you to get their cut. It is far from free. It costs a lot more to sell there now than it did years ago.

Last time I sold on Ebay, the LISTING was free. No fees until the item actually sells.

I have no problem with Ebay's fees, either. The site allowed me to sell a very rare and expensive Lamborghini crankshaft to a guy in Spain as well as finding good homes for some vintage speed equipment...in only a few days. I'd still be sitting on that stuff years later otherwise.

A good friend of mine also uses Ebay to market her own patented/manufactured product (as well as several other online venues and her own dedicated site). She's sold as far away as Australia via Ebay.

Ebay offers the whole WORLD as a potential market. Their percentage fee is well worth it for the size of that market.

[peteski]

Here is a good example of the craziness the current eBay fee structure creates (no listing or initial price fees whether the item sells or not).

I've been watching this little gem on eBay for over 2 years now. Listed for $129 with no takers. They keep re-listing it continuously while in the meantime dozens of the same model are being sold in a range of $10- $40 dollars. Here is one currently available for $30 BYN.

Why do I care? Couple of years ago I started looking for that model (I used to own a full-size '77 T-Bird). I found that $129 listing but I kept on looking for something more affordable and found one for $15.  When I asked the $129 seller what makes their model worth $129, they (as expected) ignored my comment.  So I decided to watch their listing and they are still looking for that sucker who doesn't know any better and will buy a $129 Matchbox-size diecast toy.

If eBay had their old fee structure still in place, this type of activity would not be happening.  It is as simple as that. And nobody can convince me that the $129 seller is not simply looking for a sucker who has more brains than money. I don't think that this is what "the American Way" to do business means.

Edited August 18, 2016 by peteski

[Xingu]

Usually, to get the listing fee waived, you have to have some sort of monthly subscription. Be it one of their sponsored listing programs or store subscription. If you want to add a reserve price on an auction, they charge you. They get you at the end when your item sells. I usually end up paying eBay $80-100 a month in fees on about $900 in sales.

They do run sales from time to time where the casual seller can get free listings though.

[unclescott58]

Awww C'ome! Really?? Another beating of a dead horse. Again, ??

[horsepower]

How on earth do you get that I "fail to see" anything? I simply related the facts of the matter, no judgment or opinion at all.

you are correct, my wording was wrong hope I didn't offend you, it wasn't meant to.

[Snake45]

you are correct, my wording was wrong hope I didn't offend you, it wasn't meant to.

We're good.

[peteski]

Usually, to get the listing fee waived, you have to have some sort of monthly subscription. Be it one of their sponsored listing programs or store subscription. If you want to add a reserve price on an auction, they charge you. They get you at the end when your item sells. I usually end up paying eBay $80-100 a month in fees on about $900 in sales.

They do run sales from time to time where the casual seller can get free listings though.

Ebay makes (and always did make) money in the end - I never questioned that.

But the new fee structure enables BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH like what I described above to go on.  Someone is able to re-list the same extremely overpriced item for years at a time without having to pay anything to eBay (until it sells). That's my beef with eBay.

[Johnny K]

Usually, to get the listing fee waived, you have to have some sort of monthly subscription. Be it one of their sponsored listing programs or store subscription. If you want to add a reserve price on an auction, they charge you. They get you at the end when your item sells. I usually end up paying eBay $80-100 a month in fees on about $900 in sales.

They do run sales from time to time where the casual seller can get free listings though.

All eBay sellers get 50 free listings per month for each account they have.

[slusher]

Ebay makes (and always did make) money in the end - I never questioned that.

But the new fee structure enables BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH like what I described above to go on.  Someone is able to re-list the same extremely overpriced item for years at a time without having to pay anything to eBay (until it sells). That's my beef with eBay.

This is what I find strange about ebay believe it or not. I was not able to bid on an item and did not know why. I called and asked if something was wrong with my account. They told me no that that seller requires a phone number because he likes to call people he he sells to. I asked why they allowed that and it wasn't against their policy for any seller to require a phone number. A seller can also block who ever they please for any reason they please. Sounds like the seller is more important then the buyer.. 

[peteski]

This is what I find strange about ebay believe it or not. I was not able to bid on an item and did not know why. I called and asked if something was wrong with my account. They told me no that that seller requires a phone number because he likes to call people he he sells to. I asked why they allowed that and it wasn't against their policy for any seller to require a phone number. A seller can also block who ever they please for any reason they please. Sounds like the seller is more important then the buyer.. 

Wow!  That's f-up!  Since the time I joined in 1999, eBay has basically obfuscated most of the personal information about the sellers and buyers. Supposedly for security and privacy  reasons. I used to be able to scope out competing bidders by looking at they bidding habits, etc. but now you don't see any useful info about competing bidders (except number of feedbacks and other fairly useless info).  Maybe eBay does care more about the sellers (since that is where the fees come from), but OTOH seller cannot leave a negative feedback for a buyer but buyer can leave a negative for a seller.

[MrObsessive]

It used to be when I first joined eBay back in '02, that you could see the usernames of those bidding on items. This was handy because if you knew the person you were competing against for instance, you might just let them have the item as this kinda kept you from getting into a bidding war. Now eBay hides the usernames in all auctions ostensibly to keep outsiders from zeroing in on super high bidders (cars for instance), and trying to scam them later on. 

I see their point in doing that but as you said Pete, one has a hard if not impossible task of checking out other bidders.

BTW, the original item I first posted about----------the model went unsold, even at the rock bottom starting bid from $9.99. 

Guess those that saw the auction caught on that there was some funny business going on huh?

[Mike999]

One of my employees tried to make a living on eBay. It didn't go well and he came back begging for a job before he lost his house. I think it is the exception, when someone can sell on eBay and call it their job...

According to posts on eBay Community and the general internet - that was a lot easier before eBay created "Stores."  I remember one sad story from a woman who quit her job and, for a while, supported herself and her elderly mother with eBay.  They mostly found their merchandise at thrift stores, yard sales and especially estate sales. Then marked it up to a Starting Bid that gave them a little profit.  But according to her story, once eBay Stores came about, the professional junk-pickers moved in and pretty much blew away all the amateur junk-pickers. 

They couldn't compete. The woman and her mother also nearly lost their house, and she went back to work at a regular job.  I'm not really sure how much blame should go to Stores, but her story was interesting.  And a good warning.

[Tom Geiger]

According to posts on eBay Community and the general internet - that was a lot easier before eBay created "Stores."  I remember one sad story from a woman who quit her job and, for a while, supported herself and her elderly mother with eBay.  They mostly found their merchandise at thrift stores, yard sales and especially estate sales. Then marked it up to a Starting Bid that gave them a little profit.  But according to her story, once eBay Stores came about, the professional junk-pickers moved in and pretty much blew away all the amateur junk-pickers. 

They couldn't compete. The woman and her mother also nearly lost their house, and she went back to work at a regular job.  I'm not really sure how much blame should go to Stores, but her story was interesting.  And a good warning.

 

I don't think "stores" has anything to do with this. Back when eBay was fairly new you could do no wrong as a seller.  I used to do big business in old car brochures. I'd spend Saturday listing items, and every few listings I'd hit refresh and the stuff I had listed in the last hour already had bids.  Everything I auctioned sold with competitive bidding and some surprising winning numbers.  What happened?  Market saturation.   It happened slowly but eventually I couldn't give away the same items. And this was before stores. You could do a search and there'd be dozens of the same item, with some folks asking a dollar starting bid, and lucky if it got that.   I wasn't depending on eBay for a living, just for some extras.  So when it dried up, it wasn't worth my time any longer so I stopped selling.   

The whole time it was really good, I had two thoughts. One was that if I spent my full time doing eBay, what would be the potential... and my second thought was that it was too good to last.  That turned out to be the right one!   And those who put all their eggs in one basket lost.  Shame on them.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Tom Geiger

[peteski]

 

I don't think "stores" has anything to do with this. Back when eBay was fairly new you could do no wrong as a seller.  I used to do big business in old car brochures. I'd spend Saturday listing items, and every few listings I'd hit refresh and the stuff I had listed in the last hour already had bids.  Everything I auctioned sold with competitive bidding and some surprising winning numbers.  What happened?  Market saturation.   It happened slowly but eventually I couldn't give away the same items. And this was before stores. You could do a search and there'd be dozens of the same item, with some folks asking a dollar starting bid, and lucky if it got that.   I wasn't depending on eBay for a living, just for some extras.  So when it dried up, it wasn't worth my time any longer so I stopped selling.   

The whole time it was really good, I had two thoughts. One was that if I spent my full time doing eBay, what would be the potential... and my second thought was that it was too good to last.  That turned out to be the right one!   And those who put all their eggs in one basket lost.  Shame on them.

I don't doubt your statement but I'm also puzzled how with that market saturation and all is it that eBay has more items listed than ever before?  Somebody is selling this stuff (in all categories).  Or are you saying that only certain markets are saturated and there are now more than ever sellers peddling their cheap new wares on eBay?  It seems like eBay is trying to be Amazon and vice versa.

Edited August 23, 2016 by peteski

[Tom Geiger]

I don't doubt your statement but I'm also puzzled how with that market saturation and all is it that eBay has more items listed than ever before?  Somebody is selling this stuff (in all categories).  Or are you saying that only certain markets are saturated and there are now more than ever sellers peddling their cheap new wares on eBay?  It seems like eBay is trying to be Amazon and vice versa.

Pete,  eBay has been chasing Amazon's tail for along time.  They forgot their roots in collectibles and have been focusing on chasing consumer junk. That market is Amazon's bread and butter, and I understand Walmart is in the process of building their own marketplace.  If you do the numbers, there are a lot more people buying "stuff" than collectibles.  

I was talking mainly about my experience with collectibles. From 1998, I had found a great niche for selling car brochures of the 1980s and 1990s.  People had just started collecting the 1:1 cars and wanted the brochure for their car.  I made a lot of car owners happy and was amply rewarded. That lasted maybe 5 years. Slowly my sell through rate and average price per unit progressively fell.  In the beginning I could do no wrong.  I had an average sale price of $12 and my sell through was probably 80-90%.  

People who saw profit, but didn't have the where all to actually do the business model entered.  Suddenly I was competing with tons of auctions for $1 plus $1 postage.  These guys didn't even know that it would cost more than $1 to mail one!  So as their stuff started selling at opening bid, they were actually losing money!

Once the sell through rate fell under 50% and the average sale was down to $5, it wasn't worth it to me financially to continue so I stopped selling. 

[Mike999]

 It seems like eBay is trying to be Amazon and vice versa.

This story may or may not be true. Well, I read it on the Internetz, so it must be true...

When Meg Whitman left eBay, her replacement talked about making eBay more like Amazon.  He allegedly said:  "Right now, eBay looks too much like a flea market."

The story says he got several thousand angry e-mails, most of them saying: "eBay IS a flea market, you idiot!"

[Ace-Garageguy]

There was also a time in the early days of Ebay when you could sell dried snot in a wadded up kleenex. The whole thing was so novel and hip and happening that some sales just made no sense whatsoever. The retard-frenzy-buying has faded into the dim recesses of time.

Today, there are probably hundreds of thousands of items, maybe millions, that will NEVER sell, but continue to be listed over and over again. It's obvious that a lot of sellers still don't do the numbers, or have any concept of business, but just assume any old useless carp they pick up at an estate sale for 50 cents is going to make them wealthy with no effort.

There are also plenty of sellers in categories other than models and 1:1 car parts that start their bidding at ridiculously high prices and get no bids at all.

Ebay IS a gigantic flea-market, was from the get-go, anybody who doesn't get that is a moron, and I don't think the thousands upon thousands of "stores" selling cheap Chinese carp have enhanced the Ebay experience one iota. In many cases, it detracts from the experience, as one sometimes has to wade through countless listings for knockoff garbage to find the one real-deal gem one is after.

[peteski]

 

Ebay IS a gigantic flea-market, was from the get-go, anybody who doesn't get that is a moron, and I don't think the thousands upon thousands of "stores" selling cheap Chinese carp have enhanced the Ebay experience one iota. In many cases, it detracts from the experience, as one sometimes has to wade through countless listings for knockoff garbage to find the one real-deal gem one is after.

EXACTLY!

[ChrisBcritter]

Yes, the first thing I learned about searching for car parts on eBay was to exclude the word "Fits:"