eBay

greatpartsgooddeals · ‎08-13-2018

I will never understand why all these Newbie sellers ruin a good profit margin FOR EVERYONE,....if you only want to make $5 on an item why even come on here??? Experienced sellers have made $40 on items in the past for years only to see newbies come on and cut prices NEEDLESSLY BY OVER 80%......My GAWD Newbies...lets ALL try and make some money instead of just going for the lowest profit margin imagineable.

vibratevintage · ‎08-15-2018

I second this motion. Do the research. Search for your item. Click on 'completed ' & check prices. This is getting crazy. We could all stand to make more money. I've been saying for years, we should help each other out & work together. We could make this work for everyone despite all of the changes .

emerald40 · ‎08-15-2018

@rixstuff wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
@debvor wrote:
As usual I believe the cultprit here is Ebay. I always have items that Ebay says are priced too high. Why? Because Ebay says that other sellers are selling "similar" items for less. The problem is the items they site are fixed price with make an offer so how can they be overpriced? If I list the same items for what Ebay suggests someone will come along and offer an even lower price so I set the price a bit high and then someone come and offers me the price I want which is often what Ebay says I should start at. And you know the funny thing is Ebay never say someones price is too low. Why is that? It's always too high but never too low. Ebay's mantra for sales is "free shipping", "free returns" and "cheap prices". Nothing is "free" someone always pays. Ebay wants to get away from the "online flea market" stereotype but puts a bunch of cheap Chinese junk on their site and want everybody to lower prices. Sounds like a "flea market" to me.
Do a search in your categories. I did with mine, and the last 200 , 300, 400 pages are listings that have been sitting there for years because sellers are insistent on getting their price. Why should ebay have to carry them forever on their servers.
I just love when sellers overprice then stand on principle. They are often determined to ride those principles all the way to the poor house rather than accept an offer or price closer to the rest of the sellers on Ebay.

With vintage some sellers have what they think are one of a kind items. So they insist on their price. I had one who refused to take $5 less on a $75 doll.

Then a new horde was found with prices at $30 to $40 and what would have sold for $70 I and others bought for at $35. He is now stuck with that thing and will be for a long time.

emerald40 · ‎08-15-2018

@vibratevintage wrote:
I second this motion. Do the research. Search for your item. Click on 'completed ' & check prices. This is getting crazy. We could all stand to make more money. I've been saying for years, we should help each other out & work together. We could make this work for everyone despite all of the changes .

________________________________________

Contrary to what the OP says, this is price manipulation, and thankfully illegal.

rixstuff · ‎08-15-2018

And how many threads have we seen where folks DO race to the bottom with the lowest price then complain that they didnt make any money or asking how to cancel and do over?

everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures · ‎08-15-2018

@jason_incognito wrote:
Sometimes you cut your losses.

What is better? Having $10,000 in inventory that isn't selling, or having $3,000 in sellable inventory and $3.000 to be able to jump on the next winning purchase?

Yes this too...and sometimes better to get rid of old inventory and reinvest in something else instead of hanging on to it for years on end

everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures · ‎08-15-2018

@emerald40 wrote:
@vibratevintage wrote:
I second this motion. Do the research. Search for your item. Click on 'completed ' & check prices. This is getting crazy. We could all stand to make more money. I've been saying for years, we should help each other out & work together. We could make this work for everyone despite all of the changes .

________________________________________

Contrary to what the OP says, this is price manipulation, and thankfully illegal.

Yes and this is the BIGGEST of all facts involved in all this.

emerald40 · ‎08-15-2018

@rixstuff wrote:
And how many threads have we seen where folks DO race to the bottom with the lowest price then complain that they didnt make any money or asking how to cancel and do over?

I think that is for sellers who listed at .99 true auction and did not want to pay for a reserve and ended up selling for less then they wanted.

Never saw it for fixed price unless they messed up on the shipping charge.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎08-15-2018

I've talked about this before. One seller in my niche has a textile that they have priced for close to $250. I know that particular textile has a hard time selling for $25. It's been up for sale as long as I remember, I'm thinking somewhere around 15 years. Imagine how much money that seller could have made if they sold it a decade ago and bought new stuff?

BTW buyers are not walking pocketbooks and do not have money trees. Most have a limited amount of money to spend. Even if you somehow were able to get the sellers to raise the price up for that one item, the buyers would have no money left over to buy your stuff.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎08-15-2018

BTW even if sellers haven't taken intro to econ or finance, they've all seen those supply and demand curve charts? When price goes up, demand goes down.

unique-finds-for-everyone · ‎08-15-2018

I agree, some eBay sellers really ruin eBay and create cheaper buyers...and buyers become cheaper and cheaper. Then everybody complains where the good buyer...?

The prices in department stores go up and up...

Honestly, I don't like eBay anymore... It is not a profitable business anymore. I have a big inventory, which I am trying to sell...and I don't buy anything any more. Trying to get out... eBay seller c 2000.

emerald40 · ‎08-15-2018

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
I've talked about this before. One seller in my niche has a textile that they have priced for close to $250. I know that particular textile has a hard time selling for $25. It's been up for sale as long as I remember, I'm thinking somewhere around 15 years. Imagine how much money that seller could have made if they sold it a decade ago and bought new stuff?

BTW buyers are not walking pocketbooks and do not have money trees. Most have a limited amount of money to spend. Even if you somehow were able to get the sellers to raise the price up for that one item, the buyers would have no money left over to buy your stuff.

Even those of us who have money, if you were raised by a parent who lived during the depression - it is against

my DNA to overpay.

Most people have more brains than money, work hard, and do not throw money away.

And 15 years on ebay's servers, that is rediculous.

div_style · ‎08-15-2018

Hey, would you like to get $10 for your whatzis or $40? I'm pretty sure I don't know a single person who would choose the sawbuck.

The thing is most newbies just don't know to search (or how to search) for completed sales to see what the going rate is, so they just throw it out there for whatever price strikes their fancy. Now if we had a way to educate every newbie or casual seller how to see that the going rate is for their whatzis we wouldn't be having this discussion. Unfortunately that will never happen.

But sometimes, for some of us, just every once in a while, that creates buying opportunities.

List more, sell more. Goodwill that other, uh, stuff.

Feeling sleepy? There's an app for that.

emerald40 · ‎08-15-2018

@unique-finds-for-everyone wrote:
I agree, some eBay sellers really ruin eBay and create cheaper buyers...and buyers become cheaper and cheaper. Then everybody complains where the good buyer...?
The prices in department stores go up and up...
Honestly, I don't like eBay anymore... It is not a profitable business anymore. I have a big inventory, which I am trying to sell...and I don't buy anything any more. Trying to get out... eBay seller c 2000.

Good buyer = overspending?

Nope, don't think so.

As far as department stores, just the opposite. Sales are weeky, even during the Christmas holidays. They have to be very competitive, otherwise people wait to buy or go elsewhere.

everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures · ‎08-15-2018

@unique-finds-for-everyone wrote:
I agree, some eBay sellers really ruin eBay and create cheaper buyers...and buyers become cheaper and cheaper. Then everybody complains where the good buyer...?
The prices in department stores go up and up...
Honestly, I don't like eBay anymore... It is not a profitable business anymore. I have a big inventory, which I am trying to sell...and I don't buy anything any more. Trying to get out... eBay seller c 2000.

A good buyer is one that buys and pays and they are everywhere. But this isn't the year 2000 and many thing have changed like markets becoming global markets and economies crashing, job losses, markets getting flooded with merchandise from people having to liqudate, losing their homes, downsizing, selling off collections,.... to pay the bills etc etc.
But just like you and me and most other people....they do not go around paying the highest prices possible for anything when they do not have to.
And most sellers also do not pay top dollar or market value when buying their inventory either but never think of that when they are acting as buyers or then they like merchandise priced below market values, then it is OK.
So those complaining are also contributing to what they are complaining about.