degruch wrote:has anyone noticed NOTHING sells on eBay lately? Lots of 'click to watch' going on there.
BULLITT wrote:hi duanne things do sell on ebay i missed out on a glove box lock ,a wasp handbook ,and 5 mins ago a canadian bellett brochure , i sold my gem camry 2 weeks ago ,my wife has a site which does well on ebay but we are talking small amounts $$$ is what people have now
They must still have the wide open rules outside the US.
In their home market, they have decided that they must compete directly with Amazon. Insurance can no longer be optional, it's required. Everything must have a tracking number for the buyer protection program. The item must be delivered in 14 days, or the buyer can file for a refund. Sellers are expected to offer the item with "free shipping". They now charge the auction fee percentage against the item cost _and_ the shipping cost. The buyer rates the seller on shipping cost, and bad ratings mean higher fees or account suspension. So everything has to go by a fast shipping method, with tracking and insurance, and it should cost nothing to do this. Meanwhile, the post office has been raising rates in what seems like six month increments, and it is over $7 to ship anything. A $3-4 item with "free shipping" becomes a $10 listing. A $7-12 piece of collectible automobilia becomes $18-20. If the seller is brave enough to charge shipping on an item that is priced under $50, the buyer gives negative ratings.
It is impossible over here to sell the small things that people are actually buying now.
They changed the car selling rules recently too. It is a $125 minimum fee to the auction website for selling a car. If a car would sell for less than a thousand dollars, they owner pays a salvage yard less than a hundred dollars to have it crushed, and it is gone. No more cheap project car or parts car auctions. So if the car in Georgia ends up on a list website, instead of an auction website.
As far as auction sales being slow. Yes! For several years now!
It used to be there were slow times: Summer, everyone is out doing something. The month before tax day, everyone is paying their taxes. And for automotive stuff: Winter, because no one works on their cars when it's cold outside.
Now it's just dead the whole year long.
All window shopping, no commerce.
.
Holy crap! No wonder project cars have dried up a bit. I spend more time scouting Craigslist myself (effectively a US Gumtree), and have bought a few things off it. Unfortunately, their scam warnings put the frighteners into most people about foreign buyers, a lot of people won't communicate via email, and almost no-one has PayPal. Having said that, most folks over there seem pretty down to earth and happy to make a deal work...must be the novelty of some guy from Australia contacting them!?!
