Good alternatives to Ebay?
In the past there were a number: bid.com was just one of them, I believe buy.com was another - plus there were innumerable local newslists.
Now? Well, Ebay now isn't what it used to be.
Sure you have a wider audience if you're selling.
If you're buying though, you have to wade through umpteen dealers and such to get to "joe blow user/collector/photographer" who's just looking to sell his stuff.
Most things on Ebay now are listed only as "Buy-It-Now" which is extremely frustrating.
Further frustrating is the fact that most folks on there have really jacked up the shipping costs. It's pretty clear when you receive your package and the stamped cost is $12 USD but you were charged $25 USD that somewhere, someone's making money on that end too.
For me, I'll browse Ebay but I'll narrow my search locally. It's only if I see something that I know I cannot get ANYWHERE ELSE LOCALLY that I'll give in and buy from Ebay now.
I prefer to search here for gear and on the local craigslist which seems to be a good place to sell. There's no charge, you can put up photos, you can link to photos etc. and you can easily ignore lowballers.
Here, well, ya, I like a lot of the folks here so I'm a softie so I try to price my stuff accordingly. I don't try to make money on people.
So, in the end, there are still alternatives to Ebay. How good or bad they are is completely dependent on how much you want to pay for something and if you can get it elsewhere.
Cheers,
Dave