Food for thought - good video on what's going on on eBay

[rugerskick]

Ran across this one today, wanted to share.  Thought it approached it objectively.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPKjeC53rJU

[farmalljr]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

@farmalljr Only time for a quick response: ebay remains viable for many sellers, but , for many, it is viable only as one of many venues. At a time when "pre-owned" has become mainstream---so much so, that major brands are investing in it---ebay should OWN pre-owned, but management missteps have ensured that ebay is struggling to gain ground even while pre-owned demand grows and grows. 

ebay remains a profitable company. The problem is, it should---and could--- be doing much, much better than it is.

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Yes, they should own pre-owned. eBay WAS the OG of collectables and preowned. But because of poor management and neglect, they are now just a piece of those markets instead of KING of those markets. 

"Profitable" is in the eye of the beholder. eBay is not making more money because it's moving more products or that more users are using the platform. The "growth" they are seeing is from taking more from the dwindling sales. As opposed to increased sales and traffic. This is a formula for eventual disaster. There comes a point that sellers make bupkiss on a sale and it no longer becomes a viable way to sell. I think they are about there now. It takes time as an economy falters before the full effects are felt, and they are coming.  Acquisition costs are up. Willing buyers are declining. Fees are up. The costs to sell, just keep increasing. 

I agree, no seller who is serious about selling, can just sell on one platform. We've heard from other sellers that could not get traffic/sales here, move products elsewhere/cross list and they get sales. Again, this is about eBay trying to force "compliance" screwing with seller's traffic for the sake of getting them to pay more fees and sell their products how eBay wants them to. 

[bryo_3145]

Plus, don't forget to vote!

[farmalljr]

I'll add here, that an auction house will take about 1/3 of the sale typically. But as a seller at an auction house, all you generally do is drop off merchandise for them to sell (or in some cases, they come pick it up). 

An auction house handles the payments, the shipping, any possible chargebacks, etc. Whatever your item sells for, it's yours no matter what. The auction house takes on ALL responsibilities. eBay's take is nearing 20% and you do ALL the work and take ALL the risks. From listing, advertising, packing, and returns/chargebacks, ALL of those responsibilities are shifted to the seller. 

There is not a lot of stuff that "no sells" at an auction. You may not always realizes the best or highest price, but it typically always sells. 

Unless you are cleaning junk out of your closet, selling online is a lot of work. And with platforms wanting more and more of the sale, what reason do sellers really have to keep using online platforms when there is an exponential difference in the work involved and the risks involved to sell ? Just another contributing factor why sellers leave, why sellers use other platforms, and why sellers just hang it up. 

[ulfesharpe]

And you did all that since 19 Apr 24 with 0 feedback, congrats

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@farmalljr  Good point. 

When Jamie took over, he said he wanted to make sure ebay was THE platform of choice for sellers. Yet his biggest accomplishment has been steadily increasing the take rate at the expense of the sellers, while more and more options have become available for those sellers. 

[yuzuha]

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@psfhobbies wrote:

Im having a hard time making a decent profit on my new hobby items with all these fees here

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Hobby items are a dying category. When I was a kid, there were more than two dozen local B&M hobby stores in my area alone. I just checked and these days it's down to less than ten stores in that same area.

[yuzuha]

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@campanaelia wrote:

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Maybe ebay should try to reinvent the auction portion , IMO auctions is the only thing that truly stands ebay apart from the rest. Over the years they became just another online store with BIN listings becoming the majority.

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No one wants auctions these days. I buy frequently from Yahoo!Japan Auctions and there too BIN sales became the majority more than a decade ago.

[mam98031]

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@ulfesharpe wrote:

And you did all that since 19 Apr 24 with 0 feedback, congrats

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I know you know or should know about posting IDs.  There are a few on this thread and many in the Community everywhere.  It does NOT mean the member has no experience, it only means they don't want to put their selling account at risk on the forums.

[mam98031]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

@farmalljr  Good point. 

When Jamie took over, he said he wanted to make sure ebay was THE platform of choice for sellers. Yet his biggest accomplishment has been steadily increasing the take rate at the expense of the sellers, while more and more options have become available for those sellers. 

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He also never shows up on Seller meetings like previous CEOs did.  He hasn't been at a single Seller Check in that I remember.  Over the years there has been other Seller meetings by other names, but those no longer happen.

[campanaelia]

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@yuzuha wrote:

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@campanaelia wrote:

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Maybe ebay should try to reinvent the auction portion , IMO auctions is the only thing that truly stands ebay apart from the rest. Over the years they became just another online store with BIN listings becoming the majority.

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No one wants auctions these days. I buy frequently from Yahoo!Japan Auctions and there too BIN sales became the majority more than a decade ago.

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You're entitled to your opinion and maybe you draw that conclusion based on the way you shop, but my searches are mainly for auctions only most of the time and I would bet 99% of what I buy is from auctions. Unless I am "No one" and everyone bidding against me is "No one" you are wrong IMO.

[ulfesharpe]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@ulfesharpe wrote:

And you did all that since 19 Apr 24 with 0 feedback, congrats

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I know you know or should know about posting IDs.  There are a few on this thread and many in the Community everywhere.  It does NOT mean the member has no experience, it only means they don't want to put their selling account at risk on the forums.

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Well, it's a matter of credibility. When we post/reply here many people check our profiles and sometimes they even try to demonstrate something or win an argument with examples from our accounts. I see no big harm in that, regardless of how annoying it can be sometimes. Part of the game.

But — hey — if there's a risk posting with your own account in here, I'll stop posting 😉

Honestly, I would rather not participate with a fake profile because then... it's just a loose opinion that the others can't really get the purpose of — or worse, that you can suspect the intentions of. Unless the point in the end is simply being against something or for something (i.e. ebay), which in that case is a waste of time and a very obtuse way of participation in a place where we're supposed to devise solutions and better ways for an entire community (a positive, assertive attitude which I give you @mam98031 many credits for, btw)

[mam98031]

No, it really doesn't or shouldn't.  There are many members using Posting IDs that have been around the threads for a very long time and have given great advice to members and they have helped countless members over the years.  

Now certainly there are some that come here to stir things up or pass bad info, but you've been around long enough that you should be able to tell the difference.

There has always been a risk posting in the threads can cause some upset poster to come after your account if you post with an account that has active listings.  Over the years I've had it happen twice, one was just about a month or so ago.  It was an active poster to the threads too.  They purchased one of my items in an effort to perform a test that was not approved by me nor was it welcomed.  It was meant to cause an issue for me.  However I headed them off at the pass and resolved the situation before it became an issue or damaged the stats on one of my selling accounts.

You have every right to feel the way you do and I do understand it.  But keep in mind we even have Mentors that use posting IDs.  All Mentors are vetted by Ebay and must be active responsible members of the site.

You can typically always find me if you need some info that I might be able to provide.  You are welcome to PM me anytime.  I'm not always at the computer as I actually do have a life outside of Ebay, LOL

[campanaelia]

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@bryo_3145 wrote:

Plus, don't forget to vote!

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Yes , of course. The SCOTUS is my #1 issue. I think the next admin. will be given the chance to replace at least a couple.

[ulfesharpe]

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@mam98031 wrote:

Over the years I've had it happen twice, one was just about a month or so ago.  It was an active poster to the threads too.  They purchased one of my items in an effort to perform a test that was not approved by me nor was it welcomed.  It was meant to cause an issue for me. 

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wow, had no idea someone would just go out of their way to do that (I guess I don't have a "criminal mind", ahah)

👍

Cheers

[isaiah53-57]

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@fbusoni wrote:

Another absurdly one dimensional view. 

Selling on Amazon?  Sure, if you don't mind going mad (just look at their seller boards).  

And Craigslist?  Is that a joke?  You want some psycho coming to your house?  

There are millions of success stories on eBay. 

Not to brag, but I have done well year after year since 2000.

It boils down to fundamentals:  buying low, selling high in a category that is populated mostly by an educated and wealthy demographic, excellent customer service, accurate listings, same day shipping, and paying for merchandise returns.   I'm top rated plus and get dozens of Google referrals from first time buyers.

I always give the customer the benefit of the doubt.  I make a profit here that allows me great freedom to do so.

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You refer to a structured retail business model here - Something that is SOOOOO far out of the average seller make-up - Who's overall amount of sales cannot absorb the overhead you discuss, let alone the overhead you don't discuss.

On top of that, if everyone here had this business model, you would be pushed into high competition - Your business would suffer due to all the reasons ebay is in decline...

Not sure where you were going with what you wrote since it is such a myopic instance in the scheme of things here...