Ah! Something New Has Been Added To FleaBay

[launderess]

In yet another change of their system eBay has revamped their pages so now members can see how many persons are watching an item. This should in theory make for some interesting bidding and can only take sniping activity to another level! *LOL*

 

[tecnopolis]

I wish ebay would leave well enough alone...!

 

[tecnopolis]

If they want to make any real changes, it should start with their seller fees!
And lest we also mention the fact they now collect a final value fee on shipping charges, then finish the job with PayPal fees.
It's grown into quite a cash cow for them and less for me.
I can see why ebay has had a decline in the total yearly listings, year after year.

 

[whirlcool]

And it seems around the first week of June of this year people stopped buying on Ebay. I know a few people who list items for others and they said that it's hard selling anything on Ebay anymore. I wonder why.

I have a 8x10 Krewl rug I am selling for THE richest guy in Houston. He certainly has the finest home in town. We have the rug down to about 25% of what it was new and still no takers. It came from the best furniture store in town back in 94'. The rug is in like new condition too. It was used for only two years before being put in climate controlled storage.

And as for Craigslist, I think that's just to dangerous to deal with. A few weeks ago there were some Chinese guys who were selling Ipads & Iphones. The sold a bunch to some guys on Craigslist. When they went to an open shopping center to meet the black guys who were going to buy the items, they had guns drawn on them.
Well, the perps didn't know that the Chinese guys were packing heat too. And when the perps started grabbing the equipment the Chinese guys started shooting! Let me tell you when it comes to theft, Asians will not tolerate it at all! Needless to say ther perps didn't get anything they ran away leaving a trail of blood behind!

 

[tecnopolis]

Yes, I too have turned to Craigslist to sell my wares and have heard horror stories of people selling high-end cars, only to have guns pointed at them and their cars stolen from the very thieves posing as potential buyers.
I guess "buyer beware", should be amended to "sellers beware".
Here's a nice accessory you won't find on the options list.

 

[danemodsandy]

EBay: BIN or Nothing

I've been a member of eBay since '98, and I never use it for auctions any more. Too many nice items sniped out from under me. People can argue the merits or downside of sniping software all they want to, but for me it boils down to one thing - NO. FUN.

I now use eBay only for Buy It Now. eBay's auctions are no longer worth my time or my emotional investment.

 

[tecnopolis]

I predict ebay will become as irrelevant as America On Line in the near future.

 

[whirlcool]

Hey, I know quite a few people who still are on AOL. It kind of bugs me because they are paying the internet DSL/Cable fees then the AOL fee. I always looked at AOL as kind of "training wheels" for people who are new to the Internet. After about a year they know enough to migrate away from AOL to IE or Firefox.

But these people won't change.
Excuses:

I don't want to have to learn something new.
I like all the things that AOL does for me automatically.
I've used this for years, why should I change now?

Usually when someone tells me they are using AOL, I tend to think of them as technically inept.

 

[perc-o-prince]

I predict ebay will become as irrelevant as America On Line

I'm guessing you're not a user of eBay? I firmly believe it's here to stay. Global accessibility, ease of use and quick turn-around (usually) are just some of the many features it has going for it. AOL got too big for their britches because they were early in the game and many more companies have joined in. Not one company has successfully challenged eBay since its inception nearly 20 years ago.

I'm not a fan of a number of the policies, however. One example, as Alex mentioned, the final fee on the item as well as shipping, then the PayPal fee, amount to about 10% on average. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it is when you compare it to what eBay used to charge. And the whole thing about charging a final value fee on the shipping... ridiculous. If I charge actual shipping cost, I have to pay part of the actual shipping cost since eBay takes part of it now.

Launderess- could you please tell me where to find the watching information? I don't see it anywhere except on the auctions I'm running as a seller. Yes, this should be interesting!

Chuck

 

[launderess]

It Depends Upon What Server You Get

Ebay seems to be either testing or slowly rolling out the new pages as sometimes one gets the old others the new.

 

[launderess]

EBay Here To Stay

Probably, but all over the UK, EU, North America and elsewhere there are various other listing services that are nippping at eBay's heels.

Am surprised anti-trust government forces allowed eBay to force it's users to using Paypal as the sole means of payment. I mean you aren't in theory even supposed to send payment via money order or check in the post anymore.

Taking a cut of the total sale including shipping is one of the reasons one hasn't really bothered with eBay for selling. Considering often USPS rates are near or above what an item sells for it just seems like they are skimming the cream.

But wait there's more:

If you want to take some money off the table and transfer funds from your Paypal account to your bank, they take a taste there as well.

Have lots of stuff around there that need to be found new homes, but knowing what one paid am not willing to be run to ground over shipping and such. Usually in the end you just end up losing money.

Ebay as become more and more for their "big" power sellers and vendors.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Yeah, those other listing services have been trying for years, but not one seems to be able to pull in enough people to make it worth my while, unless I'm willing to sell something for less than I can usually sell it for on eBay. And that, unfortunately, is why these other services can't quite make a big enough dent to get eBay to stand up and take notice. I remember one of those services handing out tote bags and hats at Brimfield one year in an effort to get their name out there. I think they lasted about a year.

Launderess, have you tried transferring the PayPal $$ directly to your bank account? They don't charge for that, nor for transferring it to a PayPal debit card. IIRC the only time they charge now is if you ask for a paper check to be cut/mailed.

As for payment monopoly, they get around that because there are other electronic payment methods they'll 'allow' us to accept (Propay comes to mind but I know there are more). They do still (or did a short time ago) still allow us to accept checks and bank transfers, but only in a few categories. I remember eBay Motors being one of the few. When I checked into the other electronic payments a bit ago, I found the fees to be about the same as PayPal so I didn't bother.

Oh well.

Chuck

 

[launderess]

IIRC for sometime now sellers have been able to see the number of persons "watching" an item and or whom they are (seller ID). Allowing other general eBay members to see how many persons are watching an item would however be a new thing.

One can only imagine this is some sort of way to compensate and or otherwise address those whom feel "sniping" is a bad thing. I mean if one knows others are interested in the same item as well it might give cause to influence their bidding behaviour.

Personally don't see the point.

 

[rp2813]

I drive past that ebaY sign and complex all the time.  It's now known as the "Whitman" campus, which happened around the same time she was running for governor.  She's busy at HP now, finishing the job Carly Fiorina started.  Sad.

 

I remember quite a while back taking an ebay survey and being asked about the ability to see who else was watching an item.  For me, it would be better if it was the same as bidding, where you can actually see the person's ebay ID truncated with stars.  If I make a bid for something and see another more aggressive bidder manipulating the process, I will note their ID for future reference.  I'd like to know if that person is watching the same item as I am, not just how many mystery watchers are out there besides myself.  It would help me decide if the item is worth pursuing.

 

As stated above, unless you're bidding on something very esoteric, sniping is almost assured.  I'll BIN an item if it's priced reasonably.  Exorbitant shipping charges are usually the reason I won't give a second thought to bidding or buying, though.

 

[launderess]

IIRC

Those *made up* seller handles from eBay that show winning bidders aren't consistent, that is change each time a person wins an auction. Again this is from my understanding and could be incorrect.