Stampwants Blasts Ebay

I got my StampWants (BidStart) eNewsletter today. This was the lead:




The article then provided details of the increased fees hidden in the new fee structure. I thought it was kind of funny. ebay might not.

I also received the email. good marketing on their part.

maybe we could post the whpole letter here or you could forward me the email. I want to see how ebay is going to rip us off

Actually, I've always steered clear of companies that resort to this pathetic type of advertising. Bashing the competition is easy, anything can be slanted in a negative way. Man up and say something good about yourself instead. Leave the silly badmouthing of others to third graders and politicians.

Interesting, scubu.

In one of the worlds in which I live, we'd call this COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program).

Of course, it's circumstantial, but you join today make only this one post hours ago as if your purpose was to counter BidStart's use of ebay's (arguably ourrageous) price increases against them.

Just an observation.

Welcome, scubu. Tell us about your collection over on the "introduce yourself" thread.

To each his own I guess..i have watched ebay go through many stages..i think it has reached the point of arrogence..i support the smaller internet stamp markets !!

I've been a subscriber to the StampWants/BidStart newsletter for years. And in every one of them, they highlight auctions, sellers, and improvements they are constantly making. The fact is, they rarely do a fee analysis of ebay, and only do so when ebay "changes" their rates. So I really do not understand the basis for your criticism of StampWants.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Mark, one of the owners of Stampwants. He was promoting the site at a White Plains show. We spoke for a good 20 min. I found him to be a very "down to earth"
guy, working his butt off trying to create a fine site.

At that time it was only stamps, but the site has branched off to other areas.

Bob, I think you've hit on a key element of the discussion. Of all the shows and stamp events you've attended, have you seen any ebay officials there supporting and promoting the hobby?

KirkS

[Edit to fix quote]

Not only that, but you will see Mark active and personally responding in the StampWants Forum on an almost DAILY basis. That's commitment and personal dialogue with the community of users.

That is a very well insight on Bob's part. Not to beat em down but they are always having conventions or reward parties for sellers. I mean when was the last time they threw a party for buyers.

Yes their income comes from of course the fees to sellers, but how many times have them aggravated the buyers with odd policies. Now mind you I am not ranting on the sellers, they have enogh trouble with all of the fees.

I think both sides are getting equal aggravation from ebay.

As it has been said before - ebay is the perfect business model for what not to do to a company.

Just take a moment, and go to the ebay chat room for stamps, see how many long time sellers are complaining about the increase in fees..

And guess who the increase gets passed on to ???? The buyer

i went to the ebay chat rooms..could not stand it there..with stampoffers and now SCF I have found the forums for stamp collectors where I am comfortable ..if you notice..the BIG SHOTS come and go but the real folks stay !!

I didn't mean to start a war here, but it's obvious that the vast majority of SCF members find it more rewarding to use StampWants and StampOffers. I personally only use ebay when I'm looking for something I can't find elsewhere. It just so happens I've been buying a lot of Israel on ebay the last few weeks because I've been buying accumulations that I can't find on my personal favorite site - StampWants.

I think this is largely dependent on location and what one collects. Personally I prefer ebay and DelCampe simply because that's what most European and international sellers and buyers still use.