What ebay has done to sellers.

To be honest I always thought that console worth inflation was due to ebay.

 

It's actually $366 left. Depending on how much your variable and fixed cost per sale are, nobody here can judge if you're making a good/bad profit margin though. After all, some food items cost $1.49 and have a profit margin of only $0.05, but it's still worthwhile. I agree that ebay is a complete ripoff, but making yourself dependent of ebay can't be a good foundation for your business in the first place. If I were you, I would try to completely stay away from an unnecessary cost such as ebay. For a highly specialized market such as refurbished airplane instruments, isn't there a way to find customers outside of ebay?

 

I think that should be $366 . Bit of a typo.

 

This is basically akin to a price drop by your competitors, though, isn't it? That's just the market at work, how is this eBay's fault?

You would have had to spend on packing materials either way, wouldn't you?

What you should do in this situation is have a separate regular website storefront set up for your business with prices that are cheaper than your eBay prices. Pick a middle ground so that it's both cheaper for your customers but you still get a better margin because eBay/Paypal fees have been cut out. Include a promotional flyer for your storefront in the package with all of your eBay sales, advertising the fact that you have better deals at your own storefront. Over time you may not only see higher margins like this but you can generate a more loyal customer base used to ordering directly from you and dealing with you

Personally I have gotten flyers like this before and if I need to purchase more of the same/similar product I always go to the storefront to fulfill the transaction instead of eBay if I trust the seller enough to not have to rely on the safety net of eBay's buyer protection policies, since cutting out the middleman will usually mean better prices.


(apologies I accidentally edited your post, started typing like an idiot instead of hitting respond...)

 

Can't you add the s/h to the unit price?

 

Do you have a link to your ebay listings please? I have always wanted to get some sort of aircraft clock mounted in some way (would have loved a WW2 type deal, but that probably won't happen).
Thank you

 

This has nothing to do with eBay, this is a problem started by both consumers and sellers. At first sight the consumer usually wants items as cheap as possible, however in most cases people are willing to pay more once they know they will get a good after sales etc. Most sellers are lazy and will just 'move boxes' for the cheapest price with the lowest price/margin. Basically eBay has to many sellers trying to sell the same thing, so either go somewhere else / broaden your market or play with the description and extra services and try to compensate that way.

 

I completely agree, and because of this a lot of ebay goods are not in the best shape (if you care about cosmetics). When i sell on ebay i try to be as honest as possible, but there have been many where i have bought and item listed as "light scratches", but the actual item i receive has quite a bit more than light scratches. I try not to buy my collectible goods on ebay.

Maybe the best thing to do is find something that other sellers aren't doing and capitalize on it. You could try offering a longer warranty, or possibly make your own website that you also sell through. If you can, try to find something that makes you stand out and makes buyers willing to pay your more money than other sellers.

 

I always wonder if it is legal for Ebay to charge a fee on the auction and on the Paypal. I only thought of it once Ebay bought Paypal.

 

Make your own Ebay with Blackjack and hookers

 

Oh yeah, come here Priss , you dirty hussy.

 

I'd be seriously interested in someone making an '"international craigslist" where shipping isn't frowned upon.

Of course it would be hard to do and for the most part they wouldn't make much profit, but hey, it would at least be the first jab at killing the eBay giant.


Is it really that hard to make a free online international marketplace? Prove me wrong, I'd like to know why eBay seems so damn greedy.

 

As I said, with such a specialized market why bother with ebay at all?

 

Yeah the ebay fee's are insane now. So I stopped selling on there and now try to just trade games instead