NO MORE AUCTIONS

[bear52]

   Just a personal statement of my no longer doing any buying on Auction Listings on Ebay. I have been a member and active for over 20 years on Ebay. I have bought and sold all during my time here. It used to be a great place to get a good deal on merchandise. I have had some great experiences and some bad, but I will never attempt a auction only sale or purchase again. Why ? Well I notice a trend of sellers pricing their auction  items for more than it's worth and quiet often more than  you can buy locally the same thing for less. I am well aware that Ebay is a "BUYER BEWARE" format but when the buyers are never even checking what a item is really worth and going into a AUCTION FRENZY. I refuse to be a part of that as it is a waste of time. I also have to wonder about a item being listed on a auction and right away it gets a a single bid ! I once had a guy attempt to get me to bid on some items he had listed so as to lock in a starting bid for him I told him no.

  Yes this current trend is a sellers dream situation. I know somebody will yell that Ebay charges such high fees ! As a a buyer I could care less, just as some will yell about packaging costs. I in all these years here never one time considered packaging costs as I scrounged around and found free boxes and old newspaper or paid for it myself and considered it the cost of doing business. A lot of folks don't realize that many sales here come from yard sales and Thrift stores. I have personally seen in Florida two fist fights break out by people standing by the doors where the second hand donated stuff is delivered out to the store, They were waiting with cell phones in hand and checking to see what was selling and for how much on Ebay and trying to get it for resale and several all tried to gab a item before it was put on the shelves for sale and the fight was on. The Police had to be called ?

    I as a ham radio operator I see this every time I look at the Ham equipment for sale here and Many ham operators now  refer to Ebay on this topic as "Rip Off Bay" I can go to ham locations and Ham events and purchase the same stuff for half the prices of what sellers are asking on Ebay for the same items. We have places we buy and sell among ourselves and do not try to take advantage of others. I just recently purchased a complete HF station for $250 while on Ebay the same radio (not complete station) was listed two different places for $450 for the radio alone ?? What is wrong with that picture and yes let the buyer beware ! That is why I am writing this to inform buyers to Please, Please do your research on what a item is really worth.  I looked at some Microphones the other day and they were being listed by sellers for $150 + about $15 shipping. I can buy a brand new one for $168 with free shipping from the factory ? $165 for a used one or $168 for a NEW ONE ? I believe I will pay $3 more and go with New ! As long as we keep paying these prices they will keep selling .

Folks please beware

[bear52]

If most folks did that it would return back to a good way to do business. Just a few years ago the "Snipers" were cussed like crazy here and attempts were made to implement a 15 minuet rule to prevent them from doing a last minuet deal. I do not know if it was accomplished or not as I slowed down on auctions a long time ago due to the outrageous prices and now refuse to do a auction here.

[releasethekraken_1]

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@bear52 wrote:

If most folks did that it would return back to a good way to do business. Just a few years ago the "Snipers" were cussed like crazy here and attempts were made to implement a 15 minuet rule to prevent them from doing a last minuet deal. I do not know if it was accomplished or not as I slowed down on auctions a long time ago due to the outrageous prices and now refuse to do a auction here.

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eBay has never, ever attempted a "15 minute rule". Even eBay isn't that stupid.  The only thing they have ever done that even tangentially affected snipers was to occasionally put up a captcha that required the bidder to type in a set of characters, but I haven't seen or heard about one of them in quite a while. 

[bear52]

  Yep a item is "Donated" as in FREE to a Thrift Store. EBAY DEALERS are standing waiting at the doors of the Thrift Store sorting rooms hoping to Score a Big Deal on a "Vintage" Item so they can Sock it to some unsuspecting buyer. As I stated I have seen "Fist Fights" break out over these used Vintage items ! This "OLD VINTAGE" item is a old well used thing but in decent shape. A NEW one is for sale for say $25, you got it USED for say $5 and list it for $30 + shipping costs of $14.95. If you sell it to some person who does not know any better and does not know enough to compare prices, they have paid $44.95 for a VINTAGE USED item that was $30 new with free shipping. Now did you do anything illegal ? NO, but did you take advantage of that person ? Sure you did. You knew what you were doing and they did not. Was it their responsibility to research ? Yes it was, but they were not thinking and you as the seller was trying for as much money as you could get from a unknowing buyer no matter what.  Sorry but that is not how I was raised or taught . Nothing wrong with making a profit but it is like a car dealer talking a person who cannot really afford a expensive car, but convincing then to go with a more expensive car rather than a less costly one . Did he break the law ? No but he sure knew he was taking advantage of a unsuspecting person. Not very nice. With the advent of the Internet it opened up a new world of purchasing power and a haven for people willing to do anything to make a Buck.  I saw last night a item for auction sale for $$950 starting bid and had ONE bid already done locking it in. It was listed as untested and sold as is. This equates to selling a VINTAGE item they know nothing about but surly it is worth a fortune ! I can purchase this item anywhere for $450. I actually have one just like it I paid $350 for less than a year ago from a non auction site !  There are unsuspecting persons who will bid on this item and buy it. They will then tell others of what a Great Deal they got. What they got was the Gold Mine Shaft and all !! Shame on the person selling it.

[acrc3113]

This isn't the only site where auction prices get out of hand. Why would someone on eBay bid or BIN on a name brand woodworking router that is commonly sold at home centers for a 30% mark up over current retail, and still have to pay shipping ? Who knows. If I find a good deal here on a no longer available part using BIN (including shipping), I buy, but lately, bargains are to be had elsewhere on other platforms. It's hard to justify paying dimensional weight shipping costs. As to sales, I gave up trying to sell here when they went to mangled payments.

[maxine*j]

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@bear52 wrote:

  Yep a item is "Donated" as in FREE to a Thrift Store. EBAY DEALERS are standing waiting at the doors of the Thrift Store sorting rooms hoping to Score a Big Deal on a "Vintage" Item so they can Sock it to some unsuspecting buyer... ... did you take advantage of that person ? Sure you did. You knew what you were doing and they did not....  and you as the seller was trying for as much money as you could get from a unknowing buyer no matter what.  Sorry but that is not how I was raised or taught... ... taking advantage of a unsuspecting person. Not very nice...  a haven for people willing to do anything to make a Buck...  Shame... 

I'm sure that when you see something that you know is underpriced, you are quick to tell the seller, so that he may adjust the price upward. 

I'm sure you always insist on paying what you know the price should be, in a fair and honest marketplace, even if the poor benighted seller is asking less. 

I'm sure when you said you used to "get a great deal on merchandise" on eBay you meant that, nevertheless, you never paid less than what you knew an appropriate price would be.

You were just raised and taught that way, right?

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[releasethekraken_1]

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@bear52 wrote:

 There are unsuspecting persons who will bid on this item and buy it.

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I think the word you're looking for is "lazy", or maybe "s*****d".

[bear52]

No if they know how to use a computer which they must since Ebay is internet based then they have the capability to shop world wide right from their desk or bed. UPS, FedEx and USPS delivers anywhere promptly. Even in Rural locations .All they have to do is comparison shop. But sadly many people do not think enough to do that and cannot believe anyone on Ebay would try to take advantage of them ! They operate on Faith and sadly we will always have people will do anything to make a dollar. Yes times are hard and many cry let the buyer beware ! Well unfortunately many older folks shop EBAY just like myself they do not go out much anymore. They cannot believe that a seller would overprice a item hoping to get some uninformed buyer to go crazy and buy something many times its actual value. By Value I refer to what I can purchase the same item for elsewhere. It is a shame we live in a world where we have to double check every aspect of a purchase. these folks can try to justify it any way they want but it is still not a good thing and wrong. I stated in my original post that many folks now refer to it as "Rip Off Bay" !

[bear52]

Yes even if that buyer at that moment is paying twice the value of a item which is the purpose of my original post, to get potential buyers to look and think, then do some research before jumping into a "Impulse Based Purchase". I noticed the name "Mud Shark" Nuff said !

[glasser]

I am hugely in favor of auctions. The issue the OP explained is not with auctions its with sellers. I sell most of my items via auction with a low starting price and no reserve (gave up on .99 NR since it takes so many bids to get past like $25).  I start items at 19.99. 29.99 or what ever that sell for hundreds of dollars.

The problem now is as the OP stated people are are using auctions as a form of BIN. They have starting prices at retail. I think in some cases people want a shorter listing period then the here forever BIN system.

In the categories I sell in people with BIN for the most part have priced themselves out of the market.  If eBay want to know why antiques and collectibles have suffered as of late they should do a market analysis.  

The percentages of auctions in these categories is also really low. I have seen categories, that in my estimation should have high numbers of auctions, have 1% of all listings as auctions. The buyers are out there when things are auctioned.

That said, the OP is correct. Many sellers get dreamy-eyed about what stuff is worth and price items incorrectly. Additionally, some items are not worthy candidates for auctions. This like commodities--cell phones, PCs, most clothes. eBay has down a horrible job understanding the micro-markets on the sites.

Auctions are a tried true form of moving goods. The other online auction sites--the online version of traditional sites--are going great now and prices are strong. eBay owned that market at one point but abandoned it in favor of forcing everyone to compete with Amazon.

Yes, many consumers don't want auctions for items they can buy immediately elsewhere. That does not apply to every item on the site.

[jonathankirkland]

Please use paragraphs, it's really painful reading your endless walls of text. 😞

[maxine*j]

But you did not answer my direct question, so I will ask it again: 

If you see an item priced at below what you believe is the fair market value, do you inform the seller of that,  and do you insist on paying the seller what you have decided is the item's true worth, despite the seller's lower price? 

To do otherwise would be to act immorally, to take advantage of him, to rip him off, according to the way you were taught and raised and have been preaching here. 

So, do you?  Always? 

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[7606dennis]

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@bear52 wrote:

When a item is listed at a greatly inflated price then immediately after posted ,it gets "ONE BID" it seems strange as it gets no bids for days after ? I have seen many in person auctions where a certain person was the designated BIDDER who ran prices up intentionally. Illegal no , but not very morally correct. Shame things like this happen  !  Ebay used to list who the Bidder was but stopped this practice several years ago then you could see if the seller had the same bidder doing it on every sale and stay away from them, but now we cannot see that.

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How can it be listed at a greatly inflated price if it is an auction?  If you're saying that the starting bid is too high, then do not bid since that is, in reality the seller's reserve price.  If you're saying the optional BIN is too high, then placing a bid at the minimum starting bid would most likely remove that option.

Naturally, if the starting bid is too high for one's liking their option is to move along since the item is out of their price range.

[simba6]

The frenzy effect is common at auctions. People bid what they see others bidding. I once had a bidder next to me win an item I had bid. When the item ended and he won, he asked me what it was. I to be  facetious, replied I did not know.  He then asked me why I was bidding on it, I replied , because that guy over there was bidding it.

One must keep their head during an auction or else get their clock cleaned.  You are right. Buy it now/ fixed price does avoid that. Also, many buyers don't want to wait for auctions to end. They want it NOW.

[oneblindcat]

I really don't care. I'm responsible for my own purchases. If the price is too high, I don't buy it. What other people do is beyond my ability to care.

Aaannnd... There have been three times recently that I positively slammed the buy-it-now button fast enough to release smoke from my mouse. All three times I messaged the seller, explaining that their price was ridiculously low, and if they wanted to cancel the sale and relist for a more realistic price, it would be okay.

Only one took me up on it, the others said, "Thanks, but we'll ship it."

Either way counts as honest, so it's all good.

[yag113]

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, when ebay was just an auction, it was a beautiful thing. But now the auction part is only a small slice and as a seller you can no longer risk starting you auction at 99 cents and have a good chance several people will be engaged. Because most of the buyers are Buying It Now. There was still a risk way back when that only one person would be interested but if you had a half way decent item, generally you's have bidders and watchers and they battled it out. Now, unless your item is rare and desirable,  the buyer can find it with a different seller at a fixed price and have that instant gratification. Year ago I started everything at either 99 cents or 9.99 depending on it's value. But frequently these days you only get one bid, so you have to list them item near the value you'd like to get.  Plus, make an offer, discourages people from watching auctions....because they don't know if the item will ever see the end of the auction. Oh well....it is what it is.  The world has changes, the collectibles and antiques market has changed, and ebay has changed, lol, AGAIN...the new format.  Best roll with the punches.