Another "I quit" story.

[bargainsandbaubles]

I've taken up a job, luckily before all this Covid stuff went down, and couldn't be happier.

I have been an eBay seller since 2005 and have decided to down-size my operations quite a bit and focus on my job, which for over 10 years was exclusively selling on eBay.

Now you are probably thinking "great another eBay bash post". Well no..eBay while it has its flaws, has been one of the best online platforms to sell items. There is actually a lot more coming into play.

When I first started selling, it was very easy to make money. I would come home weekend after weekend from a round of yardsales and or an auction with my entire back of my car loaded down with inventory. eBay was also the main player in buying online, besides a few smaller online auction sites, and of course Craigslist, which focuses more on local selling.

All of this drastically changed under two waves of new buyers and eBay sellers. Wave one occurred during the recession of 2008 in which shows Pawn Stars and American pickers started airing soon after, ushering in scores of people low on money but big on stupidity. A bunch of new, speculative buyers, many of which were extremely competitive and many of which had no clue. A lot of buyers that either made it, or quit soon after. 

For me, I weathered this storm, which only lasted a few years. But the second wave of buyers is what really drove the final nail in the coffin. This second wave was the release of smart phones. Now anyone could easily look up any item on the spot, anyone could easily become a seller themselves, and this is honestly what ruined eBay forever. Lastly, the third wave has recently hit, YouTube.

Before this occurred, one needed a little knowledge on what to buy. It was very powerful walking into somewhere and spotting an item worth hundreds, that no one else knew the value of. I'm sure some have heard this term before, but I always called these types of items "sleepers". Well, the advent of the smartphone killed this, and now every price of every item is a few button presses away.

But it only gets worse. When I first started, eBay was "it". There were a few alternatives, but they had little popularity, and Amazon was geared more towards books.

When the smartphone started gaining popularity, so did places to sell. Now, anyone could be a seller. It was ridiculously easy to list on eBay using your phone. Then Facebook started up an online marketplaces, and then of course app based selling platforms like Letgo, Mercari, etc. Some are also focused on niches, like Poshmark.

While some may disagree, the huge emergence of highly competitive platforms made it harder to sell, as they drove traffic away, and of course it's rather time consuming to list on multiple sites. I also happen to collect stuff and it has made it a nightmare to try and buy anything as well. I don't have countless hours to look everywhere if eBay doesn't have it.

Now when you have "instant sellers", it starts readily shrinking the amount of inventory you can buy. Some people just didn't like using eBay, and of course they would much rather sell a $100 item at a garage sale for $40, rather than messing with shipping it (especially with larger items). Now in under 60 seconds, they can post all their unneeded items at higher prices, effectively eliminating the middleman, which is us.

But it gets worse. Starting around 5-8 years ago, not only did regular people want in on the action, but other venues did as well. When I first started, online auctions locally were unheard of. Now, and especially with Covid-19, more and more auction houses have opened their inventory to the world, again driving up prices. Even as a collector, 20-25% buyer premiums effectively make something more expensive than I can usually buy it for on eBay.

Then Goodwill and Salvation Army jumped in. Now both Goodwill and Salvation Army are both selling on eBay. Goodwill also has their own online auction platform, and good luck trying to buy anything cheap. All the goodwills here have now started culling anything that "might look valuable" which has turned their brick and mortar stores into a complete waste of time, even for someone looking to get a nice deal on brand name clothes to wear. All of that is online too.

But can it get worse? Oh yes it does. The 3rd wave is of course YouTube. YouTube turned eBay into a get-rich-quick scheme. There are literally tens of thousands of videos on YouTube showing not only how to sell well, but where to sell items, how much they are worth (usually overinflated) and all sorts of valuable knowledge that can drive dollar signs into peoples eyes as well as separate their wallet from their brain. A lot of inexperienced buyers thinking what an item is worth is what it is currently listed for, not completed listings.

So where does that leave me? Going to yard sales to see a bunch of eBay listings taped to their stuff and wanting prices close to the listings prices. Going to Walmart and seeing half their clearance inventory wiped out because someone went through with a barcode scanner on the eBay app. Going to Goodwill and seeing nothing of value anymore. Not being able to go to auctions, a usually enjoyable pastime (nice way to meet up with people you know). Having to look on 6 websites to find something locally to buy, rather than just spending a few minutes on Craigslist. 

Sorry to sound like a nay-sayer, but I also like being realistic. While I made a nice amount of money on eBay last year, if I divide it buy all the time spent buying, listing, packing, etc, I probably ended up with less that minimum wage.

I will still sell of course, but I'm not going to be selling as much. It's just become way to competitive lately to try and make it a second job. It's more of a hobby now.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Nope, sorry...it's all Ebay's fault. Every bit of it.

Just kidding. Seriously, that is an excellent post that really explains why things as a seller are so difficult now. Between all the competition now, and "anyone can be a seller" it is very difficult to do this nowadays.

[bargainsandbaubles]

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

Nope, sorry...it's all Ebay's fault. Every bit of it.

Just kidding. Seriously, that is an excellent post that really explains why things as a seller are so difficult now. Between all the competition now, and "anyone can be a seller" it is very difficult to do this nowadays.

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What I find interesting is with the extensive amount of baby boomers going into retirement homes as the geriatric population is at an all time high, you would think there would be a gigantic increase in the amount of auctions and estate sales.

Why isn't there? Because now the family tries to sell off all the valuable items and usually your left with an auction of furniture and other misc stuff.

Also, a lot of stuff that was collected by older generations is shrinking in value because the younger people aren't interested in it as much, especially pottery.

[this*old*attic]

Plus, just the gloss has worn off. Online buying is an everyday thing now, and nothing is rare anymore.

[adkhighker]

Great post, I really enjoyed it and can relate to a lot of what you are saying.  Now that you are going to cut back on eBay and make it more of a hobby, I predict your life will be way less stressful and you won't regret your decision. Good luck to you!

[pburn]

I hate to admit it, but what finally put a damper on it for me--as a buyer--was the last increase in shipping by USPS.

There's a particular item I like to buy, and I set an arbitrary limit of $15 total as my ceiling. Well, the latest hike brought shipping to over $10 from most zones around the country. That doesn't leave a seller any profit, or at least not much. I just can't justify paying more for them, though, so I'm kind of out of luck--and so are the sellers I would've purchased from.

It's kind of sad for me. I've purchased a couple of things here and there, but I hardly ever even "shop" anymore.

[bbravo65]

@bargainsandbaubles(quote from yours...), "...it's more of a hobby now..."

...definitely...with...somewhat...addiction...

[griffithbarbara1]

Excellent post! And I agree that you'll probably have less stress now as well. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I totally understood every bit of it and you are right on the money (unfortunately) yard sales aren't what they use to be and I use to enjoy going to auctions with my dad and that's something of the past for us as well 😞  I just take it as a hit and miss whenever anything sells for me I pretty much made it as a hobby too because of all the competition otherwise it can get stressful really quick if there's any other expectations. I really put more focus around the holidays and random in between... just depends where I put my time, because we are to stay home i've been a little more into it at this time of the year  (more so the interesting/entertaining forums, lol) 

[bargainsandbaubles]

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@griffithbarbara1 wrote:

Excellent post! And I agree that you'll probably have less stress now as well. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I totally understood every bit of it and you are right on the money (unfortunately) yard sales aren't what they use to be and I use to enjoy going to auctions with my dad and that's something of the past for us as well 😞  I just take it as a hit and miss whenever anything sells for me I pretty much made it as a hobby too because of all the competition otherwise it can get stressful really quick if there's any other expectations. I really put more focus around the holidays and random in between... just depends where I put my time, because we are to stay home i've been a little more into it at this time of the year  (more so the interesting/entertaining forums, lol) 

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Covid-19 is going to make things interesting for sure. A lot of economic payments still have not made it to small businesses. I see a lot of already struggling antique stores and second hand stores closing, and honestly brick and mortar antique stores have become somewhat a relic of the past.

A lot of auctions that never sold online are going online, and once they get a "taste" of how much higher stuff will sell for, I honestly think they will phase out their live auctions, which are starting to dry up as well.

The other thing I hate is a lot of online auctions charge like 15-25% on TOP of your bid. So you end up spending $120 on a $100 item if you are collecting it..and people tend to forget that percentage.

[chapeau-noir]

Interesting post, and definitely there has been an evolution, and I understand your frustration, but I tripped over this and had a tough time getting past it:

But it gets worse. Starting around 5-8 years ago, not only did regular people want in on the action, but other venues did as well.

eBay has always been about 'regular people' being able to sell - anyone, and they encouraged anyone, could sell here.  It's what eBay is all about.  An ordinary Jane like myself who worked as an editor and hack writer setting up here for a few extra bucks.  And we regular people are going to use the technology available to us.

I agree that this whole game has kind of had its run - I sell more elsewhere than I sell here these days (BTW, I sold on other websites before I started here in 2001 - eBay has never been the only game in town), and I also agree that due to the crowds now it's hard to find stuff - I'm actually surprised we had it so good for so long.

I will say this about the youtubers - most of it is ego, and most people will not hang in there and do what needs to be done to find merchandise, get sales, follow through - they'll burn out fast because, as you well, know, it's a lot harder than people like to make it out to be, and it's no shame to them if they decide it's more than they want to take on.

[theaffluentpicker]

What a marksman you are! Spoken so truthfully . I have an element of sadness in reflecting to those glory days of past for they were full of fun in seeking out treasures and the rewards were wonderful too.
There is only one thing I see missing in your excellent post and that is when e-Bay added the "seller feature" that suggested to an unseasoned seller a trending price for any particular item. When they did this it slammed my attempts of getting those great deals at or below spot price when "my game" was jewelry . I too am happy but only in retirement as selling became terribly stressful for me. So Cheers to your peace of mind in doing what makes you happy : )

[stuff_from_dylan]

The competition sucks. However, more competition means sellers have to work harder to get sales. Yes, of course, that results in dishonest listing practices, but also, it results in sellers trying harder to provide better customer service as there's so much choice that negative feedback is even worse now in terms of buyer trust.

[threshold.sales.group]

IMO, it sounds like you had good run at the business and were about as successful as anyone could be with the "picking" model.  The picking model - where sellers source one of a kind or small lots of close out items works great as an entry point, but is totally unsustainable long term. It's just too much back office / c-s work and dependent on sources that will eventually dry up or become unprofitable .  Even the dollar stores and close out chains had to give it up. 

[luckythewinner]

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@bargainsandbaubles wrote:

I will still sell of course 

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Another "I quit" story from someone who is not actually quitting 🙂

[earlyant-77]

Before this occurred, one needed a little knowledge on what to buy. It was very powerful walking into somewhere and spotting an item worth hundreds, that no one else knew the value of. I'm sure some have heard this term before, but I always called these types of items "sleepers". Well, the advent of the smartphone killed this, and now every price of every item is a few button presses away.

There are still a lot of sleepers out there, private sales, live on-site, and online.

You just have to keep learning.

Plus, the fun part is taking the cell-phone auction buyers to the limit and then sticking it to them. Do that a few times and you'll have less competition.