Giving up on Ebay?

[smtjoy]

I got to say I am in Barrys camp. Ebay has been good to me as a buyer and seller. It's not perfect but its many times better than the pre ebay days. While Ebays fee are not cheap they are very in line with the auction houses so why are people not complaining about them?

Right now is the best buyers market I have seen in the last 7 years on ebay, if you have the money to spend its easy to get many cards for bargin prices. I think a lot of the negative we hear is from sellers for the opposite reasons, its hard for many sellers to swallow taking a loss, they at least want what they paid even if the market has moved lower. In my case I used to run a lot of .99 auctions but now I am only using .99 in cases of cards I just want to sell at any price, the cards I dont want to lose money on I put at auction at the starting price I want to sell at and if it fails to get a bid it goes into my store as a BIN.

Not sure about the future but ebay has been pushing for more auctions these last two weeks with a couple specials for half price listing fees and I think under the new pricing scheme some people will get free auction listings. We shall see.

[thekingofclout]

Originally Posted by smtjoy

I got to say I am in Barrys camp. Ebay has been good to me as a buyer and seller. It's not perfect but its many times better than the pre ebay days. While Ebays fee are not cheap they are very in line with the auction houses so why are people not complaining about them?

Right now is the best buyers market I have seen in the last 7 years on ebay, if you have the money to spend its easy to get many cards for bargin prices. I think a lot of the negative we hear is from sellers for the opposite reasons, its hard for many sellers to swallow taking a loss, they at least want what they paid even if the market has moved lower. In my case I used to run a lot of .99 auctions but now I am only using .99 in cases of cards I just want to sell at any price, the cards I dont want to lose money on I put at auction at the starting price I want to sell at and if it fails to get a bid it goes into my store as a BIN.

Not sure about the future but ebay has been pushing for more auctions these last two weeks with a couple specials for half price listing fees and I think under the new pricing scheme some people will get free auction listings. We shall see.

In my opinion, Scott has his thumb on the pulse of ebay regardless if you collect Baseball Cards, Pez, Fishing Lures, or Comics.

Good points all the way around Scott.

Best, Jimmy

[iggyman]

Originally Posted by smtjoy

While Ebays fee are not cheap they are very in line with the auction houses so why are people not complaining about them?

Okay, I let it slide the first time and I almost agree with everything that Scott, Barry, and now Jimmy said. But, I do take exception to one little itsy-bitsy-thingy.

Once eBay fees (starting on March 31) start hovering around what an auction house would charge. Then from my standpoint as a seller, that venue is "dead as a dodo bird!!!" It's a no brainer, because to sell on eBay I have to...................

grade cards,
create lots,
take pictures,
pay for image hostings/templates/scheduling,
write descriptions,
update listings,
reply to questions,
sweat it out waiting for a sniper(s) to rescue me,
send invoices,
create shipping labels,
answer "do I combine shipping" questions,
securely package cards,
go to the post office,
make small talk with a burly postal worker with bad breath,
answer "why have my cards not arrive" questions,
track lost packages,
issue full refunds,
issue partial refunds,
accept returns,
deal with non-paying bidders,
re-list items,
deal with eBay's resolution center,
explain to my wife why I spend so much time in front of the computer,
keep records of all my transactions for the IRS,
balance my books to to see if I am in the red,
purchase bubble mailers
purchase top loaders
purchase bubble wrap
purchase/find boxes
purchase six-pack and/or heart medication.

For now, the beer is working, but in a few more years the only thing left would be the heart medication. Thus, do I want high blood pressure or for the same fees and profit margin will I now send my stuff to auction houses for 90% less agravation? I might not look like Einstein, but after March 31st, me and him will have alot in common.

Lovely Day...

[thekingofclout]

Originally Posted by iggyman

Okay, I let it slide the first time and I almost agree with everything that Scott, Barry, and now Jimmy said. But, I do take exception to one little itsy-bitsy-thingy.

Once eBay fees (starting on March 31) start hovering around what an auction house would charge. Then from my standpoint as a seller, that venue is "dead as a dodo bird!!!" It's a no brainer, because to sell on eBay I have to...................

grade cards,
create lots,
take pictures,
pay for image hostings/templates/scheduling,
write descriptions,
update listings,
reply to questions,
sweat it out waiting for a sniper(s) to rescue me,
send invoices,
create shipping labels,
answer "do I combine shipping" questions,
securely package cards,
go to the post office,
make small talk with a burly postal worker with bad breath,
answer "why have my cards not arrive" questions,
track lost packages,
issue full refunds,
issue partial refunds,
accept returns,
deal with non-paying bidders,
re-list items,
deal with eBay's resolution center,
explain to my wife why I spend so much time in front of the computer,
keep records of all my transactions for the IRS,
balance my books to to see if I am in the red,
purchase bubble mailers
purchase top loaders
purchase bubble wrap
purchase/find boxes
purchase six-pack and/or heart medication.

For now, the beer is working, but in a few more years the only thing left would be the heart medication. Thus, do I want high blood pressure or for the same fees and profit margin will I now send my stuff to auction houses for 90% less agravation? I might not look like Einstein, but after March 31st, me and him will have alot in common.

Lovely Day...

You don't have to do any of those things Iggy. Either you choose to, or not to, do them. Now if you are trying to do this as full time employment, just remember this...when going into business for yourself, you get to choose ANY hours that you want to work! Any 14 hours a day.

Best, Jimmy

And BTW... Yes, it is a lovely day here in in Pasadena

[smtjoy]

While I do sell a lot on ebay I have many cards that when I do decide to sell them, they will go to an auction house as i think that is the best way to maximize my revenue.

Even with the fee increases I just feel ebays sweet spot is cards in the $1-$200 range, thats a range many auctions do not sell in and/or want to combine them into lots. I also feel that ebay has tons more low end bidders than auction houses, just goto the CU boards and see how many posters there buy all the time from ebay but have never bid in an auction.

[iggyman]

Look it, I'm not arguing that eBay isn't a great place to sell stuff or that it is too much work. The new changes, actually make it a little bit cheaper to sell cards under $25. But my point is simple, starting March 31th eBay's fees will reach the 12% threshold and at that point, from my perspective as a seller, the rewards are not worth the work. At least, not when I have other options.

Lovely Day...

[DaveW]

I have to say that as a guy that buys mostly under $100 cards, I love EBay. I do think there's way too much overpriced BIN stuff, but I just filter that out and look at the cards I'm interested in. I can usually find something interesting to buy. Now if I were a seller, I'd probably be annoyed with all the changes but where else would I sell all the low priced stuff? Maybe on the BST here where you have a pretty good pre-sorted audience.
- Dave

[teetwoohsix]

It sounds like ebay needs to appeal more to the sellers again,lower the fees and please both sides-sellers & buyers.

It sounds like only the sellers have negative issues with ebay.And without the sellers,what do you got?