imabrit
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posted on February 13, 2002 12:34:02 PM
Hi,aftermuch consideration and debate I have decided to get out of ebaY completely.
Therefore I am planning on selling off all of my stock.If someone wants to take over what has been a good business over the last 4 years please email me at.
[email protected]
I had 18,300 in total sales and still have plenty more to sell last year.
I will include sources of supply and all relevant info concerning what I sell.
It does not however include my ebaY name or feedback as this is not transferable.
I am asking 8500.00 for all I have.
Its in the antiques category,I rarely get dead beats,have not had a single bad check in over 2 years and it has a world wide audience.
I would continue to do it,but it's too hard on my back sitting here and I have taken employment in another area.As a result I cannot spend the time to maintain the business.
I have this set up where by it takes just one day or a few hours to re-list what is sold.
I used to do this full time here and had a much larger business.I have shut down in all the categories I used to sell in but this one.
If you like history you will enjoy this business.
thanks Adrian
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petertdavis
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posted on February 13, 2002 01:02:44 PM
Your ebay ID and feedback IS transferrable as part of a sale of a business.
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imabrit
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posted on February 13, 2002 01:18:50 PM
I wish it was but from what I understood ebaY will not allow you to do this.
I guess I could email them and ask them for sure.
thanks Adrian
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REAMOND
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posted on February 13, 2002 02:06:43 PM
If you sell the "business" the username and feedback can be sold with it.
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katmommy
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posted on February 13, 2002 02:13:12 PM
Odd that feedback is transferable. I mean feedback on an ebay ID is that particular person's or business' rating. If someone else takes over, the rating, if transferred, is false. It just doesnt make sence to me.
MEOW
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REAMOND
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posted on February 13, 2002 02:40:45 PM
It is the business's feedback, not any individual's feedback.
A true business is an entity unto itself, regardless of who owns it. The "personage" of the business is different from the "personage" of the person who may be running it.
The idea seems a little foreign if you look at sellers on eBay as just individuals and their venue is just an informal garage sale, but that is not the case. Many of us have started legal business entities for tax and liability reasons. But even a simple self run business, the same rules apply as far as personal and business assets.
"My" seller name and feedback are all assets of my company, not my personal property. This makes a huge difference when doing taxes or selling/transfering the business.
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imabrit
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posted on February 13, 2002 02:59:12 PM
My feedback is under my name but when people pay me its under the business name.
We have a separate business account and its run as a legit business.
But from what I understood you could not sell
and transfer the user name and feedback to another user.
I have over 3500 feedback.I would love to be able to sell that as well.But how much is it worth and can you do it.
I understood not.
thanks Adrian
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REAMOND
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posted on February 13, 2002 03:58:29 PM
You can't just sell the username and feedback, it has to go with the business or not at all- that's eBay's rule, eBay doesn't want a market started for usernames and feedback.
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imabrit
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posted on February 13, 2002 04:08:21 PM
REAMOND
I am selling basically the business and its stock and all thats related to it.
Therefore could a buyer assume my feedback but add there own user name to it.
Or would it be better for me to change the username to match that of the business name which is OneMansJunk.
Then sell the stock and ebaY user id,that would mean though more than 8500 for the stock as the user name has to be worth something.
The question is how much ?
Plus all my auctions start with the same 2 letters that can be entered into the search engine and pull up all my listings at once.
Any suggestions would be helpfull
thanks Adrian
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REAMOND
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posted on February 13, 2002 05:20:47 PM
I wouldn't let a username and feedback with 8500 go for less than an added $5000.
That username and feedback have value- just think of all the work and time that went into to making it.
The question is finding a buyer that realizes the value of it.
You could sell your business and UN and FB to someone who might not even sell what you have been selling - they'll just move your stock until it's gone and sell something else entirely. That is part of the value of the username and feedback.
I have noticed more recently that high feedback is making a difference in attracting bids. There is very valuable goodwill attached to that high FB rating and UN, especially for higher priced items.
My guess would be that your best bet for a good buyer would be someone that hasn't yet started selling on eBay, but wants to. An existing B&M antique shop or something like that. People that are already on eBay and have developed a good FB number wouldn't value a second FB and UN.
You would have to educate the prospective buyer as to the value of your UN and FB whether they continued your line of business or not.
I think I would try advertising it in the newspapers or hobby/antique newsletters.
What you would do once it is sold is change the eBay billing information immediately,and then give your password to the buyer, then he can change the password- BUT BE SURE TO CHANGE THE EBAY BILLING INFORMATION OVER TO THE BUYER AS SOON AS THE SALE IS CONSUMATED. I would let them keep the username because I think if you change usernames you get those shades and I'm not sure what it would do to the FB.
I would think that someone selling cars on eBay would like that FB and username. I would ask around some used car lots too. The username and feedback have value no matter what the buyer eventually chooses to sell.
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imabrit
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posted on February 13, 2002 05:54:24 PM
I wish the feedback was that high its at 3500 and has taken me a few years to get it that high.
It was origionally started under my old email address back in 1987.Then when I got road runnner I changed the user name to my existing email address.
It does nothing to the feedback when you change the user id.
I wonder if it would be best to change the user id to match the business name.
Only reason why I never did that was because the origional user email address was so well
known on ebaY.
thanks for the help
5800 feedbacks with 3526 unique.
So I have a high repeat business.
At one time this business of mine on ebaY did over 20,000 in sales a month.
I think the 3500 feedback would be worth another 1500 on top of the 8500 for inventory.
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REAMOND
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posted on February 13, 2002 06:04:29 PM
I would still ask an additional $5000 for 3500 FB. You can always go down from there.
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twinsoft
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posted on February 13, 2002 06:40:31 PM
Interesting. I am aware of eBay's rules, but it is confusing why eBay won't allow sellers to take their feedback to other sites. eBay claims the feedback belongs to eBay.
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imabrit
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posted on February 13, 2002 07:09:47 PM
Twinsoft, that's what has always confused me too and neither you are I are new to ebaY.
I was of the understanding that the feedback belonged to them too,though it was generated by me.
Adrian
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tapirback
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posted on February 13, 2002 10:39:55 PM
the feedback is probably worth at the most 500 bucks.
i hope you find a sucker to rif off.
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tomwiii
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posted on February 14, 2002 01:18:01 AM
Real sweet, ya jerk!
Anyhoo...I think it's really sad that feeBay is losing a seller of Adrian's caliber!
I've won some of his auctions -- he's OUTSTANDING!
If more sellers like him give up...
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oldhat98
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posted on February 14, 2002 06:29:14 AM
I think you better investigate the user id transfer even if selling your inventory with the business. Last year ebay changed all the rules - dis- allowing any transfer after the Bullionone Fraud case. He bought the business assests of a long time beanine baby seller - buying basically the user id with a 13000 plus rating and the auction listing and order tracking software(the business asset). In turn Bullionone defrauded ebay users out of thousands and thousands of dollars, Ebay payed out hundreds of insurance claims. I am one. The Owners of Bullionone are in court every day over the Fraud case - and Ebay's lawyers have safely protected Ebay up to now - but the court cases may spill over. Less than 48 hours after this case broke, Ebay changed the rules regarding changing Ownership and transfer of Ebay's Property (Your user id! and feedback profile).
Believe me, I would love to sell my 8000 plus feedback.
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askdaruma
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posted on February 14, 2002 07:04:26 AM
bidders are not fooled by high feedbacks.
they ask how did the seller earn it??
if he earns it by uploading 5000 items of resin casted dogs or stamps or chinese made limoge style boxes or cd at a penny every month,it is easy to achieve a high feedback.
common sense-how long does it take an antique dealer to rake up a feedback over 1000??
ebay has not been around that long,6-8 years ???
also if you sell your inventory and later want to get back into selling,it would be nice to have that feedback file with you??
in today retail environment and given the trend ebay is becoming more of a dealer to dealer clearing house,i doubt if anyone would pay much for a high feedback??
if he is buying your inventory and your inventory is marketable,it should be just a matter of time for him to build his own feedback based on your inventory and his customer service level.
i think your high feedback lends credibility to your inventory and yourself as a good businessman when he negotiates with you.
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sulyn1950
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posted on February 14, 2002 07:21:44 AM
oldhat98 brought up a point I hadn't really thought about before.
You sell your ID and FB and the "new" owner turns out to be the world's worst seller or even an out-and-out crook hoping to "cash in" on the former seller's good rep.
A person who has bought from the original owner of the ID thinks it's the same person and so feels safe and gets ripped off. Or a newbie, not sure who to trust, goes with this seller due to the high positive FB and ends up with a very bad experience.
I could see how the former owner might find themselves embroiled in a real mess having to prove he is not any longer associated in any way with that ID! Plus, somewhere down the line, you may decide you want to sell again. If you do and you have kept your ID and FB, it shouldn't take too long to get back up to speed.
I would go for selling the inventory and contacts only. Your contact/supplier list is an extremely valuable asset too.
I had a B&M I sold back a few years ago. My "contact/supplier" list was valued very high so keep in mind your supplier list is probably as valuable as your inventory if NOT more! I even went so far as to contact all my suppliers and let them know that I was selling the business and to whom and asked them to help the new owner any way they could and all turned out to be extremely helpful to the new guy!
I looked at buying a B&M once where the owner was not selling the contact/supplier list with the business! Needless to say, I passed on that one.
Good luck with your new endeavors!
[ edited by sulyn1950 on Feb 14, 2002 07:41 AM ]
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katmommy
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posted on February 14, 2002 07:28:51 AM
Thats a lot of cash. If you have no luck selling the inventory maybe you could find some distributors and drop ship to them?
MEOW
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imabrit
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posted on February 14, 2002 10:22:55 AM
I would not sell the ebaY user ID or feedback because of the reasons mentioned here.
It was never my intention to sell it,just the inventory and let someone else take over the selling of the items.
What we sell are not items that can readily be replaced.As all are unique,some of these I have only a few weeks supply others a few years.
There are 51 separate items that sell anywhere from 9.99 on up.Just depends who wants it the most that day.
Here is some brief info as to what we sell.
What we have sold on ebaY for the past 4 years are single pages from incomplete books dated from the 1470's into the mid 16 hundreds. All are identified and some do still include the Title page and other parts that tell us the date. Others are partial volumes that may represent a few pages but these too have been identified.
Some sell better than others, I tend to get most bids these days in the last few hours. Though I do sell a good number with the BIN feature.
Every page is different and people can own something so old for so little money. They are very easy to ship we send them in a flat priority mailer with the edges folded over for support.
I have quite a few who have bought off of me just about every week for the past few years.
It has taken me a few years to get this inventory together as buying incomplete books of this period can get quite expensive and it can take a while to get your money back on a book.
I have included a brief detail on each one I have as inventory, with an approx. number of pages remaining. As you will see I have quite a few of some and just a few of others.
The first one mentioned is one dated 1479 I can sell a few pages a week out of this at 25.-00 each. I have as you can see about 110 pages left about 2 years supply at one a week and that would generate 2750.00 over 2 years on just this one item alone.
I have a total of 51 different book leafs to sell and some of these can be broken down into more than one area. It's just a matter of using your imagination.
There are a few sellers who are selling the exact same item, mostly because they bought them from me as that way I can get some of my investment back from a book quicker.
In most cases you are the only one with that item so you can play around with the price and see what works for you.
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