General > General Technical Chat
Would you really sell on ebay ?
rsjsouza:
--- Quote from: james_s on October 06, 2020, 09:40:07 pm ---(...) I really love the station wagon format and that seems to have been completely replaced by the stupid crossover design. It's the spork of vehicles, replacing sedans, wagons and small SUVs with something that tries to be everything at once. (...)
--- End quote ---
I hear you; back in 2012 I had to replace my fun coupe with a larger car (to accommodate a growing family) and didn't want to have a second big car (my wife's car is a large Mazda CX9). I opted for a Subaru Outback 2.4L that not only is a very roomy Station Wagon, but it does excellent mileage.
klunkerbus:
I used to almost always have some odd or end thing listed for sale on eBay, but I rarely do anymore. It takes time to prepare a good listing. Yes, the fees can be high unless you wait for one of the ongoing seller incentives with reduced fees. Terms and conditions have evolved to where the buyer has more protection than the seller does - it used to be the other way around. Shipping is expensive and a PIA to deal with, and I won't go the free shipping route. If eBay corporate wants me to offer free shipping, they can pay me for the cost to ship. After all, I as a personal seller am not Amazon. If and when I list anything, I try to make sure the item is only visible to US-buyers. Why? Because that's where I am, and last I checked PayPal protection didn't apply on international sales and shipping internationally is an even greater PIA.
In a nutshell, it's hard to make much profit selling on eBay, especially after factoring my time involved in listing, monitoring, packing, shipping, etc. I usually have to have some motivation other than profit to sell an item. Maybe it's a hard to find item and I know someone can appreciate it. Maybe I don't just want to landfill or donate the item.
peter-h:
Ebay is great for getting rid of stuff you don't want and which would otherwise rot on a shelf and eventually be worth absolutely nothing.
OK you lose 20% but so what?
Right now I have about 10 items listed for sale. Most will sell eventually. There is no penalty for waiting.
For doing actual business, both Ebay and Amazon are tricky. Let's say there are 3 versions of your product. A cheap one $5, a middle one $10, and a high quality one $20. And your business is in the last one. The site will present a prospective buyer with "you may also be interested in" and the the cheaper ones. Most people are too thick to think about it, so you have just (a) lost a sale and (b) done some free advertising for the other two. So these platforms work only if you are doing the $5 one. And obviously you need to build in hefty margins, especially if using Amazon's fulfilment service, but that's true for any distributor arrangement. If you make premium quality stuff you won't get sales via these platforms. You have to find other channels.
HighVoltage:
I am still buying on ebay but selling has almost come to a complete still stand for me because of too many problems with stupid or idiot buyers or some buyers that have intent to screw the seller. It has become redicules over the years.
10 years ago, ebay was fun to sell.
Today it sucks for sellers!
About 6 month ago I sold a brand new original item for around 200 Euro on eBay germany.
The seller claimed it was bad and wanted his money back.
I told him that he would have to send me the part back and then I will decide.
He called Paypal and got his money back right away.
Then he gave me negative feedback on top.
So, I ended up with no item anymore and no money and a negative feedback.
Just because the buyer wanted it this way.
Ebay has become a buyer's market only from my experience.
Simon:
--- Quote from: peter-h on October 07, 2020, 03:21:05 pm --- If you make premium quality stuff you won't get sales via these platforms. You have to find other channels.
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Which is where I am at, if people want one of Daves meters or they want a probe master probe "they want that one", i am not in the market of competing with cheap chinese meters or other probe makers, people buy from me because of what I sell, not because of how much I sell it for.
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