posted on February 23, 2004 10:15:24 PM new
So I have this parts list manual for a 1952 Massey-Harris Swather, a farm implement for cutting hay.
So I check completed auctions results for "Swather Manual", and see in last month there were 100 different auctions listed on eBay for a variety of Swather Manuals, and hey, guess what, only 3 sold for $9.99, and 1 more sold at $4.99, with manuals listed at starting prices from $0.99 to $24.99
Great, so I won't list this one by itself, will build up a multiple manuals listing to see what happens, stuff all came in a box lot after all.
But you know, ya got to ask the question: What's up with everybody out there? Is everybody just demented, or what, do they just LOVE giving their money & time to eBay without ANY HOPE WHATSOEVER of their item selling, or are they just so frigging lazy & stoopid they can't do even the most basic research on whether their item is saleable or not.
Every category is FILLED to the brim with examples like this, item after item of basically the same thing NOT SELLING month after month after month, and yet boinkers everywhere still pile on their crap.
What gives?
I've been selling for six years full-time on eBay, and I mean full-time -- it has been my sole income source. Even with that, I average about 80% sell-thru, but at least I look into the things I sell, why waste your time & money when the chance you might get a bid is as low as 3 or 4 percent? I just don't get it...but I guess that's just the way it is...an amazing thing, though, to watch just roll on continuously.
[ edited by upriver on Feb 23, 2004 10:17 PM ]
posted on February 23, 2004 10:22:24 PM new
How much demand could there possibly be for a 1952 Massey-Harris Swather manual?? I am surprised 3 even sold.
My sales are doing great. This isn't brain surgery here...Sell things that actually sell!
posted on February 23, 2004 10:26:16 PM new
ebayvet:
I agree completely, as I said, I have consistently achieved at least 80% sell-thru for last 6 years. And the oddest things do indeed sell, not always on their own of course.
Just put together a mixed lot for 13 assorted farm implements manuals and catalogs from the 1940s and 1950s, that will undoubtedly sell, for what I'm not sure, but for more than I have into it, I do know that.
posted on February 23, 2004 10:55:11 PM new
I have developed a very successful module which after much inner turmoil and debate, omitted farm implementtation manuals that were printed prior to my birth. I fought long and hard over the decision to avoid that market and spent many a sleepless night second guessing my decision but now I trly can sleep well thanks to your post confirming that my initial thought was the right one. Thank you.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
[ edited by Fenix03 on Feb 23, 2004 10:56 PM ]
posted on February 23, 2004 11:04:21 PM new
Damn!!! Just last week I passed up a good deal on a 52 Massey-Harris swather because it didn't have the manual. I would have paid a hundred bucks for the manual if I had bought the swather.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on February 23, 2004 11:16:19 PM new
I like Chantilly powder sachet & eBay alerts me whenever some is listed. When it comes up I usually get it for 4 to 6 dollars full, unopened.
A seller is on about their sixth listing of the same empty "collectable, not" Chantilly sachet bottle starting bid 9.99, postage 5.00 Never got a bid, never will.
A classic example of someone stupid, lazy or whatever.
Makes me want to email them & ask, is there something wrong with you.
posted on February 23, 2004 11:26:26 PM new
Being raised as an Iowa farm boy, who in their right mind would want something that was worn out & junked about 45 yrs. ago?
posted on February 23, 2004 11:57:06 PM new
Years ago it seemed that most sellers, including the hobby sellers had some business savvy. Now ebay is filled with hobby sellers that don't have a clue and I doubt they research anything.
As computers drop in price it seems to draw out even more of them and they are all bragging that they sell on ebay, some becoming "antique dealers" overnight.
Some "sell" on ebay.
Some "list" on ebay. Big difference.
In fact I read this here today.
We list and list and get few sells or bids or even views. It gets downright demoralizing. The only good thing is that it is a hobby selling on ebay for many sellers
posted on February 24, 2004 01:13:33 AM new
It's no wonder! As I am working I am listening to an infomerical about Dave Espino's "Auctions for Income" EBay sales system..ANYONE CAN SELL ON EBAY!! ANYONE CAN MAKE THOUSANDS PER MONTH ON EBAY!! UP TO $33,000/month on eBay!! Every half hour $1.2 million changes hands! Get your business started in less than a week!
Dave's goal is to help as many as he possibly can find success on eBay! Free access to his personal wholesale source!
If you call right now you can receive Dave's system for $39.95!! PLUS... PLUS...over $200 extra in bonus for first 200 callers...DAVE HOLDS THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE POWER OF EBAY!!
WOWEE!! Where can I sign up?? Seems to me that the only person making $ on this is good old Dave!!
posted on February 24, 2004 06:34:40 AM new
Have you ever noticed that there are no short pudgy greying housewives that have discovered "The Secrets of eBay"? Housewives discover things like mops, pasta pots and roll up organizers never seem to have the key to making your fortune via ebay, stocks, ecommerce, real estate ect. Hell they even seem to have missed the possibilities of making a fortune in 900 phone sex lines even as they worked on them.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on February 25, 2004 11:39:12 AM new
Problem is, you just never know when or what is gonna sell. I've listed many, many items that when looking at completed none have sold, yet mine sells right away for more than the opening price of the others. And it works the other way, too. Completeds all have sold but mine doesn't. This reminds me of the stock market saying "past performance is not indicitive of future results".
posted on February 25, 2004 11:53:43 AM new
Here's a seller who must have lots of ammunition to spare, 'cause she's shooting herself in the foot everyday:
Apparently the key to making a fortune on eBay is to have only about 100 unique SKUs and list each one 18-20 times, so you'll have about 2000 auctions up at any given time.
I wonder if some infomercial eBay guru is selling this technique. I've seen it before.
Sellthrough is atrocious considering she starts the vast majority at 1 cent.
posted on February 25, 2004 08:39:04 PM new
Okay, I'll bite. What is a Swather?
___________________________________
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach that person to use
the Internet and he
won't bother you for weeks.
posted on February 25, 2004 09:05:37 PM new
I do agree that some people are definitely selling their things too low - but this is an auction - and they are probably hoping for more.
Now I have only been selling for about 6 years (or thereabouts!) - but I have seen prices of some things drop drastically. It is simply a matter of supply and demand. And there is a larger supply of a lot of 'things' out there than a lot of people realize.
I was in the antique business for years and was an estate liquidator. It is just a fact that the prices in that area have changed a lot.
One bookseller who helped me when I first started said once that when he started selling books on Ebay, anything he listed would bring $20.00 - now it takes something pretty good to bring that.
posted on February 26, 2004 09:08:06 AM new
There is also a psychological supply and demand element working. At regional B&M or flea market sales, you had a once-in-a-lifetime feeling about buying something, that is, you felt you may never have a chance to buy or see this item again.
With eBay, all of those "rare once-in-a-lifetime" regional items can now be found by the dozens on eBay.
eBay has diminished the urgency or impulse to buy collectibles. It has turned it into a commodity market.
posted on February 26, 2004 09:24:59 AM new
Reamond, I agree with that. It's changed the way I think about collecting things. I used to love finding just by chance, at a yard sale, flea market or antique shop, something that I collected. I'd accept any flaws and just be happy I found it. Now that I know I can find a better one or lots of them with just a click of a mouse it's taken away some of the fun of collecting.
The "thrill of the hunt" is gone for me when it comes to collecting but it's still alive and well when I'm looking for things to resell.
posted on February 26, 2004 09:46:47 AM new
Neroter: LOL. I guess I asked for it!
___________________________________
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach that person to use
the Internet and he
won't bother you for weeks.
eBay Collectibles has shrunk from 60% of Gross Merchandise Sales on the U.S. site in 1999 to an estimated 13% in 2003, according to eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy. Conversely, the remaining items, which eBay calls "practicals" like consumer goods and business equipment, grew from 40% in 1999 to 87% of eBay.com's Gross Merchandise Sales in 2003.
