E bay...where have all the bargains gone?

[MoonBassAlpha]

Ebay- I just got a Boss PS-5 for £60 using Make An Offer. Seemed a reasonable price to me. Janek Gwizdala's fault!

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1486924215' post='3235585']
I believe Ebay being predominately traders and more private sellers on Gumtree was a deliberate business decision by Ebay, as they own Gumtree as well and wanted to seperate them that way.
[/quote]

This would be my perception too and my wife makes our living these days off Ebay exclusively. Gumtree is a load more hassle to shop from though if you're looking for something rare or unusual.

[Grangur]

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1486924215' post='3235585']
I believe Ebay being predominately traders and more private sellers on Gumtree was a deliberate business decision by Ebay, as they own Gumtree as well and wanted to seperate them that way.
[/quote]
This morning I heard a radio ad. Declaring EBay as the place to sell your old stuff to clear a bedroom. So maybe that business model is getting shaky?

I always thought eBay was good for selling nationally and Gumtree for sellimg locally. This weekend I put up an electronic piano on Gumtree. Folk were calling from up to 70 miles away!

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1486992696' post='3236062']
This morning I heard a radio ad. Declaring EBay as the place to sell your old stuff to clear a bedroom. So maybe that business model is getting shaky?

I always thought eBay was good for selling nationally and Gumtree for selling locally. This weekend I put up an electronic piano on Gumtree. Folk were calling from up to 70 miles away!
[/quote]yeah I was selling a Trace Elliot combo (44Kg) from Nottingham and a guy from Edinburgh wanted me to ship it there! fortunately somebody local bought it, depends what search criteria you put in Gumtree

[taunton-hobbit]

Another vote for the 'buy it now' road-
if I want something, I want it........
all this pratting about with losing auctions
(which have likely been won using software trickery)
is just too much cr*p..........

[Grangur]

Auctions are useful if you don't know what is a fair price for the item.

[bigjimmyc]

[quote name='taunton-hobbit' timestamp='1486994042' post='3236082']
Another vote for the 'buy it now' road-
if I want something, I want it........
all this pratting about with losing auctions
(which have likely been won using software trickery)
is just too much cr*p..........


[/quote]

Due to my current financial situation I've been attempting to shift kids of old gear through eBay recently. However I noticed what appears to be a change of policy. You cannot keep a buy-it-now price after bidding has started on an auction unless you also set a reserve price.

That said, almost every auction I've listed brought characters out of the ether asking me to sell off-market. Only a few got to the last-minute sniping!

I concur that they (eBay) are less consumer friendly than they were, which presumably is why they acquired gumtree.

[Geek99]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1486992696' post='3236062']
This morning I heard a radio ad. Declaring EBay as the place to sell your old stuff to clear a bedroom. So maybe that business model is getting shaky?

I always thought eBay was good for selling nationally and Gumtree for sellimg locally. This weekend I put up an electronic piano on Gumtree. Folk were calling from up to 70 miles away!
[/quote]
I had someone drive all the way from Tooting to the yorkshire border to buy something, On a friday night. In heavy rain.
In principle however, I would agree with Mr G.

Its very noticeable how the bargains have dropped off, I was doubting my sanity and thinking I'd been missing them,.

[ChunkyMunky]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1486945462' post='3235832']
Do you mean Musicman Bongoes?
[/quote]

Wahey!

[taunton-hobbit]

I've forgotten the last time that I bought at the end of an Ebay auction...........
most sellers are quite sensible & happy to negotiate.

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='bigjimmyc' timestamp='1487002851' post='3236175']
Due to my current financial situation I've been attempting to shift kids of old gear through eBay recently. However I noticed what appears to be a change of policy. You cannot keep a buy-it-now price after bidding has started on an auction unless you also set a reserve price.
[/quote]

That is the way it has always been (well, at least the last 10 or so years). The buy it now price has always gone as soon as there is a bid hight enough to clear any reserve. That is why bidding on any buy it now auction starts with someone bidding low just to make sure someone doesn't buy it now away from them.

[bigjimmyc]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1487009055' post='3236231']
That is the way it has always been (well, at least the last 10 or so years). The buy it now price has always gone as soon as there is a bid hight enough to clear any reserve. That is why bidding on any buy it now auction starts with someone bidding low just to make sure someone doesn't buy it now away from them.
[/quote]

Huh! Must have been my imagination / old age! High time there was a proper competitor for them.

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='bigjimmyc' timestamp='1487147203' post='3237413']
Huh! Must have been my imagination / old age! High time there was a proper competitor for them.
[/quote]

It is - there have been many attempts in the past, but it never works. I guess you need a critical level of people.

[Grangur]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1487009055' post='3236231']
That is the way it has always been (well, at least the last 10 or so years). The buy it now price has always gone as soon as there is a bid hight enough to clear any reserve. That is why bidding on any buy it now auction starts with someone bidding low just to make sure someone doesn't buy it now away from them.
[/quote]
[quote name='bigjimmyc' timestamp='1487147203' post='3237413']
Huh! Must have been my imagination / old age! High time there was a proper competitor for them.
[/quote]
The Buy It Now price disappears as soon as the first bid gets placed.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Grangur

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1487179995' post='3237836']
The Buy It Now price disappears as soon as the first bid gets placed.
[/quote]

The first bid that clears the reserve if present, yes.

[Grangur]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1487202939' post='3238092']


The first bid that clears the reserve if present, yes.
[/quote]
I've never sold using a reserve. Only sold in an auction with a BIN. When the first bid landed the BIN disappeared.

[ead]

I think the market is a bit odd at the moment in any case. I have had things on here doing nothing, then I pop them on evilbay with BIN & best offer and they have in the majority of cases sold for more that advertised on here. Even more odd that after fees etc I still made more that the price on here in at least half the cases. We're talking about 8-9 items overs the past 6 months.

There's no doubt you get a wider audience, but maybe BC is not always the best place anymore. What do others think?

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1487230973' post='3238136']
I've never sold using a reserve. Only sold in an auction with a BIN. When the first bid landed the BIN disappeared.
[/quote]I always sell with a buy it now and make me an offer, you get a few chancers but it's only an email and you don't have to answer it
[quote name='ead' timestamp='1487232154' post='3238144']
I think the market is a bit odd at the moment in any case. I have had things on here doing nothing, then I pop them on evilbay with BIN & best offer and they have in the majority of cases sold for more that advertised on here. Even more odd that after fees etc I still made more that the price on here in at least half the cases. We're talking about 8-9 items overs the past 6 months.

There's no doubt you get a wider audience, but maybe BC is not always the best place anymore. What do others think?
[/quote]never used BC to be honest, I think you get a better price on Gumtree and Ebay (BCers are too well informed perhaps) and only ever bought one thing of BC, (in fact thinking about it I've never bought anything off Gumtree either), and the set fee on basschat puts me off

Edited February 16, 2017 by PaulWarning

[Grangur]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1487237147' post='3238201']
I always sell with a buy it now and make me an offer, you get a few chancers but it's only an email and you don't have to answer it
never used BC to be honest, I think you get a better price on Gumtree and Ebay (BCers are too well informed perhaps) and only ever bought one thing of BC, (in fact thinking about it I've never bought anything off Gumtree either), and the set fee on basschat puts me off
[/quote]
I too use a fixed price, with "Make me an Offer". Or I use the auction starting at my bottom price or something near it.

Gone are the days of starting it at 99p and hoping it'll find the market value. You'd be safe selling a Fender that way, but selling something obscure could be risky.

Ebay's reserve prices are odd IMHO. You've got folk placing bids with an on-screen message saying "reserve not met". It's like "guess my bottom price".

What gets me on Ebay is the 10% fees. I sell a bass at £850 and they get £85!!? If it was £42.50 it would be more acceptable. I've bought and sold on Gumtree and BC. BC is good for Fenders and Rays. Given the amount I've advertised that didn't sell on BC, I would go with you that the fees are, in my case, questionable VFM, but it does support the forum staying here.

Edited February 16, 2017 by Grangur

[Jono Bolton]

Even though I look on it all the time, I can't imagine buying a bass from eBay ever again; I've had too many hassles with either items not being as described, or even getting a seller to ship an item. I bought my P Bass from eBay and although it was a bargain, it took me nearly two weeks to convince the seller to ship it (he had listed it with a shipping option BTW, which I paid for, but he didn't seem keen to do it and at one point offered me a refund and said that he only put a shipping option "as a favour").

Gumtree is good for buying. I've bought a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Precision for £160, amongst other things, and recently saw a Cimar Strat copy and an Ibanez SB 70 for £80 and £50 respectively, but missed out on both. Stuff occasionally shows up on the cheap, but you have to move fast to get it.

I've found selling on Gumtree to be a total horror show, with low-ball offers and trades for absolute garbage. There's one person in particular who always contacts me when I list a bass, offering me about two-thirds of the asking price, saying that he can come straight over to collect it. Every time. I know from trades he's offered me in the past that he picks up stuff from Gumtree and sells it on again a week later, usually at an inflated price. Selling on Facebook groups is no better either; no one wants to pay a reasonable price for anything.

[BigRedX]

I have no problem buying and selling musical gear on eBay. In fact for a selling PoV it has been a lot less painless than selling on here (or anywhere else).

Also I think that eBay's fees are very reasonable considering the size of the audience you are going to reach compared with all the alternatives. Remember in the "good old days" before eBay your local musical instrument shop would sell stuff for you, but they would take at least 15%, it was likely to take to months to actually sell, and maybe even longer before you actually got any money, and during that time it was subject to abuse from anyone who wanted to to "try it out" in the shop. And if you just wanted to PX against something else in the shop, then good luck getting more than 50% of what you were selling was actually worth.

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1487238498' post='3238219']
I too use a fixed price, with "Make me an Offer". Or I use the auction starting at my bottom price or something near it.

Gone are the days of starting it at 99p and hoping it'll find the market value. You'd be safe selling a Fender that way, but selling something obscure could be risky.

Ebay's reserve prices are odd IMHO. You've got folk placing bids with an on-screen message saying "reserve not met". It's like "guess my bottom price".

What gets me on Ebay is the 10% fees. I sell a bass at £850 and they get £85!!? If it was £42.50 it would be more acceptable. I've bought and sold on Gumtree and BC. BC is good for Fenders and Rays. Given the amount I've advertised that didn't sell on BC, I would go with you that the fees are, in my case, questionable VFM, but it does support the forum staying here.
[/quote]yeh I don't get setting a reserve, why not just start the bidding off at what your reserve would be, when I see a reserve set it puts me off because you don't know where you are, if you had to start the bidding a 99p or what ever then I could understand it, but that's not the case

Edited February 16, 2017 by PaulWarning

[BigRedX]

I think the reserve price stems from the days when your listing fee was based on the start price that you set. Therefore in order to minimise the listing fee, you started low and put a reserve price on your item. These days when everyone seems to have more than enough free listings - I've been selling on eBay for almost 10 years now and have never paid a penny in listing fees, the reserve price is somewhat redundant. Simply start your item at the minimum price you would like to get for it and go from there.

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1487245373' post='3238303']
I think the reserve price stems from the days when your listing fee was based on the start price that you set. Therefore in order to minimise the listing fee, you started low and put a reserve price on your item. These days when everyone seems to have more than enough free listings - I've been selling on eBay for almost 10 years now and have never paid a penny in listing fees, the reserve price is somewhat redundant. Simply start your item at the minimum price you would like to get for it and go from there.
[/quote]yeh I don't think they charge for listings at all these days, I've certainly not been charged for ages, which is why they've loaded the selling fees, makes sense, means you can list stuff knowing if it don't sell it costs you nothing unlike basschat

[Grangur]

If they're going to take a commission of £85, a £1 listing fee is neither here nor there.