Do people here still use Ebay?

[Tekkamanraiden]

Originally Posted by Summit

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.

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

[Gaetznes]

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.

[Mega_Zarak]

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.

[Dinobot Swoop]

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.)

[Protoman]

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.

[Malwave]

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. :/

[KoreanInferno]

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.

[faustx]

Originally Posted by KoreanInferno

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.

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

[The 12th Prime]

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.

[shockwing]

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