posted on January 22, 2002 08:24:29 PM
I thought they were in the pooper? Also, ain't they owned by feeBay??
This tasty tidbit from tonight's "Yahoo Auctions Newsletter"
"ReturnBuy is our newest partner for consumer electronics and computer products. Their listings feature "extraordinary returns for the serious shopper." Don't miss their great deals on nearly new digital cameras, Palm PDAs, and more! ReturnBuy's in-house "value analysts" review every item and assign ratings for product appearance, functionality, condition, etc. They use a five-star scale to help you evaluate the products you're bidding on. Talk about value!
<http://auctions.yahoo.com/booth/returnbuy?typ=y>
posted on January 22, 2002 09:41:01 PM
returnbuy is affiliated with ebay,latest news is that they laid off a lot of workers becasue it takes to many people to get the work done?
dont ask me why??
only mules like us can put up with this type of work and not complain,i cant see company employees doing this and you have to pay for their benefits.
also we all know some of these returns are not that great.
posted on January 22, 2002 10:10:01 PM
I guess they just realised how expensive it is to sell on feeBay. I would've liked to see their monthly ebay invoice. On top of that pay employees to list items...and monitor the auctions...and leave feedback...medical benefits etc..etc.
What were they thinking?! It is becoming impossible to make a total living off eBay. If you do, then you must be part of a few lucky hustlers.
posted on January 23, 2002 08:51:41 AM
early on there was an article with photos on how they operate,it appeared that they have a better way to mass sort,clean,examine,catlog,list and followup on ebay.
now they said it takes too many people to do the job,
.
i just dont see how they can do it faster and cheaper than we do?
the difference between an employee and a owner is that employees take coffee break,lunch hour and get paid for overtime,piad vacation,ss ,medical benefits,unemployment compensation,disability benfits .
with an operation like they show in the article,work environment can be hazardous.
for example,to make sure a store return digital camera works just like a new mint in box camera,it will have to be examined by someone who knows digital camera and test it including the software.how much time do you think it takes??then it is time to have coffee break,lunch and go home.
posted on January 23, 2002 10:45:30 AM
I agree with springmoon. Even large companies would cringe at ebays fee structure. There were more companies listed in the newsletter that moved to yahoo. Yahoo knows ebay is slowly pricing small sellers out, and will be there when sellers finally see the light.
posted on January 23, 2002 12:32:23 PM
even 5.50 an hour plus fringes could come up to 7-9 dollars fully loaded with overhead expenses.
may be they are getting a better break on those returns,less than 25 % of wholesale??
what about the post office??their wages are higher
they are better off having their own website and their own auction,then they can leave the items up there forever and dont need to give anyone feedback.
posted on January 23, 2002 12:41:03 PM
problem is soo many people use eBay compaired to Yahoo however if they continue to increase the fees slowly that will surely dwindle.........
posted on January 23, 2002 02:24:52 PM
eBay's real asset is not the amount of buyers and sellers. It is their notion that sellers have no place else to go, and are hooked on them. This makes eBay bold to raise FVF and add a BIN fee at the same time!
When you think about it we do have other market places to list or sell our goods -- everywhere online is only a mouse click away. It is not like we have to drive 50 miles to get to Yahoo or Carnaby or yourwebsite.com. The problem is we all want fast sales with little energy, so we're blindly *over-paying* feeBay.
posted on January 26, 2002 01:19:57 PM
ReturnBuy was at one time listing 4500+ items per week on eBay. Now they are down to 700-1100 with all three of their seller names (returnbuy, brandnewbuy, and realcrazymo).
Notice that none of their Yahoo auctions have any bids.
Too many people doing the job - that's what it came down to. I am sure their board took home a large chunk of the 15M they got in investments last year - otherwise I have no idea how they ate through it so fast.
posted on January 26, 2002 04:55:07 PM
it is very easy to run through millions in months if you have a staff,leases,benefits .they have to have different depts to recruit,security guards,accounting dept,payroll and then the sorters and listers.
4500 a week,they are better off having their own site.
