1990's eBay

[valuestore]

Amazon was just starting out, little brother to eBay. Auctions format dominated the landscape, fixed price was Amazon. eBay was exciting, open a bid at a penny, set your limit to $10. Press send, within seconds auto out bid $10.01. you count your coins and try again for $12.02 or bow out like poker. It was a different eBay, miss it. 

[mam98031]

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@glorybells wrote:

I got defrauded by a couple of buyers that sent checks that bounced.  But I also remember the junk drawer auctions, and the weird couple that contacted me when I listed my maternity clothes, wanting to know if I had any used, unwashed nursing bras they could buy for their sexual role playing.

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I do not miss the bouncing checks and the fraudulent money orders.  Often times it took banks back then a couple weeks to figure this out and by then I had already shipped to the buyer.  Nope, I don't miss that mess.

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@carlmarxx wrote:

Yes  I do  understand ins and outs  of business     of all type's of  collectibles  and Vintage items . Art  I bring in  the experts  and do  same for Vintage  Guitars .    The issues is You made the blanket statement . will out nailing down which category's.

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Vintage guitars - Solid body, Acoustic, Semi-Hollow, Bass etc. 

[tex-421]

Let’s see a show of hands.  How many of you folks went to eBay Live in New Orleans!  I gave a presentation, it had something to do with cars.

Laissez les bons temps rouler 🦀🦞🍾 

[billythekid16]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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I do not miss the bouncing checks and the fraudulent money orders.  Often times it took banks back then a couple weeks to figure this out and by then I had already shipped to the buyer.  Nope, I don't miss that mess.

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I do not miss that part either.  I know in the beginning it was exciting to see all the checks and money orders in the mail.  But when that first check bounced or you get a fake money order, it changes your tune immediately and permanently.

[tools*]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

Your item sells and you get an email - apparently from Western Union-- telling you a money order is on its way and to ship .

You ship. The money order never arrives. WU was not involved in any way. The email was a scam.

Your item sells and the buyer sends you a check.

You ship.

The check bounces.

You buy an item and send cash.

The item never arrives.

The seller closes their account.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

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I started selling on eBay in 1998, although I was selling through newsgroups for ten years before that. In thousands of transactions involving checks and money orders, I experienced surprisingly little fraud. Far less than you typically see on eBay today.

[tools*]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

BTW, I do agree that eBay was more fun in the 90s (well, I started in 2001 but started selling online in the late 90s - eBay was just another platform to me). Lots of things online were more fun, though, before it turned to a combination of enlightening and en**bleep**ification.

Thing is, 1990s were 30 years ago - things change.

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I'm really curious to know what word was worthy of partial bleepification.

[glorybells]

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@tools* wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

BTW, I do agree that eBay was more fun in the 90s (well, I started in 2001 but started selling online in the late 90s - eBay was just another platform to me). Lots of things online were more fun, though, before it turned to a combination of enlightening and en**bleep**ification.

Thing is, 1990s were 30 years ago - things change.

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I'm really curious to know what word was worthy of partial bleepification.

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I’m assuming it was the wish it word.

A lot of us who had lived life BC (before computers) were suspicious of anything like online payments.  A friend of mine who was an early user of PayPal finally talked me into giving it a try in late 2002.

I originally had gone to eBay looking for an unusual Fontanini item.  In those days, there would be about 25 Fontanini items listed on eBay, and bidding wars were frequent and wild.  Now, there are about 5,000 Fontanini items listed, and don’t go for those insane prices anymore.  I had gotten my “start” in auctions with horse auctions 20 years before.  That was a unique situation where both buyer and seller seemed to have a good grasp of what things were worth.

I ended up selling a lot of items around the house we had no further use for, and shipping some of them was a challenge.  I’m referring to baby strollers and other equipment, my husband’s cutting horse saddle (in retrospect, maybe I should’ve kept the saddle and auctioned off the husband!), a microwave, china, and more that I wouldn’t dream of trying to list today.

These days I primarily list and ship rosaries, and machine embroidered towels.  Repititive shipping requirements.

[luckythewinner]

 It was a different eBay, miss it. 

eBay did not change - buyers did. Sellers switched to fixed-price from auctions because that was what buyers wanted. While a few may still be nostalgic for auctions, most buyers just want to know what the price is and buyer it without all the drama and shenanigans that auctions introduced. 

But do you know what I am NOT nostalgic for? 

I do not miss winning an auction and sending a money order for $XXX and not getting my item. There was no recourse, except to leave a negative feedback - and when you did, you got an immediate retaliatory red donut claiming you never sent payment. 

I got cheated by sellers back then way more often than I get cheated by buyers now. 

Ecommerce has evolved, and the marketplace has changed. Back them you had millions of people getting online for the first time every month, which meant a steady stream of newbies who were wowed by the experience and spent money like water on things they had never seen and thought were rare. 

But these days everyone is online, and instead of saying "Gee, that's cool! I have to have that!" and plunking their money down, nowadays they say "Gee, that's cool! But I bet a cheaper one comes along in a little while!"  And they are usually right.