Low end Ebay customers.

[coj]

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's because I sell antiques instead of electronics, BUT.........has anyone else notice how unbelievably cheap Ebay buyers have become? IE., I have items for sale that are bringing over $300+ on "real" auctions, yet I cannot get half of that? It certainley seems that if you are not giving it away, it probably will not sell. I deal with a lot of silver, which has, as a precious metal, a certain value per unit of weight. Just for fun, I put some silver up for $.99 each, which would scrap for around $14, and I can't get bids. It's like I am giving away free money and no one will take it!! And if you dare sell anything over $50 - $100 as a listing price, forget it. Am I alone here?

[luckythewinner]

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@coj wrote:

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's because I sell antiques instead of electronics, BUT.........has anyone else notice how unbelievably cheap Ebay buyers have become? IE., I have items for sale that are bringing over $300+ on "real" auctions, yet I cannot get half of that?

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eBay is not the best venue for all items. If yours are bringing twice as much at auctions, that seems like a no brainer - why in the world would you list them here?

In my experience many buyers of antiques and electronics want to see them in person, hold, them, examine them, and plug them in and test them out.

After buying electronics with undisclosed dirty  and scratchy pots, I pretty much gave up on electronics here.  If I can't plug it in and listen while I turn the knobs, I won't waste my time.  

[coj]

Many times it is not possible to consign items to those same auctions. A lot of "real" auctions only want estates of dead people.

[coj]

Also, I do not sell electronics.

[castlemagicmemories]

If you listed your experiment recently, many people are in gift buying mode right now, and/or are buying holiday decorations and clothes.

I don't know many people that would be using silver for any of those things, so that could be a reason why there are no takers right now.

[tina06457]

One sale in five days and I do have some Christmas items listed. I'll wait another week then everything comes down. I'll start selling again in January or maybe not. You're right they want everything for pennies with free shipping too. I have about 14 watchers right now. Waiting for a Christmas sale maybe?I'm not lowering my prices anymore. I'll donate to my local thrift store . At least that way I don't have to worry about after Christmas returns.

[femmefan1946]

Just for fun, I put some silver up for $.99 each, which would scrap for around $14, and I can't get bids.

If I saw that, I would assume that the seller knew the pieces were 'silvery' or 'german silver' or silver-plated and worth the 99 cent price tag.

If the seller was a newbie, a bottom feeder might buy on the chance that naiveté
was in play.

But a listing like that from a high feedback seller who normally sells silver? Even the bottomfeeders are bright enough to think something is off about the listing.

[*eponymous*]

You're a low-end seller if your best item might get $300 sonewhere else.

[uzumakey]

I took a quick look at your listings - if I were you I would add "925 sterling silver" to every single listing you can. Then also, in the title and description, include the exact gram weight of your silver (and add the word "scrap" if you're selling scrap). Be sure to snap a quick photo of the item you're selling on a gram scale as proof.

Finally, you might want to reconsider your shipping prices which are quite high. Scrap silver isn't worth much and it's lightweight enough that you'll probably never go over 16 oz which is about $4.50 through USPS. Insurance isn't really worth paying for with low-value items and cheaper shipping will attract more views.

I have sold in the exact same category, and sold items that are in pretty bad shape - never had an issue selling scrap silver though. What I would do is weigh all my items then compare (by weight) to other scrap silver sold listings, then list as 30-day BIN. This gives you more time to attract buyers and you WILL sell in this category if you list correctly. Sterling silver is easy.

Now, when it comes to used clothing...oh boy. I am selling gently used clothing from prestige brands and I'm not getting any bites even when items are priced under $10. I have $200 pants listed for $5 but still, no bites. I feel like buyers in this category are waiting for me to lower the price to $0.99 with free ship before they'll consider buying. I have tried the alternative - price average or high - and that's even more impossible.

[llllady]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@coj wrote:

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's because I sell antiques instead of electronics, BUT.........has anyone else notice how unbelievably cheap Ebay buyers have become? IE., I have items for sale that are bringing over $300+ on "real" auctions, yet I cannot get half of that?

---

eBay is not the best venue for all items. If yours are bringing twice as much at auctions, that seems like a no brainer - why in the world would you list them here?

In my experience many buyers of antiques and electronics want to see them in person, hold, them, examine them, and plug them in and test them out.

After buying electronics with undisclosed dirty  and scratchy pots, I pretty much gave up on electronics here.  If I can't plug it in and listen while I turn the knobs, I won't waste my time.  

---

If that were the reason, then there wouldn't have been so many antique malls and shops that closed up during eBay's heyday.  

These days, sales here are based on race to the bottom. Why do you think eBay is spending millions of dollars on advertising things like price match and lowest price guaranteed.  A smart person has to ask how they can even do that when they own/sell nothing. 

[chrysylys]

You know your cat's watching you talk about your buyers, don't you?   

[retrose1]

OP, I took a look at your listings and stumbled upon the 99 cent spoon - with the $8 shipping.  The last spoon i shipped went FC and had insuance for a lot less than that.  Since I am under the impression that silver is down, it appears that you are not really going to be losing money on the transaction if you only get 1 bid.

And I have to assume that you rolled the extremely high 'ship costs' into your free shipping profit margin other items and that makes them too high in my book.

I collected and invested in several genres back in the 80s and 90s and much of it has devalued over the years.  I never bought any of these, but have seen hundreds of people with bins full of Beanie Babies hoping to get the hundreds they used to be worth.  Even items with a base of value, have fluctuating value, like scrappers discarding gemstones to get at the gold when gold is high when the entire ring used to be worth 5 times that.

So your items might not be desirable for anything but silver content right now.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

It's harder to sell it is all. With a specific sterling spoon pattern, set it at fixed price and wait. That's how it is now. Maybe you can find a way to sell on auction, but I see no point in selling sterling below scrap, I can take it to the scrap man myself then, why would I bother with ebay and fees? 

[papyruspapillo]

Just to be redundant ... ebay has deteriorated in many ways, but the most obvious and annoying is the cheapness of most of the buyers and bidders. While I still list some pricey collectibles, I also list bargain pieces. Guess which ones sell. (Although not much of anything is selling; ah, for the good old days.) The site has solicited these cheapsters and we are paying the price.

[thatsallfolks]

“Just for fun, I put some silver up for $.99 each, which would scrap for around $14, and I can't get bids. ”

Maybe people don’t think it’s worth their time. Sure wouldn’t be worth mine.