Ebay SUCKS as a selling venue for GA

[G.A.tor]

I sell non-comic stuff (camera stuff, books, records, etc.) on eBay pretty regularly and this year has been way down for me. I'm getting about 50% of what I would have gotten a few years ago on auctions. I don't think it's just comics.

good observation...

 

for the past 2 years, I have put roughly the same 25-30 items a week on the bay (non comic)...and, I used to avg almost religiously $1000 a week from those items...

 

beginning of the year, it was down to $800 or so...by summer I was getting about $600...right now, I am averaging under $500... so, the 50% off is about right... sign of the times

[comicdonna]

I sell non-comic stuff (camera stuff, books, records, etc.) on eBay pretty regularly and this year has been way down for me. I'm getting about 50% of what I would have gotten a few years ago on auctions. I don't think it's just comics.

good observation...

 

for the past 2 years, I have put roughly the same 25-30 items a week on the bay (non comic)...and, I used to avg almost religiously $1000 a week from those items...

 

beginning of the year, it was down to $800 or so...by summer I was getting about $600...right now, I am averaging under $500... so, the 50% off is about right... sign of the times

I sold a 1940's Mickey's Air Mail airplane for $3.24 on ebay. I believe I paid $45 for it at an estate auction.

 

I think an ebay store is the way to go. If you have just a few items put a BIN or reserve on it.

[szelim]

With the dollar plummetting, I might have to rethink my policy of restricting international bidders.

 

[G.A.tor]

I sell non-comic stuff (camera stuff, books, records, etc.) on eBay pretty regularly and this year has been way down for me. I'm getting about 50% of what I would have gotten a few years ago on auctions. I don't think it's just comics.

good observation...

 

for the past 2 years, I have put roughly the same 25-30 items a week on the bay (non comic)...and, I used to avg almost religiously $1000 a week from those items...

 

beginning of the year, it was down to $800 or so...by summer I was getting about $600...right now, I am averaging under $500... so, the 50% off is about right... sign of the times

I sold a 1940's Mickey's Air Mail airplane for $3.24 on ebay. I believe I paid $45 for it at an estate auction.

 

I think an ebay store is the way to go. If you have just a few items put a BIN or reserve on it.

my "problem" is that I still have about 20 items that I have more than 50 each of left in stock... so, I can only run them 1 at a time (or I am diluting my bidder base)... and since there are always presumably new collectors entering, it is not like I am dealing with a finite bidder base ...page views and bid quantity is still consistent... just that the max bid now is about 50% of what it was a year ago!

[adamstrange]

I'd have to say that I have found 1/2 of the books I collect on ebay.

 

Me too. Mainly cuz I nobody on these boards evens owns a Police comic except for Red Fury

 

....much less putting them up in the sales forum

[mr.schomburg]

I have been building up my ebay store for about 6 months, and it depending on my inventory does pretty good. I price agressively on key, scarce or hot books and at guide for most everything else. I offer about 50/50 buy it now, and run a sale about 2 times per month with 15-20% off. I do run some auctions but don't care if they go for open bid as they bring more cust. to store.

 

I do get pretty good prices on nice books, and ok on average books. Via auction a 50.00 book will often go for $15.00 so yes ebay does suck for GA,SA,BA sales unless key or hot. I notice international buyers will almost always hit bin as well, I do about 5 sales a month to them usually about 75-150.00 per sale.

 

Paul

[aardvark88]

With the dollar plummetting, I might have to rethink my policy of restricting international bidders.

 

About 5 years ago, I would have to pay $1,600 Cdn to buy $1k US greenback. Now I pay about $1,050 Cdn, as the loonie is almost at par with the greenback again this month.

[thehumantorch]

With the dollar plummetting, I might have to rethink my policy of restricting international bidders.

 

About 5 years ago, I would have to pay $1,600 Cdn to buy $1k US greenback. Now I pay about $1,050 Cdn, as the loonie is almost at par with the greenback again this month.

 

It's finally a great time for Canadians to buy comics from the US.

[Cimm]

I mostly sell pulps on eBay. Comparing the price I have gotten to what I originally paid, I am running at about 75%, averaged... It mirrors what MrSchomburg said about Golden Age books... If not a key, or high demand book, they can really go for peanuts. Still, I seem to do better than average, given that I always have comprehensive pictures, showing the cover, back, spine and contents page, with a list of any defects that are not apparent from the pics. Every auction, I seem to have the same cadre of dedicated bidders, with one or two new ones buying the niche books. Overall, I wouldn't say that eBay sucks for selling, just that the market is down, and that people have less disposable money to play with.

[jkrk]

It's hit or miss with E-Bay

 

As a buyer, I bought a $900 SA book last month and received a 10% discount from E-Bay off the final value.

 

AS a seller I always use a BIN and sometimes a best offer. If the books sell then great. If not. I'll offer them in the future. If priced right, I can usually sell a percentage of what I offer.

I never offer key books without a reserve. Anytime I see a high priced book without a reserve I assume a "game is afoot".

 

Jay

 

 

[comicnoir]

With the dollar plummetting, I might have to rethink my policy of restricting international bidders.

 

You should never have restricted in the first place. For what purpose? Now with a tanked American economy, you need more international trade then ever. Those restricted sellers always made me mad, then I'd see their item go for peanuts and have a good laugh.

[szelim]

With the dollar plummetting, I might have to rethink my policy of restricting international bidders.

 

You should never have restricted in the first place. For what purpose? Now with a tanked American economy, you need more international trade then ever. Those restricted sellers always made me mad, then I'd see their item go for peanuts and have a good laugh.

In my experience in selling, the international buyers I've encountered have disproportionately been aggravating to deal with. They'd complain about shipping cost being expensive, want to pay via western union or some other weirdo service, request that I declare a near-zero value on customs forms, etc. It go to the point that it wasn't worth the aggravation, hence the restrictions on general international bidding. I'd limit bidding to those who contact me and have favorable feedback as buyers.

 

[comicnoir]

With the dollar plummetting, I might have to rethink my policy of restricting international bidders.

 

You should never have restricted in the first place. For what purpose? Now with a tanked American economy, you need more international trade then ever. Those restricted sellers always made me mad, then I'd see their item go for peanuts and have a good laugh.

In my experience in selling, the international buyers I've encountered have disproportionately been aggravating to deal with. They'd complain about shipping cost being expensive, want to pay via western union or some other weirdo service, request that I declare a near-zero value on customs forms, etc. It go to the point that it wasn't worth the aggravation, hence the restrictions on general international bidding. I'd limit bidding to those who contact me and have favorable feedback as buyers.

 

I have 100% feedback and have been on ebay for years, and still some sellers wouldn't let me bid, teling me to go an American friend to bid for me (which I have, what a pain). Any reasonable seller should lift restrictions when asked by a reasonable bidder. I've had guys refuse to let me bid who I have bought from their catalogue in the past. What kind of insanity is that? I'd be crazy to restrict when I sell, I've shipped to Australia with no problem. If you only ship in a certain way, state so in your auction.

[AJD]

With the dollar plummetting, I might have to rethink my policy of restricting international bidders.

 

About 5 years ago, I would have to pay $1,600 Cdn to buy $1k US greenback. Now I pay about $1,050 Cdn, as the loonie is almost at par with the greenback again this month.

 

It's finally a great time for Canadians to buy comics from the US.

 

Not just Canadians.

 

Now, if those US sellers who won't ship internationally would only change their policies...

[Senormac]

I'd have to say that I have found 1/2 of the books I collect on ebay.

 

Me too. Mainly cuz I nobody on these boards evens owns a Police comic except for Red Fury

 

....much less putting them up in the sales forum

 

I knew you were out there

[BucOne-migration]

I sell non-comic stuff (camera stuff, books, records, etc.) on eBay pretty regularly and this year has been way down for me. I'm getting about 50% of what I would have gotten a few years ago on auctions. I don't think it's just comics.

good observation...

 

for the past 2 years, I have put roughly the same 25-30 items a week on the bay (non comic)...and, I used to avg almost religiously $1000 a week from those items...

 

beginning of the year, it was down to $800 or so...by summer I was getting about $600...right now, I am averaging under $500... so, the 50% off is about right... sign of the times

 

if these items are still cheap enough to sustain a decent profit even in these tough

economic times then maybe it's not so bad.

 

btw, the bad economy seems to have a psychological effect on everyone.

[BucOne-migration]

With the dollar plummetting, I might have to rethink my policy of restricting international bidders.

 

You should never have restricted in the first place. For what purpose? Now with a tanked American economy, you need more international trade then ever. Those restricted sellers always made me mad, then I'd see their item go for peanuts and have a good laugh.

In my experience in selling, the international buyers I've encountered have disproportionately been aggravating to deal with. They'd complain about shipping cost being expensive, want to pay via western union or some other weirdo service, request that I declare a near-zero value on customs forms, etc. It go to the point that it wasn't worth the aggravation, hence the restrictions on general international bidding. I'd limit bidding to those who contact me and have favorable feedback as buyers.

 

I have 100% feedback and have been on ebay for years, and still some sellers wouldn't let me bid, teling me to go an American friend to bid for me (which I have, what a pain). Any reasonable seller should lift restrictions when asked by a reasonable bidder. I've had guys refuse to let me bid who I have bought from their catalogue in the past. What kind of insanity is that? I'd be crazy to restrict when I sell, I've shipped to Australia with no problem. If you only ship in a certain way, state so in your auction.

 

to avoid complication and issues, I only ship within the USA or Canada but will occasionally receive a buyer asking to bid from Europe. I never have a problem except under no circumstances will I deal with France, Mexico or South America.

 

 

[G.A.tor]

I sell non-comic stuff (camera stuff, books, records, etc.) on eBay pretty regularly and this year has been way down for me. I'm getting about 50% of what I would have gotten a few years ago on auctions. I don't think it's just comics.

good observation...

 

for the past 2 years, I have put roughly the same 25-30 items a week on the bay (non comic)...and, I used to avg almost religiously $1000 a week from those items...

 

beginning of the year, it was down to $800 or so...by summer I was getting about $600...right now, I am averaging under $500... so, the 50% off is about right... sign of the times

 

if these items are still cheap enough to sustain a decent profit even in these tough

economic times then maybe it's not so bad.

 

btw, the bad economy seems to have a psychological effect on everyone.

no profit, not even breaking even at $500

[Silver Surfer]

I agree EBay has becomes a sellers graveyard in the last year. Having said that even the boards has really slowed down as well, books that would normally be snapped up immediately are going unsold for days, weeks at a time. When it takes 2 or 3 tries to sell a Tec #35 (for example) then you know times are tough. Normally a book like that would sell in 5 minutes.

[Bunky Brian]

I agree with all of you, Ebay is the bottom feeder, low end price novice buyer with no advanced thinking regarding our hobby,

 

With Comic connect, Comic Link, Pedigree, Heritage and a few more ongoing auctions, EVERY OTHER MONTH OR SO, quality bucks, and advanced collectors are spending the alloted money, more times thoughout the year, which in turns make for conventions a dead veness as well,