ebay is disgusting, just disgusting

[Econteachert205]

As a buyer, ebay is ok. When I sell, and I don't sell a ton, I constantly feel like something awful is bound to happen.

[SteveMitchell]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

As a buyer, ebay is ok. When I sell, and I don't sell a ton, I constantly feel like something awful is bound to happen.

My sentiments, exactly. We have sold occasionally on eBay since 1998 and full-time (in my retirement) since 2008. Most years we receive a 100% rating and handle any complaints and/or errors promptly. Still, the "rules" are becoming increasingly restrictive on sellers and the eBay representatives range from very helpful (a few) down to very un-helpful and quite ignorant.

Several years ago we listed a 1982 Mickey Mantle Story set which includes a card with Mickey's facsimile autograph. We specifically mentioned "facsimile" in the listing, yet some eBayer (who did not buy the set) complained to eBay that the autograph was not authentic!

In our back-and-forth email "conversation" with eBay, we pointed out that the card in question was no different from various years of Topps baseball cards which are listed by the thousands on eBay: that is, the autographs are printed on the cards by the printer. Final disposition: a red flag stayed on our account for one year.

It is such unthinking responses to solid eBay sellers that causes me to wonder what will be next.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

As a buyer, ebay is ok. When I sell, and I don't sell a ton, I constantly feel like something awful is bound to happen.

I also totally agree. As a seller, I leave positive feedback the moment I get paid (in my mind, the seller did all that is required) and ship the item immediately. I've lost count of the times I haven't gotten feedback in return.

[brob28]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

As a buyer, ebay is ok. When I sell, and I don't sell a ton, I constantly feel like something awful is bound to happen.

So true, Ebay has no balance necessary to protect all users.

[sports-rings]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

As a buyer, ebay is ok. When I sell, and I don't sell a ton, I constantly feel like something awful is bound to happen.

Very well said! I agree 100% as an occasional seller.

I really miss the old days when so much was offered on ebay in auction format. It was must-viewing, every day, back in the day!

[Edwolf1963]

A couple thoughts...

1. I had an eBay rating of "above standard" on my seller account for quite some time. One person went in last summer and bought 5-6 BIN's I had listed individually over the course of 24 hours. I wrote to him and asked if he was OK that I send all of them in one insured pkg. "Absolutely" - did that, all went fine, everyone happy. I loaded the tracking number for all the cards into one of the listings (not copy/repeat same into all of them) and then eBay dropped me to "below standard" as their "system" showed that I was not "90% within one day compliant". When I called and explained that I was, they were all in one pkg, I got nowhere. Just mindless babble (.. ever notice their Cust Svc people apply no common sense? Just read from a rule book). Seems like they try and do all possible to tell you stick it up your a$$ and go elsewhere - - to the point made by other members, can't see that sustaining long-term.

2. My own experience, I've had very good transactions on the BST, sold all my 1914 CJ's here to some great collectors this past spring/summer. Sometimes you get low offers, sometimes things don't sell at all or for what you would like or hope for. It happens. Not a problem, usually always have had great dialog one way or the other.

[Touch'EmAll]

Glchen has some great points about ebay selling. Sometimes I put higher starting bids on items, or list as BIN with reasonable prices. If someone wants a card, it will sell with reasonable prices. If I don't care so much and just want to sell, then auction with $9.99 starting point makes sense - at least you weed out the penny ante low bids.

If an auction with low start price does not bring my ideal selling price, I go back, look how much I paid, and usually I realize I got a pretty good deal on the card in the first place - so all ok.

My biggest "burn" has been with REA on a 1939 Ted Williams Rookie PSA 8 - don't ask, but I took a bath on that one, ouch. I have not consigned to a major auction house since.

[Northviewcats]

I have had a lot of luck selling on both eBay and the BST. I'm not a big seller, but I usually average about $1500 to $2000 a month. I buy and sell to build my Prewar collection. Lately I've retired and I need to sell a bit to augment my retirement.

Usually on eBay I start my auctions at a low starting price and let the market determine the value. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but it all seems to average out for me. Also, I have found that you will get a higher price for HOF players and low to midgrade lots on eBay than anywhere else because there are so many buyers.

Lately, I have been selling more on the BST than on eBay. I really appreciate the relationships that I have built up with some of the collectors here. There are some really nice people on this Board. When I get return customers it makes me happy. You don't get that feeling often on eBay.

The key to selling on the BST is not to let the low ball offers, and worse, that dreadful silence that occurs after listing one of your treasures bother you. Sometimes you may even have a card priced fairly, but you just have to wait to find the right buyer. I cannot tell you how many times that I have been contacted by a member about a card that I listed on the BST a month ago and now they now want to buy it. Sometimes, just relisting a card in a different format does the trick.

Occasionally, there is a misunderstanding on the BST because we are using electronic instead of face to face communication. (I still haven't figured out how to use the smiley faces to correctly determine the appropriate tone.) However, most buyers here are very polite, and its not hard to work through a problem. Sometimes (not frequently), a buyer will make an offer and then disappear, but that happens on eBay, too. It is just part of the business.

Being patient is important when dealing on the BST. A good sense of humor helps as well.

The best part of selling a card on the BST is when you know that the buyer is happy to add a card to his or her collection that they really wanted. You may have gotten a little less than you wanted in money, but now you have a friend. The motivational speaker Zig Zigler used to say that "you can have everything in life that you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."

So, if you need to sell a card by a certain date you need to run straight auctions on eBay, but in my opinion the best place to sell is here.

I want to thank Leon, Scot and all the board members for giving us this platform to sell our cards.

Best regards,

Joe

[freakhappy]

Originally Posted by Northviewcats

I have had a lot of luck selling on both eBay and the BST. I'm not a big seller, but I usually average about $1500 to $2000 a month. I buy and sell to build my Prewar collection. Lately I've retired and I need to sell a bit to augment my retirement.

Usually on eBay I start my auctions at a low starting price and let the market determine the value. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but it all seems to average out for me. Also, I have found that you will get a higher price for HOF players and low to midgrade lots on eBay than anywhere else because there are so many buyers.

Lately, I have been selling more on the BST than on eBay. I really appreciate the relationships that I have built up with some of the collectors here. There are some really nice people on this Board. When I get return customers it makes me happy. You don't get that feeling often on eBay.

The key to selling on the BST is not to let the low ball offers, and worse, that dreadful silence that occurs after listing one of your treasures bother you. Sometimes you may even have a card priced fairly, but you just have to wait to find the right buyer. I cannot tell you how many times that I have been contacted by a member about a card that I listed on the BST a month ago and now they now want to buy it. Sometimes, just relisting a card in a different format does the trick.

Occasionally, there is a misunderstanding on the BST because we are using electronic instead of face to face communication. (I still haven't figured out how to use the smiley faces to correctly determine the appropriate tone.) However, most buyers here are very polite, and its not hard to work through a problem. Sometimes (not frequently), a buyer will make an offer and then disappear, but that happens on eBay, too. It is just part of the business.

Being patient is important when dealing on the BST. A good sense of humor helps as well.

The best part of selling a card on the BST is when you know that the buyer is happy to add a card to his or her collection that they really wanted. You may have gotten a little less than you wanted in money, but now you have a friend. The motivational speaker Zig Zigler used to say that "you can have everything in life that you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."

So, if you need to sell a card by a certain date you need to run straight auctions on eBay, but in my opinion the best place to sell is here.

I want to thank Leon, Scot and all the board members for giving us this platform to sell our cards.

Best regards,

Joe

Well said, Joe!

John, I'm sorry to hear about your situation and wish you the best of luck trying to get some sort of resolution.

[slidekellyslide]

I have not done a ton of business on the BST here, but have not had the best of luck when I do list something...While I think we do have a good sized pool of buyers here it is still dwarfed by ebay.

I recently listed a cereal box with 1961 Post cards on it...put it up here for a week or so at $500 OBO, never even got one offer. Put it on ebay for $500 BIN and it sold in less than 5 minutes. Not a complaint, I just realize we are smaller than ebay.

I have also sold some things here for more than I paid on ebay so it just depends on your item and your audience.

[ibuysportsephemera]

Originally Posted by Edwolf1963

A couple thoughts...

1. I had an eBay rating of "above standard" on my seller account for quite some time. One person went in last summer and bought 5-6 BIN's I had listed individually over the course of 24 hours. I wrote to him and asked if he was OK that I send all of them in one insured pkg. "Absolutely" - did that, all went fine, everyone happy. I loaded the tracking number for all the cards into one of the listings (not copy/repeat same into all of them) and then eBay dropped me to "below standard" as their "system" showed that I was not "90% within one day compliant". When I called and explained that I was, they were all in one pkg, I got nowhere. Just mindless babble (.. ever notice their Cust Svc people apply no common sense? Just read from a rule book). Seems like they try and do all possible to tell you stick it up your a$$ and go elsewhere - - to the point made by other members, can't see that sustaining long-term.

Ed, I had the same situation with 3 items...I called everyday for a week and finally had a supervisor remove the ding from my account. After I combined the items into one invoice, who would have thought that I needed to go back and enter the tracking number into each item individually. Just another example of a broken eBay.

Jeff

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by ibuysportsephemera

Ed, I had the same situation with 3 items...I called everyday for a week and finally had a supervisor remove the ding from my account. After I combined the items into one invoice, who would have thought that I needed to go back and enter the tracking number into each item individually. Just another example of a broken eBay.

Jeff

That's one of the advantages of using the Stamps.com software. It will let you combine different payments into one shipment and then report the shipping number back to Ebay for each item.

I try to avoid Ebays own software as much as possible. Whether it be shipping or listing. Too glitchy and they're always tinkering around with it, just for the sake of it.