What Do You Like Or Dislike About Buying/Selling On eBay?

kjp55 · Joined: 18 Aug 2001 Posts: 1972 Location: East of Rockies

There are always two sides to every story, and we've read a lot of those stories here on Auctionbytes.com. I thought it would be fun to start a thread to get the inside scoop on the thoughts of eBay users (both buyers and sellers) to see what people really like or dislike about buying or selling on eBay.

Sit back, relax, grab a cup of java and let us know your true thoughts.

dsteiner · Posted: Sat May 10, 2003 7:57 pm Post subject:

Good thread, Kim. Definitely like hunting and buying the items. Taking the pictures is one of the more satisfying parts of the process for me - and definitely getting the money for a good sale.

I don't even mind packing the items all that much. I could do without writing the descriptions or keeping track of all my sales records.

Dave

kjp55 · Joined: 18 Aug 2001 Posts: 1972 Location: East of Rockies

My thrill includes going to the auctions or yard sales and using my experienced

mind to try to gamble on whether I will be able to make a profit on a particular item.

I can also say that taking the pictures, although rather tedious at times, gives me a bit of satisfaction when they come out looking good. Switching from a scanner to a digital camera sure helped, though.

The ultimate thrill on eBay is watching the bidders up the ante on items I thought would not sell for very much. The downside is watching an item I expected to sell for a good price go for way below my expectations. But, either way, it's a learning experience.

All in all, I can't say too much on the negative side about selling on eBay. Sure, the costs could be lower.....but I guess that's the price of doing business. Could cost way more if I were to do this the old brick and mortar way. Trade & Hobby shows are also very expensive, and offer no more of a guarantee of sales than eBay does.

JC · Joined: 15 Feb 2002 Posts: 217

As a buyer I like eBay because that is where the competitive sellers are listing.

As a seller I like eBay because that is where the buyers are looking for their bargains.

EBay has the sellers which attract the buyers which attract more sellers which attracts more buyers. No amount of messageboard dialogs about other sites is going to change that. Short of government intervention eBay is going to continue to dominate the online auction industry.

kjp55 · Joined: 18 Aug 2001 Posts: 1972 Location: East of Rockies

I'll have to agree with JC. eBay is here to stay and is the main source of my auction income.

I've been involved in several conversations here on Auctionbytes over the past couple years (from talk of an auction co-op, private auctions, online storefronts, etc.), only to realize that most of it was just that...........conversation. Noone has proven that they can make a better eBay yet, and probably never will. It would be great if every individual could start up an online store or private auction and realize the same traffic and sales that can be seen every day on eBay, but that is mostly a pipe dream (in my books). eBay has the sellers and the buyers, and I've all but given up on trying to better them. Like the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em....join 'em.

I'd rather spend my time on eBay making money than waste it scheming on how to make a better mouse trap. I'll leave that to the intelectuals who are already working on it. If they succeed, then maybe I'll join them.

PIoutsource · Posted: Wed May 14, 2003 1:00 pm Post subject:

the time it takes and the listing fees...

face it..the ebay biz is 24/7/365.

my wife is gonna kill me!
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wayfarer · Joined: 02 May 2003 Posts: 9

I like the money I'm making, for sure!

For the most part, it's been a pleasant experience. I agree about the mouse trap analogy. It'd be nice, I guess, if there was another good venue. Nothing seems approaching the scale of eBay.

What I don't like are slow buyers, when items don't sell, outages on ebay (albeit not too frequent). There are a few technical issues about listing that I'm not thrilled with, but have to admit the support is good via email anyway.

Chris
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jtruck · Joined: 14 Mar 2003 Posts: 4

because my stuff used to sit on a shelf in my antique mall space costing me $85 and 12% a month. With ebay I can sell or not sell as it pleases me. TRUE, I don't get the prices I got in the antique mall, but then when feeling lazy it dosen't cost me anything either! I have been very satisified with the online help at ebay. AND I have really enjoyed auctionbytes and the people here!
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justonce · Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 7:27 pm Post subject:

my wife is gonna kill me!
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That is definitely a downside!!!

Best, Franci
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PIoutsource · Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 7:45 pm Post subject:

:>)
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As a buyer, I like the opportunity to pick up inventory not available in my local area, and I have the patience to wait for the right opportunity.

As a seller, I like the ease of unloading stale inventory without the hassle of a yard sale. If it doesn't sell within 1 re-list, off it goes to the thrift shop.

eBay will continue to dominate the online auction market, no doubt. Other online auction venues will find it tough competing against eBay, unless they are in a well-established market niche with a large collector base. Like other new technology advances, ancillary businesses have sprung up to either support eBay sellers or offer alternative selling venues for different markets not provided by eBay.

This is indeed a fascinating time!
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Seven · Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 3

Looking at all sides of eBay.

It is great to have access to a customer base which could otherwise not be obtained. It gives the consumer a venue for selling and buying niche items that are desired by a select audience. It is also very good that ebay has developed an easily navigated forum for buyers to find the types of items they are looking for. They have succeeded in developing a clean, well put together e-commerce site.

On the other hand:

The level of customer service provided by eBay is less than desirable for their clients. The self help menue service and user chat rooms are not a consumer friendly means of addressing concerns. Any high profile company that makes considerable income can afford to invest in a more efficient client friendly customer service program.
It only makes sense that in order to keep long-term repeat customers, that you cater to your customers. There was a transition period in early 2002 that moved away from the safe harbor program in favor of the current system. The reasons given were that due to an overwhelming amount of new clients and customer requests for service, that the prior system was ineffective.

Normally this would equate to increased revenue due to the influx of new customers and business transactions. A smarter customer service move would have been to outsource a call center as an independent contractor. That way a cost effective means of keeping communication for the increased number of clients could be reached.

Overall eBay has succeded in areas where the competition has failed. They offer a service which is currently unparalelled. However, in a long-term environment they will suffer inevitably by not addressing the core needs of their customers.

mahjpar · Joined: 30 Oct 2003 Posts: 1

On ebay I would LOVE a space in the information bar on each slae to add the date shipped and expected date of arrival for follow up. I would be responsible for entering dates, they would do nothing-just provide the box to input the date. This way all the information is in one place instead of going back to where you keep tracking records.

Maybe someone else out there knows a better way to do this. I'm open to all suggestions on combining the tracking of payments/shipping/feedback etc.

deco-days · Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Posts: 213 Location: Toronto, Canada

Personally, I believe that ebay is a necessary evil.

Yes, the money one makes can be good depending on who's watching.
Buying stock is good as well, but .............

I absolutely hate and resent the tactics that ebay uses to steer business their way at the expense of other on-line businesses.
I absolutely hate and resent the fact that they are, always have been and forever and a day will be ---- self serving.
I absolutely hate and resent the fact that they never take responsibility.
I absolutely hate and resent the fact that there is no customer service to speak of.
I absolutely hate and resent that any other company that even tries to compete gets squashed.
I absolutely hate and resent that they are a totalitarian government with over 30 million citizens (larger than most countries) and those citizens have no rights to speak of.

Do I love the hard work and great items that sellers put up at great cost to themselves --- absolutely.

Do I think that the Federal government should step in a regulate what they are allowed to do to advertise and not spam other businesses --- absolutely.

If it was good enough for Microsoft and Bill Gates it should be good enough for Ebay and Meg.
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mindelec · Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Posts: 23

i dislike the way the sell through rate has dropped from 60% to 30% in the past year AND the way they seem to feel this urge to change things every month.

meg herself said "sometimes ebay does best when we do nothing." but how would she know, they've never just left it alone and collected their millions. there's always some "Great New Feature" that we have to adapt to, for better or worse.