posted on August 22, 2010 06:55:49 AM new
Yesterday was great. I found many wonderful things at garage sales. So many people are divesting, and the sad sales are where there's an obvious tinge of desperation. (Gotta get everything gone before the bank forecloses.)
With so many sales and things to choose from, I found that I no longer ask the question that used to come to mind automatically:
"Should I eBay this?"
I found an antique wall-mount Arcade Crystal coffee grinder, some rust but about 50% of the original finish left. Original glass hopper. $5. The seller said people had been offering her $1 or $2 all day but she was holding fast to her price. Put it on eBay? Why bother. Mine looks like this:
You can get bids on these if you start at 99 cents but BIN? Forget it.
It's not worth the effort to photograph and write a description for a $5 item that may end up at $25 -- sold to a bidder who then decides to return it.
We used to get decent-enough prices on eBay to make up for the occasional wingnut who wanted to return stuff. Not any more.
What happens when most people are like me and don't want to make the effort? And are sick of paying high fees when something does sell? I think it's already happened.
posted on August 22, 2010 07:03:07 AM new
Fluff, I agree completely. I cannot understand how people are content to sell things and go through the angst of kissing buyers' butts for a few dollars.
Many of the items I sold in the past I could double my investment after fees. Then everyone jumped on the selling bandwagon and they are content to make a dollar or two versus 50 or 60.
posted on August 22, 2010 07:18:54 AM new
It is called Supply and demand!
Easy money does not last long,when more people find out there is easy money to be made,they all pile in.
Back in early 1990s,my neighbor moved and droppd a brass Egytian cat on the driveway.
I listed it and it was sold for 27 dollars,the final bidder emailed me and told me he won after a FIERCE battle with other bidders!Those were the good old days!
An antique dealer/Bidder who lost out on a jade carving called me and asked to buy from me,I should have let him have it.
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
[ edited by hwahwa on Aug 22, 2010 07:22 AM ]
posted on August 22, 2010 08:37:07 AM new
Supply and demand only holds true in a system where there are few impediments to buying OR selling. When so many potential buyers remove themselves from the marketplace, demand is automatically reduced and supply is too ample. I'll bet we all know people who refuse to even look at eBay anymore. My mother, my husband's best friend (who used to spend hundreds per month on model train stuff), my personal trainer...
posted on August 22, 2010 08:45:27 AM new
I really, really, really do NOT understand BIN 99 cents and sometimes with free shipping. If you need to get rid of something that badly, see that round thing in the corner?? Put it in there. Also, for donations, even if you do not get a deduction, you still might be helping a charity, so donate it rather than putting it into a landfill.The person who buys it or gets it from the charity can trash it later.
I, too know a lot of people that have been turned away from Ebay and it is not due to poor service from sellers. They tell me there is too much junk to wade through. Some tell me they do not like PayPal.
posted on August 22, 2010 09:05:56 AM new
I wish eBay would go to the old yahoo system of auctions where they tack on 1 minute to the auction after someone bids at the end.
This serves 2 purposes... keeps the auction open, possibly creating more bidding on popular items and mimics a real auction. This in turn means eBay makes more money in the end through higher final value fees.
This would affect sniper software, but they will always find a way to make that work.
posted on August 22, 2010 11:40:27 AM new
About donations to charities.
I think it's not too difficult to do. I keep a yellow pad handy in my eBay office. I have basic categories on one page--HB books, PB books, movies (occasionally), houshold miscellaneous, women's clothes, men's clothes, etc.
On a line, I write HB books. Then every time I donate a book (that is, put it in the bag which, when filled, will go to a thrift shop), I put a tick mark.
When the page is pretty much filled up, or every six months, whichever comes first, I figure the value of donated items from each specific line. I might call the value of HB books $5. Multiply by the tick marks, put the total at the left.
Continue.
This takes me just minutes, not hard to do at all. I get a donation receipt from the thrift shop, put the grand total on it, and give it to my tax preparer (dear husband), stapling the yellow-pad page that's filled up to the receipt. I've been doing this for about 15 years and we've never been audited.
