eBay - no deal any longer
 

For many things, from my recent experience, the eBay phenomenon worm has turned.
This coming from someone who has purchased and sold (which I sill will do) on tha' Bay, diligently, for some time.
What I think has happened is that there is a group/culture of people who assume that because they are buying something off of eBay it is less expensive than retail.
Recently I was looking for a small travel container for Zippo fluid. Without exception, every single vendor on eBay, I'm talkin' twenty-plus, were over retail. Some were right at retail, the rip-offs from the orient, then you get to pay more than the holder in shipping. :3_eyes:
Yesterday I went on looking for some Richard Dawkins books, again, the prices were either the same as, or more than what Amazon sells the books for.
Keep in mind, Amazon does not charge for shipping.
Then I did a Ask search for Dawkins books and found something curious... an eBay site called half.com that sells books for less than their listings, hmmmm?
These are not the only two instances, BTW, the same has happened with a recent pocket watch, knife, sword, wallet and a few other searches.
With the rare exception of a few sword vendors, estate pipe vendors, some hats and specialty clothing like Guayaberas, I'm pretty-much done with eFake.
The core cancer are the pro vendors matching/exceeding retail rates, driving all the pricing up, harming everyone.
Edit:
The other "issue" I have is with shipping prices. People are making money on shipping. It does not, and probably will never, cost fifteen dollars to ship a lighter, domestically.
Of this there is no doubt, eBay is looking the other way or encouraging it.
The real problem with that is that morons buy the stuff and pay these exorbitant shipping rates, encouraging the behavior for them and others. If no one did so, it would stop.

The deals are still there. Especially if you are looking for a hard to find random item.

I recently got a brand new factory CD/cassette deck for my car through a big seller on Ebay for $98 when the dealer wanted over $350 to order through them.

Sure, you have to look for them, that is sad.
I can remember when they were all deals, not everyone selling at reatail plus shipping. That is my point.

I agree... at least for the stuff I shop for, it's getting harder and harder to find a fair deal. (Call me cheap--it wouldn't be the first time--but for me "fair" means if it's used, or if it's a discontinued model that's been replaced by an updated model at retail, I'm going to pay noticably less than the current model is getting in stores. Yes, I know there are things that will be higher priced/collector's items for whatever reason, but when it comes to electronic gizmos those are the exceptions rather than the rule.)

They really ought to do something about the shipping prices. While I know there's a "buyer beware, if you're willing to pay $50, why does it matter whether you pay $45 + $5 shipping or $25 + $25 shipping" argument, it just looks sleazy, and I don't think that's good for ebay's long-term interests. (Not to mention the fact that, by reducing the amount of the "winning bid" it drives down the fee that ebay collects from the seller. Though with more transactions going through Paypal, they may not care so much since they're skimming it that way.)

Who is it hurting if people are selling things on eBay for higher than retail cost? I mean enough people are buying the stuff to justify someone posting, and paying for the auctions. That means the price isn't too high.

This is the same for people making money on shipping. It's not unethical, the shipping costs are specified right up front. You either buy or you don't and someone else does.

Seriously, if you can get it cheaper at retail, do it. And then sell it for more on eBay if you like.

This is the way markets work, right?

Nice to meet cha' herr shyster.

Seriously?

Your complaint is basically that, in a particular market, things aren't as cheap as you would like or as cheap as they used to be. I'm not sure what you think is wrong with that.

If people weren't buying through eBay, then the sellers would disappear, and eBay itself would soon follow. Problem solved.

Not used to be, I am not talking about items that are no longer available retail.
Try reading all of the original post first... it'll keep ya' from looking foolish later.
eBay is not strictly a collectible market.

I won't claim to be hurt by it, other than that what used to be a good source for some things is now less so. Ubid.com also used to be a great place to dumpster-dive for last year's technology.
You won't convince me that a $30 "shipping and handling charge" for domestic ground shipping on a 3 lb. package is ethical. Legal? Sure. Good business? Maybe.

But I still maintain these things will hurt ebay in the long run. Experienced bidders who know what they're doing will stop buying, and newbies won't come back after they discover they've been burnt. "My price is higher than you can buy it somewhere else, but I don't care because I know somebody will be stupid enough to pay it" isn't a business model I'd leap to bankroll.

The name calling isn't really necessary. I read the OP, even though it's fairly difficult when everything is in one giant paragraph.

What I said applies whether the things are still widely available or not. I'd genuinely like to know what is wrong with selling things at a price greater than the retail price you can find elsewhere.

The PS3 sells for more at retail in some countries than it does in others. Is this wrong?

Free Markets

There are still good places to find deals. If you live in/near a major city craigslist is a good bet, and specialized auction sites are often available for whatever you might be looking for. And if reconditioned, recertified, or refurbished is acceptable then you can get great deals at a lot of online retailers.

I could see $30 s & h if it's an item that requires extremely careful packing, or if it's a high-dollar item and the price includes insurance. If there isn't a logical reason for a large s&h charge I don't see why anyone would buy it, but careless people are going to get burnt no matter what. I see as much sleaze in grocery store discount cards.

It might hurt eBay eventually, but really it's one of the few places for Aunt Suzie out in West Bumfuck, USA to sell her knitting, and buy her specialty yarn. For that it's valuable to a great number of people.

My personal ethics and business ethics don't line up. I don't think preying on the weak is ethical (non-savvy consumers, the little guy, whoever is the weak to your strong). But business ethics pretty much endorse this kind of predatory behavior.

In business, if someone is stupid enough to sign the contract without reading it, then it's tough cookies.

Saying you did not read the post is an insult? If you took it that way, it was not how I meant it. Sorry.
Since grocery stores do something bad makes it ok? This is an argument? :rolleyes: I hope you never took debate in school.
We all know what a free market is... but thanks for thinking of us.:rolleyes:
PS sells for more in foreign markets.
Riiiight, and they have their own versions of eBay and, again, I was speaking of available items. Again, that whole "reading thing" comes in handy. I'll try to keep it simple for you in the future, since it was hard this time.
It seems you have no issue fleecing people... have at it, everyone's "ethics" & "morals" are different.

Since you appear to be retarded and without capacity for abstract thought, I think we're done here.

(It's a joke, if you don't get it you probably didn't play Ultima Online way back when.)

No one has mentioned the "snipers" who artificially drive up prices.

Some of these are the seller acting through a dummy account at another IP and don't tell me it ain't! Sure, some are people who are just trying to win the auction but there IS the "Buy It Now" button if you GOTTA have it right away!

On the rare occasions that I shop on eBay, I set a max bid that *I* think is fair for the item. If I lose, so what? I'll find it again elsewhere or else I'll pay the BIN price.

I agree that the S&H is a ripoff in many cases (not all) but that's the same for regular merchants as well. See afternoon TV for example after example. Does it really cost $10 to ship that Time/Life cassette or CD? No. Look at the postage stamp to see how much you paid extra for the "handling" which consists of sticking it in a box/envelope tossing in some crumpled newspaper and sealing it.

What, me? Cynical? NAH!

Brian

I once demanded cancellation of a purchase I made on Ebay because the seller informed me that the S&H had been increased by $5 in order to aid a member of his "Church" who needed money and was carrying the stuff to the post office. The seller informed me that I had to accept those terms because the price was stated in the auction. I told him being forced to subsidize a "Church" was not part of the Ebay agreement, and he backed down finally after making some ungratious remarks about MY "professionalism" :mad:

Oh, and "snipers" keep the prices LOWER. If there is nobody showing their hand until the final 10 seconds of an auction, there is no opportunity for another buyer to outbid you.