hamradio
Well-known
How quickly does gear move on Amazon? I'm currently paying eBay about $100/month to peddle my wares, and am not very happy with the quality of service provided...
btgc
Veteran
Logical thought, but....once there are international sales, 7-10 days will not be enough. If package gets mishandled and appears at buyer only month or two later? Chances aren't that big but certainly bigger than zero.
And most important is how particular country regulates financial activities, I mean, what legal stuff has to be done to act intermediate like paypal. If one has to register as a bank or financial institution then there usually are some requirements to be fullfilled.
Setting up purely listing platform should be easier than 20 years ago, auctions will be little harder due to realtime concurrency but also doable.
Probably world just needs kind of Ebay Lite for small private sellers to list heaps of AS IS stuff without tons of responsibility? Better yet that would be standard to which local sites would comply to allow searches and transactions go global, if users has ticked box "don't mind if stuff/money comes from abroad".
Vobluda
Well-known
With ebay account from any site you can list on any other ebay site. And here in EU laws is some countries are prohibiting ebay to force sellers to use paypal as only mean of payment or to use it at all. For example on Ebay Germany you can list without paypal payment.
pmu
Well-known
I buy stuff on Eb*y constantly. Usually cheap new items only, prices ranging from 1-20€. Hard not to like it on the buyers perspective. As a seller, no thanks!
I would like that there would exist a global photographic equipment marketplace / website where people would be selling their photo gear under the same roof - all kinds of cameras and related equipment. Now everything is spread here and there and are connected to various discussion forums. If I'm selling rf gear, rff is a great place, but I have no idea what is the best place to sell SLR stuff. I don't read any SLR forums, ever.
I would like that there would exist a global photographic equipment marketplace / website where people would be selling their photo gear under the same roof - all kinds of cameras and related equipment. Now everything is spread here and there and are connected to various discussion forums. If I'm selling rf gear, rff is a great place, but I have no idea what is the best place to sell SLR stuff. I don't read any SLR forums, ever.
mfunnell
Shaken, so blurred
Stephen, that sounds like very, very sound advice to me. My father (who has sold on eBay before) was wanting to do so again but found this as a huge stumbling block. My personal advice to him (as someone who has bought many times on eBay but never sold) was to advertise in the local newspaper. Unlike eBay, they won't rip him off.
The result: a very successful sale (of a very expensive bicycle) with no fuss and no muss. Honestly, having destroyed the model of local newspaper classified ads, I think eBay might be bringing it back! Not deliberately, but through sheer coprorate ineptitude.
...Mike
fireblade
Vincenzo.
The bankers always win lads.
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
It is not a matter of having to ship before you receive payment, but before you can realise your payment. The same as on every non-cash sale, whether by money transfer, debit or credit card, bill or (where that ancient thing still persists) cheque - there is no such thing as a instant payment via a bank (even where they make it appear like that, they really give you an advance credit on a payment that can for a more or less long legally required period still be undone).
And when all is said and done, buyers advancing money to an unknown unregistered seller for an item not shipped (and for all he can know perhaps not even existent) would expose them to a much bigger risk of falling victim to a fraud, so there are perfectly valid reasons why advance payment always has been a very uncommon way of handling a purchase from a individual seller...
Unless you propose that all ebay sellers must register with the government as a chartered enterprise, complete with sufficient securities to back up their sales and a public database to verify them, there is no real way around an intermediary. So you'd better not grumble about the existence of intermediaries per se, but about the disadvantageous contract clauses Paypal currently imposes on ebay sellers, compared to other banks, and the fact that ebay forces a Paypal account upon their US customers...
And when all is said and done, buyers advancing money to an unknown unregistered seller for an item not shipped (and for all he can know perhaps not even existent) would expose them to a much bigger risk of falling victim to a fraud, so there are perfectly valid reasons why advance payment always has been a very uncommon way of handling a purchase from a individual seller...
Unless you propose that all ebay sellers must register with the government as a chartered enterprise, complete with sufficient securities to back up their sales and a public database to verify them, there is no real way around an intermediary. So you'd better not grumble about the existence of intermediaries per se, but about the disadvantageous contract clauses Paypal currently imposes on ebay sellers, compared to other banks, and the fact that ebay forces a Paypal account upon their US customers...
robbeiflex
Well-known
I agree. Paypal is registered as a bank, and you can bet your bottom dollar that any funds that are in their treasury rather than your bank account are in the money market turning a profit for them. At current interest rates this is at a very slim margin, but if and when we get back to 4 and 5% policy rates on USD and other major currencies this would become a major source of income for them.
ColSebastianMoran
( IRL Richard Karash )
Craigslist. Their motto = "Buy Local." This has worked well for me.
For Cameras, right here on RFF is also sort of "local," it's to people we know a bit. Also works for me.
burancap
Veteran
Mr. Gandy,
Any interest in a "non photo" but perhaps "still cool stuff" miscellaneous section to the classifieds? Not something to blur or overwhelm the existing classifieds, but a small haven for odds and ends like pens, vintage audio, etc.? You could charge a bit more for these miscellaneous ads -I, for one, would gladly pay it!
Thanks,
Any interest in a "non photo" but perhaps "still cool stuff" miscellaneous section to the classifieds? Not something to blur or overwhelm the existing classifieds, but a small haven for odds and ends like pens, vintage audio, etc.? You could charge a bit more for these miscellaneous ads -I, for one, would gladly pay it!
Thanks,
Bill Clark
Veteran
Will this change when PayPal and EBay are seperate entities?
BillBingham2
Registered User
cz23
-
I think price would be the biggist factor because used items are sequenced in ascending order by price. So you want to be close to the top. And then there's your rating and number of sales. My guess is those two combine to determine the outcome. I have always aimed to be near the top, so my stuff sells quickly. I mean hours or a day or so.
The other thing I like about Amazon is you can start with a high price and lower it as needed.
That said, I now usualy try Craigslist first for a week or two. There's nothing like cash, no fees, and no shipping. Then I try forums -- usually FM or POTN first. They seem to have the volume. I don't think I've tried RFF for selling. Maybe I'm wrong but my impression is this is more of a niche market.
John
Timmyjoe
Veteran
As much as I tend to see this whole thing from the sellers point of view, I think eBay's problem is that they are losing buyers. All the moves they've come up with in the past couple years are targeted at buyers so they can say, "Come Back, it's safe to buy on eBay."
I follow auctions for camera gear and less and less of it is selling these days. Because there are no buyers. Look at completed auctions. Back in the day (a few years ago) you would look down the list and half of the auctions or Buy-It-Nows were green, meaning they sold. Now it's barely one in ten that are green.
I think the problem for eBay is that fewer and fewer people are buying, so they are screwing the sellers in an attempt to get more buyers.
And don't even get me started on PayPal, that's one of the most evil financial institutions going. Can't wait till Apple Pay (or whatever they're calling it) puts a huge dent in PayPal's business.
Best,
-Tim
I follow auctions for camera gear and less and less of it is selling these days. Because there are no buyers. Look at completed auctions. Back in the day (a few years ago) you would look down the list and half of the auctions or Buy-It-Nows were green, meaning they sold. Now it's barely one in ten that are green.
I think the problem for eBay is that fewer and fewer people are buying, so they are screwing the sellers in an attempt to get more buyers.
And don't even get me started on PayPal, that's one of the most evil financial institutions going. Can't wait till Apple Pay (or whatever they're calling it) puts a huge dent in PayPal's business.
Best,
-Tim
colyn
ישו משיח
Sounds about right to me.. I've been noticing the same thing myself....
Hopefully Apple will get a greater share of the market so Paypal does suffer...
ray*j*gun
Veteran
Ebay has been getting sued for years! I remember a customer of mine over 10 years ago who brought suite against ebay and paypal for that very reason. If anything ever came of these suites I am not aware of it.
Monopolies inevitably breed these kinds of abuses which I believe will simply get worse until they have to compete.
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kbg32
neo-romanticist
I have never had a problem with ebay. It is dishonest sellers that has made ebay what it is today.
Bille
Well-known
"The evidence is, in fact, absolutely conclusive that the Standard Oil Co. charges altogether excessive prices where it meets no competition, and particularly where there is little likelihood of competitors entering the field (...)".
On May 15, 1911, the US Supreme Court (...) declared the Standard Oil group to be an "unreasonable" monopoly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil#Monopoly_charges_and_anti-trust_legislation
On May 15, 1911, the US Supreme Court (...) declared the Standard Oil group to be an "unreasonable" monopoly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil#Monopoly_charges_and_anti-trust_legislation
ashfaque
Learning
My take as an economist:
Just imagine how much money they are/will be making by investing that 'held up' money, and most likely, earning a huge interest payments and potentially other financial benefits, even though the principal is not eBay's to begin with. I have not read into financial regulations of EU, FSA and NA's equivalents. But it certainly a thing that they ought to check. I would urge some experts to look into it.
Just imagine how much money they are/will be making by investing that 'held up' money, and most likely, earning a huge interest payments and potentially other financial benefits, even though the principal is not eBay's to begin with. I have not read into financial regulations of EU, FSA and NA's equivalents. But it certainly a thing that they ought to check. I would urge some experts to look into it.
V-12
Well-known
Everybody is out to get me, isn't that so.
I think there enough examples of dishonest sellers frontloading goods to gain a good feedback score while waiting to score their own big fraudulent hit. New accounts should be treated exactly like anybody else's new account, what gives anybody the right to walk rough shod over other new sellers by claiming 'superiority'? It's just arrogance to rile against a market where proving yourself as an honest seller (or buyer) has always been the underlying criteria of good commerce. I mean do you walk into your bank and demand an unsecured loan by giving a new business address and no accounts for that business? But you expect your buyers on Ebay to provide that 'loan' while you prove yourself?
V
I think there enough examples of dishonest sellers frontloading goods to gain a good feedback score while waiting to score their own big fraudulent hit. New accounts should be treated exactly like anybody else's new account, what gives anybody the right to walk rough shod over other new sellers by claiming 'superiority'? It's just arrogance to rile against a market where proving yourself as an honest seller (or buyer) has always been the underlying criteria of good commerce. I mean do you walk into your bank and demand an unsecured loan by giving a new business address and no accounts for that business? But you expect your buyers on Ebay to provide that 'loan' while you prove yourself?
V