eBay

4142bev · ‎06-12-2017

The arbitary increase of $40.00 for placing a reserve price on cars for sale hurts my bottom line. I know Ebay needs to make money, but it shouldn't be on the back's of sellers. Why was this fee initiated? Was it necessary or just plain greed on Ebay's part.

atikovi · ‎06-12-2017

Pure greed. $15 to $40 with no differance between a $700 car or a $70,000 car. It's bad enough when they eliminated free relisting. This will just increase the number of fake bidders helping the seller bid up their listing.

tony1963 · ‎06-12-2017

I've been selling here with a Buy-it-Now for the last 12 or 13 years, can't remember when I switched over.

Bidding is somewhat outdated in this environment. List with a buy it now and be done with it.

If someone wants to bid in $10 increments on a car, let them start their own web site.

legitimate_bidder · ‎06-12-2017

....or maybe it's because vehicle listings with reserves often need to be run many times before they sell, or never sell at all, and tend to discourage shoppers (I know I like to see either no-reserve auctions or Buy-It-Now listings- if i start seeing a bunch of auctions with reserves, I get discouraged and tend to go away)- so maybe Ebay is setting the high fee to discourage people from using reserves on every little vehicle listing.

Obviously, it's not to make money, because few people are going to pay $40 just to set a reserve.

That being said....Ebay treats it's sellers like Pavlov treats his dog....

5914jesse · ‎06-12-2017

it has finally gotten to the point that I quit buying or selling cars on ebay. I did the same with using Uship a few years ago when they raised fees to the point they , not me or the shipper were just getting richer on schmucks who dont mind having their clocks cleaned

legitimate_bidder · ‎06-12-2017

Sadly, that's the way all of e-commerce has gone. Kinda makes ya yearn for the days of newspaper classified ads. Thank goodness for CL.

And it sucks for both sides: Sellers have to jump through hoops and get reamed in fees; buyers have to wade through tons of over-priced crud.

u_cant_take_it_with_u · ‎06-13-2017

EBay needs to improve it's bottom line....Check out the on-line info. Those share holder smiles are flat-lining. So now, for ebay, no nickel is too small, to NOT bend over, and pick up.

hwkmn1 · ‎06-13-2017

I seldom use this forum but saw the email posting by ebay over the weekend and am as alarmed as anyone might be.

The pat answer from a technician was that ebay has to "remain" COMPETITIVE with the marketplace when "whoa" what service offers this competition? CL? Not hardly for that is free! MECUM or Barret for auto auctions? Let's get real for that is NOT an online service like ebay unless paying for a live auction status.

Using Ebay for well over 15 years myself, I am a low volume (compared to most) buyer/seller. A "reserve" auction is done to try to encourage others to compete. The listing fee is one thing. A reserve auction fee of $15 has been adequate to "include" if you don't sell the item for yes I do recall at one time that relisting if unsold was a different scale if not free for the 2nd time around. No longer like that...raising a reserve fee by $25 is phenominal. Why not $1 or $5...but $25? To remain "competitive"? With whom is ebay competing?

Whether retired, working or whatever part of the world we live in, ebay is a tool compared to paying for a local paper to get world-wide coverage. But the software has been in place for over 10 years for posting. It hasn't included additional man-power.

What it means, to me, is that instead of relisting every 2 weeks "if" I chose to do so for an automotive item whether a trailer, car, motorcycle, truck, etc. I will have to do this once every 2 to 4 months as my budget allows. Multiply this times 3 or four items as I down-size means a significant leap of faith that anyone will surface to buy.

The option is to just place an opening bid at what you can accept and leave it at that. It will eliminate those that are not serious...yet also create the flak from those who can't afford and mock you for your effort.

Sadly we are sheep and will have to accept what is pushed upon us or quit using the service.

tony1963 · ‎06-13-2017

I see it as a good move. Instead of the mystery price and people who won't bid anyway, or only bid small amounts well below the cost to buy, it is just going to have more fixed price listings.

No one wants to bid anymore anyway. It takes too much time and you can click the buy it now and get 'er done.

Now, if you have something extra special, then go ahead and invest in the auction format.

1970mk3 · ‎07-24-2017

Yes the whole thing is getting ridiculous with eBay the fees and The credibility of the users unfortunately you're better off moving over to Craigslist because you still have the same nonsense at a fraction of the price

atikovi · ‎07-24-2017

On Craigslist you get what you pay for. Between the scammers, spammers and chiselers, you're better off parking it at a Walmart with a for sale sign.

jr-41ford · ‎07-25-2017

@atikovi wrote:
On Craigslist you get what you pay for. Between the scammers, spammers and chiselers, you're better off parking it at a Walmart with a for sale sign.

At least you would know if the vehicle is for real when parked at Walmart.

There was a curbstoner family a few years ago, that was selling in the local Walmart parking lot. Was buying from a public auction in Portland, Oregon and transporting to various Walmart locations around the Pacific Northwest. Husband, wife, and son were arrested in Washington and Oregon states, through a joint sting operation and the last I knew, they were convicted, split up and sent to prison for number of reasons.

62_gt_hawk · ‎07-25-2017

When I am looking, I normally select the Buy it now only button. Don't have time to waste on the auction format anymore. Reserve auctions are a waste of time. Hundreds of bids that don't result in a sale, just allows people to "play" at purchasing. If you want to use a reserve price, set that as your opening bid or just do what Tony says and use buy it now only.