Shipping charges
eBay sellers have some great items to sell, but when they include shipping charges on items, many times I can purchase it cheaper on My Prime Amazon account. Sorry people but that’s what makes you loose watchers, and buyers.
75 comments
ewsupply
·1 year agoAs a PT seller this is the area that I have always been dinged on (s&h charges). Good thing majority of my picks are also not mainstream pieces and something people may pine for.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoI have found the eBay is less expensive on the identical item (all new items) from the same seller with all shipping /handling charges included. My wife has an Amazon Prime account where she sorta gets free shipping for a monthly fee even if she doesn't buy anything. Most items I buy on eBay ship time is not crucial and mostly are OEM parts for my John Deere lawn tractor
bashort
·1 year agoI would rather pay more and wait longer than buy from Amazon. Just do not have any use for that company.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoI would rather pay more and wait longer than buy from Amazon. Just do not have any use for that company.
Quite understandable. I have no loyalty to any company. I shop and buy from whomever can meet the needs I have. Ironically you may be using Amazon and not even know it. They provide cloud services to, among others, Netflix, McDonald's, Pfizer, Twitch, Disney, Capital One, BMW, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Twitter, Epic Games, Airnb, Nordstron................
inhawaii
·1 year agoYou don't have to have the lowest priced item for someone to buy it.
I sell stuff all the time where I am the most expensive seller of a particular item and yet people are still buying it from me.
I've even posted here about it "Why are they buying this from me?"
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@inhawaii
That’s correct..because eBay sellers are real people and many customers will pay a bit more for good, dependable service. Additionally the ability to contact a seller and not a robot has something to add that Amazon cannot offer.
brightlightbookseller
·1 year agoActually, sometimes you can contact the seller on Amazon when an item is being sold by a third-party seller (I should know, we sell there too). It depends on how you initiate the contact. It's definitely more limited and less likely that you'll be talking to a real person when you need help in general, though.
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@brightlightbookseller
It did used to be easier, and now (I cancelled prime) they do their best to make it extremely difficult..especially for those people who aren’t familiar with procedure.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@inhawaii
That's entirely true.
I bought a washing machine part recently. I passed up several lower price parts because my main criterion was a reliable seller.
bashort
·1 year agoTry finding a original parking brake lever for a 1955 Ford F100 on Amazon at all let alone prime, those are the kind of things that ebay dominates the market on.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoTry finding a original parking brake lever for a 1955 Ford F100 on Amazon at all let alone prime, those are the kind of things that ebay dominates the market on.
Do you have a part number? I can't see where you have one listed either.
bonjourami
·1 year ago"eBay sellers have some great items to sell, but when they include shipping charges on items, many times I can purchase it cheaper on My Prime Amazon account. Sorry people but that’s what makes you loose watchers, and buyers."
Sounds like you have fallen for their 'free shipping' ads..never mind the Premium fee you are paying every year.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year ago"eBay sellers have some great items to sell, but when they include shipping charges on items, many times I can purchase it cheaper on My Prime Amazon account. Sorry people but that’s what makes you loose watchers, and buyers."
Sounds like you have fallen for their 'free shipping' ads..never mind the Premium fee you are paying every year.
I have Prime mainly for the streaming services. Generally I find the item cheaper on another site or a B&M store, not always Amazon. However when I find it on Amazon and the price is the same or less the shipping is free. So if I purchase 20 items a year off Amazon at the same price I could have bought if for on eBay but the eBay shipping would have been $7.00 a package, which is a cheap estimate, the $140 in shipping savings covers the Prime cost.
Sometimes price is not the only consideration. On occasion the free shipping on stuff I purchase is a bonus but the fact that I can get most items in less than a day, sometimes 24 hours, max of 2 days is the reason I made the purchase.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year ago"eBay sellers have some great items to sell, but when they include shipping charges on items, many times I can purchase it cheaper on My Prime Amazon account. Sorry people but that’s what makes you loose watchers, and buyers."
Sounds like you have fallen for their 'free shipping' ads..never mind the Premium fee you are paying every year.
One of many. Besides being a prime member my other major interest in Amazon is their stock of which I own a number of shares. Some interesting facts about Prime. As of October 2024, there are more than 180 million US Prime members, over 200 million worldwide. In the United States, an estimated 75% of Amazon shoppers are Prime members.
Sales during Amazon Prime Day reached $14.2 billion in 2024. Amazon Prime is currently available in 25 countries. Amazon brought in $21.59 billion in revenue from subscription fees in 2024.
bonjourami
·1 year ago"Amazon brought in $21.59 billion in revenue from subscription fees in 2024."
Wowser!
dbfolks166mt
·1 year ago"Amazon brought in $21.59 billion in revenue from subscription fees in 2024."
Wowser!
Chunk of change for sure. Those fees are spread across a number of things of which Prime is but one. This is the reason comparing Amazon to eBay these days is like comparing a horse to a Ferrari. EBay chose to remain an ecommerce site. Amazon moved on from being an online bookstore.
winterpalace25
·1 year agoI buy toothpaste on Amazon and car parts on eBay. I might buy specific books on Amazon, but browse by topic on eBay.
I sell used, niche books on both platforms and dishes on eBay. My books are not FBA on Amazon, and if Amazon has a bunch of $5.00/free shipping copies, I don't sell that book.
In my markets, I don't need to lower my prices or offer free shipping to compete with Amazon. If you sell toothpaste or source from Temu, you probably do.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoI would tend to agree. Shipping is becoming one of the bigger expenses for buyers/sellers and unlike Amazon eBay does not have it's own logistical service. I seldom buy anything on eBay these days simply because as you state I can often find it cheaper elsewhere either online or in a B&M store. However, I am fortunate in that respect since I am in a large metropolitan area and most major retailers are less than 5 miles from my house.
There are several things impacting sales on eBay among them.
1. Shipping costs
2. Competition especially post pandemic
3. The use of promoted listings and the added fees
4. Poor search engine
5. Advertising bombardment.
6. Counterfeits and fake merchandise
7. Economy
8. Useless software changes and system glitches/issues
9. Lack of quality customer support
brightlightbookseller
·1 year agoFrankly, if customers don't want our items at the prices we have them listed, maybe we need to fix our prices, but maybe we don't want those customers. It can go either way. Sometimes customers are cheapskates and try to get things at ridiculously low prices when others are perfectly willing to buy at the prices we have set. Whether we charge shipping or not (and we've tried it both ways), the total price is going to be about the same and any savvy shopper knows that.
Agreed!
krazzykats
·1 year agoEnhance the "offer," and present a better deal.
Large booksellers, including yourself and others, have inspired the idea of offering a 'buy one, get one at 50% off' to provide customers with savings. Some promotions are 'buy three, get one free.' Such offers are likely to boost sales if customers receive good or excellent value for their money.
brightlightbookseller
·1 year agoBut why would we? Our sales are doing great at the prices we offer now. Why discount even more when our stuff sells? We discount based on age of the listing alone.
krazzykats
·1 year agoCounterfeit goods, knockoffs, and faux fancies often come with bargain basement shipping fees, since they're not the real McCoy but just cheap imitations.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoWhether or not the seller has a shipping charge, if it is cheaper on Amazon then it is cheaper on Amazon.
Most sellers here are not interested in taking a loss just to get a sale.
Also ... are you factoring in the cost of Amazon Prime? If prices on Amazon are 10% cheaper than eBay, you would need to buy $1400 worth of stuff there before you came out ahead after the $139 cost of Amazon Prime.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoWhether or not the seller has a shipping charge, if it is cheaper on Amazon then it is cheaper on Amazon.
Most sellers here are not interested in taking a loss just to get a sale.
Also ... are you factoring in the cost of Amazon Prime? If prices on Amazon are 10% cheaper than eBay, you would need to buy $1400 worth of stuff there before you came out ahead after the $139 cost of Amazon Prime.
It's not always just the cost of the items it is some of the other perks that come with Prime like streaming and other discounts. It is also sometimes about speed. A lot of things I can order off Amazon before 10:00 A.M. are delivered to my house the same day before 7:00 P.M. even on the weekends and holidays.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoThe OP only mentioned the cost, not speed or streaming services.
Therefore I focused on cost, not speed or streaming services.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoThe OP only mentioned the cost, not speed or streaming services.
Therefore I focused on cost, not speed or streaming services.
Understand. I however tend to look at the bigger picture (Good, Quick or Cheap). Even if the price was the same on Amazon and eBay but Amazon has free shipping and the added shipping cost on the eBay item was $7 I would only have to buy 20 or so items in a year to pay for the Prime membership plus I get all the added benefits of Prime.
monroe67
·1 year ago"eBay sellers have some great items to sell, but when they include shipping charges on items, many times I can purchase it cheaper on My Prime Amazon account. Sorry people but that’s what makes you loose watchers, and buyers."
I love it when the Best Buddies come right up and introduce themselves.
simba6
·1 year agoNo single venue will the the lowest price on every item every time. You are wise to check prices from more than one to find the best value for your money. There are many items sold on eBay you can't find anyplace else too.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoI live in an 11 unit condo complex.
Every day there are one or two deliveries by Amazon. There are at least three or four units in the complex which receive an Amazon delivery, every day.
I may only have one or two Amazon orders a week, which is low.
Prime includes more than just free delivery, and Prime Video, and other goodies are worth something.
Amazon has the largest package delivery operation in the US, Bigger than UPS or USPS and their cost for fulfillment and shipping is often less than we Ebayer are paying to ship.
Ebay continues to lose sales of new, in production, product each quarter. Usually because of price and other factors - including seller sourcing which may void manufacturer's warranty, inauthentic product, and lack of buyer faith that product bought on Ebay is safe to use or ingest.
Amazon has black hat sellers, just as Ebay does, but Amazon makes them jump much higher hurdles to sell many products than Ebay does.
Ebay has many legitimate sellers who are small and do not buy at the same prices that larger sellers buy, small sellers have a harder time competing on price.
Up until recently, I have limited my purchases on Ebay to cheap Chinese products which are cheaper on Ebay than Amazon, and which I do not worry about warranty past the 30 day Ebay warranty. I have started buying those products on Temu which is cheaper, and delivers faster than many Ebay sellers.
I sell items on Ebay which are hard to sell on Amazon because Amazon's efforts to insure authenticity and IP rights policies have made it virtually impossible to sell many types of collectibles. Ebay is currently the best site to sell many collectibles, and that is not going to insure a rosy future, so we see them spotlighting other categories where they see an Ebay advantage.
mickybruce
OP1 year agoI understand how ya’ll can be angry, however; #1 Amazon Prime is $139, but there is free shipping, Prime tv, and returns are hassle free. Some sellers sell at a good competitive price, while others as much or higher than Walmart, or Amazon. I was in higher management in retail for over 50 years, you have to be competitive, and have quick turnover, or holding on to product slows down your sales. Don’t mean to step on any toes. Good luck with your business.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoAmazon is $16.15 a month, $192 a year.
Regarding 'returns, you should have stated
"except when you buy from one of their 5,000,000,000 third party sellers and amazon has 'removed' them from selling/answering messages.
Then, you simply get to continue keeping your garbage while the thief keeps your $$.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoThis applies to certain categories/products. Everyone selling on eBay is not running their stores like a big box retailer and may offer items that are not really comparable. (like said items) If you are talking about dishwashing detergent, i would agree that price can be the determining factor. If you are talking about acoustic guitars, price may not be the determining factor that educated buyers (of musical instruments) choose. Just as an example. YMMV
Some things make more sense finding/buying on eBay and others may be better to find/buy on Amazon.
I don't necessarily disagree with your post (to a degree) but there is more to it. YMMV
Choose wisely.
itsjustasprain
·1 year agoAnd thus you are comparing apples to oranges.
The independent sellers here are a lot more visible than the independent sellers on Amazon. Some charge shipping and some roll it into the purchase price. At least you can see before purchasing whether there will be a shipping charge and whether it is too high for you. That way you can avoid having to leave feedback complaining about the shipping charge such as 'Great price, little high on shipping' or similar. Oh, wait a sec...
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@mickybruce
Why don’t you wander back over to the Amazon forums. I sold on Amazon for 10 plus years…I loved the money..hated their business model. I have sold on eBay for 23 and find it much more rewarding from a customer service level.
I do not like Amazon. I don’t like what they represent, and more. So take you sage advice somewhere that it is appreciated.
bonjourami
·1 year agoI sold on Amazon many years ago,hated their treatment of sellers, worse than Ebay then..maybe its better now.
brightlightbookseller
·1 year agoIt's certainly no place to express an opinion with no basis in reality.
bonjourami
·1 year ago"You know if EBay sellers are like you, with no open mind, and rude things to say, I wouldn’t be surprised if your customers aren’t switching! I can see this is no place to express an opinion!"
You are certainly free to express your opinion here, but just be aware that you get back what you give on the board.
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@mickybruce
Check out my 5 digit feedback. I am hardly rude to my customers. Frankly you are contributing absolutely nothing to this board and there are people here who have legitimate questions
mickybruce
OP1 year agoIf you are concerned about things other people contribute, what do they think of your contribution? Won’t waste your time anymore.
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@mickybruce
Just leave all of us stupid eBay sellers alone. Don’t you have something better to do. Troll over to Amazon and buy some more polyester clothing and other garbage from them. They are full of it.
mickybruce
OP1 year agoWow, I think EBay sellers need attitude adjustments.
bonjourami
·1 year ago"Wow, I think EBay sellers need attitude adjustments."
Ditto.
bonjourami
·1 year ago"Check out my 5 digit feedback. I am hardly rude to my customers. Frankly you are contributing absolutely nothing to this board and there are people here who have legitimate questions"
This thread was meant to bait..and thats what it did.
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@bonjourami
Does not look like the OP did a very could job of it. Don’t cross good sellers. Especially when I had my 80th birthday yesterday. That was traumatic. 🤫🤫🤫🤫
bonjourami
·1 year agoLOL..my sympathy, Im two weeks away from 83...but congratulations on reaching a milestone!!!
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@bonjourami
I guess it is better than the alternative.
Years ago I used to buy nightgowns from a lady who was in a nursing home. She was a great seller.. I kiddingly said “that would be meâ€. I always gave that lady a lot of credit.
bonjourami
·1 year ago"You know if EBay sellers are like you, with no open mind, and rude things to say, I wouldn’t be surprised if your customers aren’t switching! I can see this is no place to express an opinion!"
With over 39,000 feedbacks, I would say myfrugalboutique does very well for herself.
cardsforauction
·1 year agoYes, the key for some on here is to stay competitive with pricing while offer a quality product. Some sellers will try to compete with the other site and some will not. Often times on eBay, you may find a quality, reliable product and seller with good prices, but to go to the other site seems unproductive unless you get a large discount. Many times you will find good items on the other site, but some unique items or old style items you will not find there. Also, as I recently found out, you may order an item on the site you mentioned, and get a completely different item (wrong order) and then have to return it. I even ordered a replacement for the wrong order, and again the system was messed up and sent me the same wrong item. I wasted 2 weeks, and had to order off another site (not eBay) to get the item, yes, in that case the item was more expensive on eBay because of high item / shipping price. The item were just cardboard shipping boxes.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoLoose is your pants after 2 months of Ozempic
Lose is what the Yankees did
When you add the $16 a month for the wonderful Amazon account, did you really buy that much 12 months out of the year, to really save??
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoYou had to bring the Yankees into it. 😂
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoI started to say 'Bengals' from last night, but figured since it was on Amazon Prime, nobody really watched it.
gone.c-33
·1 year agoJust say the Saints. This losing streak is about to have us put paper bags on our heads again when going to the dome…
krazzykats
·1 year agoI use my Amazon Prime membership mainly for streaming, like using Netflix service or similar.
The perk of free shipping is a bonus, although I don't make frequent purchases on Amazon.
However, I do enjoy watching movies.😄
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoI have Dish (which has pay per view movies), Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, Peacock & Hulu. Out of all of those, Netflix, by far, is the best. Paramount+ has the next best. I only have Peacock/Amazon for NFL, which I will cancel in January. Hulu for .99c a month for 12 months, so once in a while....Paramount was $8, annual for $60 and a 50% off deal so I paid $30 a month ago (For the year).
I would NOT ever pay for AZ if it weren't for the NFL (Thursday night football), figured $4 a week ($16 a month) was worth is just for the football, but have found NOTHING else I'm interested in that Netflix doesn't do better (they are getting all the HBO and SHOWTIME shows).
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoDepends on what you buy, how often you buy. I do save. I’ve done the math on buying small items that I need quickly. It usually isn’t stuff that I would buy on eBay – rather stuff that I would get at the hardware store or target. The savings isn’t so much in the item price, rather in saving time and fuel to make a trip.
And there are a lot of things where you might save on eBay one week, then Amazon another. New vinyl records is a pretty good example – there are some great deals on eBay, and often there are some amazing deals on Amazon.
for most common, new items, Amazon is cheaper when you factor in the savings on shipping if you have prime. Even if you don’t have prime, you can get free shipping if you buy enough in one order.
ittybitnot
·1 year agoWhen you add the $16 a month for the wonderful Amazon account, did you really buy that much 12 months out of the year, to really save??
@stainlessenginecovers
I can contribute to that question. The answer is YES. The nearest town with any stores is 29 miles away on the other side of a mountain from me. Therefore, it often makes little sense (for me) to get in the car and go to a "store" other than for groceries, haircuts, large readily available items, etc. Though I am an advocate for choosing a "small businesses" to patronize, I would likely "pay more" LOL, not to have to make that 29 (x2) mile drive only to find out the "physical store" was out of stock (i.e. it might come tomorrow...can I order it for you? etc.)
Need your usual "unscented" deodorant (LOL) ? Go to perhaps to three stores looking for it, or get 2 for the price of one and have it the next day online from AZ. They deliver on Sunday, and I won't have to worry about smelling bad for another six months.
slyders_finds
·1 year agoAmazon can sometimes be better for generic stuff, but If I am looking for rare collectibles or unique I am looking on Ebay.
mickybruce
OP1 year agoI agree with that!
Unavailable member
·1 year agoYou're telling us this because why? Personally I couldn't care less what you do.
mickybruce
OP1 year agoIf could care less, then don’t respond!
bonjourami
·1 year ago"If could care less, then don’t respond!"
This is an open board, members are free to respond as they choose, as long as they stay within the boards guidelines. You dont get to pick and choose who responds.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@mickybruce
Good thing I'm selling items that can't be found on Amazon.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year ago@mickybruce
Good thing I'm selling items that can't be found on Amazon.
Not sure what you are selling since you have no listings on this account, which I assume is your posting account. Ironically with the Amazon FBA program the breadth of products on Amazon has expanded greatly. It is where I purchased my last couple of Morgan Dollars and an old vintage chess set. A friend of mine collects Pokemon cards and has acquired quite a few rare ones off of Amazon.
fern*wood
·1 year agoHow much does Prime cost now? I've never had it.
slyders_finds
·1 year ago$140-$180 a year.
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@mickybruce So your point is ????? Are you aware that many people would rather support a small business before a Billionaire.
mickybruce
OP1 year agoThat’s true, but people have to eat and pay bill, too!
bonjourami
·1 year agoGood for you, are you aware of the recent USPS price hike?
mickybruce
OP1 year agoDidn’t know I was fighting anyone. Have a nice day!
bonjourami
·1 year ago"Didn’t know I was fighting anyone. Have a nice day!"
??? who was fighting you?
silverstatetreasureboxes
·1 year ago@bonjourami
😆 🤣 Bon, it's your signature line again!
bonjourami
·1 year ago@bonjourami
Bon, it's your signature line again!
Ha ha..why do I keep missing that???? Thank you!