Has ebay created insanity?

[Mr. Mitt]

Would it be appropriate, and feasible, to auction an item on the BST? I see it as something of a "closed bid" auction where an item would be posted/described and a time frame given where bids will be accepted. Interested parties would email their top bid to the seller and the highest bid wins the item at completion. Obviously, some underhanded things could happen. Since it is "closed", the seller could bypass a top bid and sell to a friend instead, alert a potential bidder of the current high bid so he could top it, or decide at its conclusion that the bids didn't go high enough and hold on to the item. I suppose members could post their bids on net54 for all to see; one reply must top the prior. Leon, is this something you'd give your blessing to?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Mr. Mitt

Would it be appropriate, and feasible, to auction an item on the BST? I see it as something of a "closed bid" auction where an item would be posted/described and a time frame given where bids will be accepted. Interested parties would email their top bid to the seller and the highest bid wins the item at completion. Obviously, some underhanded things could happen. Since it is "closed", the seller could bypass a top bid and sell to a friend instead, alert a potential bidder of the current high bid so he could top it, or decide at its conclusion that the bids didn't go high enough and hold on to the item. I suppose members could post their bids on net54 for all to see; one reply must top the prior. Leon, is this something you'd give your blessing to?

First of all I would have to say it is Caveat Emptor over there. That being said I do think an auction can be done, and as my good friend Rich K. alluded too, I have already done it. I had decent luck at it too. There has to be a ton of trust on the bidders parts and clear, up front communication on the sellers part. There were 4-5 bidders on the card I auctioned and I think it went very smoothly....with someone hitting a Buy It Now (it was always there) after several days into the auction. I am not sure I totally condone it as it's so risky (with issues in general)....All of that being said if you lay everything out on the table (whatever your rules will be) then I don't have a problem with it. It was also done one other time when a friend auctioned a fairly high valued item off...and as far as I know that too went fine. If someone does one I don't want to hear there was a problem and can I help, because I can't force anyone to do anything. Regular governmental laws prevail. Also if a deal gets totally messed up I might not let those individuals do another BST auction, depending on the situation. best regards

[dennis]

be serious......this isn't an auction site. it would be a total mess

[danmckee]

"stupid idiot moron buyers" I guess this is me for leaving a 4 instead of a 5 if the item was shipped 10 days after paypal payment or I was charged $5 for something that arrived with a stamp on it.

[ChiefBenderForever]

No Dan, not you at all, I was refering to buyers who are blatantly ripping off sellers and causing problems. I don't even pay attention to the ratings, if ebay suspends my acct more power to them. Sorry you thought I was refering to you. Most buyers are really great, I don't sell that much but noticed a trend of buyers asking for tracking numbers the next day and if I didn't send it DC they were asking for a refund a day after that as not received. I had to raise my shipping from 2.oo to 3.00 so I could get confimation on everything because I had a string of buyers saying they never received the card or cards. If a buyer does that on a 10.00 transaction to 100 sellers he is up 1000.00 over the course of a year or months so it is quite the little scam some are pulling.

[danmckee]

no sweat Johnny, I actually agree with you though I don't think I am an unreasonable buyer for dropping a 4 for the situations I stated. I sell myself and try to ship next day and charge $3 shipping and insurance is always optional as I feel postal insurance is the 2nd largest legal scam behind priority mail for light items. Dan

[danmckee]

I once again agree with you Johnny, that all makes very good sense. Though if you print your shipping labels through paypal, a stiff package at 2oz cost $1.40 and the delivery confirmation is .19 totalling $1.58. At $3 shipping I cover all the materials plus the shipping charge and I am about even Steven. Dan.

[FrankWakefield]

I've left 4s... and less a few times, if the amount charged for shipping is significantly more than they spent. Sellers should buy a plain envelope and reuse bubblewrap... Don't pass on to the buyer $1.00 for a new padded envelope.

The new system is a mess... they shouldn't drop at 4.3 average, but maybe below 3.0. Then feedback could be honest. Also, multiple 1s and 2s should NOT be offset with 5s, there should be a system beyond the simple recent average that takes into consideration multiple low scores.


I may well try to auction a T206 on the BST... I'll list it, folks can post offers. Post only if offering more than the last offer. No time limit ('cause the time limit factor on eBay, with sniping, renders it something other than a true auction). I'll announce at some point that the auction is about to close, or that the auction ends for lack of a sufficient bid. We'll see if we end up with a transaction, something additional to whine about, or both.

[martyogelvie]

Dan,
Don't get me started on shipping fees. One of my pet peeves. I don't mind paying for what I get but I hate getting cards in a letter envelope with a stamp on it after paying $3 to $5 or more in shipping fees. That drives me nuts. I peruse ebay looking for bargains so when I find one, the seller trys to juice his pockets by skimping on shipping. It doesn't happen a lot, most of the sellers are pretty good about shipping especially since ebay enacted the newest feedback system where you can rate the shipping costs.

oh well, of my box. Back to the point. I have not sold a card on eBay in a long long time. 2 years maybe. I buy cards off ebay weekly and would hate to see that avenue die off. Another note, I did recently sell on old laptop on eBay. Things went flawless so its still a great way to hock your wares.

[makersmarkambassador]

Yeah, I never really understood why sellers were suspended if their rating was 4.3 or less. So when was 4 out of 5 stars a bad thing? Most of the time, sellers should expect to get 4 stars. 5 stars are perfect and not one seller is perfect. I never look at the ratings anyway, still look at the overall feedback %.

[Exhibitman]

Is that the DSR categories don't cover every element of the deal. All it covers is accuracy of description, communication with seller, speed of shipment and reasonableness of shipping charges. Nowhere is there a place to rate the seller on packaging. So if I get a damaged item because the packaging was not adequate, as happened recently, I leave a low rating ... where? And the system is in need of refinement. There should be some way to prevent a buyer from dinging a seller for slow shipment when the item was shipped in accordance with the stated shipping terms in the listing. I had that happen to me, where I shipped as advertised but the buyer wanted it faster than that. And you should never get dinged for shipping charges when shipping is free; that DSR option should be auto-filled as a 5.

[ChiefBenderForever]

If ebay suspends sellers due to stupid idiot moron buyers then it is loss of income for them so it really doesn't make any cents for anybody.