Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I ask this only because a few months back I used ebay to sell off some stuff. I did not know of their new final value fees on shipping so I was surprsied to see it and lost money because of it. It was only a few auctions so not the end of the world but it has certainly put me off of using ebay.
I've been reading up on it and apparently Ebay feels that buyers like "free" shipping so they are trying to encourage buyers to buy yet somehow punish the sellers and not seem to care.
So anyway, just out of curiosity, since I am looking to sell more stuff, is ebay even worth it anymore when I pay final value fee on the total AND shipping? It doesn't seem like it to me.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I use it less and less as time goes on. I find specialized boards such as cybertron.ca the most effective(cost and availablility of items) way to find things I am looking for. The local Kijiji is decent, but as it's own quirks.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Agreed. I use TFW & my local online classifieds (My dad & I have sold a shitload of stuff on there ranging from small shit to vehicles) as well, but I honestly have no desire to explore e-bay for anything other than value scouting.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I try to use craigslist or boards like cybertron. However, if I have something I know will auction very well, I use Ebay.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I keep buying, tons of good deal there, but I don't sell, no money to be made. LOL!

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Can't find everything here so from time to time..

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Maybe twice or once a year because Ebay is not the place it used to be...As a seller there are to much fees and as a buyer the shipping fees kills any potential deals you may find.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I don't use eBay after being ripped off on a sale and papal refunding the money to someone who had received item.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Yeah i've read a lot that both ebay and paypal have become far to buyer protection and less give a shit about the sellers.
I read that part of why ebay did the final value on shipping is for all those 1 cent auctions with 30.00 shipping and stuff. Essentially the shipping is the cost of the item. They want to ween out those people but what they SHOULD do is look at the auctions and detract them if ebay feels someone is doing that deliberatly. This whole make sellers pay for FVF on shipping is a deterant from using their services.
Ebay really has lost a sense of how reality works, much like Amazon. It's all about giving the buyer every perk and shitting on the sellers.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Selling, no ebay is not worth it.

Buying...meh...sometimes...but I've been finding it difficult to get good deals lately.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Selling, almost never.

Buying, like a mofo.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Ebay doesn't have any intention of improving their marketplace, they've made clear they want to grow into a logistics and financial services company via Paypal and other investments they've made.

Gentlemen, it will be our honour and our pleasure to fix a lot of this when the ShelfLife marketplace goes live in April.

On top of our constantly improving (and free) collection management tools, the marketplace will allow for automatic matching of buyers and sellers far beyond anything Ebay has every allowed us to do. Fees will be FREE for buyers and for your first 2 sales per month, and 50% below Ebay fees beyond that. You'll be able to subscribe to catalogues, have vendors fulfill entire sets for you and save massively on shipping.

More to the point ShelfLife is by collectors, for collectors and we're still small enough to make your recommendations and requests a serious priority.

Work with us to build our ultimate playground and you won't be sorry.

For those that don't know, our beta test is now open, so anyone can use the site simply signing up over at ShelfLifex.com.

Tell us how you want things to work, and we'll get to it if it makes sense for the collective....

At your service,

James & Team ShelfLife

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Sigh........

Nope, ebay has always been too much of a pain in the arse for me. I would consider buying off it but I would never sell anything there.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I'd be in that boat as well, but I've literally been able to find anything I want cheaper through message boards & classifieds, and there's also a much stronger sense of reliability that way too. It can take a bit longer to find things, but Shelflife (good plug was good haha) will probably fill that gap, and yeah.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Buying: Sometimes, but only after exhausting every other alternative.
Selling: No chance in hell. Not worth the hassle.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

In the last year I have bought Iphone cases and Bow Ties. Shipping is too much for anything else...

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I just bought xc skis for my daughter yesterday. The only place I could find skis her size!

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Buying wise yes, because I was able to find a Japanese Armada Tidal Wave that I doubt would pop up on the sale forums.

Selling wise, I haven't yet, but there are some stuff I've been meaning to. I should look into that

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

That's not the reason they charge final value, it's because people would sell a Fortress Maximus for $1 but $900 for shipping because Ebay used to only charge a percentage for the selling price. It was a way to get around paying the Ebay fees so they had to punish all of us to stop this.

I still use it to buy but I don't use the North American sites, they're a rip off. In other parts of the world Transformers aren't as collectible so I use ebay.co.uk for most of my stuff, it's super cheap. And a lot of the time I use ebay.nl (Netherlands) as well, that's where I got my Full Tilt gun for $51 shipped and my Fast Track gun for $16. And if it's something with a unique name I'll use global.ebay.com to search worldwide.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I don't sell on Ebay anymore due to the following reasons

1 - Shipping from Canada is crazy and no one wants to pay to have something shipped from Canada, when they can get from the US from much cheaper.

2 - If you have no Credit Card (which I don't) PayPal started locking funds untill after you've shipped an item if its over like $50 dollars or some number. So if you can't even use the money you made to ship the item, unless you have your own cash on hand.

3 - the fee's have just become so high, its not worth selling anything on there unless you got it for free or next to nothingm

4 - Kijiji ;)

I still buy every now and then, but I can't even do that anymore now, since PayPal messed up my account and I no longer have access to it. I've tried everything, including phoning them and getting their reps to try and fix it but they don't know whats going on either, so I'm stuck with a broken account I can't use, and I can't even start a new one, cuz my bank account and phone number are attatched to the broken one, and they won't remove it for me. Great service!!

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

like many users have already stated..

1) Its getting more difficult to find good deals
2) Shipping almost always kills the deal

i, personally, love the sales forums on Cybertron.ca because not only can we find better deals but negotiating is ALOT more convenient! plus, the sellers on these boards are willing to work with the buyer because they themselves are collectors and have an idea of what the buyer is looking for

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I've never sold before on ebay and how much are the fees? Will I be told ahead of time when setting up the auction?

This is non Transformer stuff I want to sell.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I sold a lot for $60 recently, they hit me for $7.37 in fees. RIDICULOUS.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

That is one of the major reasons people using ebay and paypal are inflating there prices. To make up the difference in service fees. Most things use to get marked up on Ebay for a few bucks here and there bit now. Trying to make a slight percentage after paying all te service fees. Whats the point?

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

So, what were the fees like before?

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I mainly use ebay when I can't find something at retail or through folks on sites like this one. Even then it's hard to find a deal, but still how I've managed to hunt down older or more obscure figures.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I've bought stuff on ebay since I started collecting. But I could never seem to wrap my head around how anyone makes any money selling with all the fees associated with Ebay and Paypal combined.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I still sell video games online occasionally, but not much in the way of transformers.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I haven't sold on ebay for a while ever since they modified there site,.. but I do buy quite frequently mostly the Japanese TFs ,stuff thats cancelled or short packed, lucky draws,older stuff that sort of thing, find paypals coverage BS always use the card co. to retrieve funds when things go wrong as ebay and PP are usless

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Isn't it just 25 cents to list something there? That's what it cost last time I sold a 4x external CD burner. That was the last thing I sold there.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Basic listing are free for the first 50 items in a month. They just take a larger percentage of the final sale price.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I sell on there, but rarely buy anything. With my volume, Ebay and Paypal take around 21%-25% of my Gross sales. To make it worth it, you must sell a large amount of stuff.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Things started to change when they introduced their 5 star system rating and when they acquired Paypal. Also I remember that they use to have more promotions for sellers back then, like one cent, 10 cent, 10 free listings free and so on.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Usually have a look around when I get edgy from not having purchased TFs for a while to round out my collection, but most of the things I need are from sellers in the US, and they have a way of charging outrageous amounts to ship to Canada, hence why I don't use it much anymore.

Although I do find those rare instances where the shipping charges are more than fair (recently payed 8$ to get a G1 Gnaw in from Texas), hence why I go back from time to time. :) And yeah, free shipping is great but not necessarily a deal breaker as such. Especially if the total, including shipping, is still under the price of a "free shipping" auction.

And the only time I've ever sold an item there was during the time of car Robots/RiD. eBay is all about purchasing for me, not selling (although I would need to get rid of a couple pieces at some point.)

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I use to sell a lot and I use to buy a lot from ebay..... but now.... sellers get raped with charges (Selling something for 10-20 bucks is just pointless, you want away with nothing.

And thus, because of it, no sellers sell HIGH to make a profit and in the end I just avoid it all together.

I travel to enough conventions and toy shows every year (About 10-15), so it's rare I can't find what I am looking for.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

since I never had much cash on paypal to begin with, I rarely used ebay, but I've started to ween off it due to random charges I get months after sales. :/

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I buy Transformers off eBay all the time. I have my favorite sellers from the states, but I try not to spend too much or suffer expensive customs fees. Big surprise to go to the post office and pay $30 on top just to get your items. So I mostly try to buy from Canadians to keep from getting burned that way.

Shipping is another issue. If you're a buyer it gets expensive. If you're a seller that's the best way to make money as eBay makes nothing off shipping costs. Some sellers include the cost of the item as a part of the shipping and start the bidding at 99 cents, which I believe is not against eBays policies. Weird thing is I've had more expensive shipping from the States than from the UK or Hong Kong. :S

I've bought off the boards here and the people are great because we're all fans and collectors, we respect the items in our care if we keep them or sell them. Almost everyone is reasonable and not out to just make a buck. I'm very grateful for the people I've met and the deals they provided.

In the end it's knowing what you're willing to pay and the worth of the item to you, where ever you buy, shipping included or not.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

Actually Ebay does in fact charge commission on both the purchase price AND the shipping. This on top of the listing fees, the paypal fees and the time and energy required to post listings from scratch.

On average, Ebay + Paypal + Listing works out to about 12-15%. On Amazon their fees are closer to 20% depending on the category. They do this, quite simply, because we let them.

There are many free alternatives, including this board, Craigslist, etc, but managing BST threads takes too much time when you are doing it frequently.

All of this is a big part of why we've been working so hard on ShelfLifex.com to create a powerful, fairly priced marketplace where we can all easily manage our collections, buy/sell/trade, enjoy fair conflict resolution, fair shipping scenarios and sweet research tools.

With our marketplace launching in beta mode at the end of April, now is a very good time to check out the site and start dumping your BST lists into the system.

p.s. We won't have it at first, but we'll be moving quickly to let you export your BST lists from within ShelfLife so that you can more easily share them on this board and elsewhere. More on that shortly...

James

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I use it to buy a good deal if I see one and to sell if I want something gone or liquidated, lol. My son's unused Animated Leader Bulkhead is on there now.

Re: Do people here still use Ebay?
 

I have used ebay a couple of times but never for Transformers, since either the prices are to expensive or to low to be trusted