So long, eBay.... Hello again, eBay...

[Wilson3d]

I actually like the Ebay program. Less paperwork to fill out.

[sterlingcomics]

Just looked and wow.. I was opted in.

 

i manually turn them off for each auction all the times anyways. But still.

 

I gave up the eBay ghost in 2006 ish and they opted me in. Turned it off in the event I reluctantly need to use it.

 

Also, I always HAND IT OVER and GET A RECEIPT for it. I treat my buyer's stuff like it's like my own.

[Bills Comics]

eBay pretty much sucks but where are you going to go? It still has the widest reach when it comes to customers

 

I am going to keep selling here and explore other horizons. It is not working out selling there with the climate declining at such a rapid pace. My hope is that a new CEO will take over one day and initiate some changes. Without that, it looks like their primary motivation is to run smaller sellers out of business and only focus on the larger ones.

 

Try selling comics through facebook groups. No fees,and Paypal is the norm .

There are many out there I am in several and admin a few .

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about them. Message me if you would like more info .

[Real Frantic One]

eBay pretty much sucks but where are you going to go? It still has the widest reach when it comes to customers

 

I am going to keep selling here and explore other horizons. It is not working out selling there with the climate declining at such a rapid pace. My hope is that a new CEO will take over one day and initiate some changes. Without that, it looks like their primary motivation is to run smaller sellers out of business and only focus on the larger ones.

 

Try selling comics through facebook groups. No fees,and Paypal is the norm .

There are many out there I am in several and admin a few .

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about them. Message me if you would like more info .

 

Thanks a lot, I appreciate that. If you want to send me a list, that would be great.

 

I am thinking of starting a store on Auctiva, the site that I've used for listing on eBay. They have a plan for $15 a month where you can set up your own store with no additional insertion fees or final value fees. I'm thinking of putting my non-comic items, like toys, etc. on there to see how it goes.

 

The listings can stay up however long you want to leave them at no charge. There is also promotion and other added benefits that are included in the package.

[grebal]

I read the warning thread about ebay's default setting "opt-in" they foisted on members for World Shipping, but did nothing until I read your thread today (I opted out this afternoon) so thanks for that.

 

I find ebay distasteful but planned a (hopefully) terminal listing this fall, not on your scale, but as close as I'll ever come with auctions for 100 books w/ front/back scan and maybe a few dozen BIN lots.

 

If you find an alternative for selling commons even half as good as ebay I'm sure many would be interested, but I'm pessimistic - probably the biggest challenge by far is finding buyers, and ebay's had a strong-hold on that since before the turn of the century - I recall swearing to myself when they hiked final-value-fees from 3.25% to 4% (for amts $50-1000). I think my despite for ebay strongly contributed to me dropping out of collectng in late 2008 until I came back this May. [but I barely batted an eye at the 9% of FV rate I returned to find because it matched the rates of its biggest competitors, which just goes to show what a little perspective can do for ya.]

 

Good luck, bud, I admire your listings.

[sterlingcomics]

eBay's FVF is 10% now? Tack in PP etc...that's why I go to other venues to sell.

 

We stopped collecting at around the same time...coinkydinky?

[Buzzetta]

eBay's FVF is 10% now? Tack in PP etc...that's why I go to other venues to sell.

 

We stopped collecting at around the same time...coinkydinky?

 

I just jack the prices up on the books. Buyers will complain about the prices here when they look through eBay but... eBay buyers (that only buy on eBay) will pay them there because they want the protection that eBay provides for the buyer (even when they see the books sold outside of eBay) Some are more comfortable doing it there.

 

I offered a book over here and nobody even kicked the tires. I raise the price by almost 20% and it sells on eBay.

 

:shrug:

 

I cannot explain it... but whatevs

[revat]

eBay's FVF is 10% now? Tack in PP etc...that's why I go to other venues to sell.

 

We stopped collecting at around the same time...coinkydinky?

 

I just jack the prices up on the books. Buyers will complain about the prices here when they look through eBay but... eBay buyers (that only buy on eBay) will pay them there because they want the protection that eBay provides for the buyer (even when they see the books sold outside of eBay) Some are more comfortable doing it there.

 

I offered a book over here and nobody even kicked the tires. I raise the price by almost 20% and it sells on eBay.

 

:shrug:

 

I cannot explain it... but whatevs

 

this happens A LOT. I think a lot more impulse buyers go hunting on the 'bay, people who like to get what they want when they want it. And they're oft more apt to pay a premium for it.

[Buzzetta]

eBay's FVF is 10% now? Tack in PP etc...that's why I go to other venues to sell.

 

We stopped collecting at around the same time...coinkydinky?

 

I just jack the prices up on the books. Buyers will complain about the prices here when they look through eBay but... eBay buyers (that only buy on eBay) will pay them there because they want the protection that eBay provides for the buyer (even when they see the books sold outside of eBay) Some are more comfortable doing it there.

 

I offered a book over here and nobody even kicked the tires. I raise the price by almost 20% and it sells on eBay.

 

:shrug:

 

I cannot explain it... but whatevs

 

this happens A LOT. I think a lot more impulse buyers go hunting on the 'bay, people who like to get what they want when they want it. And they're oft more apt to pay a premium for it.

 

A couple of months ago I had someone that noticed that I was selling a book here for less than I was charging on eBay. They asked if I would honor the board price. I said I would only honor the board price on the boards. They could not grasp that the price will increase when it goes through eBay. So they dallied on about it and in the middle of it... the book sold on eBay to someone else.

 

[Real Frantic One]

After looking into various options, I have set up a store on a new location. If anyone is interested in taking a look, or considering an alternative to eBay when selling or buying, here is the link to my post in the sales forum with more info: Webstore

[Immortal Hulk]

If the DMV stalked me, and shot out my tires, ran me off the road, and threw a Molotov cocktail into my car each time I drove somewhere, then that would be a closer analogy to selling on eBay now.

 

I read that description and it made my day, that was just awesome

[Immortal Hulk]

I also would like to add a terrible experience on ebay where I sold a high price item and the buyer opened a case claiming it was fake. Basically this is what ebay told me:

 

1. A buyer can open a case on any item that is branded and create a case claiming it's fake.

 

2. Because Ebay doesn't chime in on any authentications, the case will ultimately always be won by the buyer, so a refund will always be mandatory where you as the seller have to pay for the return (so I pretty much spent time substantiating in the case the authenticity of the item, for ebay to not do anything, and just of the buyer even further).

 

3. Now when all is said and done, the buyer can still leave negative feedback... so basically when they open the case you better not give them a hard time and just give them a refund ASAP and pray for the best.

 

This really really changed my perspective of selling on ebay any further, as this is a huge loop hole.

 

The ebay representative told me that before buyers had to commit to buys when it was purely an auction site, but now they are trying to make ebay more of an Amazon.com site if you will, where buyers ultimatley do not have to commit to any purchase.

[thecopperagekids]

If the DMV stalked me, and shot out my tires, ran me off the road, and threw a Molotov cocktail into my car each time I drove somewhere, then that would be a closer analogy to selling on eBay now.

 

I read that description and it made my day, that was just awesome

 

That was a good one but personally, I have just about *never* had any problems selling books on eBay.

 

Everything I list is via BIN, IMO the buyers who present problems are bidders who bid carelessly and don't have the scratch to pay for their winnings, after the auctions end.BIN buyers pay what the BIN price is, so they have actually considered wether they really want the book or not.

 

I also primarily only sell slabs, hardly ever sell raws.They are a pain in the balls...gotta scan in FC and BC....then add a good 10 more pics of the book...interior page action shot and to show PQ...more pics to show how flat the book lies etc etc

 

I double box raws, which I know buyers appreciate and pack as anal retentively as could be...Mylite2's with 3 full backs for moderns,..then I put the effer in a silver/gold size M2/full back combo..... then I place the effer in a cardboard mailer with a piece of bubblewrap and some scotch gift tape.

 

I also put directions on the mailer with arrows, indicating:

 

SPINE OF BOOK IS ON THIS SIDE------->

 

<----REMOVE/HANDLE FROM THIS SIDE

 

....then I put the cardboard mailer in a priority box, surrounded with bubblewrap and stuff packing peanuts.

 

It took me damn near 15 minutes to box up a raw VG Hero For Hire #1 that sold over this past weekend via BIN for $129 (+ buyer paid about $7-$8 for shipping to NC from NJ.......which I actually lose about $3 on, even with my eBay shipping discount...haha.

 

It took me two (or possibly 3?) 30 day cycles and change to sell.....ugh....tried to get $149 for it at first ( it's a $200 book in 4.0, unless the last CGC 9.6 that Greg Reece sold at $7,000 last week pushed the spread up across the board, which I'd bet it did) ...

 

...so yeah, I loathe selling raws on eBay.

[CAMPER49]

Canadians won't have to deal with this fraudulent Global Shipping Program once the USA becomes our 11th province.

[MetalPSI]

Uh no. No.

 

 

Nope. Nuh uh. No bofferino. No.

 

 

 

No

[Real Frantic One]

Everything I list is via BIN, IMO the buyers who present problems are bidders who bid carelessly and don't have the scratch to pay for their winnings, after the auctions end.BIN buyers pay what the BIN price is, so they have actually considered wether they really want the book or not.

You can still run into the problem of buyer's remorse, which is not discouraged at all by current eBay policies. If a buyer finds another copy for less before, or even after, they receive the item, they can just return it because the eBay default assumption is that all sellers are scum.

 

The "my son got into my account and bought this" excuse has been used to death. I expect the following to be added to all buyers' excuse rolodex for cancelling purchases now:

 

"My cat walked across the keyboard and accidentally bought your item."

"I was possessed by the devil last night, and he made me buy 20 of your books."

"The ghost of Elvis hacked into my account and bought this."

"I misread your listing and thought I was buying crack instead."

 

It would be interesting to try putting these excuses to the test to see what eBay would actually do. I'm nearly 100% positive that they would find any of them valid since they want to appease buyers at any cost.

[thecopperagekids]

Canadians won't have to deal with this fraudulent Global Shipping Program once the USA becomes our 11th province.

 

 

I'm not enrolled in the GSP, that jawn is for chumps.

 

It provides seller no more protection than spending $2.65 on signature confirmation and coughing up insurance (about $2 per $100 worth of goods).

 

Within the past year, whenever I've sold a book to an overseas buyer, ebay automatically provided the shipment with USPS Tracking...now that packages can be tracked (step by step), the chance for sketchy buyers to pull a fast one is greatly reduced.

 

 

[Real Frantic One]

Canadians won't have to deal with this fraudulent Global Shipping Program once the USA becomes our 11th province.

 

 

I'm not enrolled in the GSP, that jawn is for chumps.

 

It provides seller no more protection than spending $2.65 on signature confirmation and coughing up insurance (about $2 per $100 worth of goods).

 

Within the past year, whenever I've sold a book to an overseas buyer, ebay automatically provided the shipment with USPS Tracking...now that packages can be tracked (step by step), the chance for sketchy buyers to pull a fast one is greatly reduced.

 

 

The problem is that eBay will enroll you automatically in secret with no warning now. That is what put me over the edge with them. The rep telling me that I was SOL due to their machinations when I tried to get the transactions unlinked threw even more gasoline on the fire.

 

I really miss the days when sellers could leave neutral or negative feedback on buyers, and sellers could accept checks or money orders. The marketplace was far more stable with checks and balances in place.

[Buzzetta]

I dunno...

 

I have been getting a couple of pieces of work buying non comic or toy related things on the other account - jewelry but I have been still having overall positive experiences I think on eBay.

 

Again, I offered things here... no takers no PMs

 

4 of those items just sold on eBay for more than I offered them here.

 

 

[grebal]

Much as I hate several things about ebay I agree that for the majority of my comics I'll have an easier time selling and net a better end amount on ebay than anywhere. Once I clean out the more common fare though my hopes and dreams are to only deal with ebay as an occasional buyer.