Blocking Ebay Sellers's Listings Who Are Overpriced? Or is it Greedbay?

[impcon]

chunkypeanutbutter, on 18 Dec 2014 - 08:18 AM, said:

Dingdingdingding! Winner here!

ouch!!!

[clovis]

As an overseas buyer, I would welcome the feature suggested by Gary. Kits are expensive here in NZ, so most of my purchases are from ebay sellers. There are many vendors who charge ridiculous prices for international shipping, including one today who was charging $68 for a kit that only cost $25 or so . It costs as little as $15 to ship here, including Electronic USPS Delivery Confirmation International.

I have a few saved sellers who charge these low rates and they frequently get my business, as do Far East suppliers of Japanese kits that ship for about $12. Why is it so expensive from the US?

I would gladly exclude vendors with exorbitant shipping costs (say over $30). And I agree about the NASCAR decals, it ran to several pages recently!!

Shipping from the US to NZ is outrageous!!!!!!!!

I had some wheels and tires left over from a build, and listed them on ebay. They sold to someone in NZ.

The box went first class, and weighed less than 8 ounces, and the cost was over $12. I was shocked!!!

To my knowledge, the post offices make deals with one another. US buyers can get an item from China in an e-packet for stupid cheap prices, like 99 cents because our PO made a shipping deal with China's PO. But if you want to ship from the US to NZ...wow...it is CRAZY!!!

[impcon]

I look at three things before I even consider bidding on anything - first is the starting price, second is shipping charges and third is feedback. My beef is having to go through pages of items from a seller whose prices I feel are out of line and thus wasting a lot of time. Erik put it into perspective well when he said, "The reason I would use it is I sometimes just browse the whole kit and kaboodle - I just like finding oddball stuff Ive not seen much before - so specific search terms wouldn't help. How do you search for something you don't know exists? Some of the sellers list hundreds of items at once, which is fine. And it's not going to kill me to scroll through them in a browsing mode...but if I could exclude one seller at on my own discretion I wouldn't have to look at things I know I don't want to."
What he says reflects my thoughts well and perhaps clarifies my original; post and the reason that I started this thread. I most often look for parts to complete incomplete old kits that I have and I do many searches on a daily basis. It just gets really old when I have to continually re-enter the search parameters as to omitting certain sellers each time I do a different search or alter the wording or spelling in a search. Or - suck it up and have to dig and root through hundreds of auctions that while some one else may be interested in them and have deeper pockets than I do, I know from experience that that particular has not one thing to offer me.

Maybe a few more people will voice the same concerns to Ebay is what I would like to see happen and if the numbers are big enough, they will listen although it may take awhile. Then again, they may not but the case has been stated here that Ebay caters to the sellers and they have to. But by the same token, would you call it fair and in the vendor's best interests when the buyer can leave negative feedback for the seller but the seller can;t return that negative. Yes, some sellers get mean but there are people out there buying who are more of a scam artist than most of the sellers. We sold on Ebay for fifteen years and Delivery Confirmation was a must as we were scammed several times by people who said they never got their item and wanted their money back - which we were obliged to do. Also, buyers threaten negative feedback because they say that an item was damaged in shipment but refused to supply photos. There is no recourse to avoid a negative except to comply and yield to their threats. So it isn't a one sided coin. We sold literally thousands of auto parts and toys and had only several negatives - and often, none of those were really justifiable - but there is no way for the seller to protect himself.

Perfect feedback doesn't mean anything if the guy is hosing his customers on shipping charges and using excessive rates to improve the bottom line profit on an auction - and that is any auction. Reasonable shipping costs will lead me to look at and check the feedback ( in case you are not aware, if you click on where it says how many neutrals and negatives they have, it will bring up and list all the negative/neutral feedbacks over the last year with the comments and rebuttals )feedback and if there are negatives, I will look to see what the issues were. In all fairness, some sellers get nailed with negative comments from buyers who are just unreasonable and I have seen and dealt with sellers who have had what I have perceived to be unfair negatives and had no issues with them.

[clovis]

My two cents:

I am with ya, man. Sometimes I see Lionel trains listed at ABSURD prices. I'm talking about run of the mill engines, that might, on a good day, be worth $150, and is the extreme top end of the market for that model, and the sellers are asking $1,200. It is simply crazy, if you ask me.

Now, if you are talking about a model that is consistently selling for $25 to $30, someone who lists one for $39 isn't really that far out of line. Simply said, there are buyers out there who will pay it, and think nothing of it. They just want the item, and they want or need to be done with the transaction. They could care less if one sells in an auction format for $16. They just need and want the model NOW, without hassles.

You also have to consider the rise and fall of the ebay marketplace too. There are times when a Lionel 445 switch tower is bringing $90 with a box. I happened to catch a downward wave once, and bought a 445 for only $31, including shipping.

For instance, I found a woodworking vise at an estate auction for $3. I knew it was a good one. I had seen them on ebay for $150 to $200. I was very dismayed when I got home. I found that the college boys and the other "I'll price mine for a few bucks less" folks had literally destroyed that market. You could have bought the vise from at least one seller for $35.

The vise that I had was nice, and complete. No way was I giving it away for $35...or even $55. I got to studying the oldest completed listings, and found that some were in the $75 to $90 range. I listed mine, with box and all, for $125 plus shipping. It was the highest priced example at that time.

Yeah, you read that right. One seller had the same vise for $35 (no box), and I listed mine at $125. I'm sure you would have thought I was a greedy fool if you had seen it.

About 45 days later, it sold for $125, and the buyer paid $36 in shipping to his remote location. I think I made $3 on the shipping, which was the USPS discount I got through ebay.

I have absolutely NO qualms with asking $125 for my vise. New models sold for almost $400, back when they made them.

What should I have done? Listed it for $35 or $40, or wait for the VERY flooded market to recover from the college boys trying to make a quick buck?

[Ron Hamilton]

I buy and sell on Ebay quite a bit, and I include shipping on all of my sales. I let the market dictate the price of the item, as I price my items according to what others are selling for, and my customers are generally happy with their purchases. I did have an instance where a fellow wanted to buy a resin Transkit from me. He got quite indignant with me when I explained to him that the cost of a resin transkit was far greater than the cost of a comparable styrene kit, or die cast of the same item, and to add insult to injury, I was offering the kit for less than the manufacturer was offering it on their website. I steered him to that website and suggested that he buy from them. Never the less, I sold the transkit for more than the beginning bid anyway. I would have rather kept the kit, but I have one of the diecasts, and I knew that I would not build it in the near future.

All I can say is if you feel a price for that kit or part is to high, just go find one that is in your price range, if there is one out there.

[impcon]

Jeff and Ron, I fully understand what you are saying - believe me. And the fact that someone wants to sell one or two items for beyond top dollar isn't what I am talking about, There are filters on the site where you can enter the price range for an item at for example, between one cent and fifty dollars. My wish is for the ability to not be bothered with certain sellers in the models section who have a large number of listings and ALL of their auctions are, in my opinion - pretty ridiculous. And with all due respect, we are still entitled to an opinion the last time I checked. Sellers with a habit of charging these kind of ridiculously high prices like the example I gave of a set of truck door mirrors from a fairly common model that a seller wants $15.00 to $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping for in a previous post - forgive me for repeating myself - but he is a waste of my time and bandwidth. When I look under different searches for different parts, these sellers' auctions keep coming up and I just would like to see where I could filter those particular vendors out of my search results, thus saving time and frustration. Also, as Steve said, there are some people who just are not good to deal with so being able to not see their auctions might not be a bad thing too. Sometimes, after a bad deal, seeing a seller's auctions can trigger some not so nice feelings and stir up memories that are best forgotten.

Honestly and in all fairness, I do not begrudge anyone the right to make a living and if he can find people who think that his over priced pieces are worth that - then more power to him. Granted, value is based on need and perception but this is to me after all, just a hobby and not a business. Simply put, I am not one of those who would pay what I feel are ridiculous prices for a small piece of plastic and never would, so I'd just as soon just not have to look at the auctions of such sellers and focus my attention of finding what I want at a price that to my way of thinking, is more realistic. Just my thoughts..

Edited December 18, 2014 by impcon

[Sixties Sam]

When I search for models on eBay, I often use the price settings on the left side of the screen. I'll set it for say, $30 maximum, and I don't see the crazy priced stuff at all!

Sam

[clovis]

Gary,

I hear where you are coming from, and have dealt with it some too. I don't buy or sell much in the way of models on ebay.

There is one seller who lists tons of parts at insane prices, at least in my opinion. Each part is listed individually and nothing is lotted up or on a sprue. Again, the seller wants crazy prices for the stuff.

Like you, I get tired of sorting through his listings. It would be nice to not have to look at them.

It is also amazing though...when you look at the seller's completed listings, how much stuff actually sells, even at those high prices!!!!!

[impcon]

Jeff, I have a good idea who you are referring to but there are a few. I couldn't agree more that it is amazing what people will pay for something. There is not much that can be said that already hasn't been but I am losing interest with Ebay fast. I guess that what frustrates me the most is that I was involved in what was once the old car hobby when it was still just that - a hobby that was participated in just because you enjoyed old cars. The things changed - and yea, I know that change is inevitable - but as I watched over a relatively short period of time, I saw it turn into a rich man's game where pride, vanity and greed became prevalent.

I wont go into my feelings on Ebay and the similarities between what's happening there and the real 1:1 car hobby here for fear that I may offend someone again. Unlike some here, I do not have deep pockets but I have enjoyed collecting models for most of my 63 years but I wish to continue doing so. My heart is with the old annuals and old kits and not so much the newer stuff although there have been some pretty decent kits issues over the last few years and apparently, there are more to come. But still, I prefer to buy the oldies and I enjoy taking something that is in sad shape and incomplete and seeing what I can make of it. That means that I am always looking for pieces and Ebay has been my source of parts most of my model purchases for close to 20 years. I used to find sitting here for prolonged periods of time just looking through the auctions and doing searches and buying here and there. That enjoyment is fading now with the ridiculous prices and the "bulk sellers" who list page after page of auctions of what must be styrene mixed with some rare and precious metals judging by the prices. That "Ignore" feature really would be so appreciated.

Sorry if this seems offensive to someone or like a rant - it isn't. Trust me, you would like what I say and how I say it a lot less if it were.

[Harry P.]

All you have to do is "sort by price, lowest first."

Then when you get to your price limit, stop looking,

Geez, you guys are making a huge issue out of a complete non-issue. If you don't want to pay more than a certain price for a certain item, you don't have to! There's no need to "block" anyone. Isn't every seller free to charge whatever they want to charge, just as you are free to pay whatever you want to pay?

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Only thing is, by doing the price limiter, you might miss a big lot of kits for $30 or so; the same price as some idiot with two mirrors has priced his thing at....

[Harry P.]

Only thing is, by doing the price limiter, you might miss a big lot of kits for $30 or so; the same price as some idiot with two mirrors has priced his thing at....

I know. But I don't see why some people get so upset with what someone else is charging. It's a free country. They can charge whatever they want to charge. And you have the right to not buy it if you think the price is too high.

All this talk of "blocking" certain sellers is nonsense. All you need to do is not buy stuff that you think is too expensive. It's so simple... I don't see why all the fuss about blocking certain sellers whose prices you may not like.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

They get upset because it's something they don't like. And I think they should have the right to block it.

Like on Facebook, you can block people who make comments you don't like....

...block TV shows that have principles you don't like....

Et cetera.

[Ace-Garageguy]

You guys are hilarious!

Who decides who gets blocked? By what criteria? You don't like a seller's prices, so that seller, according to you, should be blocked?

Come on. This is the real world. Use your brain. If you don't like the price, look elsewhere.

I think you're missing his point. Ebay allows YOU to customize YOUR OWN interaction with the site.

Allowing a user to block out a specific seller from searches would streamline the interaction.

Of course it would be ludicrous to expect Ebay to block a seller from being generally visible based on someone's idea of fair-pricing, but to allow a SPECIFIC USER to block that seller makes perfect sense to me. Like Mr. Pig Greedy from a previous discussion. He at one time listed THOUSANDS of tiny parts at insane prices. Blocking HIS listings, and others I'd never buy from EVER would save me much search time.

[Harry P.]

I think you're missing his point. Ebay allows YOU to customize YOUR OWN interaction with the site.

Allowing a user to block out a specific seller from searches would streamline the interaction.

Of course it would be ludicrous to expect Ebay to block a seller from being generally visible based on someone's idea of fair-pricing, but to allow a SPECIFIC USER to block that seller makes perfect sense to me. Like Mr. Pig Greedy from a previous discussion. He at one time listed THOUSANDS of tiny parts at insane prices. Blocking HIS listings, and others I'd never buy from EVER would save me much search time.

I still don't see why you can't simply not pay attention to Mr. Pig Greedy's listings. I guess I just see ebay in a different way. I want to see all the listings, ridiculous prices or not. I want to see evereything that's on sale so that I don't potentially miss a good deal.

What if I had blocked Mr. Pig Greedy, and one day he puts up a kit I have been looking for at a great price? I miss it, that's what happens. No thanks... I don't want to block anyone.

[Ace-Garageguy]

What if I had blocked Mr. Pig Greedy, and one day he puts up a kit I have been looking for at a great price?

Never happen. This particular seller lists one mirror for $6, or a set of 4 wheels for $38, and parts out EVERYTHING, rare or not.

I'll often do a generic "parts" search, and have come up with lots of great deals on things I'd forgotten I even wanted, but I'd prefer to have the 3000 or so hits from Mr. Pig Greedy not be displayed...SO I DON'T HAVE TO WADE THROUGH THEM. I don't care anymore WHAT he might have after seeing him hogging bandwidth for thousands of things that will probably never sell, relisted over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

[maltsr]

Never happen. This particular seller lists one mirror for $6, or a set of 4 wheels for $38, and parts out EVERYTHING, rare or not.

I'll often do a generic "parts" search, and have come up with lots of great deals on things I'd forgotten I even wanted, but I'd prefer to have the 3000 or so hits from Mr. Pig Greedy not be displayed...SO I DON'T HAVE TO WADE THROUGH THEM. I don't care anymore WHAT he might have after seeing him hogging bandwidth for thousands of things that will probably never sell, relisted over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

If there were a 'like' button, I'd use it here - well said Bill

[chunkypeanutbutter]

...

[Ramfins59]

I look for promos, builtups or kits of 1950's cars on EBAY that are in pretty much perfect shape, with no warping, good glass, interiors and decent chrome. Over the past 2 years I've been extremely lucky in finding pretty much everything that I've wanted for VERY reasonable, if not CHEAP prices. It just takes patience and persistence to scroll through the listings of particular searched items to find the right one. I, personally, don't mind doing that pretty much daily, as you never know what might come up as a "New Listing". I'm retired so I have lots of free time and it doesn't take a lot of time to do my searches.

There is one Seller who always has GREAT looking promos, and in fact I believe he specializes in promos, without mentioning who it is. The problem that I have with this Seller is that, IMHO, his prices are absurdly high based on WHAT I AM WILLING TO SPEND. If I had deep pockets I would snap up a bunch of his "offerings", but I don't, so I won't. I'll still scroll through all the listings for a particular car I'm looking for, including his, but I just laugh at his "Buy It Now" prices and move on. I know that I will eventually find what I'm looking for and at a price that I'm willing to pay.

[LDO]

Sorry for the hijack, but NEVER put up a post asking "Is X dollars a good price for this rare old kit?". I once got a screamin' deal on a Pocher kit that way. I'm such a jerk!

[Mike 1017]

I don't buy that much off of ebay.But I do see a "follow this seller" . Instead of blocking sellers Could you just make a "follow list" of the ones that you want to do business with?

Mike

[Tom Geiger]

What some of you are missing is the business equation here...

+ eBay allows you to refine your search - because eBay makes money if you can find what you want

+ eBay allows you to follow your favorite sellers - because eBay makes money if you buy more things from them

+ eBay allows the sellers in question to post loads of over priced model car parts - because eBay makes money from this seller

+ eBay won't allow you to block a seller - because they don't make any money doing that!

Plain and simple. eBay isn't going to offer a service that works against eBay make money.

[Ace-Garageguy]

+ eBay won't allow you to block a seller - because they don't make any money doing that!

Well actually, Ebay DOES allow you to block out a specific seller for a specific search, as the OP mentioned (I believe) and which I just verified. It's easy and only takes a couple of clicks to do.

[Tom Geiger]

Well actually, Ebay DOES allow you to block out a specific seller for a specific search, as the OP mentioned (I believe) and which I just verified. It's easy and only takes a couple of clicks to do.

For a specific search... but not completely.

[impcon]

What some of you are missing is the business equation here...

+ eBay allows you to refine your search - because eBay makes money if you can find what you want

+ eBay allows you to follow your favorite sellers - because eBay makes money if you buy more things from them

+ eBay allows the sellers in question to post loads of over priced model car parts - because eBay makes money from this seller

+ eBay won't allow you to block a seller - because they don't make any money doing that!

Plain and simple. eBay isn't going to offer a service that works against eBay make money.

Tom, I think Ebay will listen if enough people were to express their desire to custom build and narrow their search fields by omitting sellers who they prefer not to look at, for reasons as stated above as well as others. Because it would stream line their search and make more efficient use of time, their "Ebay experience" would be in many cases, be more time efficient and even more interesting without having to look at items that you can filter out because for what ever reason, certain sellers are of no interest. Ebay will listen to anyone if the numbers are there to convince them that this is a wanted feature by enough people because the happier the buyers are, the more time they will likely spend on the site and impulse buying is big on Ebay. I do not see adding this feature as having a negative impact on their bottom line but it may give them some more happy users and happy customers are much more prone to spend.

" eBay allows you to refine your search - because eBay makes money if you can find what you want". Agreed and if I can do my daily searches and do them in a more timely and less frustrating time frame, then it may free up time to do other, more thorough searches. Remember, this would only be a personal choice and an option.

" eBay allows you to follow your favorite sellers - because eBay makes money if you buy more things from them" I simply bookmark my favorite sellers in a folder in my book marks and that works at least as well as using their feature which I have never used and have no intention of ever doing so. That feature, to me is a bit redundant although I guess that again, by personal choice, many people do use it. I may seem a bit paranoid but I do treasure what privacy I have left in this world today and the less that Ebay or any corporation knows of my business, the happier I am. And yes, I realize that we are tracked and monitored every day on line. Still, that list of interesting sellers that I have compiled is my business and mine alone as far as I am concerned. Guess I am just old fashioned...

"eBay allows the sellers in question to post loads of over priced model car parts - because eBay makes money from this seller". Personally and with all due respect, I really do not give two dead flies as to what someone wants to charge for what they sell. That is their business and if they can find people who will pay their prices, then good for them. But I am not playing their game and have absolutely no interest what so ever in what people who have a track record of wanting high dollars for what they are trying to market are offering and as such, going through hundreds of listings that they post. This is more about making a search more efficient and I guess that if I want a hood or a set of wheels bad enough to pay the kind of prices that some seem to feel they are worth, then I have the option of removing the filter and looking at the person's auctions and paying his/her prices. This is after all, only a hobby with me and I have to be careful as to what I spend and where I spend it. I don't know about everyone else, but I go on that site to look for kits or pieces and my objective is to get them for the least amount of dollars as possible. For example, I I am in need of a certain car for a parts car to cut up and if I wanted to spend $15.00 - $25.00 for those parts, I'd have had them here weeks ago. But guess what - I am like most other people and I want a good deal because if I can get that parts for for let's say $12.00 including shipping as opposed to $15.00 plus say, $11.50 shipping, I now have $13.50 that I can put towards buying something else. It's pretty simple logic to me but we are getting away from the main subject here again...

" eBay won't allow you to block a seller - because they don't make any money doing that!" I will respectfully contest that statement because Ebay is all about the dollar and the squeaky wheel always gets the grease with them. If there is enough of an indication that buyers want this feature, they will listen. It wouldn't be the first time that Ebay did something that the sellers didn't like and regardless of the out cry, they just went ahead and did it. I used to sell on Ebay - I know and remember things that went down and there are reasons why I do not sell on there any longer and will throw something away before I jump through their hoops. I know that this is my choice - I am just saying that they are led by the dollar sign and not logic or concern for anyone except their share holders. And lastly, IMHO, if Ebay is all about the sellers, then it seems a little odd that they screwed up the feedback rules like they did, effectively often ( more like - usually??? ) neutering a seller who has had a bad experience with a buyer. Ebay would sell their soul to the devil if there was a dollar in it - its just business, as they say.