Selling on Ebay - it's getting weird.

[VestCunt]

I recently listed a bunch of 99¢ Turbografx auctions on ebay.  It's been a few years since I've sold much on there and the changes in culture and policy are surprising:

1) I've got a bunch of offers to close listings early.  To be honest, one offer is pretty tempting.  Are these scams?  I never saw this in the past. 
2) An extra fee for 10-day auctions. This has been in place for a while, but it still pisses me off.  Price gougers can eat up ebay real estate for months or years with their "good-till-sold" BIN items, but I have to pay extra to extend my auction by three measly days.  And since 10-day auctions usually end higher, ebay takes a bigger closing fee as well.  :p
3) Seller education.  I was amazed by how much ebay tried to help me price things.  How is anyone supposed to find a good deal when ebay tells sellers what everything is supposedly worth?  And just like price guides, sellers tend to ignore the condition grading and focus on the $$$ when listing their beat-up, incomplete items. On the flip side, buyers are even more clueless as the searchable time frame for completed listings seems to be shorter.
4) More resellers.  I used to take steps to discourage ebay parasites from bidding on my auctions, so when good ol' Assmaster immediately placed bids on my current sales, I went ahead and blocked him. A few days later, I realized this was a lost cause - more than half of my bidders are currently stores and resellers. We've reached the pinnacle of consumerism: people's whose livelihood consists of buying things they don't need to resell at inflated prices.

[DragonmasterDan]

I recently listed a bunch of 99¢ Turbografx auctions on ebay.  It's been a few years since I've sold much on there and the changes in culture and policy are surprising:

1) I've got a bunch of offers to close listings early.  To be honest, one offer is pretty tempting.  Are these scams?  I never saw this in the past.  
2) An extra fee for 10-day auctions. This has been in place for a while, but it still pisses me off.  Price gougers can eat up ebay real estate for months or years with their "good-till-sold" BIN items, but I have to pay extra to extend my auction by three measly days.  And since 10-day auctions usually end higher, ebay takes a bigger closing fee as well.  :p
3) Seller education.  I was amazed by how much ebay tried to help me price things.  How is anyone supposed to find a good deal when ebay tells sellers what everything is supposedly worth?  And just like price guides, sellers tend to ignore the condition grading and focus on the $$$ when listing their beat-up, incomplete items. On the flip side, buyers are even more clueless as the searchable time frame for completed listings seems to be shorter.
4) More resellers.  I used to take steps to discourage ebay parasites from bidding on my auctions, so when good ol' Assmaster immediately placed bids on my current sales, I went ahead and blocked him. A few days later, I realized this was a lost cause - more than half of my bidders are currently stores and resellers. We've reached the pinnacle of consumerism: people's whose livelihood consists of buying things they don't need to resell at inflated prices.

I've been watching a certain auction of yours about a game that involves exploring Dungeons that I don't have. Which might help you with avoiding resellers if I wind up winning it.

But yeah, ebay changed quite a bit over the years and resellers are doing a large amount of the buying and then waiting for someone to come along and do a Buy It Now on your item at a higher price.

Added in edit: I have suspicions about which resellers are bidding and offering to close auctions early as well.

[NecroPhile]

... and that's why it's better to sell your stuff here first.

[CrackTiger]

Sucks trying to sell games from Canada since eBay limits the amount you can charge for shipping a game to $4, but the cheapest shipping by Canada Post to the U.S. starts at $10.

[SMF]

Yea eBay has become a I WANT IT NOW AND CAN'T WAIT place to sell. If you are trying to get the most for your money let it ride till the auction ends, OR if you do take a BIN offer ask the seller if he wuld want to go thru PayPal and save on some fees that way. Paypal is still gonna back the buyer and seller and it will give you some extra change in your pockets. The way complete rare games are selling tho you might get a $300 and up fr certain games.

[jperryss]

1) I've got a bunch of offers to close listings early.  To be honest, one offer is pretty tempting.  Are these scams?  I never saw this in the past. 

Usually the seller that insists you end the auction early for them is someone that knows the price will end up going higher than they want to pay, so they hope you haven't done your homework or just have no idea what the item is worth. They will sometimes make up some BS excuse about why they need that item right away (I get it ALL the time with car audio gear). For example, you might have a listing that's bid up to $50 with a week left, and they will offer you $100 if you sell it to them right then, but the item normally sells for $130.

And yeah, eBay will nickle-and-dime the shiat out of you through the entire process, because they can. You get charged to list your item, you get charged if you want more than one picture to go with your auction, you get charged to add a BIN option, etc. Then they take a cut of whatever your item sells for. Then PayPal (owned by eBay) takes another 3%. I recently sold a bunch of stuff over the course of a month or so (no Turbob stuff ) and total sales were around $595. Then PayPal took their 3% leaving me with $575. Then a month later I had to shell out $67 in eBay fees. So when all is said and done, eBay/PP got almost 15% of that pie.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Just bidded on Falcon!!!


.....why the hell did I do that?

[nat]

Sucks trying to sell games from Canada since eBay limits the amount you can charge for shipping a game to $4, but the cheapest shipping by Canada Post to the U.S. starts at $10.

Yeah, when the hell did this start?

I sold something not TOO long ago and it wouldn't let me put down shipping as more than $3.99 or some shit. I used to be able to put whatever I wanted for shipping. I can't buy a box, packing, cover gas to the post office, and ship the item for $3.99. Hell, depending where it's going, $3.99 probably doesn't even cover postage. Maybe back in 1995, but not in 2012.

[VestCunt]

Are you guys trying to use flat-rate shipping?  Have you tried calculated shipping and then using the handling feature to cover supplies and shit? It's added invisibly. 

[nat]

Are you guys trying to use flat-rate shipping?  

I guess. In the past, I always just entered in a blanket rate that was reasonable and usually covered shipping and packing no matter where I sent it in the U.S. As of the point in time I sold that last item, this feature seems to have been removed and there are now (unreasonably low) ceilings on what you can charge if you do it this way.

And no, I've never tried the calculated shipping option. I guess I've never been able to place enough faith in the system to accurately figure out for me what it'll cost me to ship something somewhere (the $3.99 ceiling would just seem to reinforce this assumption). If that's the only way to do it now, though.... I guess I have no choice next time.

[VestCunt]

Yeah, it kind of sucks because you have to buy a scale.  Once you do, it works pretty well and I've never had any problems; you just have to pack and weigh everything as you prepare the listings and it's always good to factor in an extra ounce buffer - you don't want them to reject a package because you put an extra piece of tape on at the post office.

[SMF]

Whenever I can I use Flat Rate boxes from the post office. The Medium ones cost $10.85 to ship I charge $11 even. I don't even run it up to the post office I go online and schedule a pick up. If I HAVE to use a scale to weigh something I use my cooking scale and I always add 4oz t the final tally for that much needed buffer. I'm lucky cause my post office is open 24\7 365 day a year. Self service machine and a drop box inside makes life sooooo much easier. Walk in drop off and walk out and wave to the sckers that don't know how to work a computer or touch screen lol.

[esteban]

Just bidded on Falcon!!!


.....why the hell did I do that?

Energy would have been a far wiser purchase!

[NecroPhile]

Energy would have been a far wiser purchase!

But what if Cook wants to challenge you to a dog fight on a pair of 'Expresses? 

[bust3dstr8]

Nat...it doesn't matter what you charge for shipping since ebay now takes fees on that too.
Since most buyers calculate what they want to pay for shipped items....you might as well just put free fucking
shipping on everything.

http://lisasuttora.com/ebay-to-charge-final-value-fees-on-shipping-costs

[GohanX]

Okay, you listed a bunch of Turbografx stuff, and I bid on the broken lot with the SNES on it. Am I a traitor?

I could use that SNES shell, to be honest. Either that, or replacing the cart slot is really easy on those.

[esteban]

Energy would have been a far wiser purchase!

But what if Cook wants to challenge you to a dog fight on a pair of 'Expresses? 

Aha! That's a good point. Falcon is one of the few games to offer head-to-head battles on the good old Express. The problem, of course, is finding another person to play against!

I have Due Espressi (two Expresses), but I only have one Zeppole (Falcon HuCARD). What am I to do?

[NecroPhile]

I have Due Espressi (two Expresses), but I only have one Zeppole (Falcon HuCARD). What am I to do?

Get a flashcart and/or drive Cook to Omaha to use my copy of Falcon.  Whatever you do don't buy another copy of Falcon - one is already too many. 

[Sparky]

... and that's why it's better to sell your stuff here first.

Ya for sure, any reason you did not want to try your luck on here vesty? (sorry as president of the F-ebay club i have to ask )
Hey its your stuff man but like you said there is a good chance it will be grabbed by a reseller... but at least you started them at 99 cents <<shrugs>>

ebay the land of fuckery

[BigusSchmuck]

... and that's why it's better to sell your stuff here first.

Ya for sure, any reason you did not want to try your luck on here vesty? (sorry as president of the F-ebay club i have to ask )
Hey its your stuff man but like you said there is a good chance it will be grabbed by a reseller... but at least you started them at 99 cents <<shrugs>>

ebay the land of fuckery

Yeah no kidding, I for one would have loved to get my paws on that Dungeon Explorer 2 by either trade or straight up cash. That way, I would have went ahead and raffled my Japanese version of that game. ^^

[VestCunt]

Ya for sure, any reason you did not want to try your luck on here vesty? (sorry as president of the F-ebay club i have to ask )

The main reason I listed on ebay is because I've already posted all of that stuff on here for trade several times.  I swapped a couple of items, but there didn't seem to be much interest in trading.  I got some PMs to sell, but most folks didn't want to throw out any offers; I accepted the one offer I did get.

The other reason I went with ebay is because half of the items are sealed.  People ambitious enough to buy sealed Turbografx stuff in 2012 tend to be collectors rather than gamers and they're not too picky about where they shop.

I've sold on both pcefx and ebay interchangeably over the years. I'll sell on here again and my prices will be low like always.  Best of luck to JKM, Turbostar, Dragonmaster, and anyone else watching the current batch!

Nat...it doesn't matter what you charge for shipping since ebay now takes fees on that too.
Since most buyers calculate what they want to pay for shipped items....you might as well just put free fucking shipping on everything.

The best approach is to charge for shipping, but keep it as cheap as possible.  Free shipping is attractive when it comes to BIN items, but a low shipping charge doesn't really effect what people are willing to bid on auctions.  Either way is a no-win situation for sellers, but better to charge for shipping and pay a slightly higher ending fee than eat the postage entirely.

[csgx1]

Yes, I totally agree it's getting "weird" to sell on eBay. 

I just sold a some items(non Turbo related) a few weeks ago for the first time in years.  I noticed that eBay/Paypal holds the payment until the item is verified that it has been delivered or 21 days with no tracking.  When did they start this?  Maybe this is just for new sellers?

[Sparky]

The other reason I went with ebay is because half of the items are sealed.  People ambitious enough to buy sealed Turbografx stuff in 2012 tend to be collectors rather than gamers and they're not too picky about where they shop.

very true about sealed stuff, and not trying to be a dick man as your one of the good guys on here, i just never see a reason to sell on ebay <<huggles>>

[VestCunt]

Yes, I totally agree it's getting "weird" to sell on eBay. 

I just sold a some items(non Turbo related) a few weeks ago for the first time in years.  I noticed that eBay/Paypal holds the payment until the item is verified that it has been delivered or 21 days with no tracking.  When did they start this?  Maybe this is just for new sellers?

It happened pretty recently.  I believe it applies to everyone.
I also noticed a whole bunch of discounts available for high-volume sellers with 30-50+ listings month. It sucks because Ebay fees are already regressive (7% for cheap stuff, 5% for shit above $50, etc) and they keep getting harder on casual sellers.  But hey, I guess I'm not a "job creator", so I'll just bend over and wait for my share to trickle down...*ahem* sorry, /social commentary.

not trying to be a dick man as your one of the good guys on here, i just never see a reason to sell on ebay <<huggles>>

Oh, no worries, I figured someone would be curious.

[esteban]

I have Due Espressi (two Expresses), but I only have one Zeppole (Falcon HuCARD). What am I to do?

Get a flashcart and/or drive Cook to Omaha to use my copy of Falcon.  Whatever you do don't buy another copy of Falcon - one is already too many. 

Thanks for reminding me that I have to try out my virgin flash cart! But, to be honest, I feel like a scoundrel for putting garbage like Falcon on a flash cart where it will contaminate and corrode the worthy ROMs

[tggodfrey]

When did you post USA Cotton for sale?  I dont recall seeing that here and I was looking for one for some time.

[VestCunt]

When did you post USA Cotton for sale?  I dont recall seeing that here and I was looking for one for some time.

It was listed here for trade: https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=5811.0
This was my general trade list from 2008-2011.  After a while I changed the heading to "Magical Chase trade bait" although I still had plenty of other wanted items... and then I gave up looking for Magical Chase and stopped updating the list.

[tggodfrey]

No wonder you never sold them here.  Quite a few I would have bought from you but when you want a trade.....well some of us dont have things you want.

Dont take this the wrong way but you posted looking for a trade here then you go sell on ebay and complain about it.....thats your fault.  You could have posted for sale or trade here and I am sure quite a bit of that would have sold.

[VestCunt]

No wonder you never sold them here.  Quite a few I would have bought from you but when you want a trade.....well some of us dont have things you want.
Dont take this the wrong way but you posted looking for a trade here then you go sell on ebay and complain about it.....thats your fault.  You could have posted for sale or trade here and I am sure quite a bit of that would have sold.

Check my earlier post again.  I said they had already been up here for trade several times, you asked where I posted Cotton "for sale", and I provided the link to the trade thread.   I never said I tried to sell them here, although I know I could have.  At the time, I saw the games as a way to tempt owners of hard-to-find items that might not be desperate for cash.
 
While I may not have been soliciting buyers, those items were advertised here for four years.  There was nothing to stop an enterprising member from finding my thread in the sales forum and sending me an offer; several did.  I'm not allergic to money.  I "traded" Bonk 3 (loose hu) and Bonk SCD manual to one member in exchange for Contra and Super C (loose) and a very reasonable amount of cash.

Finally, to be clear, I'm not complaining about my recent ebay sales.  I know how to list a good auction and I know that ebay/paypal end up taking something like 15%.  I intended this thread to be general ebay bitching and discussion about recent changes.  It had been a while since I sold stuff on there and I was surprised at both their changes in policy and culture.

[suikoman444]

Just found this post, didn't realize the stuff I bought on ebay was from someone here. Looking forward to it all arriving.

[Keith Courage]

Ebay fees now days are freaking ridiculous. If I sell a Duo system for around $200 I loose 18 bucks immediately cause of the %9 seller fees and that doesn't even include paypal fees yet for getting paid. Also, a fixed price listing will charge %5 for the first $50 an item sells for and then %8 for anything higher than that. I wish there were other sites to sell on besides ebay that people actually used. Meaning I could list some stuff for sale elsewhere but then the likely hood of someone seeing it might be slim to none.

[BlueBMW]

Yeah its really too bad yahoo auctions shut down a while ago... ebay needs a competiting site but with the paypal monopoly its going to be hard to break in.

[BigusSchmuck]

Maybe we should start an auction forum here on pcenginefx? That way we'll have something other than ecrap...

[VestCunt]

Just found this post, didn't realize the stuff I bought on ebay was from someone here. Looking forward to it all arriving.

Oh, I thought your user name looked familiar!  Congratulations again on your wins; I'm glad they're going to a good home.

Yeah its really too bad yahoo auctions shut down a while ago... ebay needs a competiting site but with the paypal monopoly its going to be hard to break in.

Yeah, that whole ebay/paypal relationship is going to be hard to beat.  Google has their shopping cart system, but they're also getting a little too big in their boots.

[BlueBMW]

Amazon isnt bad at least on the buyer side, but from what I understand its just as bad as ebay on the seller's end of things.  As ebay pushes more and more towards fixed price listings and less auctions, Amazon will become more and more of a direct competitor.

[VestCunt]

What's dumb is they already have Half.com too.  They should have moved the fixed-price crap to Half and reverted ebay to an auction site, of course, lightning doesn't strike twice and Half.com will never have the name recognition of ebay.

[DragonmasterDan]

Amazon isnt bad at least on the buyer side, but from what I understand its just as bad as ebay on the seller's end of things.  As ebay pushes more and more towards fixed price listings and less auctions, Amazon will become more and more of a direct competitor.

Amazon for sellers must blow. A few months ago I bought a big ticket item from an amazon reseller, I paid for expedited shipping on it and that moved up the maximum estimated delivery date. Apparently if an item goes two days past the maximum estimated delivery data, amazon generally sides with the buyer and gives a full refund, even if the item is received. This would have seriously damaged the seller had I been an ass to do so. With that said, I was just pleased to get my item.

[majors]

Maybe we should start an auction forum here on pcenginefx?

gamegavel.com? and there is that trade site, goozex. I think the issue is traffic. Folks (and searches) default to eBay. We have our FS: threads, and that is good enough for me.

[BlueBMW]

Ive been on www.gametz.com since 2001.  A good portion of my collection came from people on there.  Though its a little weak on the pc engine / turbob.

[soop]

Ive been on www.gametz.com since 2001.  A good portion of my collection came from people on there.  Though its a little weak on the pc engine / turbob.

Can't work that site out.  Where's the prices?