flibmeister wrote: FWIW, here's my take on Ebay auctions: as a seller, I love it. As a buyer, not so much.
The stuff I've sold on Ebay has gone great--
But buying? Why? I like to buy at bargain prices. When someone "wins" an Ebay auction, by definition, that means that person is willing to spend more for that item than anybody else on the planet-- does that sound like a bargain?
Thanks. You made my day. I thought I was the only one out here that found the terminology... odd.
I always get a chuckle when somebody says they "won" on ebay!
"But buying? Why? I like to buy at bargain prices. When someone "wins" an Ebay auction, by definition, that means that person is willing to spend more for that item than anybody else on the planet-- does that sound like a bargain?"
Well, that's true of any auction, including your traditional "Going, going, gone" live-action type. The item goes to whoever places the highest value on it.
joanne0012 wrote: Well, that's true of any auction, including your traditional "Going, going, gone" live-action type. The item goes to whoever places the highest value on it.
Which makes perfect sense if the item being sold is rare or hard to find. Supply and demand at work.
But much of what's sold on Ebay isn't rare or hard to find-- it's just used stuff. But, people pay top dollar for it anyway.
joanne0012, nuts. I didn't see that, and manually send the buyer a refund by just sending $$$ to his email address. It's the first time I ever ran into that problem, and the buyer had a pretty much silly mostly invalid gripe about the thing at that. (The item is an antique)
Yes, people can go bonkers on ''winning'' a bid. What eBay is really good for (when buying) is getting something common and plentiful such as the Fujifilm Z1 I bought for my mother three years ago. (I surprised her with it) It's a NICE little camera, about the size of a deck of playing cards, yet has a big 2.5'' LCD screen and 6 megapixels. It was $500 new at the time.
I used my ''usual'' method, which is head for a camera shop, and do a hands-on of what to get. I liked the Z1 the best, so then I said ‘’I’d think about it’’ and left the brick and mortar shop to head home and log into eBay. I got a new-in-box Z1 for $251 shipped. That kind of winning IS winning, because there were dozens of Z1's on eBay. I just had to pick and chose for the best pricing and/or reasonable S&H rates.
The same goes for computer hard drives, memory cards, digital cameras, IPOD’s, tools, vehicle accessories, etc. etc. etc. If you don’t know what you want to buy (as in what brand) head for the nearest brick and mortar shop, eyeball your desired item(s) and pick one, then get one for half price on eBay by searching for it’s model number or description. It works best when there’s dozens (or hundreds) of what you’re after because power sellers have to compete with a saturated market.
What it doesn’t work good for, is the UNcommon items that have bidders all over them. Those are the ones that can go out of sight at the end. That’s where the proxy bid comes in. Bid the MAXIMUM you’ll pay for it, then WALK AWAY. If bidders drive it beyond that, you lose the bidding but you don’t lose your shirt.
* This post was
edited 02/28/08 09:22pm by an administrator/moderator *
adondo wrote: I didn’t hear about sellers being unable to leave negatives. That could be BAD. Has eBay actually done this? Or is it pending? You get some idiot that expects something within 24 hours when UPS takes a week, and he leaves a slam, what then?
Need to keep in mind that a negative for a buyer that never sells doesn't even matter. As far as your rating you can bid and buy about anything even with a rating of 20% or less. Many buyers don't leave the feedback they should due to the fear of the seller leaving negative in retaliation when in reality doesn't even matter. On the other hand if you are like me and sell junk occasionally(once a year)then you don't leave any negative feedback for others because you know you will get negative in return. I think sellers not being able to leave negative will be a good thing in the long run. When you see a seller with a negative just be sure to check out the guy that left the negative to see if he is just hard to please.
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I mostly sell on ebay and I only leave negatives for non-paying-bidders. These are usually people who have a very low feedback score. I do look at a person's score when buying, but I'm looking for at least 100 feedbacks, mostly from buyers. I have 2 negatives and over 700 positives. Both negatives were payback for the feedback I left the other person. One was for a trampoline net that I bought that wasn't the size advertised. They wouldn't refund the shipping so I lost over $60 total, so I left them a negative. The other was for a lady who bought something and then decided that she didn't want it. I let out of the sale, but left her neutral for not reading the ad. In her words, this "pissed her off" and she left me negative. I don't think feed back should be allowed for sales that aren't completed, but ebay wouldn't change it. I started checking and found out she had at least one other account, one for buying and one for selling. She could slam you on her buyer account and still keep a good score on her seller account. That's one thing about ebay, if your score gets too bad, you can just open up a new account. I haven't done it, but I see it all the time. That's why I look for the # of feedbacks, more than the % score. There are a lot of great people on ebay, but there are those who can't be pleased too. If you've ever worked in retail, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Anyway, thanks for the link. If anyone wants to check out my ebay, PM me, I don't want to be accused of advertising.
Ebay has really gone downhill, IMHO. There seem to be mostly "pro" seller who discount much of there merchandise only a few percent below retail. Often, very often with shipping items seem to be more expensive than your local retailers.
My biggest concern is that Ebay has a great incentive in minimizing negative issues. I have read that the probable instances of fraud are probably many times the reported "less than 1%". Negatives of any description reduces volume on Ebay.
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EBay's motivation is only to increase buyer traffic, what they are forgetting is that their income derives from listing fees and final value fees. These fees are paid by their sellers, not buyers.
IMHO they are biting the wrong hand, in this case, the one that literally feeds them.
It may sound corny, but the original philosophy behind EBay transactions is that they were based on good faith, mutual respect, and yes, basic trust. They were neither governed by or guaranteed by EBay itself, which has never assumed enough responsibility or offered sufficient oversight. Now only the sellers must maintain that standard, and will have no recourse to buyers who do not. It is no longer the level playing field required for honest commerce. The customer, despite the myth, is not always right. There should be equal ramifications for wrongdoing on both sides of the transaction. Anything less is simply unfair, and to well-meaning sellers, this is nothing less than unacceptable.
And so the exodus of good sellers has already begun. How long do you think EBay can sustain itself without them?
My wife has been selling on Ebay since they 1st started and now she is disengaging due to the latest policy stupidity. The restrictions on the seller (re:feedback) is only one of the issues. Paypal and the new policy of holding the sellers money for some period of time after the sale. Also lowering the listing fees and raising the sales commissions implies that the sellers are stupid.
She has moved all of her paypal funds back to her bank and is only keeping a small amount active. As far as she concerned Ebay does not care about the sellers welfare and feels that there is always a new one coming.
Also the marketplace for really good collectables has become so distorted by Ebay's presence and so many sellers who a getting desperate to unload their stuff.
We go to several auctions and encounter a lot of people who have bought into the Ebay dream of getting rich and end up overpaying or fall into the trap of overbidding and find they can't sell at a profit. They soon fall out but they make it tough for serious dealers.
It is still good as a write-off when we travel and pick up stuff to sell tho...
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It's the first time I ever ran into that problem, and the buyer had a pretty much silly mostly invalid gripe about the thing at that. (The item is an antique)
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