What happened to people making offers and asking questions on ebay?

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by Butch7999

Similar to what Rock, Daryl, Trib, and Mark have cited above, we've been made gun-shy about making an offer because
too many vendors are provoked at a glance, soooo offended and outraged that anyone would dare to imagine an overpriced item
might be obtainable for anything less than the BIN or auction start price.
We've even gotten nasty replies after merely asking for details on items poorly photographed and/or inadequately described.
Also, so many eBay BINs are 200%, 500%, 1000% above any established or probable market value -- there's just no point
to trying to make an offer at a reasonable price.

Yeah, these are weird times on eBay. I asked yepbg if he would take $4,000 for an item listed at $4,410. He said no and raised the price to $5,780.

It's his prerogative, of course, but it felt like a passive-aggressive response.

I don't usually leave much wiggle room when I sell on eBay either, but that's because I'm just a hobbyist who gets hit with fees on the buying and selling end, and I'm usually just listing to break even or take a modest loss. Failing that, the stuff stays in my collection.

For example, I bought a card on REA with a $3,400 hammer price, but my cost was $4,375 after taxes.

When I found a better copy of the same card just a week later, I offered the REA card at $4,250 shipped in multiple places, with zero interest. I had to list it at $4,750 on eBay to hit that $4,250 target, and wasn't willing go any lower. The person who used BIN ended up paying $5,100 after taxes.

I can't even imagine what the spread is like for someone who has overhead and does this for a living. In this ecosystem, the auction houses and eBay are the real winners.