Ebay Does it Again

[Smitty37]

They caught that one

I just looked at some wine bottle stoppers starts at $.99 with $29.00 shipping.

Check this one! iPad 2 for $300 plus $680 shipping.

Someone in Fargo should just go and collect it instead of paying shipping:biggrin:
I wonder if you could legally insist on collecting or arranging your own shippng?

That is a little proof of my point that eBay already has policies to stop that sort of thing. That seller could have even been banned (if he's a repeat offender) or suspended. eBay is not going after that sort of thing they are after the millions of $3/$5 perfectly reasonable shipping fees and their claim about "helping the seller by preventing the blatant violators" is nothing more then the usual smoke they blow to take peoples minds off the fact that they are raising the fees for everyone who does not ship free. If you ship free they are already collecting their fee on your shipping charges.

 

[DocStram]

Smitty . . .

And besides, you may have taken your name off the vendor list, but you still advertise in the classifieds.

But, I don't advertise in the classifieds except relating to sales which have already been held.

It if looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck . . . then it probably is a classified ad:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76960

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73583

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77042

Quack, quack. :biggrin:

 

[Smitty37]

Sorry son

Smitty . . .

And besides, you may have taken your name off the vendor list, but you still advertise in the classifieds.

But, I don't advertise in the classifieds except relating to sales which have already been held.

It if looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck . . . then it probably is a classified ad:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76960

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73583

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77042

Quack, quack. :biggrin:

My answer still holds. You'll probably find the Cigar offer is still there...if you look you'll find a Le Roi offer still there from last year - those are sales in progress and the tubes are related because some members asked to be informed when I had them.

 

[jskeen]

Ok, I don't sell on feebay, never have, never will. I used to buy lots of stuff, back when it was individuals selling their surplus items and or items they made. If I want to look at tons of chinese imports at near retail prices, I'll go to amazon.

But I don't understand why sellers complain about ebay charging them instead of charging buyers. Buyers PAY? Right? Every dime that moves through the system comes from somebody buying something. Either ebay gets a piece of a completed sale, or the seller pays ebay a fee on an item that didn't sell FROM THEIR PROFITS ON ANOTHER SALE, which they got FROM A BUYER. Unless of course they are just taking money out of their pockets and sending it to ebay because they enjoy spending hours setting up auctions that they know won't work. Which is sort of a reverse darwin sorting mechanism, and don't last long usually.

The only real service that ebay provides to a buyer beyond a place to see stuff to buy, is some vague assurance that the buyer will not get (usually) get ripped off. Does this lead to the occasional seller getting ripped off? Probably. Sellers bake that into their sales price along with everything else, or pack up their toys and go back home.

Bottom line is that it is the Buyer actually injecting cash into the system, and therefore it is the buyer who must be wined, dined and .........well, you know. If the buyer gets the least bit annoyed, he will take his money and go elsewhere, leaving the seller and ebay to argue over who goes out of business first and who can afford the better lawyer after the fact.

Buyers don't like to pay shipping. Ebay will either convince their current sellers to offer free shipping, or they will find new sellers who will. But they will not risk going without buyers.

Is that fair? Was MySpace's customer service policy fair? Who cares, their business model didn't work as well as facebook's and now their customer service policy is irrelevant. Ebay could very easily be next. Or not, depends on how they treat their buyers.

 

[Smitty37]

Yup

Ok, I don't sell on feebay, never have, never will. I used to buy lots of stuff, back when it was individuals selling their surplus items and or items they made. If I want to look at tons of chinese imports at near retail prices, I'll go to amazon.

But I don't understand why sellers complain about ebay charging them instead of charging buyers. Buyers PAY? Right? Every dime that moves through the system comes from somebody buying something. Either ebay gets a piece of a completed sale, or the seller pays ebay a fee on an item that didn't sell FROM THEIR PROFITS ON ANOTHER SALE, which they got FROM A BUYER. Unless of course they are just taking money out of their pockets and sending it to ebay because they enjoy spending hours setting up auctions that they know won't work. Which is sort of a reverse darwin sorting mechanism, and don't last long usually.

The only real service that ebay provides to a buyer beyond a place to see stuff to buy, is some vague assurance that the buyer will not get (usually) get ripped off. Does this lead to the occasional seller getting ripped off? Probably. Sellers bake that into their sales price along with everything else, or pack up their toys and go back home.

Bottom line is that it is the Buyer actually injecting cash into the system, and therefore it is the buyer who must be wined, dined and .........well, you know. If the buyer gets the least bit annoyed, he will take his money and go elsewhere, leaving the seller and ebay to argue over who goes out of business first and who can afford the better lawyer after the fact.

Buyers don't like to pay shipping. Ebay will either convince their current sellers to offer free shipping, or they will find new sellers who will. But they will not risk going without buyers.

Is that fair? Was MySpace's customer service policy fair? Who cares, their business model didn't work as well as facebook's and now their customer service policy is irrelevant. Ebay could very easily be next. Or not, depends on how they treat their buyers.

And if there are no sellers the buyers will also go elsewhere.

eBay's service is bringing a ready willing and able buyer together with a ready willing and able seller - the exact same service to both buyer and seller. The buyer gets it free...the seller pays for both.

 

[DocStram]

Smitty . . .

And besides, you may have taken your name off the vendor list, but you still advertise in the classifieds.

But, I don't advertise in the classifieds except relating to sales which have already been held.

It if looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck . . . then it probably is a classified ad:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76960

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73583

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77042

Quack, quack. :biggrin:

My answer still holds. You'll probably find the Cigar offer is still there...if you look you'll find a Le Roi offer still there from last year - those are sales in progress and the tubes are related because some members asked to be informed when I had them.

Smitty . . . . . "Sorry, son"?
I've been an IAP member since 2006. This is the first time that somebody has tried to insult me by calling me "son".

 

[Smitty37]

I'm probably older than you are

Smitty . . .

And besides, you may have taken your name off the vendor list, but you still advertise in the classifieds.

But, I don't advertise in the classifieds except relating to sales which have already been held.

It if looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck . . . then it probably is a classified ad:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76960

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73583

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77042

Quack, quack. :biggrin:

My answer still holds. You'll probably find the Cigar offer is still there...if you look you'll find a Le Roi offer still there from last year - those are sales in progress and the tubes are related because some members asked to be informed when I had them.

Smitty . . . . . "Sorry, son"?
I've been an IAP member since 2006. This is the first time that somebody has tried to insult me by calling me "son".

Well at 73 I'm likely older than you are - If you're older than that, change it to "old timer". This is also the first time I've ever had anyone take being called "son" as an insult. Methinks you are too sensitive, no insult intended in my post.

 

[DocStram]

Smitty . . . apologies accepted. Thank you.

 

[jskeen]

And if there are no sellers the buyers will also go elsewhere.

That may be true, but is very unlikely to happen, BECAUSE....anywhere there is a buyer willing to spend money, somebody will find a way to take it and make a profit. May not be the same sellers that were doing it last year, and not all of them will be able to continue making a profit, but NO WILLING MARKET GOES UNSOLD TO FOR LONG.

eBay's service is bringing a ready willing and able buyer together with a ready willing and able seller - the exact same service to both buyer and seller. The buyer gets it free...the seller pays for both.

I'm trying to understand this. The Seller pays for both??? The buyer pays the money, some goes to ebay, and some goes to the seller. BUT THE BUYER PAYS. Again, the seller either bakes ebay's portion into his price, or he goes out of business and somebody else comes in with a similar product and sells it. but the BUYER still PAYS.

That's how it looks to me, but I'm always interested in hearing somebody else's viewpoint, even if I don't decide to convert to it.

 

[Russianwolf]

Okay I'll through out some hypotheticals so we can make this less blurry.


I have a product that cost me $50. Shipping it anywhere will cost $5

Ebay will charge me a listing fee of $1 (hypothetical number for the example) for an auction and an additional $1 for a buy it now. Final fees are 5% lets say for this example.

GO!!!!

 

[Russianwolf]

So minimum costs, if the thing sells are $56+(.05*selling price) for an auction or $57+(.05+selling price) if a buy it now.

I see the following scenerios.

1) Auction + Shipping
2) Auction with Free Shipping
3) BIN + shipping
4) BIN with Free Shipping

For 3 & 4 its simple, I make my BIN cover costs + whatever profit margin I want. I will win if it sells, if not I'm out $2.

1 & 2 are more tricky however.

In 1, if the item sells for more than $56+(.05 SP) then I am in the good and the buyer is in effect paying the fees indirectly. If it sells for less than that, I'm in the red and I'm paying the fees. The buyer got a deal.

In 2, similar, but now the postage equals $5.25 since I'm having to pay fees on it as well.

If it doesn't sell, I'm out $1 either way.

So, in my mind, If it sells at a profit, the buyer is paying the fees indirectly. If it sells at a loss, then I'm paying the fees. I know for instance that some auctions can sell at a price that doesn't even cover the fees.