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?

[firesteel_surplus]

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@coolections wrote:

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.

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Awwwww.....

I didn't see they were in Canada....yes, I do understand their dilemma then.

My bad.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[firesteel_surplus]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

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.....

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Oh man...I forgot about that. We got hit with a listing fee every single time. I'd start just about all my sales at $1.00 to get hit with around a .25 posting fee. And we did not have the BIN and I think the longest auction was 7 days and I always planned mine to end about 6 or 7 pm west coast time. And then I juggled on which day was BEST to end on. Then ebay came out with TEN day auctions! WooHoo! We also had regular system outages....and I'd get hit right when a laptop was ending when the sniping was going to start but I think ebay would extend those auctions which then would move my end time and end day.

What a ***bleeping*** nightmare.

Good times indeed.

Didn't we get 6 pictures and Gallery Plus gave us 12? Or something like that?

I think I still have all my tax return paperwork from those days along with all the supporting paperwork. I should see if I still have it. Take a trip down memory lane.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[coolections]

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@firesteel_surplus wrote:

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I forgot about that. We got hit with a listing fee every single time.

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The listing fee was refunded as long as the item sold. Back then everyone did not inflate their price so many items sold with no problems. My sell-through back then as close to 90% while today it is around 60%.

[chapeau-noir]

Get rid of the auctions.  I know a fair few vintage motorcycle enthusiasts and helped restore a Honda Dream - no one wants to hang around bidding on a part they need to keep going, and maybe or maybe not win it.  It's not really instant gratification - it's just purchasing something the old fashioned way. 

Winter is a great time to be tinkering on stuff like this.

[onefootflipper]

I fixed up two different old 70cc Hondas and that was over 10 years ago and even then I ignored parts at auction and only bought parts I could get immediately. 

These days I will ONLY buy something that is an auction if either no one else has it any other way or if it was ridiculously cheap. Back when I had more time on my hands every time I would sell a valuable Pokemon card with buy it now I would try to replace the card for half price from auctions and I was able to do it half the time, auctions are that bad.

The only things I would EVER consider auctioning are things that are incredibly in demand and almost never show up on ebay.  Only think I could think of off hand that I have had in the past are color vector arcade monitors. I have had two of those in the past and there has only been one on ebay in the last two years. If I somehow get another one of those then I will auction it for sure.  

[48indian]

I agree with you.  We've been doing this for nearly 24yrs. and it's just not like it was. Seems like constant unnecessary changes.  

[48indian]

Makes sense but it costs more to sell it But It Now. We try to keep our prices low but you can go just so low. Might try this out.

[48indian]

That was what made ebay so fun, the prices of your item going up. I do understand what you are saying.

[farmalljr]

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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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The items you have listed, are senseless to auction. Not high demand or scarce. Auctions are only good for high demand or rare items. 

You would be far better off with BIN listings. No one has time to wait a week for something they can get somewhere else. Only older people will wait for an auction. Most people want it right now. 

[48indian]

Home Depot does not sell the particular threads needed for these older motorcycles. Some of the heads have to be a certain size thickness in order to have a 100 point restoration. You can't just buy some of our parts just anywhere. By going on ebay under Indian motorcycles you can rest assured the parts you purchase from us will fit your vintage motorcycles. As for the price have fun trying to find some of these pieces. Took us years to locate some of these. Most of the people that reproduce these parts are now seniors with some that have already stopped reproducing the parts. 

[48indian]

Do I know what you were saying. I'd be thrilled to have one bid right now. Things have to change.

[48indian]

Believe it or not we are not familiar with BIN. We used to have a bidding war. That's when it was fun. 

[chapeau-noir]

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@48indian wrote:

Do I know what you were saying. I'd be thrilled to have one bid right now. Things have to change.

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I think the change needs to be on your side.  I used to be all auctions and sold parts and restored vintage hats.  That was when auctions were a happy fad and ecommerce was really small and a novelty for many.  Natural evolution has been away from that.

Try some stuff on fixed price and keep some on auction - there's no harm in testing it out, see what happens. Also, you may find things pick up after Christmas.

[48indian]

You're right. 

[48indian]

Lots of Indian owners buy our parts to restore their bikes during the winter. We used to sell lots of our parts for Christmas gifts.