The State of eBay

[Fballguy]

I troll ebay strictly for pennants and have done so pretty religiously for the past 10+ years. It used to be like shooting fish in a barrel, to the point I was spending way more money than my wife was comfortable with. There was just that much good stuff. But that all seemed to change during Covid.

I think the number of eBay trolls (this a term of endearment, not a critique) increased exponentially during lockdown and has never reverted back to the good old days when it was just me...and maybe one or two other guys. There was still plenty of good stuff, but you had to be quick on the draw to get it. Annoying for sure but not hopeless.

Fast forward to today and eBay is dead. I can go hours without searching and still only find a handful of new listings when I go back. And the good stuff has largely diseappeared, replaced by a never ending supply of cheap, redundant, modern garbage. Even when I check the sold listings, I rarely find things I'm disappointed to have missed.

Are other areas of collecting experiencing this as well? Are people not selling any more? If they are...Where?

[AbeCurry]

I do a lot of collecting on different Facebook groups or on here through Net54. That’s where the quality at scale is in my eyes. Shows are another good place to find good cards.


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[ullmandds]

noone wants to pay taxes on their sales.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

I troll ebay strictly for pennants and have done so pretty religiously for the past 10+ years. It used to be like shooting fish in a barrel, to the point I was spending way more money than my wife was comfortable with. There was just that much good stuff. But that all seemed to change during Covid.

I think the number of eBay trolls (this a term of endearment, not a critique) increased exponentially during lockdown and has never reverted back to the good old days when it was just me...and maybe one or two other guys. There was still plenty of good stuff, but you had to be quick on the draw to get it. Annoying for sure but not hopeless.

Fast forward to today and eBay is dead. I can go hours without searching and still only find a handful of new listings when I go back. And the good stuff has largely diseappeared, replaced by a never ending supply of cheap, redundant, modern garbage. Even when I check the sold listings, I rarely find things I'm disappointed to have missed.

Are other areas of collecting experiencing this as well? Are people not selling any more? If they are...Where?

Yep nobody wants to pay taxes. They are still selling just on other venues that they can avoid paying taxes on. Depending on how the tax thing goes we might see eBay back to its glory. I seen a piece saying the reporting limit was going to be $5000. If it goes to that several will go back to just using several IDs to stay under reporting limits and a lot of stuff will appear on eBay again.

EDIT to add: They sent me an email yesterday saying they are going to change all my shipping fees to whatever they believe the price would be if I buy shipping from them. They said I can opt out for one month. Seems they are trying to force everyone to purchase shipping through them.

[parkplace33]

Sometimes you get lucky, but for the most part, I call it the Card Museum. Museum cards, museum prices.

I also know lot of sellers list their cards to attract offers, but then work outside Ebay to sell cards.

Can you imagine the uproar if Ebay charged members to list things? OMG

[Hankphenom]

I don't believe eBay will ever be what it was for the simple reason that stuff gets "collected up" over the years and by the time it comes back onto the market it's in a collection deemed valuable enough by auction houses to go into a catalog. For many years I made a living, more or less, off of bottom-feeding on eBay and selling at shows. Of course, I always had plenty of competition for the good stuff, but it felt like there was always plenty to go around. It helped that I had a niche--D.C. sports--that few others cared about (or knew the true market for), but still, it was amazing how easy it all seemed as long as you didn't mind spending a few hours a day scouring a ton of eBay bookmarks and then humping stuff on the road on the weekends. It sure beat having a real job, I figured! That all changed starting about ten years ago when eBay started squeezing sellers for more of their profits, resulting in fewer of them (duh!), and I also think that America's attics and basements began to be depleted of many kinds of things as word got around of their value. I can't tell you how many things I used to see with some regularity in the good old days that I will now realize it's been years since the last one surfaced. I'm retired now, but I still scan a few listings a day out of nostalgia and rarely see anything interesting anymore. And if there is something cool, it's usually wildly overpriced. Oh well, it was great while it lasted...

[Jewish-collector]

It's a combination of things including, but not limited to these:

less sellers on eBay due to the 1099-K thresholds depending on their state
more sellers going thru facebook groups, FB marketplace, etc,...
more sellers consigning to auction houses
more sellers setting up at local shows and/or regional shows

However, for what you collect, Rob, local or regional shows really no longer seem to have much football memorabilia.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

It's a combination of things including, but not limited to these:

less sellers on eBay due to the 1099-K thresholds depending on their state
more sellers going thru facebook groups, FB marketplace, etc,...
more sellers consigning to auction houses
more sellers setting up at local shows and/or regional shows

However, for what you collect, Rob, local or regional shows really no longer seem to have much football memorabilia.

Very true. I go to shows to see one guy. Rick Haskins. If he's not at a show, I'm probably not going. The National last year was very disappointing in terms of football memorabilia as well.

Facebook Marketplace is frustrating. First, there's not a ton of stuff out there and when there is, there's a 75% chance the seller won't ship. Thought I found a pennant on there a couple weeks ago and the guy was willing to ship, but wanted to cash only. I haven't been ripped off on marketplace yet, but I'm not ready to start mailing cash.

[ALBB]

I understand the complaints,

but I still say where can a collector go at anytime of the day or night and find for ex. - multiple Goudey cards of Ott, Foxx, Grove, etc., 52T high #s, thousands of Mantles, etc.....its ebay...

yea it sucks with shipping and fees and the occasional rip off or shady dealer, but until another site can do it better...Im still going on three or four times a day...looking for " stuff"

[raulus]

It's a feature, and we can debate just how buggy it is.

By its very nature, stuff that is over-priced will malinger for ages. Stuff that is correctly priced will get snapped up pretty quick. Auctions only last for 7-10 days, so even those are over pretty quick, and therefore the window where that specific item is available is pretty limited.

It also doesn't help that one of the biggest former eBay auction operators is now off the platform (PWCC), which dramatically reduces the number of items sold by the auction format.

Bottom line is that as a result of these dynamics, coupled with some others mentioned earlier, most of the time when you check eBay, you're going to see the same overpriced stuff. And it will keep annoying you every time you see it. Blink and you might miss anything else that isn't tragically overpriced, as if it was never really even there.

[ricktmd]

Ebay has become a terrible venue for sellers across all categories, not just vintage baseball . The categories have been destroyed and ebay is basically a word search site. Sellers are treated poorly unless you are a giant seller then even shill bidding and dishonest behavior is winked at. Buyers have all the rights and the seller has none. Buyers are allowed to remove their bid on an auction. WOW.
Negative feedback is permitted by buyers only. I typically offer 14 day returns which is plenty of time to determine whether someone wants the item. Ebay gives them an additional 14 days to ship the item back making the 14 days really 28 . None of that means anything as ebay has a 30 day return policy that includes free return shipping ebay forces the seller to pay even if your item states buyer pays for return shipping. In addition to ebays 30 day free pass allows the buyer an additional 30 days to return the item . All the buyer has to do is hit the right button claiming inaccurate website description. Big dealers may list 100's of items at inflated prices. Most people just bypass ebay and go to the big dealers website whether that seller is Clean Sweep, Tony E Trade or others. I sell legacy parts for businesses I am in a few baseball items and various odd stuff. The baseball items never get returned. Legacy parts never get returned. My spring cleaning stuff like old anything that works fine like electronic equipment or a designer scarf or shoes from my wife is all subjected to unfair buyers whose remorse returns are forced on sellers and the policy does not cost ebay 1 penny. All this and I offer returns . I can imagine the sellers not offering returns how mad they must be when ebay overrides their policy

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by ALBB

I understand the complaints,

but I still say where can a collector go at anytime of the day or night and find for ex. - multiple Goudey cards of Ott, Foxx, Grove, etc., 52T high #s, thousands of Mantles, etc.....its ebay...

yea it sucks with shipping and fees and the occasional rip off or shady dealer, but until another site can do it better...Im still going on three or four times a day...looking for " stuff"

I agree

[BioCRN]

I've read Net54 for a long time, but it wasn't until the prices and amount of bidders on EBay got crazy that I decided to join up here. Being able to see the pictures hosted locally after joining is a nice perk.

I wanted to get in on that "How much you want if you're selling outside of EBay?" action.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by bnorth

...sent me an email yesterday saying they are going to change all my shipping fees to whatever they believe the price would be if I buy shipping from them. They said I can opt out for one month...

Opt out for a month or you have one month to decide whether you want to opt out?

According to eBay:

"...Starting May 15, 2024, your listings with calculated shipping will default to show eBay discounted shipping rates. By filling out this form by May 13, 2024, you are confirming that you would like to be excluded from this change...

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Opt out for a month or you have one month to decide whether you want to opt out?

According to eBay:

"...Starting May 15, 2024, your listings with calculated shipping will default to show eBay discounted shipping rates. By filling out this form by May 13, 2024, you are confirming that you would like to be excluded from this change...

I didn't read it too close. My understanding was I opted out until May 15 and then it will be automatic. There is a work around but I can't remember what it was. On the opt out they had a drop down and I chose the "I do not always us eBay to purchase shipping" option for opting out.

[bmattioli]

Covid changed the whole price landscape throughout virtually any type of collectable. Sellers are still selling but at crazy prices. I'm just thankful I have what I have and purchased at reasonable prices "back in the day". Just like my house which has shot up price wise as well..

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I didn't read it too close. My understanding was I opted out until May 15 and then it will be automatic. There is a work around but I can't remember what it was. On the opt out they had a drop down and I chose the "I do not always us eBay to purchase shipping" option for opting out.

This change only impacts sellers who let ebay calculate the shipping cost...which is a big mistake. I see items with $100+ shipping cost nearly every day on items that can easily ship for $5-$10.

If you offer a flat rate shipping cost or free shipping, you're not impacted.

[Buythatcard]

I've been selling on eBay for 21 years and have seen the changes. When I first started, eBay made Sellers feel wanted. If you had a question, you could easily pick up the phone and speak to someone who speaks English. If you had a bad Buyer, you were able to leave negative feedback. Seller fees were reasonable. Buyers were not taxed. The only competition out there were just other Sellers with a small business trying to make an extra buck.

Today, all of that is gone. The fun in selling is gone. eBay makes my life miserable. I have done over 7 figures in sales, yet I am treated like I do not exist. I am a 1 man company but can no longer compete with companies that are fully staffed plus plenty of dough to run their business. They list thousands of cards while small companies like mine can only list about a dozen per day. The rising eBay fees and postage rates take most of your profit. Whatever is left, Uncle Sam takes a bite.

eBay is flooded with modern cards. Difficult to find vintage cards to sell. They are just hard to find and are priced too high.

Yes, eBay has changed and not for the better. I had a good run but will be closing shop in the next month or two.

[BioCRN]

Originally Posted by bmattioli

Covid changed the whole price landscape throughout virtually any type of collectable. Sellers are still selling but at crazy prices. I'm just thankful I have what I have and purchased at reasonable prices "back in the day". Just like my house which has shot up price wise as well..

While I did pick up a good amount of vintage and pre-war in the 90s and 00s, I got really complacent with the very flat and stable 2014 to mid/late-2019 market prices.

By the time 2020-2021 rolled around I had a good amount of regret not chasing down some of the "bigger" names I was holding out on.

That said, it was nice to finally get rid of a ton of junk wax graded that had been sitting around for decades. That helped take the sting out of the explosive prices and new auction competition for my buying.