eBay auctions

[Snapolit1]

I could be wrong, but I think in the early days of eBay they charged you a minimal amount every time you listed an item. That might limit the variety of items listed, but would surely limited the endless relistings at insane BINs.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I could be wrong, but I think in the early days of eBay they charged you a minimal amount every time you listed an item. That might limit the variety of items listed, but would surely limited the endless relistings at insane BINs.

This is exactly how you cut down on the number of unrealistic BIN's. There will still be some for sure, but when you force people to have some skin in the game in order to play, they quit seeing it as some kind of free lotto ticket. "Maybe I'll hook someone, maybe not, but if it doesn't cost me anything to try, who cares? $1000 reprint coming up." Even a nominal up-front fee will deter much of the endless relisting. Or if you want to encourage true auctions, only offer free listings for $0.99 starting price auction listings. The days that everyone pines for, with regular offerings of reasonable-starting-price auctions were a direct result of tiered listing fees based on your auction starting price and a basic fee for Store listings which were then hidden from general view unless you specifically searched Store listings. If it cost more for sellers to roll the dice and have their items seen, they would be more motivated to move the merch rather than rolling the dice over and over and paying a fee each time.

As much as I like Free Listings (and take advantage of them whenever I can), they have killed the collectibles market on eBay. The problem is, eBay does not focus on nor care about the sports collectibles (or any other collectibles) market. It is a small fraction of their overall sales, and they have worked hard to skew it that way. Even if the suggestion to legislate lower prices for each successive listing were possible, it's not worth their time to implement.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

I don't see what the big deal is. I would never hide BIN's from my searches in fear I'd lose out on something really valuable. Besides you can set up eBay to only return searches on new items so once you see them you don't have to see them again.

[1952boyntoncollector]

people also forget that it has been discussed that auctions sometimes make a same card bid up to more than a BIN, than the underbidder than snaps up the BIN...

some people are real prejudiced on BINs that even if a card is listed decently they never take a look at it..they just pay more in an auction...you could win a card tomorrow on pwcc and list it for 10% less on BIN and theres a good chance it willl sit there for months even if there were several underbidders that bid more than your list price in the prior auction.

i for one have been turned down on a card i offered in a private sale to list it at auction and see the same guy that turned down my card bid higher on it on ebay then he offered me direct......

i also count BINs with cards that are at 'auction', but are starting with 'sell price' with the first bid....

[irv]

Kinda off topic but E-Bay related.

I just asked a CDN E-Bay seller if he ever sells privately if his cards he has listed don't sell on E-Bay?

His reply surprised me, considering E-Bays lack of following their own rules/guidelines. (Battlefield, for example)

He stated, once a card(s) are listed on E-Bay, it is against E-Bay rules to sell privately??

So, according to him, if his cards don't sell, he is forever indebted to E-Bay regardless because those cards were once listed there?

I know I have seen many use both this forum, A/H's and card shows that also use E-Bay, so his answer has me questioning if he is in fact correct??

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

No, he's wrong. You are not allowed to use ebay to solicit sales off site. If they catch you using ebay messaging to do so you face serious repercussions, that's also why they don't allow you to enter email addresses in messages. However they have no control over what you do with your cards off site. I obviously sell cards I have listed on ebay at live shows all the time. Recently here I sold a card that was listed on ebay.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

No, he's wrong. You are not allowed to use ebay to solicit sales off site. If they catch you using ebay messaging to do so you face serious repercussions, that's also why they don't allow you to enter email addresses in messages. However they have no control over what you do with your cards off site. I obviously sell cards I have listed on ebay at live shows all the time. Recently here I sold a card that was listed on ebay.

Exactly what I thought.

Thanks, Scott.