Where Are The Bids??

[48indian]

In all the years we've been on ebay this has never happened. One bid in three weeks....what is going on?

[sakic92710]

Selling on eBay has become as easy as squeezing blood from a stone.  All the factors into dismal sales are : eBay system changes & greed, government interference & inflated postal rates.  Each has influenced buyers' desire to purchase here & caused many sellers to leave.

[stainlessenginecovers]

At this time of year people need/want Buy It Now item. They don't have time to 'wait' for an auction and then 'wait' for it to be shipped. They will just move on to someone selling it 'buy it now'.

[fern*wood]

I would try fixed price so people don't have to wait a week to see if they get the item.  For the most part, I'm too impatient to look at auctions.

[onefootflipper]

Why in the world are you listing repair parts for 90 year old motorcycles in auction format? Particularly when they are new repro parts that you obviously have quantity of. Ebay stopped being about auctions a good 10 years ago. 

Second, some of the listings look like they came directly from the hardware aisle at Home Depot but just had the price increased by a factor of 50. I could be wrong there though, maybe those bolts are some custom thread, diameter and length.

[firesteel_surplus]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

At this time of year people need/want Buy It Now item. They don't have time to 'wait' for an auction and then 'wait' for it to be shipped. They will just move on to someone selling it 'buy it now'.

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Well let me tell you the Buy it Now side of the house isn't much better.

I have a huge load of circuit boards almost ready for recycle and some days I am almost ready to throw in the towel and recycle the rest of the electronics and say goodbye to ebay.

But on the other hand...I also just started posting again after a summer break and man oh man...do I have a lot of stuff to go through yet....

I probably should keep going...I'm posting hard drives and that has always been a cutthroat area and one where I despise selling in. But I had around 400 on hand to do....something....with. And there are actually a small portion that are getting to be somewhat hard to find for collectible system rebuilders.

I did have two hard drive sales last week and that made me about as giddy as a whale doing a whale dive out of the water in front of a group of sightseers.

Absolutely giddy.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[firesteel_surplus]

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@fern*wood wrote:

I would try fixed price so people don't have to wait a week to see if they get the item.  For the most part, I'm too impatient to look at auctions.

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LOL. I passed up two Batman t-shirt auctions because...I didn't want to wait 3 more days and went and found a BIN for my price I was willing to pay.

Two sellers lost out. One seller won.

There is something to be said for instant gratification.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[onefootflipper]

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@firesteel_surplus wrote:

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

At this time of year people need/want Buy It Now item. They don't have time to 'wait' for an auction and then 'wait' for it to be shipped. They will just move on to someone selling it 'buy it now'.

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And there are actually a small portion that are getting to be somewhat hard to find for collectible system rebuilders.

Firesteel Surplus

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I know in 90s arcade games that used hard drives some games needed rather specific hard drives in order to function. Not sure if that was a security thing or the game only implementing enough of the IDE standard to drive one specific model of drive.

[coolections]

Those are not items you should be auctioning. Use BIN instead. You are never going to find enough people to have a bidding war for a rear light assembly or any other part you are auctioning.

[firesteel_surplus]

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@sakic92710 wrote:

Selling on eBay has become as easy as squeezing blood from a stone.  All the factors into dismal sales are : eBay system changes & greed, government interference & inflated postal rates.  Each has influenced buyers' desire to purchase here & caused many sellers to leave.

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I guess I've squeezed my share of blood then. I don't think it's ebay greed. The average selling fee is 12.9%.  I've been here since 1995 and although I can't remember the flavor of the pop tart I had 20 minutes ago, I think eBay's selling fees here have been right around that 10-13% mark. It may have been lower at the very beginning, but we also were the Wild West and we also did not have the millions in market outreach like we have today nor the features and just the ease of use. Trust me...ebay has gotten a LOT easier to use than those Wild West days of 1995-2000.

Ebay changes....When I left for my summer break, I was getting 12 pictures to post. Now I get 24 pictures. I can see where that can be a huge negative having 12 more extra pictures to post. They changed the selling posting page. I've read plenty of complaints here. Again...some like it. Some don't. Me....I don't mind it.

Managed Payments is a hot topic. Some love it. Some hate it. I used to love it. Now I neither love it nor hate it. Long story. I've accepted it.

I don't see government interference either. If it's that stupid 1099....that is just because sellers do NOT understand it. (Note: Do a search here. I'm not going to explain it again....)

Postage rate: THAT we do agree on and one thing that I think can be the downfall for a lot of the low cost items here with the "Free Shipping" nonsense that we almost have to use to cater to eBay's needs to compete with Amazon. I offer free shipping. It gets built into my cost of the item naturally. I really try to absorb the next USPS price increase each time...but wow...does it get tougher and tougher.

LOL...evidently putting up being neck deep in doo-doo with the military and the feds for 34 years might have made me a bit more tolerant to stuff....I don't know.

Has eBay run its course? Are we on the downward spiral? Is this it? Have we over saturated the market with "stuff?" Is that the problem?

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[coolections]

The person you replied to is in a different situation. They have Canada post and their shipping cost is 2x more than US sellers, thus lower sales.

[firesteel_surplus]

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@48indian wrote:

In all the years we've been on ebay this has never happened. One bid in three weeks....what is going on?

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Ummm....I checked your first three auctions. There was not a Condition listed. I am going to assume these are Used parts?

I guess I don't understand why you would not list a condition that parts were in. There is a drop down there with multiple choices. I'd really recommend updating your auctions.

And I'd say your auctions starting prices are probably pretty close to your bottom dollar price you'd accept. I don't know what these pieces are worth (I don't know the condition for one....) I'd switch these to a Buy it Now with a Best Offer. Put your auction starting price in as lowest offer you'd accept to keep out the bottom feeders and put the BIN a few bucks higher and then let ebay automate the offers.

That is how I would handle it.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[krazzykats]

Maybe Indian motorcycle parts are not a big hit this Christmas? 

or

The Indian motorcycle crowd might be holding off buying their parts until the riding weather gets a bit closer.

[b86fiero]

General comment to the thread:

My DH and son restored 10 Triumph motorcycles 1960 through 1969.  Most were purchased as basket cases missing many parts.  They wanted only original parts, no repro, and spent many years searching and traveling to other states for swap meets and many dollars to buy original.  Not everyone would do that but for the collector or restorer, it matters.

As for not receiving bids, there are a lot of factors in play right now.  Inflation, stock market hits to retirement funds, holiday purchases, parents financially helping struggling adult children and grandchildren, not to mention the current state of eBay with way too much inventory and a declining buyer base.

I say hang in there and relist it until it sells.  Somebody out there wants it, they just haven't seen it. Yet.

Perhaps someone will see your listing and notify a friend who would want it but does not think of eBay when looking to buy. 

Good luck!

[stainlessenginecovers]

There were no stores and no 'FREE' listings. So, if you listed your item over $9.99 to start, it cost .65c just to list it. Do that 1000 times and it will cost you $650 with no guarantee of a sale. I don't remember what the 'final value' fee was.....