posted on June 10, 2003 08:44:48 PM new
Ebay latest effort to bring in more sellers and buyers is too little too late. There are some on ebay that will love this effort because they are the small time under $10 sellers. Real collectables sell well over $10 for the most part. The real money for ebay is not in small items but the high priced ones. Slowly and gradually ebay has lost the attraction for the high priced items as they once did about 2 or 3 years ago. Many buyers no longer look on ebay for real collectables because the high priced ones has moved to other sites or brick stores. Sellers realize that it is not profitable to place high priced, over $100, on ebay because of the high fees. gradually ebay is becoming a junk store. This latest effort to cut listing fees 50% on items $9.99 or less simply reflects their mentality. Lets wait for a real free listing day.
posted on June 10, 2003 10:47:53 PM new
I bet 100% off would not be enough either. Read the notice, these are for items that start at $9.99 - I often start auctions at that rate that will go much higher, both to encourage bids and save on listing fees. I think your statement of many bidders not looking on ebay is pure bunk. I know many collectors use ebay BECAUSE there is a good chance what they are looking for is there. Why would a collector not use ebay? Maybe some dealers moved away from ebay, but those are most likely the ones that have the same inventory year after year because they are priced out of the market...
posted on June 10, 2003 10:59:39 PM new
I'd also like to add that if you ONLY list on FLD then your sell through rate is bound to be lower...FLD is timed to generate eBay action when things are DEAD!! and the market is flooded with listings and that is bound to affect your sell through rate.
I am going to list items now and on FLDs if they ever have another but give me the February-March market anytime over sales during FLDs!!
posted on June 10, 2003 11:37:17 PM new
50% off is great, it's generous, it's enough. eBay doesn't have to give us anything, it isn't to keep us here, they know we would stay anyway.
posted on June 11, 2003 01:15:39 AM new
Well most of my listings on ebays I start at 14.99 to 19.99, so this wount mean anything to me. The business has been slow, so thats why I start it at that price point since most is first bid wins anyway.
i prefer the FLD for Fixed price auctions better. However, this can pursuade many who sells at half on low priced books and things to come to ebays with their "junks". Maybe thats the main intention of ebays, since they want to do away with half anyway?
posted on June 11, 2003 07:25:49 AM new
I'm thrilled to death,not only will I be posting as much as I can,it will maybe help get some goods buys for the 127 yardsale. Thanks E-Bay!
posted on June 11, 2003 07:32:48 AM new
ebay may roll out 50%off listing fee for other items 10-24.99;25-49.99 and so on at later dates.
but i agree,i collect antique prints of a certain country and i will go to specialty auctions to bid on them,thats where the nice ones are listed/
there are similar prints on ebay but i will be taking too much of a chance at 10-15 dollars shipping .
posted on June 11, 2003 08:52:26 AM new
As I see it, the choice today is simple:
I can
1) argue with dbest all the livelong day, or
2) go list all my leftovers from deadbeat bidders, new merch, weird merch, etc.
If I choose 1), 14 days from now I will receive zero cash.
If I choose 2), hmmmm....
Sorry dbest and you other naysayers, you just ain't worth it.
--
California voters: Be a part of the first-ever successful gubernatorial recall! Defy media pundits! $21 million of our money is going down the tubes daily because of our incompetent corrupt governor. Visit http://www.recallgraydavis.com to download your recall petition.
posted on June 11, 2003 08:55:34 AM new
RIGHT ON FLUFF!!!! I wish listing weren't so BORING or I wouldn't be diverted to peek at this board every now and again!! I think I need ritalin to stay on task today!
posted on June 11, 2003 09:43:41 AM new
Well, I agree with dbest. I am listig 9 items that I bought over the weekend, not one is less than $50.00. What kind of a deal do I get? Not one Dxzx thing!
posted on June 11, 2003 12:12:17 PM new
". Sellers realize that it is not profitable to place high priced, over $100, on ebay because of the high fees."
Wrong ... as I see it the total fees for anything over $100 (and most under) is about 3%
Nothing wrong with that, I'd pay anyone 3% to sell my stuff. Have you seen what the Realtors (TM) charge to sell a $500,000 house?
posted on June 11, 2003 12:56:51 PM new
but the 100 dollar item which sold ,the profit is not that great and you have to use that profit to pay for its listing fee ,final value fee PLUS THE OTHER 100 DOLLARS ITEMS WHICH GET NO BIDS!!!!!!!!!
this is what get the sellers ,eventually there is a serious cashflow problem,what you get from paypal and money order is not enough to pay off your cc bill.
posted on June 11, 2003 01:04:39 PM new
*hint*
60 minutes airing eBaY segment in conjunction with trying to get sellers to list collectibles for $9.99
*end of hint*
posted on June 11, 2003 01:12:00 PM new
For all Regular Auction-Style, Fixed Price listings, and eBay Motors non-vehicles listings whose starting price is less than or equal to $9.99, the insertion fee will be $0.15 on the U.S. site (www.ebay.com). This includes listings created prior to June 11, 2003 and scheduled to start during the promotional period June 11-13, 2003.
You do not have to start auctions at $9.99 they can be started at a penny or $1.00 if I'm reading this right.
posted on June 11, 2003 01:22:17 PM new
Stopwhning, How do you what my profit on a $150.00 item is? I wouldn't list it I didn't think it would sell & I would get my 40% markup. If you can't get at least 40% markup, then you should not be selling. I sell a lot of china to Replacements Ltd. If I can't make 50% after shipping, I don't buy the china. This is not a hobby for me, it is supplemental income.
capotasto: You are so right, take an item to a live auction house & see what commission they get. Anywhere from 20 to 35 per cent, plus they hit the buyer with another 10 percent.
[ edited by sanmar on Jun 11, 2003 01:26 PM ]
posted on June 11, 2003 01:40:14 PM new
sanmar ,i am not targeting any particular seller,i am commenting on the general trend.
this is my eighth year on ebay,many sellers on the old march are gone.
like i said ,a seller who list a dozen items for 100 on ebay for 7 days and say 2 -4 got sold and the profit aint that great,that profit has to be used to pay the ebay listing fee of 12 items and final value fee of 2-4 items.
there is no need to get too emotional on this issue,some sellers sell in a niche market and do well,some do not do as well,some lose money ,thats just business the capitalist way.
i am commenting on the general trend as a whole,like i said 8 years make me an old war horse!!
posted on June 11, 2003 04:39:15 PM new
I'm new to this forum. BTW, is Vendio owned by Ebay, is our discussion private?
It seems that except for the really high priced items like homes, that Ebay has indeed become a yard sale place. When I search to compare prices for things that I have, I see starting prices at 5.99 and 9.99.
There are several collectible and "I want" sites where the buyer and seller get together and barter.
posted on June 11, 2003 05:06:29 PM new
vendio is not owned by ebay,but i would not be surprised if someone lurking on this board works for ebay or its competitors??is there any??
i know on other boards,such as yahoo shops discussion,there are MSN lurkers.
posted on June 11, 2003 05:55:39 PM new
Hey ahe3, I see your still evolving while other good dealers and bidders are leaving ebay just like I said a couple days ago. Ebay is grabbing at straws on all this $9.99 stuff, $9.99 doesn't make anybody money it just clutters up the ebay site with junk. Another good reason good dealers and buyers are leaving.
posted on June 11, 2003 06:51:33 PM new
Apparently few sellers took advantage of the 1/2 off listing price. There is barely a blip up in listing numbers so far.
posted on June 11, 2003 09:04:41 PM new
dbest, I make several bids each day that are over $100 and I regularly get outbid. If the collectors have left eBay, I sure can't tell. They sure seem to want to bid on the same auctions I do.
Of course I use esnipe for what I REALLY must own.
sanmar, I am curious. Do you track China Replacements eBay sales to see if the stuff you sold them shows up in their auctions?
posted on June 11, 2003 09:19:37 PM new
hotcupoftea
I regularly get out bid on $100- $500 item also, but that is the way it is suppose to be, but my observation that there are a lot fewer of these collectable items as there use to be with quality. I use to search and find many of these such items now its not worth the bother because they are not there. No I do not track anyone. Waiting on free listing day!!
posted on June 11, 2003 09:47:27 PM new
dbest, the high end stuff is on eBay; it is just that most of it gets listed during the winter months.
I keep my best goodies for the winter months because I know from experience that at least half of the collectors are away from their computers on and off during the summer months, thus there is less competitive bidding. And I have some stuff I am not willing to part with yet, that some of my customers have made me offers on, such as one special piece that was on exhibit at a national art museum a few years ago. And then I have the problem, well maybe it doesn't appear as a problem to others, but my inventory is on display in my home, and when friends and customers call and ask to drop in, or ask to be invited to lunch or tea, they see the special things I have reserved for winter sales, go oh oh oh I must own it beg beg beg whimper whimper, I set a price, and out the door it goes.
I know of quite a few sellers who only sell their antiques during the winter months, or who like me, sell the rare and desirable during the winter months, and just a few so-so things during the summer months and the summer months are spent on inventory acquisition, typically meaning some fun road trips to make the acquisitions.
The best way to do business with eBay is to use eBay to start your business, auction lesser items with a few choicer items. This way you build up a customer base over time and learn who the collectors are who want such and such. Eventually you reach a point where more of the sales income if off-eBay than on-eBay. Ouch, maybe I just proved your point, because if other sellers follow my model, then perhaps a percentage of the rare and choice does not reach eBay any longer, and is sold directly to the customer base off-eBay.
posted on June 11, 2003 10:22:43 PM new
Well some of you can build a customer base, but I sell a variety of items ranging from dinner china to far out collectibles, i.e cloisenne, Tea Sets, Silver ware, etc. So it is hard to bulid a clientel, like someone who deals in shoes, jewelery, etc. Don't get me wrong, I do alright, just not too many repeats.
posted on June 11, 2003 11:16:22 PM new
I think it definately depends on the niche as far as repeat customers. I have 3 or four customers who buy from me every week on one account - one has been with me since day 1 and has become a friend of sorts. We email and joke abou many different subjects and I give him a head up on new items I have found that I think he will like. On other accounts, I have few to no repeats, it's a niche to niche thing I guess.
I have a couple sellers that I buy from regularly but because I know their product and when I need that product I go back to my proven seller - I don't check their listings unless there is a specific item I need to replenish. The only exception may be an electronics seller that won me over last week with their astounding CS.
I bought a piece of equipment that did not have a specific feature I needed. I assumed it would have the feature as other models do. Without the feature, the machine is useless to me. Oh well, my loss, I screwed up and luckily found a friend to purchase it but took a small loss. The company emailed to make sure I had recieved and was happy with the piece and I mentioned that they should include that the model does not have the specific feature. They replied offering a complete refund (including shipping), all I need to do was return - at their cost. or they could give me a partial refund if I wanted to keep it. I told them that I had resold for a small loss and they refunded the amount that I lost. I am an electronics junkie and good sellers in that relm are hard to find on ebay so I will probably check their listings from time to time when I need a fix
posted on June 12, 2003 12:02:29 AM new
Collectibles have drastically changed over the years. Back in 1998 I bought over 100 collector plates. I paid $10 each.
The John Wayne plates went for over $100 each, the Gone With the Wind Plates went for $50 to $75 each. The I Love Lucy Plates went for $35 to $50 each and the rest averaged $30. I did very well.
But, today, I would have lost money. Sadly, that is the way it is with most items. It seems thousands of these (or hundreds of thousands) were printed and half of them have found their way to Ebay.
Now, I concentrate on lower end collectibles and am happy to make $3 or $4 for each after fees etc. I list more and Ebay makes more, but I still come out ahead. So, it makes a little spending money. But, nothing like the good old days!
