eBay sucks!

[LoadWB]

jimbo100 wrote:
I have had many sales from all over the world but I have found the US people to be the most difficult and the ones who like to over inflat the postage!  It appears our US brothers are a tad greedy!

We're just cranky 'cuz of PATRIOT and the US$ being in the $hitter.

[LoadWB]

TjLaZer wrote:

Of course everyone wants max money.  The only people that do not want max money are the filthy rich or people who are too busy to try to get the max money by setting up ebay auctions!

Given the choice of these two, I must fall into the later category, then.  I white-knuckle every month on paying the mortgage until my big customers can get back in the swing of things and start producing more billable hours.

Bottom line is, if you just want to make some room and want to help the community (of the item you are selling) you will post a free ad to give your item to anyone who wants it.  (like market place on here or Craigls List, etc)

Eh, I cannot totally agree with this.  How many people in the US are going to see my post on tallahassee.craigslist.org?  And I'm sorry to say that there are still a lot of Amiga-curious who do not visit AO.  eBay is fairly universal, and good sellers can find good buyers, and vice-versa.

Problem is the people who do end up getting it will part it out and sell it on ebay...

This has its good points as well.  Let's say you happen to have an A2500 and the accelerator is dead.  Well, the jerk that just parted out his A2500 and put the parts on eBay might just make your day.

eBay is a tool.  If you use it right it's great (finding rare vintage Amiga goodies) but it can royally suck (resellers parting and hiking up prices just to make an extra greenback)

HEAR HEAR!  I have killed off a couple of auctions because the price went far too high (if that sounds stupid, then I don't think you get it the way I do.)  I think I've mentioned this in another "eBay Sucks" thread: I do not welcome "collectors" whose sole purpose is to shelve the items they buy.  Rather, I want people who will use it until it dies.  Someone like me who has always wanted some model of the Amiga (I would have killed someone in front of their mother for a 1200 :-)) but did not have a couple or few hundred for a used model.  I finally got one about five years back for $65 and shipping.  And etcetera ad naseum.

[sdyates]

I have used ebay many times. They offer a great service, but I do feel they charge too much. However, that being said, I have made more money selling on ebay than I could by myself.

Unless we can set up our own board: An Action to create a solution; we are simply wasting our breath complaining and wasting breath.

But, I guess it is better to complain about ebay than the likes of Amiga Inc... Boy are we a hardly bunch!

[Shamus_]

TjLaZer wrote:
It's fine to have a reserve on what you wish to accept for it.  But to state that is just crap.  I guess he wants to force someone to buy it than to think of it being throw away?  I don't get it.

*shrug* It's genetics. Personal observation of people over the last 40 years has me convinced that there is 2 diametrically opposed gene pools. Most of us are decended from stock that climbed gingerly out of the trees. Our friend above appears to have decended from those who fell out.

While we're bagging EBay, one of the things that amuses me is the way some people bid. For arguements sake, item "X" is worth roughly $300 and has a starting bid of $10. 7 days out from the end of the auction you'll see people bidding a dollar at a time for something that's obviously going to go for alot more than 20 dollars. When it gets too expensive, (at around $40, for example), they stop bidding. Are these people really under the illusion that they'll end up winning said item for the price of the postage? I submit that this type of bidder is also part of the "fell out of the tree and hit my head" gene pool.

Rant off.

*steps off soapbox*

[gdanko]

Dang that Doomy! He is stripping the accelerator from that 2500!!

Dear greenstench,
   
If there was an accelerator board installed, the starting bid amount would be a lot higher then $99.95. I have seen accelerator boards on eBay sell for between $80 to $1400, depending on the board. I paid $300 for my PPI 2000/40 board, plus an additional $50 for a 33 MHz 68040 chip and a 66 MHz crystal, plus $160 for 8 of the extremely hard to find 4 megabyte 30-pin SIMMs.
      
   
   - hgcsales

He is selling an A2000HD and I told him that!

[LoadWB]

Ugh, reading his writing (righting) makes me cringe.  It's worse than (then) some of those 1337 kids.

And he's a dick.  But that's just my legally defensible personal opinion.

[TheMagicM]

@Tjlaser:

Bottom line is, if you just want to make some room and want to help the community (of the item you are selling) you will post a free ad to give your item to anyone who wants it. (like market place on here or Craigls List, etc)
Problem is the people who do end up getting it will part it out and sell it on ebay...

Which is why I'd rather take all the money rather then sell it for a cheap price.  But why should I sell for something cheap if its going for alot of $?  If demand dictates $600 for my toaster system, then I will take that $600 happily.  If it only gets $400 then I'll do the same.  I have other odds and ends I'm going to ebay just to clear out room.

[gdanko]

If I get an Amiga 2000 from a kind soul for free and 6 months later I decide I no longer want it I cannot, in good conscience, take money for it. And since most of my stuff has come to me for free I will not make a profit from it. And I would condemn anyone who would.

[TjLaZer]

While we're bagging EBay, one of the things that amuses me is the way some people bid. For arguements sake, item "X" is worth roughly $300 and has a starting bid of $10. 7 days out from the end of the auction you'll see people bidding a dollar at a time for something that's obviously going to go for alot more than 20 dollars. When it gets too expensive, (at around $40, for example), they stop bidding. Are these people really under the illusion that they'll end up winning said item for the price of the postage? I submit that this type of bidder is also part of the "fell out of the tree and hit my head" gene pool.

You know what?  THAT DRIVES ME BONKERS!!!!!  I do not get it.     To me these people are ID10T error codes all over my 1084 monitor!!!!

Which is why I'd rather take all the money rather then sell it for a cheap price. But why should I sell for something cheap if its going for alot of $? If demand dictates $600 for my toaster system, then I will take that $600 happily. If it only gets $400 then I'll do the same. I have other odds and ends I'm going to ebay just to clear out room.

Nobody said give something obviously worth a lot of money away for free.  We are talking about stuff like a A2000 series computer, etc.  Worth up to ~$100.  People trying to nickel and dime it these things is what is annoying.  If it's taking room and you drive an Infinity G35 do not worry about trying to get $199 for it with starting bids that high, etc.  Offer it for a low bid if you wish or give it away to someone who can use it for free (or accept a six pack of beer) LOL

Now obviously if you paid $200 for it 6 months ago (and you really need the money) I think you should try and get that money back, but if you got it free, do like GDanko said...

[BGary335]

I hate Ebay because more often than not the little guy doesn't have a chance. For instance, there was recently a 1200 on Ebay on which I had bid a maximum bid of $175-a fair price in my opinion. I was winning the auction up until about thirty minutes from end time when some smart aleck decided to make a ~$300 bid for it. I bid all the way up to $255, but didn't dare try to go any further so I can only assume that his max bid must've been somewhere near $300. At any rate, I don't feel as though that's a very fair price for a basic 1200 system. It had no fancy upgrades or anything, it was just a regular 1200 with a 1GB HD and OS 3.9. It wasn't even an original Commodore 1200! I would've gladly paid $175, maybe even $200 for it. But any more than that is ridiculous.

Right now I'm bidding on a n A500 hard drive which is currently at $36. I'm waiting to see that balloon, with only about a day left on it.

[Shamus_]

BGary335 wrote:
I hate Ebay because more often than not the little guy doesn't have a chance.
 

*snip*

It's not just ebay. It's all auctions. Every 6 or 8 weeks a local auction house over this way has a computer auction. I've bought loads of gear over the years such as DVD servers, PCs and various other bits cheaply. If the computer auction happens to fall on the same day as the "Police And Seized" auction, the amount of people triples and most pay stupid prices for crap - just because it's an auction. I've seen secondhand 15" lcd monitors go for a higher price than a new one. People get it into their heads that because they're at an auction, everything must be cheaper than what they'd normally pay for it elsewhere.

[gdanko]

There are too many greedy folks on eBay who take advantage of those people who really want gear. Where I live there were tons of Amiga users back in the day. People have given me the old Amigas in their garages because they know it is going to a good home.

A particular example is a mint A3000 with Cyberstorm MkIII 060 with 64mb RAM, two 2.0G HDDs, Ariadne, and cv643d. This guy used it in college and just wanted to see someone enjoy it. He could have sold it on eBay and made 100s but he had a different mindset than most. Greed is a powerful thing.

[doctorq]

BGary335 wrote:
I hate Ebay because more often than not the little guy doesn't have a chance. For instance, there was recently a 1200 on Ebay on which I had bid a maximum bid of $175-a fair price in my opinion. I was winning the auction up until about thirty minutes from end time when some smart aleck decided to make a ~$300 bid for it. I bid all the way up to $255, but didn't dare try to go any further so I can only assume that his max bid must've been somewhere near $300. At any rate, I don't feel as though that's a very fair price for a basic 1200 system. It had no fancy upgrades or anything, it was just a regular 1200 with a 1GB HD and OS 3.9. It wasn't even an original Commodore 1200! I would've gladly paid $175, maybe even $200 for it. But any more than that is ridiculous.

Right now I'm bidding on a n A500 hard drive which is currently at $36. I'm waiting to see that balloon, with only about a day left on it.

Learn how to bid then. Wait to the last 30 seconds to make your highest bid. If you don't win, get over it, and hope for better luck on another auction.

[gdanko]

Learn how to bid then. Wait to the last 30 seconds to make your highest bid. If you don't win, get over it, and hope for better luck on another auction.

Or just snipe it.

[Fester]

BGary335 wrote:
For instance, there was recently a 1200 on Ebay on which I had bid a maximum bid of $175-a fair price in my opinion. I was winning the auction up until about thirty minutes from end time when some smart aleck decided to make a ~$300 bid for it.

Isn't that how bidding works? I do the same as you did: I set myself a limit and I try to stick to it. You'll eventually find another 1200.

Who would have thought a quilt could be worth 60K? I mean, some people will pay a lot of money for certain things. That's just the way it is.

Perhaps the fact that Amigas still command some money on eBay may contribute to their preservation. That's just an opinion :-)

Fester

[LoadWB]

doctorq wrote:

Learn how to bid then. Wait to the last 30 seconds to make your highest bid. If you don't win, get over it, and hope for better luck on another auction.

Garbage.  I will put a bid in for the highest price I will pay for an item up front.  If I get out-bid, then there's a happy seller and possibly a sucker buyer.  I don't have time to play BS games with snipers and idiots who will pay more for a used item than what you can get it for elsewhere (Elbox, Individual Computers, AmigaKit, et al.)