Ebay cutting free insertions from 100/mo to 40/mo for collectibles

[fastballspecial]

There isn't enough positive to make me want to open a store again.

 

You have to be a pretty decent volume seller to see any benefit.

I will stick to 30 day BOs. For years they have worked best for me.

 

 

[Aweandlorder]

You do realize we're talking about a net loss to your bottom line of $15 per month, right? Buy one less coffee a week and you're back to zero.

 

I swear, sometimes people will person_without_enough_empathy about eBay about anything.

 

Im with you on that. As long as eBay is the king (or queen, if you judge by the attitude) of comic books - suck it up and pay to play. BUT... I honestly make ALMOST as much on Amazon now as I do on eBay.. WHY? Its easier, quicker and it doesnt cost me to list.. So I list twice as much on amazon and sell almost as much as on eBay

I am willing to bet dollars to donuts (no pun intended) that IF eBay was to lose its crown the transition to sell and buy on Amazon will be a smooth and quick one.

 

Amazon has a long way to go before I think about switching there.

 

As a good seller on Amazon I would imagine you can do well with comics because they are sooooo many bad ones.

 

As a seller on Amazon I will share with you a secret:

Its better than eBay on moderns

[fastballspecial]

You do realize we're talking about a net loss to your bottom line of $15 per month, right? Buy one less coffee a week and you're back to zero.

 

I swear, sometimes people will person_without_enough_empathy about eBay about anything.

 

Im with you on that. As long as eBay is the king (or queen, if you judge by the attitude) of comic books - suck it up and pay to play. BUT... I honestly make ALMOST as much on Amazon now as I do on eBay.. WHY? Its easier, quicker and it doesnt cost me to list.. So I list twice as much on amazon and sell almost as much as on eBay

I am willing to bet dollars to donuts (no pun intended) that IF eBay was to lose its crown the transition to sell and buy on Amazon will be a smooth and quick one.

 

Amazon has a long way to go before I think about switching there.

 

As a good seller on Amazon I would imagine you can do well with comics because they are sooooo many bad ones.

 

As a seller on Amazon I will share with you a secret:

Its better than eBay on moderns

 

I have heard that a few times from other sellers who use Amazon periodically.

Ive never met one yet that sell exclusively there or even their majority.

 

Give me a comparison between the two sites from your viewpoint. Ive thought about it, but when you have an established clientele and reputation its a tough sell to start over.

 

 

[Aweandlorder]

You do realize we're talking about a net loss to your bottom line of $15 per month, right? Buy one less coffee a week and you're back to zero.

 

I swear, sometimes people will person_without_enough_empathy about eBay about anything.

 

Im with you on that. As long as eBay is the king (or queen, if you judge by the attitude) of comic books - suck it up and pay to play. BUT... I honestly make ALMOST as much on Amazon now as I do on eBay.. WHY? Its easier, quicker and it doesnt cost me to list.. So I list twice as much on amazon and sell almost as much as on eBay

I am willing to bet dollars to donuts (no pun intended) that IF eBay was to lose its crown the transition to sell and buy on Amazon will be a smooth and quick one.

 

Amazon has a long way to go before I think about switching there.

 

As a good seller on Amazon I would imagine you can do well with comics because they are sooooo many bad ones.

 

As a seller on Amazon I will share with you a secret:

Its better than eBay on moderns

 

I have heard that a few times from other sellers who use Amazon periodically.

Ive never met one yet that sell exclusively there or even their majority.

 

Give me a comparison between the two sites from your viewpoint. Ive thought about it, but when you have an established clientele and reputation its a tough sell to start over.

 

 

not sure I understand. Are you suggesting youre bound by contract to sell on eBay or at your store exclusively of Amazon or other online outlets (like Atomic Avenue for instance which is great as well)

Heres why Amazon is doing well:

Some buyers dont like to use paypal, and what it means really is, that if you have, say a 1:25 variant of a modern that came out and there are 20-40 listing on eBay fighting over the lowest price, you just nonchalantly go to Amazon, create a listing for that book there and compete with usually no one. By the time that sellers get to sell on Amazon, I have already cleared out my inventory.. Sometimes within HOURS!

Of course, this may soon change, who knows. But as of right now, its very profitable, easy, and manageable.

 

[jcjames]

 

So if you don't use Paypal on Amazon, do buyers send you their cc information directly?

 

 

[Chip Cataldo]

eBay has also just changed the free listings you get with a store subscription. I used to get 500 free listings, auction-style or BiN. The only reason I subscribed to the $50/month store is due to the 500 free auction-style listings. Within the last two or so days they've changed that so it's ONLY 500 BiN listings. Each level of store now only gets the 100 free auction-style listings (even the $150/month level).

 

400 (additional with the next level store) x $0.25 = $100 in savings.

 

Now, that vanishes since I mainly run auctions.

 

eBay charges you a fee to drop your store level (I'd go back down to the $15 one since the free auction-style listings remains at 100) so I have to call and find out what they're up to and if there's something coming down the pipe to make up for this redaction of freebies.

[Aweandlorder]

So if you don't use Paypal on Amazon, do buyers send you their cc information directly?

 

 

You open an account with Amazon and provide them with your credit/bank account info, then youre all set. you can then shop or sell authorizing amazon to access your account.

I wonder if now that Paypal is no longer with eBay it will drive eBay to push sellers/buyers to use other methods of payment instead

[fastballspecial]

You do realize we're talking about a net loss to your bottom line of $15 per month, right? Buy one less coffee a week and you're back to zero.

 

I swear, sometimes people will person_without_enough_empathy about eBay about anything.

 

Im with you on that. As long as eBay is the king (or queen, if you judge by the attitude) of comic books - suck it up and pay to play. BUT... I honestly make ALMOST as much on Amazon now as I do on eBay.. WHY? Its easier, quicker and it doesnt cost me to list.. So I list twice as much on amazon and sell almost as much as on eBay

I am willing to bet dollars to donuts (no pun intended) that IF eBay was to lose its crown the transition to sell and buy on Amazon will be a smooth and quick one.

 

Amazon has a long way to go before I think about switching there.

 

As a good seller on Amazon I would imagine you can do well with comics because they are sooooo many bad ones.

 

As a seller on Amazon I will share with you a secret:

Its better than eBay on moderns

 

I have heard that a few times from other sellers who use Amazon periodically.

Ive never met one yet that sell exclusively there or even their majority.

 

Give me a comparison between the two sites from your viewpoint. Ive thought about it, but when you have an established clientele and reputation its a tough sell to start over.

 

 

not sure I understand. Are you suggesting youre bound by contract to sell on eBay or at your store exclusively of Amazon or other online outlets (like Atomic Avenue for instance which is great as well)

Heres why Amazon is doing well:

Some buyers dont like to use paypal, and what it means really is, that if you have, say a 1:25 variant of a modern that came out and there are 20-40 listing on eBay fighting over the lowest price, you just nonchalantly go to Amazon, create a listing for that book there and compete with usually no one. By the time that sellers get to sell on Amazon, I have already cleared out my inventory.. Sometimes within HOURS!

Of course, this may soon change, who knows. But as of right now, its very profitable, easy, and manageable.

 

My fault that looked confusing. I was just looking for a comparison between the two. I don't like Amazon's interface to buyers its very slow and hard to navigate. The CC thing doesn't bother me, but for some I could see them not liking it. In the long run Amazon will probably win if they can keep their Prime customers and keep expanding their base.

 

I understand your rationale about selling new moderns fortunately for me that is a very small part of my inventory. I think eventually others will catch on as well I know some that do it now.

 

I have always thought Amazon for TPBs with comics because they sell for ridiculous amounts for those out of print copies.

 

I think the only area where Ebay has Amazon beat is their payment system from what other sellers have told me. Now as a buyer until Amazon can show me some consistency with sellers I will go to ebay unless I am looking for steals and can accept 1/2 my packages will get bent.

 

 

[fastballspecial]

So if you don't use Paypal on Amazon, do buyers send you their cc information directly?

 

 

You open an account with Amazon and provide them with your credit/bank account info, then youre all set. you can then shop or sell authorizing amazon to access your account.

I wonder if now that Paypal is no longer with eBay it will drive eBay to push sellers/buyers to use other methods of payment instead

 

That's entirely possible.

 

I was quite happy with the CFO of Paypal left for Facebook.(I bought stock in FB when it came out.) I hope he does the same for them.

 

 

[*paull*]

I don't sell much comic book-related material on eBay... mostly books and paper ephemera. I've noticed a serious slowdown over the past few months of this year. Sounds like I'm not the only one.

 

I'm going to look at other avenues such as Amazon, because this slowdown combined with significantly reduced free listings is reducing my desire to list items. I think this is all going to blow up in eBay's face.

 

 

[Aweandlorder]

I don't sell much comic book-related material on eBay... mostly books and paper ephemera. I've noticed a serious slowdown over the past few months of this year. Sounds like I'm not the only one.

 

I'm going to look at other avenues such as Amazon, because this slowdown combined with significantly reduced free listings is reducing my desire to list items. I think this is all going to blow up in eBay's face.

 

 

The slow down kicked in for me from early-mid March, Im still selling but its not like November-March. I think thats actually part of the problem, people spent ALOT of money on comic books during the holidays, I've noticed ut was way more than usual. And then, around March I started getting a few returns, more than normal (usually I get one return a month sometimes 2) and then around mid March it was just sloooooooow.

Usually, sales would be spread across the board, so if eBay is slow, sometimes amazon picks up and vice versa.. But since the March slowdown its been pretty much slow on both.

But thats just how the biz is.. Ive had slow downs before, you just have to wait it out until it picks up again

[*paull*]

I don't sell much comic book-related material on eBay... mostly books and paper ephemera. I've noticed a serious slowdown over the past few months of this year. Sounds like I'm not the only one.

 

I'm going to look at other avenues such as Amazon, because this slowdown combined with significantly reduced free listings is reducing my desire to list items. I think this is all going to blow up in eBay's face.

 

 

The slow down kicked in for me from early-mid March, Im still selling but its not like November-March. I think thats actually part of the problem, people spent ALOT of money on comic books during the holidays, I've noticed ut was way more than usual. And then, around March I started getting a few returns, more than normal (usually I get one return a month sometimes 2) and then around mid March it was just sloooooooow.

Usually, sales would be spread across the board, so if eBay is slow, sometimes amazon picks up and vice versa.. But since the March slowdown its been pretty much slow on both.

But thats just how the biz is.. Ive had slow downs before, you just have to wait it out until it picks up again

 

I'm much more concerned about what I perceive to be a slowdown than I am about the reduction in free listings. However, almost everything I list takes me months to sell. Not necessarily due to high prices, but because the items are obscure (not commodities) and take a while to find buyers. If I listed everything for .99 or 9.99 minimums, a bunch of them would sell for that minimum simply because there aren't going to be more than one interested party that sees them during those 7 days.

[Buzzetta]

I remember when it was a quarter per listing.

 

How did everyone survive back then?

[Aweandlorder]

I don't sell much comic book-related material on eBay... mostly books and paper ephemera. I've noticed a serious slowdown over the past few months of this year. Sounds like I'm not the only one.

 

I'm going to look at other avenues such as Amazon, because this slowdown combined with significantly reduced free listings is reducing my desire to list items. I think this is all going to blow up in eBay's face.

 

 

The slow down kicked in for me from early-mid March, Im still selling but its not like November-March. I think thats actually part of the problem, people spent ALOT of money on comic books during the holidays, I've noticed ut was way more than usual. And then, around March I started getting a few returns, more than normal (usually I get one return a month sometimes 2) and then around mid March it was just sloooooooow.

Usually, sales would be spread across the board, so if eBay is slow, sometimes amazon picks up and vice versa.. But since the March slowdown its been pretty much slow on both.

But thats just how the biz is.. Ive had slow downs before, you just have to wait it out until it picks up again

 

I'm much more concerned about what I perceive to be a slowdown than I am about the reduction in free listings. However, almost everything I list takes me months to sell. Not necessarily due to high prices, but because the items are obscure (not commodities) and take a while to find buyers. If I listed everything for .99 or 9.99 minimums, a bunch of them would sell for that minimum simply because there aren't going to be more than one interested party that sees them during those 7 days.

 

How long have you been selling on eBay? eBay is always like that. Waves

I found out that the smartest way for me to sell comics is to sell non keys (IE: lots, semi key bundles, random stuff) when the business is booming and when its slow push in the keys (NM98, ASM300 etc). Keys will always sell at the average asking price, regardless of the time of year. So far its been working (thumbs u

[lizards2]

 

eBay is always like that. Waves

 

True dat - I couldn't touch an auction for the past month on eBay - I attributed it to tax refunds, and people spending crazy $.

 

However, today I got four nice books cheap.

 

[*paull*]

I don't sell much comic book-related material on eBay... mostly books and paper ephemera. I've noticed a serious slowdown over the past few months of this year. Sounds like I'm not the only one.

 

I'm going to look at other avenues such as Amazon, because this slowdown combined with significantly reduced free listings is reducing my desire to list items. I think this is all going to blow up in eBay's face.

 

 

The slow down kicked in for me from early-mid March, Im still selling but its not like November-March. I think thats actually part of the problem, people spent ALOT of money on comic books during the holidays, I've noticed ut was way more than usual. And then, around March I started getting a few returns, more than normal (usually I get one return a month sometimes 2) and then around mid March it was just sloooooooow.

Usually, sales would be spread across the board, so if eBay is slow, sometimes amazon picks up and vice versa.. But since the March slowdown its been pretty much slow on both.

But thats just how the biz is.. Ive had slow downs before, you just have to wait it out until it picks up again

 

I'm much more concerned about what I perceive to be a slowdown than I am about the reduction in free listings. However, almost everything I list takes me months to sell. Not necessarily due to high prices, but because the items are obscure (not commodities) and take a while to find buyers. If I listed everything for .99 or 9.99 minimums, a bunch of them would sell for that minimum simply because there aren't going to be more than one interested party that sees them during those 7 days.

 

How long have you been selling on eBay? eBay is always like that. Waves

I found out that the smartest way for me to sell comics is to sell non keys (IE: lots, semi key bundles, random stuff) when the business is booming and when its slow push in the keys (NM98, ASM300 etc). Keys will always sell at the average asking price, regardless of the time of year. So far its been working (thumbs u

 

I've been selling for about fifteen years on eBay, with the vast majority of my sales over the past five years. Usually slow in January and February and picks up in March, April and May. After a better than usual January, almost dead February through first week of May. As I mentioned, I'm not selling comics which I consider to have more clearly defined values than the books and paper items that I'm offering.

[Aweandlorder]

As I mentioned, I'm not selling comics which I consider to have more clearly defined values than the books and paper items that I'm offering.

 

Do you mean you're not selling keys or just not selling trending books? Just curious, care to give examples?

[krighton]

Just noticed they now charge $1 for a 1-3 day auction...when did that change?

[Chip Cataldo]

I remember when it was a quarter per listing.

 

How did everyone survive back then?

It still is. I pay 25 cents per.

 

Also, I'm not seeing any kind of slow-down. These past few weeks have been stellar!

[ygogolak]

Slowdown can be attributed to Con season starting back up.