eBay

b86fiero · ‎07-25-2019

While searching for several different items I wished to purchase I began noticing what appears to be a more frantic desperation by many long time sellers to maintain a minuscule market share. Relevance if you wish to call it. Frantic because many items I placed in my Watch folder almost immediately received an offer from the the seller for up to 50% off. Sellers are listing items where they can't be making more than 50 cents or a dollar in profit. I prefer to purchase from my fellow real Americans with some history here and if I want something I'm willing to pay the asking price. I have purchased from overseas sellers and will not do that again.

I've had this account since 2001. I've switched my inventory several times over the years, as I'm sure a lot of you have. When the competition becomes overwhelming and some sellers list items for less than you can purchase at wholesale prices - and offer free shipping to boot - how does that make you feel? What do you do? Do you give up or do you approach the issue from a different angle?

Do you view the situation as motivation? Do you think 'I'll show you - eat my dust' and begin frantically listing every item you can get your hands on? Do you search out new and unique inventory? List your handmade crafts? Investigate means to advertise your listings instead of relying on eBay to bring customers to you? Do you cull your non-sellers so you aren't reminded daily that only a small percentage of your listings actually do sell? Do you decide to pare down to one category of items?

Or do you view the situation as aggravating, frustrating, maddening and cause you to think less than nice thoughts? How do you channel these feelings? Inward where you may be damaging your health? Are family and friends a tad leery of being around you as you're always in a bad mood and constantly complaining about what happens on eBay? Do you complain so much that eyes roll and people attempt to change the subject when you're speaking? Has eBay turned you into a constant crab? Where once you were excited to see how many items sold, do you now dread the let down of finding just one or two sales or that nothing sold?

New sellers get a taste of selling a few items on eBay then expect the future to be bright with sales galore and no stress. I think we all thought that way when we began. And for many of us virtually everything we did list found a buyer. that was then and this is the new reality.

We are all in this for the money. We have inventories, small and large. We have money invested in that inventory. Our monthly fees are an investment in eBay the corporation. We strive to make a profit, sadly sometimes any profit, to recoup our investment. We dread having to take a loss to move inventory.

Sometimes I have my head in the sand ignoring the millions of competing sellers. And then an occasional search for an item I'm interested in buying drives home the overwhelming fact that I am less than a tadpole in this ocean. Then I get motivated, until I decide to get out and actually enjoy living without this stress.

How about you?

equid0x · ‎07-26-2019

@nowandthenvintage wrote:
@equid, You will have the upper hand if you c an find out if what he's selling is counterfeit. A guy on Twitter is putting a lot on this very subject. I didn't realise how bad it is.

I've contemplated doing a test buy just to see if a) I actually get anything at all and b) if the items are real... just haven't pulled the trigger on it... I tend to stay very busy and this isn't a huge priority for me, but I may look into it more when I have time.

I'm inclined to think its just a total scam because at that price point, I don't think you could even have counterfeits made and shipped in from China. The seller of the headphones I'm referring to alleges to be based in the US.

I sourced my inventory directly from the retailer, have followed the bidding on such lots, and pretty much know that this seller didn't get them anywhere else cheaper unless they're straight up stolen. They're listing this item in large quantity and I too, have purchased them in quantity.

Its possible they just got some spectactular deal on a lot from the same vendor, but I kinda doubt it. The percentage of MSRP people will typically pay for these type of lots is fairly stable.

equid0x · ‎07-26-2019

@rpalma wrote:

The bluetooth headphones are most likely open box returns that were bought in a pallet at auction from Best Buy/Walmart/Amazon warehouse. They could also have come from broken cases from the same source.

They could be write off donations from the manufacturer, due to packaging or being an older model, that have made their way back into the market.

Local charities get donations all the time that they can't use. Some sell them or give them away to "friends" either legitimately or through the back door.

Agreed and a lot of what I sell is open box items. Its possible the sellers got them from some kind of charity for free, but who knows. I also buy items by the pallet so I know what the bottom line is there... that's why I'm saying the pricing doesn't make sense. I've sold them locally and also have gotten substantially more for the items than what these sellers are listing for on here.

I've seen similar items come up here and there at the charity thrift stores in my area and they're selling them for substantially more than $6/pc.

sakic92710 · ‎07-26-2019

I find quite a few unique items to post on eBay that have 0 competition. Yet - almost all sit there for months without any kind of offer. Just frustration. No motivation for months & months. I just keep trying. Good luck to us all. 🙂

femmefan1946 · ‎07-26-2019

"Rare" is not a synonym for "valuable". Nor does it mean "in demand".

It's Micawber's Law.

If you have 20 things and 19 buyers, you will make a profit. If you have 20 things and 9 buyers, you will lose money.

jvsevuer0 · ‎07-26-2019

A lot of those sellers don't really know their product, they could be selling widgets and you ask them what color it is and they have to go look at the listing... I don't sell products I'm not intimately familiar with, you ask me a question I usually know the answer off the top of my head.

Yes, it makes a difference.

honguye_55 · ‎07-26-2019

"We are all in this for the money". I like what you say. I am looking for my happiness in labor. I hope you made a right decision.

sakic92710 · ‎07-27-2019

Funny - I never used the words 'rare' or 'in demand' in my comment. lol To your point - just because you don't want something, that does not mean it doesn't have value to someone else. If there is only 1 particular item posted on eBay & there are millions & millions of buyers, chances are ONE person wants your item. If there is only 1 listed, you only need 1 buyer. If that item receives over 30 views in half a day, it seems many are interested in it. Too many people worry about the words 'in demand' on here. I'd quit selling here if the only things that sold were in demand. So many sales rely on the right person coming along. If your item was, in deed, visible to every buyer all of the time, chances are that buyer would see it & take it without sellers having to wait months before moving unique items.

sakic92710 · ‎07-27-2019

I just sold something that wasn't 'in demand.' It was on here for 14 hours & only had 9 views. It was the only one listed (IF eBay search engine was reliable for a change. lol). It's not unique or valuable but, sold quickly. This could be true for items that are very difficult to locate. This is my point.

desertmodels_uae · ‎07-27-2019

The broken part in eBay is they don't do what their competition is doing: logistics. The logistics services are optional and are not mandatory, like their competition. Handling the logistics means eBay will have to do identity and physical address verifications, which automatically will help in reducing the number of scammers from all over the world.

In light of the increasing number of sellers, competition, and decreasing number of buyers as they shifted to a more trusted platform, the whole structure of FVF makes no sense or align with the platform reality and profitability levels.

The scary part is when I do the research; I notice many members with thousands of positive feedback as sellers not lsiting any item for sale. This scary to see an exodos on the platform.

Must of my sales on eBay since I re-opened the store in 2015 is from promoted ads. For me, it is just a channel to sell the inventory I have. I don't care about scammers or desperate pricing; I offer it at cost, including eBay FVF and other fees. The moment I am done with my inventory and deliver the last shipped item, I will join the exodus.

eBay is a place to sell inventory without caring about the profit. This is not a platform for proper eCommerce and online retailing.

equid0x · ‎07-27-2019

@sakic92710 wrote:
Funny - I never used the words 'rare' or 'in demand' in my comment. lol To your point - just because you don't want something, that does not mean it doesn't have value to someone else. If there is only 1 particular item posted on eBay & there are millions & millions of buyers, chances are ONE person wants your item. If there is only 1 listed, you only need 1 buyer. If that item receives over 30 views in half a day, it seems many are interested in it. Too many people worry about the words 'in demand' on here. I'd quit selling here if the only things that sold were in demand. So many sales rely on the right person coming along. If your item was, in deed, visible to every buyer all of the time, chances are that buyer would see it & take it without sellers having to wait months before moving unique items.

If you've ever read up on the grocery industry you'd find that the typical store only has something like 5% of inventory that moves on a regular basis. The rest is carried more as a service to the customer than anything else. Recouping investment on the long tail products may take months or even years in a typical store.

I think a lot of inventory posted in eBay is that same way. Needs to sit "on the shelf" long enough to find a buyer. The stuff eBay is doing that downgrades visibility for "stale" listings is probably hurting their bottom line in the long run. Not everything is going to sell the same day its listed. If buyers come here and can't find what they're looking for, no doubt they'll look elsewhere.

equid0x · ‎07-27-2019

@desertmodels_uae wrote:
The broken part in eBay is they don't do what their competition is doing: logistics. The logistics services are optional and are not mandatory, like their competition. Handling the logistics means eBay will have to do identity and physical address verifications, which automatically will help in reducing the number of scammers from all over the world.
In light of the increasing number of sellers, competition, and decreasing number of buyers as they shifted to a more trusted platform, the whole structure of FVF makes no sense or align with the platform reality and profitability levels.

The scary part is when I do the research; I notice many members with thousands of positive feedback as sellers not lsiting any item for sale. This scary to see an exodos on the platform.

Must of my sales on eBay since I re-opened the store in 2015 is from promoted ads. For me, it is just a channel to sell the inventory I have. I don't care about scammers or desperate pricing; I offer it at cost, including eBay FVF and other fees. The moment I am done with my inventory and deliver the last shipped item, I will join the exodus.

eBay is a place to sell inventory without caring about the profit. This is not a platform for proper eCommerce and online retailing.

Well, sad to see you go, but you have confirmed my suspicion that some sellers are unloading their inventory.

desertmodels_uae · ‎07-27-2019

Unloading has a broad definition and depends on the case:

1. Unloading garage sales is normal

2. Unloading slow-moving items are normal

3. Unloading items that have demand below costs is an issue

Seeing the first one is perfectly fine

The second one happens everywhere, but we feel the intensity because it happens in one place called eBay. The item becomes slow-moving for all sellers, and naturally, you would expect all to unload the inventory around the same time.

The real problem for me is with the 3rd type, an expert seller comes to the platform to do a profitable business in a specific category and the moment they do start gaining sales momentum they get a flood of scammers from all over the planet offering the same items within the same category at completely unreasonable prices and terms.

You can call the 3rd type unloading inventory or scams or money laundry; this is the one that is harmful to sellers who wants to build a regular online retail business with an ongoing update of the inventory with new items.

clu3 · ‎07-27-2019

Or do you view the situation as aggravating, frustrating, maddening and cause you to think less than nice thoughts? How do you channel these feelings? Inward where you may be damaging your health? Are family and friends a tad leery of being around you as you're always in a bad mood and constantly complaining about what happens on eBay? Do you complain so much that eyes roll and people attempt to change the subject when you're speaking? Has eBay turned you into a constant crab? Where once you were excited to see how many items sold, do you now dread the let down of finding just one or two sales or that nothing sold?

LOL This sounds like Pharma ad. Is there a pill for that? Can I buy it on Ebay? 😉

clu3 · ‎07-27-2019

A method to knock out competitors and take over the market?

I suspect it's Jeff Bezos. 😉

equid0x · ‎07-27-2019

@desertmodels_uae wrote:
Unloading has a broad definition and depends on the case:
1. Unloading garage sales is normal
2. Unloading slow-moving items are normal
3. Unloading items that have demand below costs is an issue

Seeing the first one is perfectly fine

The second one happens everywhere, but we feel the intensity because it happens in one place called eBay. The item becomes slow-moving for all sellers, and naturally, you would expect all to unload the inventory around the same time.

The real problem for me is with the 3rd type, an expert seller comes to the platform to do a profitable business in a specific category and the moment they do start gaining sales momentum they get a flood of scammers from all over the planet offering the same items within the same category at completely unreasonable prices and terms.

You can call the 3rd type unloading inventory or scams or money laundry; this is the one that is harmful to sellers who wants to build a regular online retail business with an ongoing update of the inventory with new items.

I feel like if eBay wants to do something useful with all their fancy AI, they can have it start analyzing price points and start requesting invoices from sellers who are clearly selling below cost.

I agree with you that there seem to be an absurdly large number of sellers on certain items who all seem to be selling below cost. I'm willing to bet that its not really a number of sellers, its one or a few in cahoots with multiple accounts and that they probably don't actually have any legit inventory.

I also think that new sellers should have to put down some type of large deposit, say $500 or $1000, to be able to sell items over a certain dollar value, say $5 or $10, that gets held for a year until they've established history. I also think having a yearly fee for buyers, say $50, to be able to purchase items over $5 or $10, might temper the number of scammers on the site. Since they'll have to run a card to pay the fee, eBay will have their info on file for taking further action.