MAH645
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posted on December 3, 2003 02:45:06 PM new
I can not for the life of me figure out why so many sellers are jumping on E-Bay cutting prices to the bone. If you ask these same people to work a public job for $6.00 an hour,they wouldn't do it. Unless these people get their merchandise for free,ship for free and don't pay any fees to anybody they can't be making money.
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max40
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posted on December 3, 2003 03:03:23 PM new
And some do it year after year.
Buy high, sell low, make it up in volume.
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horsey88
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posted on December 3, 2003 03:09:35 PM new
Some people post they are making a fortune in one thread and then start a new one bitching about margins a few minutes later.
I just love this place
[ edited by horsey88 on Dec 3, 2003 03:10 PM ]
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OhMsLucy
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posted on December 3, 2003 04:27:40 PM new
You got that right, Horsey! So true...
I get a kick out of the ones claiming to be selling everything they list when if you look at their auctions they have zero bids.
Why?
Too funny!
Lucy
P.S. I love it too.
Watch the donut, not the hole.
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MAH645
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posted on December 3, 2003 05:46:35 PM new
You mean my auctions don't have any bids,news to me. I didn't know everyone knew my user name on E-Bay.
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OhMsLucy
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posted on December 3, 2003 05:56:46 PM new
Not you, MAH. There are some here who do that, though. I can't understand why...
I don't have anything listed at the moment but if I did I sure wouldn't come here trumpeting my success if it weren't true.
A lot of people don't use their eBay name here. I do. Don't understand that either.
Oh well, as I said in another thread,
I grow old...I grow old...I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. T.S. Eliot
Lucy
P.S. You know, always did like ole' J. Alfred Prufrock.
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bunnicula
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:12:32 PM new
Well, a lot of the time, auctions don't get any bids 'til the last day. Many times not until the last hour of the last day. I can honestly say that I sell 90-100% of everything I put up in the normal way of things--but you wouldn't think it if you looked at any of my listings except those due to close.
Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
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bunnicula
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:14:59 PM new
A lot of people don't use their eBay name here. I do. Don't understand that either.
I don't know if it still holds true, but I signed up when this was Auctionwatch, and they said in their instructions that it sould be better to use an ID that was NOT the one you use on eBay. So I didn't.
Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
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OhMsLucy
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:20:05 PM new
So true, Bunni. Wish I had your sell-through rate.
A few years ago it wasn't like that. Remember when all you had to do was wait for your auction to show up in search? Then instead of seeing page hits you saw bids.
I'm referring to folks who say they have zillions of bids already when they don't. What's their point?
As far as MAH's original question, maybe they make it up in volume or shipping cost. Or perhaps they bought too much stock and just need to unload it and recover as much as they can.
Lucy
I grow old...I grow old...I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. T.S. Eliot
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replaymedia
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:20:29 PM new
I got an email not too long ago, complaining about my prices, that they must be too high because NONE of my items had bids.
Then I had to answer him, explaining that all my eBay listings were exclusively FIXED PRICE items. I hardly ever run actual auctions that need to get bids. That doesn't mean I don't keep plenty busy making sales.
So before you go off claiming people don't sell because they don't have any current bids, keep in mind that there are ways to sell on eBay other than getting bids.
-------------------
Replay Media
Games of all kinds!
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MAH645
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:30:05 PM new
I've been using FP on most of my listings,you can move stuff alot faster and you don't have to wait until the auctions go off to get sales.
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OhMsLucy
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:31:21 PM new
Replay, I'm not talking about sales.
I just don't understand why someone would come in here and say something about their auctions that isn't true. Puzzles me...
Lucy
I grow old...I grow old...I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. T.S. Eliot
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bunnicula
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:31:40 PM new
Yeah, those were the days. Thing is, folks have cottoned on to the fact that, with eBay, nothing is rare or hard-to-find anymore, so they are being a lot more picky than in the beginning.
And how much money/profit you are making is dependent on exactly what kinds of things you are selling and how many items you put up every day or week. My 90-100% sell rate sound very impressive,  , but I sell used books for the most part and only put up 5 - 10 items each day. Upon a rare occassion, one of my items will go for a couple of hundred dollars (very rare), but mostly they sell for anywhere between $5.00 and $35 so you can see I'm not making money hand over fist, here. I am small potatoes.
Some books I get for free, most I get for 25 - 50 cents. I use as many used boxes as I can, but I do have to buy bubble envelopes; and then there's bubblewrap, tissue, and tape to cut into my profit. Some here will say "why bother when you don't make very much?" Why? Because it allows me to support my mule, and puts extra money in my pocket. And it's fun. And I am as business-like about it as most here who sell online to support themselves.
Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
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OhMsLucy
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:33:54 PM new
Do those of you who used fixed price sell the same things all the time? Is it like putting a BIN on an auction?
Lucy
I grow old...I grow old...I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. T.S. Eliot
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OhMsLucy
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:43:36 PM new
I'd starve if eBay was my source of income. For me, I do it because it's fun. Besides, it keeps me off the streets and outta the bars! LOL!
I admire those who can make a living selling on eBay. It's not easy any more.
Bunni - do you sell books on Amazon? I've had some that did really well.
Lucy
I grow old...I grow old...I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. T.S. Eliot
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MAH645
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:44:33 PM new
Right now I'm selling DVDs,after the first of the year I thought I would buy pallet loads of new books. I buy used books when I can get a good deal, but where I'm at thats hard to do. I used to sell on Amazon all winter,but haven't listed much there yet this year. I'm waiting for the Flea to end.
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ebayvet
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posted on December 3, 2003 06:54:09 PM new
I don't know that most sellers are "cutting to the bone" - Most listings are auction format, and it could be bidding is low...You don't know how people do business, it is possible to sell an item for 1 cent and make a profit.
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replaymedia
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posted on December 3, 2003 07:31:10 PM new
OhMsLucy asked: "Is it like putting a BIN on an auction? "
No. Not at all.
Back when I did auctions, I rarely had anybody use BIN for an auction item. In my opinion, I think buyers have the mindset that the starting bid is a fair price, but the BIN is a rip-off. If you have two prices, who is going to choose the higher one?
With Fixed Price, they have no other choice, it's take it or leave it. Many do their research, see that it's a good price, and decide to take it.
But FP is not appropriate for everything. Collectibles and items that don't have easy to set pricing are not good FP items. New things and "commodity items" are good FP choices.
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Replay Media
Games of all kinds!
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bunnicula
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posted on December 3, 2003 07:32:26 PM new
Bunni - do you sell books on Amazon? I've had some that did really well.
I used to sell on Amazon. It never had the sell rates for me that eBay does, and then it got even slower. And then slower. So finally I stopped selling there at all.
Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
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ihula
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posted on December 3, 2003 08:17:33 PM new
Amazon sounds like half.com. I used to list videos there for $6.00 or $7.00. Now those same videos are listed at 75 cents (half.com's minimum). Not worth it to try to keep track of all the merchandise in so many different places.
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pelorus
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posted on December 4, 2003 04:00:44 PM new
About the cut-to-the-bone prices:
My theory is that these sellers are relative novices that either: a) have not yet realized that their meagre profits are not worth their time, or b) are desperately trying to unload stuff that they bought and now realize is almost worthless.
People can't sell items for 99 cent profit forever, can they?
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lindajean
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posted on December 4, 2003 04:52:28 PM new
I don't know about everyone, but I do know it costs me $2.69 for every postcard I sell. If I only get the $5.00 beginning bid and add the $1.50 shipping that leaves me a profit of $3.81 each.
It breaks down like this:
Ebay listing fee $.30
Ebay FVF $.25
Mailer $.20
Stamp $.60
Paypal Fee $.49
Cost of postcard (average) $.25
Ebay fees for the two postcards that don't sell for every one that does: $.60
That comes to $2.69.
Luckily, not everyone uses Paypal and I often get more than $5.00 each. But, how anyone can list these at $1.95 or $3.00 and have hundreds and hundreds (even thousands) listed is beyond me!
I AM NOT LINDAJEAN ON EBAY.
Edited to add the cost of my postcards into the figures.
[ edited by lindajean on Dec 4, 2003 04:54 PM ]
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neglus
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posted on December 4, 2003 05:33:23 PM new
Lindajean - Funny thing about those people listing hundreds and thousands...their sell through rate isn't any better than ours!
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happy4123
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posted on December 4, 2003 06:03:04 PM new
I buy most of my items in thrift stores, a hobby since I was a kid and long before ebay. I hardly ever pay more than $2 for an item and many times usually 25 or 50 cents. Designer clothing maybe $5 but then it will sell for over $50. So, to make 5 or 6 bucks on 25 cents is pretty good and it usually goes for more in the end. that add's up at the end of the month. It is also just extra cash for me.
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lindajean
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posted on December 4, 2003 06:03:43 PM new
I've noticed that. I would hate to have their Ebay bill. I guess they make it up in volume like someone posted earlier, but for the extra work involved it just doesn't make sense.
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MAH645
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posted on December 4, 2003 06:19:13 PM new
I'm seeing sellers selling DVDs for 99 cents and getting very little for shipping. I can't buy a new DVD for 99 cents including shipping. Some sellers do make it up on the shipping so I can see them making money. I use part of my shipping cost to cover E-Bay and Paypal. Post Cards are a great item to sell, they can be scanned and are easy to ship. I like the stuff that can be scanned.
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horsey88
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posted on December 8, 2003 09:38:42 AM new
Sure they can sell it cheaper if they get the merchandise via "five-finger" discount.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/7416849.htm
People are basically lazy.
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MAH645
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posted on December 8, 2003 11:30:01 PM new
That is an interesting article thanks for sharing horsey.
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sparkz
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posted on December 8, 2003 11:53:29 PM new
Economists have long known that the sale of stolen merchandise has consistently resulted in very favorable profit margins for the seller. They have also proven that the fees of criminal defense attornies can rapidly erode those profit margins for the seller.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
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horsey88
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posted on December 9, 2003 11:29:23 AM new
Yes here are some more students who got into the selling action.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2693420/detail.html
[ edited by horsey88 on Dec 9, 2003 11:34 AM ]
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