Interesting EBay Sale

[wrspoon]

This might be a pretty good strategy if you don't actually need an auction.

 

[acy274]

Pretty sure this is against eBay policy (excessive shipping costs). It only serves to try to trick the buyer, as final value fees are calculated with shipping included, so would do the seller no good.

[justincredible04]

Yep. They used to dissuade shipping costs like this. It doesn't matter it's 10% of of the gross price with shipping included. The exact same if he offered the item for $119.49 and offered free shipping

[LansingMI]

and here I thought he was a genious ....

[GoldenBellGW]

But I think the seller avoids the fees by doing this as eBay takes a cut from the final sale price, excluding shipping... It is actually very clever from the selling standpoint

[Cwing]

eBay offers a service allowing seller to reach a huge market that benefits sellers chances of selling item. I wouldn't call attempts to use their service and under cut them "clever".

[Tyus Stones]

But I think the seller avoids the fees by doing this as eBay takes a cut from the final sale price, excluding shipping... It is actually very clever from the selling standpoint

 

No, they changed their policy. FVFs are now calculated using shipping cost as well. So not clever, just obnoxious

[squishyy]

Well you can buy it and when you receive it file a claim with the buyer for actually overcharging shipping fees. Profit.

 

 

 

But don't do what I just said...both are immoral.

[J13]

But I think the seller avoids the fees by doing this as eBay takes a cut from the final sale price, excluding shipping... It is actually very clever from the selling standpoint

 

No, they changed their policy. FVFs are now calculated using shipping cost as well. So not clever, just obnoxious

 

Agree. The seller is a complete moron and thanks to people like him EBay takes 10% of the total cost INCLUDING shipping now.

[ntwusc]

Probably a mistake of using the default Priority Mail shipping and not checking to see that a package of that size costs a fortune to ship using that method.

[Bece2117]

eBay charges are through the roof lately, they are abusing sellers now!!

[Tyus Stones]

Well you can buy it and when you receive it file a claim with the buyer for actually overcharging shipping fees. Profit.

 

 

 

But don't do what I just said...both are immoral.

 

Yet another way that EBay has managed to endow buyers with an abusive amount of power and leverage over sellers. Fantastic.

[tdk8180]

eBay charges are through the roof lately, they are abusing sellers now!!

 

Maybe with corporate tax rates going down, there will be more promotions for the sellers.

 

EBay did a deal that capped the FVF at like $10 per auction, which is truly an amazing deal.

[Nessism]

Shipping prices are getting a little out of control lately. USPS anyway. And ebay charging fees on shipping costs just plain sucks. That's one policy I'd like to see changed.

[Tyus Stones]

eBay charges are through the roof lately, they are abusing sellers now!!

 

Maybe with corporate tax rates going down, there will be more promotions for the sellers.

 

EBay did a deal that capped the FVF at like $10 per auction, which is truly an amazing deal.

 

Yes, but auctions are always a crap shoot. Saving on FVFs doesn't help much if you are getting $100+ less compared to a fixed listing price.

 

Unless, of course, you are shill bidding your item up to a certain point to ensure you don't lose money on the transaction. Then its a great deal. ;)

[jschwarb]

eBay charges are through the roof lately, they are abusing sellers now!!

 

It is what it is, as they say. I'm a smallish seller but made peace with the 10 percent long ago. What I'm more annoyed by are PayPal fees like 30 cents for every sale, especially when I'm just selling something for a couple bucks. Considering ebay owns PayPal, that clear double-dipping.

[tdk8180]

eBay charges are through the roof lately, they are abusing sellers now!!

 

It is what it is, as they say. I'm a smallish seller but made peace with the 10 percent long ago. What I'm more annoyed by are PayPal fees like 30 cents for every sale, especially when I'm just selling something for a couple bucks. Considering ebay owns PayPal, that clear double-dipping.

 

They are separate companies now, but the principle remains

 

$100 sale, $10 to eBay, $3 to PayPal.

 

You get "taxed" on the $100 twice, and thats crap.

 

 

[tdk8180]

eBay charges are through the roof lately, they are abusing sellers now!!

 

Maybe with corporate tax rates going down, there will be more promotions for the sellers.

 

EBay did a deal that capped the FVF at like $10 per auction, which is truly an amazing deal.

 

Yes, but auctions are always a crap shoot. Saving on FVFs doesn't help much if you are getting $100+ less compared to a fixed listing price.

 

Unless, of course, you are shill bidding your item up to a certain point to ensure you don't lose money on the transaction. Then its a great deal. ;)

 

Shill bidding never happens...

 

Ya know, Ive always wondered if they just went to a system that killed the sniping strategy. I have my max bid of 150 bucks in and if you put 1000 bucks, you will pay 1000 bucks, not 150.50. Or maybe half of your winning max bid.

 

Not going to get into why it wouldnt work, people not following thru on the payment, etc.

[Tyus Stones]

eBay charges are through the roof lately, they are abusing sellers now!!

 

Maybe with corporate tax rates going down, there will be more promotions for the sellers.

 

EBay did a deal that capped the FVF at like $10 per auction, which is truly an amazing deal.

 

Yes, but auctions are always a crap shoot. Saving on FVFs doesn't help much if you are getting $100+ less compared to a fixed listing price.

 

Unless, of course, you are shill bidding your item up to a certain point to ensure you don't lose money on the transaction. Then its a great deal. ;)

 

Shill bidding never happens...

 

Ya know, Ive always wondered if they just went to a system that killed the sniping strategy. I have my max bid of 150 bucks in and if you put 1000 bucks, you will pay 1000 bucks, not 150.50. Or maybe half of your winning max bid.

 

Not going to get into why it wouldnt work, people not following thru on the payment, etc.

 

See, but the thing about shill bidding is EBay will never ever ever figure out a system to eliminate it entirely (which they absolutely could, it would take no more than a week to have a group of coders work out). Why? Because it only serves to help them profit further. Shill bids result in a higher final sale price, which means bigger FVFs and bigger profits for EBay. They certainly aren't going to cut off their nose to spite their face.

 

And they could never get away with implementing a policy like you suggested on sniping, because bidding on a listing is public knowledge. If the second highest bid is $150, they cannot make the highest bidder pay more than the minimum bidding increment above that. People would simply refuse to take part in auctions on their site. If I can't snipe, why the heck would I even bother with an auction?

[Medic]

eBay has definitely changed over the years. The addition of BIN took away much of the auction allure and with it the advent of as much sniping. Even back when I was a PS there were hints coming out of eBay that they knew about shill bids. We constantly got messages indicating how seriously they took it and that, if caught, suspension would result. But that was back when just about everyone selling was individuals just getting rid of stuff - was more like an online garage sale than anything else.

 

Fast forward and now there are tons of big businesses selling overstock on the site. In order to protect themselves there have been rumors that some of those bigger "players" in the eBay game employ shilling on those ads that involve items that would have otherwise sold for too much of a loss. Some were selling golf equipment and there are many threads on here that talk of the potential of shill bids happening. eBay even put a link on their site warning members how to recognize shills:

http://www.ebay.com/gds/SHiLL-BIDDiNG-5-Ways-To-Detect-Shill-Bidders-On-Ebay-/10000000002559018/g.html

If memory serves some businesses were caught and booted. And apparently collectables might still be subject to shill bids:

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/ebay-shill-bids-new-very-questionable-ebay-autograph?commentId=3524372%3AComment%3A853383

 

It's just sad actually. Because eBay used to be the most awesome place to buy and sell. Scams and scammers were few and far between. eBay took reports of violations seriously and worked hard to protect their online reputation. As I said things have definitely changed on eBay.

[tdk8180]

eBay charges are through the roof lately, they are abusing sellers now!!

 

Maybe with corporate tax rates going down, there will be more promotions for the sellers.

 

EBay did a deal that capped the FVF at like $10 per auction, which is truly an amazing deal.

 

Yes, but auctions are always a crap shoot. Saving on FVFs doesn't help much if you are getting $100+ less compared to a fixed listing price.

 

Unless, of course, you are shill bidding your item up to a certain point to ensure you don't lose money on the transaction. Then its a great deal. ;)

 

Shill bidding never happens...

 

Ya know, Ive always wondered if they just went to a system that killed the sniping strategy. I have my max bid of 150 bucks in and if you put 1000 bucks, you will pay 1000 bucks, not 150.50. Or maybe half of your winning max bid.

 

Not going to get into why it wouldnt work, people not following thru on the payment, etc.

 

See, but the thing about shill bidding is EBay will never ever ever figure out a system to eliminate it entirely (which they absolutely could, it would take no more than a week to have a group of coders work out). Why? Because it only serves to help them profit further. Shill bids result in a higher final sale price, which means bigger FVFs and bigger profits for EBay. They certainly aren't going to cut off their nose to spite their face.

 

And they could never get away with implementing a policy like you suggested on sniping, because bidding on a listing is public knowledge. If the second highest bid is $150, they cannot make the highest bidder pay more than the minimum bidding increment above that. People would simply refuse to take part in auctions on their site. If I can't snipe, why the heck would I even bother with an auction?

 

Right, because the people are scattered around the world and you cant run it like a traditional auction. I guess its the best system you could possibly have.

[dam276]

So to not completely punish sellers they give you a 10% discount on the ACTUAL cost of shipping if you buy the postage through their site. The idea would be to offset their fee for a reasonable shipping charge and not to reward chuckleheads like the one OP pointed out. Not defending eBay, just saying the fee on postage isn't the worst if you're charging accordingly and buy on their site.

[justincredible04]

I still don't understand why people don't snipe in general. It would be easier on the BST here for the seller to put in the least they'll take and the buyer to put in the most they would offer. If the overlap then it's sold at the lowest price. If not you don't get another chance. No negotiating it's just over and the next seller goes

[pinhigh27]

I still don't understand why people don't snipe in general. It would be easier on the BST here for the seller to put in the least they'll take and the buyer to put in the most they would offer. If the overlap then it's sold at the lowest price. If not you don't get another chance. No negotiating it's just over and the next seller goes

 

What? The current bst works fine. Everything doesnt need to be an auction

[justincredible04]

I still don't understand why people don't snipe in general. It would be easier on the BST here for the seller to put in the least they'll take and the buyer to put in the most they would offer. If the overlap then it's sold at the lowest price. If not you don't get another chance. No negotiating it's just over and the next seller goes

 

What? The current bst works fine. Everything doesnt need to be an auction

 

I don't think you understood what I was saying. That's not an auction. That's a one time offer between seller/buyer. A lot of time would be saved with his method (and negotiations in general).

[GoIrish17]

This right here is why I love America. Someone thinks they're slick listing an item for $.99 (OBO) plus $118.50 shipping on eBay, I use my math skills and know it's gonna cost me about $119 plus change to get it to my door. I can decide if it's worth it or not if I'm interested, along with deciding whether or not they're a moron for doing it. I don't care one bit about their fees, that's between eBay and the seller.

 

EBay is the biggest market to sell golf crap on. I don't like eBay's fees? I don't have to sell on there. I can go to the internet garage sale of Craigslist and deal with a whole bunch of people looking for something for nothing. I can sell here and be exposed to more (and more knowledgeable) golfers with no fees. A community of golfers who are generally more respectful and friendly than eBay and tend to look out for one another, but I do have to sift through a heck of a lot of flakes and low balls until I finally find a serious buyer. (The same is true of all of these from a buyer's perspective.)

 

Of course there's others. Nowhere's perfect, that's why I'm glad we have options. They all have their positives and negatives, for both buyers and sellers. I just have to be a grown up, weigh the options and the hassles, and make informed decisions where to buy or sell my golf crap. Sometimes I try selling here first, sometimes I try eBay first. Sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't. (Full disclosure, I've used Craigslist years ago for one glorious, miserable first and last time- I'm sure someone reading this is disagreeing with my opinion of it.)

 

I'll never understand the fake OUTRAGE! over these outlets every time one of these threads are started. Sure, we've all been frustrated with sites before, both as a buyer or seller. But, if you don't like this or that about _____(insert internet marketplace) enough that it makes you angry? Don't use it. There's lots of other choices out there. Pick your poison.

[Jojodimaggio]

has anyone ever asked the seller on eBay if he's a golfwrx member to get a better deal?

[pinhigh27]

I still don't understand why people don't snipe in general. It would be easier on the BST here for the seller to put in the least they'll take and the buyer to put in the most they would offer. If the overlap then it's sold at the lowest price. If not you don't get another chance. No negotiating it's just over and the next seller goes

 

What? The current bst works fine. Everything doesnt need to be an auction

 

I don't think you understood what I was saying. That's not an auction. That's a one time offer between seller/buyer. A lot of time would be saved with his method (and negotiations in general).

 

thanks, I didn't know what an auction was. again the BST works fine

[justincredible04]

I still don't understand why people don't snipe in general. It would be easier on the BST here for the seller to put in the least they'll take and the buyer to put in the most they would offer. If the overlap then it's sold at the lowest price. If not you don't get another chance. No negotiating it's just over and the next seller goes

 

What? The current bst works fine. Everything doesnt need to be an auction

 

I don't think you understood what I was saying. That's not an auction. That's a one time offer between seller/buyer. A lot of time would be saved with his method (and negotiations in general).

 

thanks, I didn't know what an auction was. again the BST works fine

 

I know. That's why I explained to you what it wasn't. What I'm referring to was to help the BST...and it's not an auction

[endy]

has anyone ever asked the seller on eBay if he's a golfwrx member to get a better deal?

 

I always do. Both of us get a better deal and more peace of mind. I've probably done 5 or so deals this way.