thinking of returning to eBay to sell????????

[enasniearth]

The selling fee on eBay is high, but I have found the platform pretty easy to use and good customer service. I have sold photo items that I couldn't find buyers for on smaller forums. I've been lucky enough to not run into any issues though I know others have.

I may try it for not so valuable items & things of little interest here
you are right that you have a larger group that may be interested
I think I will do as I did years ago when selling at auction overseas and
open a bank account for just online sales

 

[Beemermark]

eBay's new business model is to be like Amazon. Lot's of small businesses selling items. When I do see an item by a non-business seller it generally sells for next to nothing. eBay is no longer interested in our type of small sales.

 

[helen.HH]

I'm personally tired of these 'Big Tech' companies
their rules, their business tactics and greed

Transforming the World but not for the Good

 

[enasniearth]

I'm personally tired of these 'Big Tech' companies
their rules, their business tactics and greed

Transforming the World but not for the Good

we all are

 

[hap]

we all are

Hear , Hear!!!

https://grammarist.com/spelling/hea...ually,where these phrases are a sort of cheer.

 

[filmtwit]

So, as a buyer, it's been a year since I had my last problem with ebay*.
It's been mild headache when I sell stuff, mainly the high fees, but also the lack of a human being to deal with when any problems come up.
I've not been as fond of it as seller now that they undid themselves from Paypal.


* So my last real problem with ebay was buying something from another country. The seller waited till I complained about not having sent it (it was beyond 30 days, so neg feedback) and then they sent a package via DHL to my a place that had the same name as the city I live it and 3 days later the tracking indicated it was delivered. Of course I had to complain with ebay about it and noted if you ran the tracking number on the DHL site, you could see it never hit Customs and literally never left India. Because ebay automates everything, all it saw was that it technically was in my city and was "Delivered". So over to Payal and I opened a dispute with them, and guess what, I had a real human to deal with and they could see all the fraud going on. I got my money back. Good for me, but the seller is still on eBay to this day. Ugh

 

[splitimageview]

I've never had any problems calling ebay and getting an assist when problems have arisen.

Re: Checking account: even if someone were to get the account number and associated info, they couldn't debit your account. They could only deposit into it. 🙂

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I was a fan of Amazon until I had a problem with the mail. Instead of letting the buyer and I sort it out, they kept the funds in escrow and, in the end, reimbursed the buyer. Granted, it was not his fault, but it turned me off about doing any further business on that side. And their fees were also greedy. I think my seller's account is either dormant or cancelled; I didn't want it to remain active. I wiped out my inventory and never looked back. If I want to sell something I'll come here (where I know the equipment will be used as intended by other photographers) or through some of the FB groups I belong to.

All in all, this board is the safest I've found.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Not sure about import taxes. I think you mean GST of 10% which is now charged on all overseas purchases. This has been the case for some time. When you do buy something from overseas via Ebay in Australia, the GST is automatically added on.

An added 10% is not really much for small purchases but on big ticket items (if anyone buys a Leica from Germany, for example, as one friend did last year) it certainly adds on to the purchase price.

After having read all the comments in this thread, I reckon I agree with much of what many have posted. Ebay is the best of a bad bargain.

Well, GST can apply to goods when a local entry is made, under the Customs Tariff Act, so in a very real sense it is an import tax. It never used to apply to low value imports by post into Australia until legislation to change that was implemented a couple of years ago. You can thank Gerry Effing Harvey for that.

It's still possible to import photographic equipment into Australia without duty (if applicable) or GST if the customs value is under $1000. Under the low value scheme selling platforms such as eBay or Amazon are required to collect GST. Private businesses overseas have to collect and remit it *if* their annual sales to Australia are over the threshold for registration. B & H for instance, will now add GST on.

But if you purchase goods directly (Ie not off eBay) from a seller who does not make enough volume of sales to Australia to register under the low value scheme, they won't have to collect GST. And—when local entry happens into Australia, if the customs value is under $1000, the postal exemption from time immemorial provided under Schedule 4 of the Act is still in place—meaning GST and duty will be waived. No GST at time of purchase; and no GST on importation, entirely legally.

A couple of months ago I purchased a Leica IIIf for $300 from an overseas seller who is beneath the registration threshold. On importation into the country, and delivery to my Tasmanian address, GST was quite legitimately not required to be paid. In short, another great reason to purchase off-eBay if possible.

 

[BillBingham2]

I went back about five months ago and sold some "Stuff". I'm taking a break now (moved to a new home that needs TLC (way too much)) but will go back in a month (I still have too much stuff).

PayPal, have yet to find an issue (but it's early). At this time cashing out from PainPal is not an issue. Seems like a very long time, but life goes on. Ebay takes a LOT of money from that last time I used them (multiple years ago). Ebay still feels like the best place to sell "Stuff".

My issue has been the USPS. One letter sized item (an old Apple Eraser) was three weeks late in getting to the buyer. On the positive side she had purchased from me before so it worked out OK. It seems Priority Mail has become Two to When Ever days.

B2 (;->

 

[wjlapier]

I've never had any problems calling ebay and getting an assist when problems have arisen.

Re: Checking account: even if someone were to get the account number and associated info, they couldn't debit your account. They could only deposit into it. 🙂

I had great help from eBay customer service when a lady was trying to scam me over an older video game console I sold her. Once eBay got involved she was never to be heard from again. Ebay can read your messages to and from buyer/sellers. Those messages were what helped me as well and using ebay's method of intervention whatever its called.

I recently just sold a bunch of film there I couldn't sell elsewhere. Thats usually when I turn to eBay to sell something.

The main thing to remember as a seller is to be totally transparent and describe what you're selling completely. If anything is off a buyer can request a refund and most of the time eBay will side with the buyer if they have a case.

 

[mpaniagua]

My recommendation is to use ebay for the odd/ends lots or non working/for parts stuff.

Use forums like this for more expensive/ready to use stuff.

Ebay/Paypal fee are high but they worth for stuff than is hard to sell. Damn big market place 🙂

Marcelo

 

[Corran]

Take what you'd normally list the item at and add 25-40% and throw it on eBay.

You might be surprised.

Several times now I have listed nice camera gear with good pics, descriptions, etc. on various sites and gradually lowered the price to painful levels, with zero interest. Then, listed on eBay for significantly higher and it was sold in days or maybe a week or two at worst.

Yes, eBay has had some changes, for the worse especially for sellers. But it's still the largest site for oddball used items out there.

Personally the above anecdotes were for good-quality but not super-rare or super-high-dollar gear. I think knowledgeable buyers looking for really nice gear look to known people in specialty/hobbyist forums or groups that list that stuff and know what they are selling. Run-of-the-mill stuff, everyone can find on eBay with a quick search, or they buy from KEH, B&H, etc...

 

[mpaniagua]

Take what you'd normally list the item at and add 25-40% and throw it on eBay.

You might be surprised.

Several times now I have listed nice camera gear with good pics, descriptions, etc. on various sites and gradually lowered the price to painful levels, with zero interest. Then, listed on eBay for significantly higher and it was sold in days or maybe a week or two at worst.

Yes, eBay has had some changes, for the worse especially for sellers. But it's still the largest site for oddball used items out there.

Personally the above anecdotes were for good-quality but not super-rare or super-high-dollar gear. I think knowledgeable buyers looking for really nice gear look to known people in specialty/hobbyist forums or groups that list that stuff and know what they are selling. Run-of-the-mill stuff, everyone can find on eBay with a quick search, or they buy from KEH, B&H, etc...

Completly agree with that, Corran. Having a great market afford you to do that. More chances to find thr proper customer for you stuff. Like you state, rare stuff tend to sell for less on ebay so I tend to sell those on forum.

 

[Bolo Kukus]

Well, GST can apply to goods when a local entry is made, under the Customs Tariff Act, so in a very real sense it is an import tax. It never used to apply to low value imports by post into Australia until legislation to change that was implemented a couple of years ago. You can thank Gerry Effing Harvey for that.

It's still possible to import photographic equipment into Australia without duty (if applicable) or GST if the customs value is under $1000. Under the low value scheme selling platforms such as eBay or Amazon are required to collect GST. Private businesses overseas have to collect and remit it *if* their annual sales to Australia are over the threshold for registration. B & H for instance, will now add GST on.

But if you purchase goods directly (Ie not off eBay) from a seller who does not make enough volume of sales to Australia to register under the low value scheme, they won't have to collect GST. And—when local entry happens into Australia, if the customs value is under $1000, the postal exemption from time immemorial provided under Schedule 4 of the Act is still in place—meaning GST and duty will be waived. No GST at time of purchase; and no GST on importation, entirely legally.

A couple of months ago I purchased a Leica IIIf for $300 from an overseas seller who is beneath the registration threshold. On importation into the country, and delivery to my Tasmanian address, GST was quite legitimately not required to be paid. In short, another great reason to purchase off-eBay if possible.

An excellent explanation of our current odd system. Many thanks for this.

Agreed with you, don't get me going on 'Mr Hardly Normal' (aka Harvey Norman) and his machinations with our glorious leaders in Canberra re duty.

My own recollection of the 'duty' imposed on overseas goods went back to the now-past period when we Aussies had an automatic exemption of A$900. I travelled quite a lot back then (in the good old pre-Covid era) and made good use of this whenever I returned home, mostly with books or small photo items I picked up cheaply here and there in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

I also recalled that I bought five or six small items from overseas sellers in 2020. All were for less than A$50 and I did not pay any duty on these. I had presumed at the time that this was because all the packets were very small and had sort of 'eluded' the eagle eyes of Aussie Customs.

You did well with your low-price Leica. A iiif for $350 is as rare nowadays as finding a big diamond on Bondi Beach. In fact I reckon you would have a much better chance with the diamond...

 

[cboy]

Not sure about import taxes. I think you mean GST of 10% which is now charged on all overseas purchases. This has been the case for some time. When you do buy something from overseas via Ebay in Australia, the GST is automatically added on.

An added 10% is not really much for small purchases but on big ticket items (if anyone buys a Leica from Germany, for example, as one friend did last year) it certainly adds on to the purchase price.

After having read all the comments in this thread, I reckon I agree with much of what many have posted. Ebay is the best of a bad bargain.

In Australia anything greater than 1$k ebay does not collect the gst, and instead is taken by customs along with custom processing fees. It happened to me when i got a hefty fee when i tried importing a >1k leica lens...I now learnt my lesson. G.Harrvey destroyed grey import selling model offered by international sellers.