Ebay has me depressed...
-
To be fair I find the exact opposite to be true a lot of the time. I often want to get a bargin on ebay but then it turns out if I hunt about I get things cheaper in the shops. I guess it depends on what you are selling/buying.
el_dude wrote:
I guess it depends on what you are selling/buying.
It definitely depends on what you're looking for and how fast do you need it. If you're willing to wait for a good auction you can get a good deal out of it. However, it is true that many of the times stuff sold on ebay is just as expensive or priced just slightly below of what you can get it for in real store. So I usually shop on ebay for stuff that cannot be found in retail stores anymore (old out of print games or rare DVDs) or very specific hardware - ebay has tons of dell rebranded hardware for 50 percent off what non-branded version would cost. I bought Pentium 4 mobile celeron for $12 and two dual gigabit server level Intel NICs for only $35 each. If you look for example for Adaptec 2610sa raid card, it's selling on ebay for $100-130 whereas retail version costs at least twice as much. There is stuff selling on ebay at good prices, it just has to be "right item" like intel NICs I bought and you have to be patient enough to wait it out for a good auction nobody bid on.
-
Ebay is no longer a place to sell things for a fair market value. Buyers have learned how to snipe items and they don't bid at all until the closing few minutes. If you don't set a reserve price you'll give your stuff away for next to nothing. I predict Ebay won't last 2 more years the way it's currently running. You *can* sell things but at such a low price it's absurd. Guess I'll try craigslist. Any other suggestions. Ebay just completely stinks...:sigh:
What I am up to: ReadyToGiveUp(Not!)[^] What friends are up to:SQLServerCentral[^]
I've heard people bitching about it lately but I'm not sure what the problem is. We've sold stuff off an on over the years and as recently as 6 months ago and no issues at all. We set the minimum bid fairly and the rest is automatic. If you start your price at 1 cent then you will likely sell it for 2 cents. If you set your minimum bid at a fair price for yourself and the buyer you can't really go wrong. It's also a great place to buy more obscure stuff, I rarely ever bid on anything anymore, I almost always use the buy it now links for the "stores" that are there.
"I don't want more choice. I just want better things!" - Edina Monsoon
-
Oh, it gets much worse. For various fad and new-to-the-market items, you'll find them being sold for FAR above the fair market price. Case in point: The latest stuffed animal fad is called Webkinz. These are stuffed animals that come with a code you can enter on the Webkinz website and get a virtual pet free for a year. When the company came out with trading cards that come with additional codes, the first two days the boxes of cards were out they were selling for over 2.5x the retail price on ebay. Oh but it's much worse. Now that the market for those cards, and the stuffed animals, is flooded, you can't sell them for a reasonable price. My girlfriend wanted to resell some of her extras and thought she could get a good price for them. What did she get? $5 freakin bucks for 4 of the animals. They retail for $13 each. Why? Snipers. Nobody wants to bid a fair price on them because they know they can snipe the price at the end. So basically, yeah, eBay has pretty much become a waste of time. I used to go there all the time to find stuff I wanted, but now I just have a list of good online retailers that charge good prices for what I want. And I've given up selling things on ebay, I use CraigsList exclusively now.
-
I think it depends on a few things:
- Is the seller a professional Ebay seller? Do they have over 1000 Ebay transactions and do they get reseller discounts on their goods and just want a few cents above since they have 1000 for sale?
- Is the seller a home seller trying to move something they value (one item only) for a fair market price?
- Is the buyer looking to make an Ebay SCORE purchase or are they looking to pay a fair price for goods?
It used to be that on Ebay the huge sellers were few and far between. Now Ebay is mostly dominated by Ebay Store Operators who have so much inventory and can sell at such a huge discount that it's not possible for individual sellers to sell their valuables for a reasonable price. Ebay has become flooded with merchants and that's going to cause Ebay's demise in a few years tops. That's the problem I have. It's now a bunch of merchants pedaling wares at such a low cost that the seller wanting to sell an equivalent single item is going to lose too much money. Ebay either needs to fix this or they face demise or at least a serious shrinkage in activity. Ebay was way better when the majority of people were "mom and pop" types just wanting to sell one or two items.
What I am up to: ReadyToGiveUp(Not!)[^] What friends are up to:SQLServerCentral[^]
code-frog wrote:
It's now a bunch of merchants pedaling wares at such a low cost that the seller wanting to sell an equivalent single item is going to lose too much money.
OK, this I understand.
code-frog wrote:
Ebay either needs to fix this or they face demise or at least a serious shrinkage in activity.
Huh? The merchants you so dislike are selling their stuff at a price people want to pay. Presumably they're making money, the people buying the stuff are happy with the price, and Ebay is getting its fees. So if anything I would expect Ebay to do very well, for quite some time.
Best wishes, Hans
[CodeProject Forum Guidelines] [How To Ask A Question] [My Articles]
-
code-frog wrote:
It's now a bunch of merchants pedaling wares at such a low cost that the seller wanting to sell an equivalent single item is going to lose too much money.
OK, this I understand.
code-frog wrote:
Ebay either needs to fix this or they face demise or at least a serious shrinkage in activity.
Huh? The merchants you so dislike are selling their stuff at a price people want to pay. Presumably they're making money, the people buying the stuff are happy with the price, and Ebay is getting its fees. So if anything I would expect Ebay to do very well, for quite some time.
Best wishes, Hans
[CodeProject Forum Guidelines] [How To Ask A Question] [My Articles]
Hans Dietrich wrote:
Huh?
My point is that now Ebay is not much different than buy.com or newegg.com except it's a confederation of stores and not just one store but still it's now *just* a store. Nothing makes it any different than the other stores and if it's "a store" then I'd prefer to buy from New Egg or Buy since with them I can be certain of the legitimacy of the product, returns, all that other stuff. Ebay is just another store now without the strong backing of support, warranty, etc... it's a less appealing option that's going to hurt it over time.
What I am up to: ReadyToGiveUp(Not!)[^] What friends are up to:SQLServerCentral[^]
-
rollei35guy wrote:
I've had too many times where someone has upped my bid just for the sake of it.
Whenever I see someone doing that, I increase the bid on purpose just to spite them. I hate that behavior and if they're going to engage in it, they'll pay for it. I've had several instances where it was the seller themselves signed on under other accounts increasing the bid. Yes, that's illegal and against eBay's rules, but good luck getting them to admit it's happening more often than they'd like.
Patrick Sears wrote:
I've had several instances where it was the seller themselves signed on under other accounts increasing the bid. Yes, that's illegal and against eBay's rules, but good luck getting them to admit it's happening more often than they'd like.
That's called shill bidding and it's quite common. A former (emphasize the word 'former') girlfriend wanted me to bid up one of her items because it was not selling for enough. She didn't see anything wrong with it.
Patrick Sears wrote:
Whenever I see someone doing that, I increase the bid on purpose just to spite them. I hate that behavior and if they're going to engage in it, they'll pay for it.
Problem with that strategy is that sometimes we pay for it. So I just bid once at my best offer. It's just another way eBay has declined as a marketplace.
-
[odd noises] uhhh WOW! I had my friends impressed because I'll be using them for music (I get withdrawal symptoms without it), but also for the Church - I run the sound equipment for the band. I reckoned I can stand at one end of the hall and not be able to hear the drummer, who is too loud. That, however, is 20 metres of space, 2 speakers pointing my way and with some speaker output on the headphones too. That said, I'm a student so I don't get to spend £60 ($110) on headphones. Although, I saw a set on a website, for $1000. If you can get them for 110 bucks I'll buy a pair as well...:laugh:
Need Another Seven Acronyms...
Confused? You will be... -
I've heard people bitching about it lately but I'm not sure what the problem is. We've sold stuff off an on over the years and as recently as 6 months ago and no issues at all. We set the minimum bid fairly and the rest is automatic. If you start your price at 1 cent then you will likely sell it for 2 cents. If you set your minimum bid at a fair price for yourself and the buyer you can't really go wrong. It's also a great place to buy more obscure stuff, I rarely ever bid on anything anymore, I almost always use the buy it now links for the "stores" that are there.
"I don't want more choice. I just want better things!" - Edina Monsoon
John Cardinal wrote:
It's also a great place to buy more obscure stuff, I rarely ever bid on anything anymore, I almost always use the buy it now links for the "stores" that are there.
I think you have hit on a key point here. A great place to buy or sell obscure stuff. Everyday items you can get at WalMart or Super Tar-jay.
-
Ebay is no longer a place to sell things for a fair market value. Buyers have learned how to snipe items and they don't bid at all until the closing few minutes. If you don't set a reserve price you'll give your stuff away for next to nothing. I predict Ebay won't last 2 more years the way it's currently running. You *can* sell things but at such a low price it's absurd. Guess I'll try craigslist. Any other suggestions. Ebay just completely stinks...:sigh:
What I am up to: ReadyToGiveUp(Not!)[^] What friends are up to:SQLServerCentral[^]
code-frog wrote:
If you don't set a reserve price you'll give your stuff away for next to nothing.
That is why I use reserve price. I try to figure the line where it is a great deal for the bidder and still a fair coming out ahead point for me. Anyone going over the reserve price is extra kudos :)
"Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon
-
Ebay is no longer a place to sell things for a fair market value. Buyers have learned how to snipe items and they don't bid at all until the closing few minutes. If you don't set a reserve price you'll give your stuff away for next to nothing. I predict Ebay won't last 2 more years the way it's currently running. You *can* sell things but at such a low price it's absurd. Guess I'll try craigslist. Any other suggestions. Ebay just completely stinks...:sigh:
What I am up to: ReadyToGiveUp(Not!)[^] What friends are up to:SQLServerCentral[^]
There are a lot of issues when you sell on eBay, but there is also issues selling any where online. I have seen things actually go for more than the original price while the same item sell for practically nothing. Sometimes it appears to just be luck. Some things to think about when you list an item: 1) Your rating: If under 50 you might not get as good of bids. 2) Time of day: The time of day and the day of the week in which your action closes can also effect the end price. 3) Reserves: I know of few people that have good luck if they use a reserve price. Personally, I will not even bid on an item that has one. 4) Description: The posting information can be important. Sometimes people just scan for keywords. It always helps to search for completed actions of like items and see who they where listed, time of day the closed, the day of the week they closed for the items that sold for a good price and try not to repeat what others did for the items that did not sell or did not get a good price. 5) Timing: If you list an item that has recently seen a lot of action, you might not get a good price. If you search the completed listings and turn up a lot of an given item, you might think about waiting a bit before listing to try to dry out the market a bit. Sniping is a problem and personally, if I was running a site like eBay I would not allow an action to close until there is no bid received for five minutes. That would eliminate all sniping!
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: The SIlverlight Directory finally launched! Latest Tech Blog Post: You got to see this - Seadragon and Photosynth!