Ebay To Add Another Nail To Its Coffin.

ebay has gone bad over the last couple of months and It's been the sellers in my opinion, not ebay. There are very few auctions that end up with bargain prices lately as now everyone is starting their auctions at 30% of catalog price which is the high end of real world value. Other sellers that abuse Stamp grading on post 1900 material have all but turned me to Delcampe for world wide collecting. So as the bargains disappear, so will the buyers and I'd assume that if ebay is jacking up fees, it would be to offset declining sales and with the pricing lately, I see less and less bids per item with a lot of nice items going unsold due to the seller thinking that a well centered 1925 US Stamp is worth 14X it's value.

As I contend in my previous post ... the market will determine the cost of items in the digital world.

High quality items will always fetch a huge premium, but there has to be a reasonable limit. You are correct, Stallzer, when you say items are going unsold due to over-pricing. I thought this issue would be addressed when sellers were forced to relist items in their respective stores, but this has yet to correct iteself.

As an example: there is an ebay seller listing a US 653, MNH graded Gem 100 for $1280. This is a markup of 3657% over Scott cat of $.35 for VF. Most high end sellers base their prices for graded stamps on SMQ. SMQ bases it's prices on NY Auction houses. This was the disconnect I wrote about before ... between the "real market" and store-front dealers & NY auction houses. Something has to give ...

Rileysan

I start all my auctions at .99c, regardless of catalogue price, which allows me to list for free. But the other change they implementing is a reduction of 100 free listings a month at .99c or less to only 50. This will limit my ability to list and make some cash to spend on stamps for my own collection.
I may be looking for another venue. I checked out Delcampe last night and it looks pretty good. We'll see where the wind takes us.

There is a friend of mine who swears by BidStart. He swears AT ebay

Many sellers and buyers alike are turning their attention to some of these smaller online auctions instead of ebay and there appears to be good reasons for doing so.

I guess it is also called ebay for a good reason <G>

Chimo

Bujutsu

I would think the thing ebay would greatest fear is when we all stop thinking/talking about it.

For all of the critics out there ... what is ebay supposed to do? They have to address the issue of sellers jacking up prices to avoid paying ebay their fair share.

Here's an example I found today:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...:AAQ:US:1123

I sent this seller a polite message explaining the new policy and why it's taking place. He has already acknowledged me and it appears he's going to change the listing to sell it for $50 and give free shipping.

I'd like to know what the critics of this new policy have done to curb the abuse it intends to address?

Brian

My wife buys a lot on bidstart...there are some good medium size dealers ..who start at a decent price and will work with you if you want to delay payment (and delivery) until you find enough stamps...i do not want to mention names here but would by return e mail....i don't get too many warm fuzzy feelings with the ebay crowd !

Heres a plug of sorts...Wensy.com a lot of the guys sell stamps at 5 and 7 cents each and one bid usually gets the item..the trick is to buy a bunch of stamps from one seller..you may get 30 or 50 stamps from a dealer for 2 dollars and ONE shipping fee !!

What ebay are supposed to do is understand their position as a commercial facilitator. The buyers and sellers drive the bus, not ebay.

Simple point. If you don't like the P&H cost, DON'T BUY THE DAMN THING!

I've already scaled my ebay activities right down. It's just not worth the many, constant hassles.

I'm growing increasingly resigned to the idea of restricting my selling to websites that don't have anywhere near as many potential customers.

ebay's aim seems to be to turn sellers into its slaves - as if it's not the things you're selling that bring THEM money.

ebay will live and prosper..if they get hurt in the pocketbook they will offer some kind of deal to the sellers....

ebay started to annoy me when they took away the ability of leaving negative feedback about a buyer. Why are the BUYERS always revered and the sellers made to look like mean nasty people? There are a LOT of deadbeat bidders, but you can't rake them over the coals like a buyer can with a seller.

I have yet to read about this coming fee change, but so far I don't like what I am hearing. I always LOOSE on shipping. I was about to shart charging a small handling fee to pay for packing materials. Does that mean listings will cost me MORE?? Lately if I list a bunch of stuff and none sell, I am loosing a LOT of money simply in listing fees.

I am not in "business", I sell things I have around that no longer fit in my collections, or stuff I don't need/want anymore. I have been doing this since 1999. Right now I am unemployed and the small amount of money I make on ebay allows me to buy a few items a month to cheer me up. Last thing I need is to get whacked with MORE fees...

Doesn't ebay make enough money already?? They don't have brick & mortar stores to keep up. Just a whole lot of servers. And they much make a bundle off advertising, too.

ALSO, when you pay sales tax, you pay tax on the total of the product. Therefore, when you think about it, it seems adding a fee on shipping isn't kosher. You are getting hit twice for the same listing...

Nells250, I agree totally!

I'd strongly encourage you to look to alternatives like Bidstart and Delcampe.

Nells250, I understand your complaints but if you're unemployed shouldn't your anger and focus be more on finding a job than to spend money on something which isn't a part of necessity? Sorry but that my views.

Fees don't affect me as much since I sell a few things or so every once in a while. I would look on Bidstart and delcampe as alternative.

I'd call that a totally unnecessary comment. I was unemployed for almost a year, and stamps kept me sane. I spent all day every day looking for work, sold a few bits and bobs on ebay and bought a few things for my collection. Exactly what Nells250 is doing.

I find your comment offensive. Sorry but that's my view!