The end of eBay as a place for bass

[Happy Jack]

My standard Saved Search for the last few years has been Bass / Used / Right-handed.

As of this morning, that search returns just 135 results where it used to be well over 500. Worse, of those 135 results, just FOUR are auctions ... all the rest are Buy It Now deals mainly for complete tat (bass-related T-shirts and so on) or for dull Pacific Rim instruments.

As a source for decent / interesting / cheap basses, I'd say eBay has finally reached the end of the road.

It was fun while it lasted.

RIP

[Ou7shined]

I let my search die exactly for that reason, all the spam you have to trawl through. People should be made to list items in their correct sections only rather than spamming everywhere on the off chance of drumming up some business - the annoying thing is, it the pro sellers that do this and usually not the private one.

[stevie]

Ebay have recently introduced a set of controls that appear down the left hand side of your screen when you do a search. If you look under Refine Search/Preferences/Buying formats there is an Auction command that will remove all the BuyitNow rubbish from dealers and display auction items only.

I live near Absolute Audio. Their lists of hundreds of musical instrument items at a time made searching for local items virtually impossible. So the button is a godsend. If you haven't seen it before, give it a go.

[Beedster]

No worries Jack, there's always this little bargain on here. Fit's your riteria [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=97924&hl"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=97924&hl[/url]

C

[steve-soar]

I offered to trade an old dog turd I had been keeping since 1973 but he said it was the wrong colour.

[Kiwi]

Ebay have been moving away from private sellers for the last 3 years at least from what I can tell. Its been fairly clear from the accounts they offer business sellers and the gradually escalating fees on one off auctions that they weren't interested in supporting private sellers for much longer. I'd imagine that business sellers are a lot easier to administer for starters.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Beedster' post='917808' date='Aug 7 2010, 11:08 AM']No worries Jack, there's always this little bargain on here. Fit's your riteria [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=97924&hl"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=97924&hl[/url]

C[/quote]

Hadn't seen that, Chris. Quality!

[Bassassin]

It's been getting gradually worse for the last 3 or 4 years, and they do insist on "upgrading" the search engine regularly to make sure it spams you with a lot of BIN tat (usually from the States) that you don't want.

I've given up with saved search parameters for this reason so my search tends to go Bass >> Guitars >> Newly Listed >> UK Only - and I still manage to find a fair few interesting auctions that way. And there's still the occasional mad bargain to be found:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Washburn-SB40-Bass-Guitar-/270616091785"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Washburn-SB40-Bass-G...r-/270616091785[/url]



Jon.

[Cat Burrito]

I've sold a few bass things at really reasonable prices and lately I've been amazed at how many people who will undercut the price to about 40% and email to say I'll give you £50 for an item listed at £130. Years ago stuff used to just go but about half my stuff is now a relist. It sells still though and at my price I originally specified. I don't mind people trying to knock a couple of quid off the price (I say no 99% of the time) but some people just take liberties

[Bassassin]

Selling's a different matter. All my listings are 99p, no reserve and while most things are still reaching very good final prices, I've had a string of non-paying bidders lately. I think Ebay's attitude of buyer = God, private seller = dodgy scumbag has led to the place being full of tyrekickers just bidding stuff up for a laugh, because there are no consequences to being a twat any more.

It really is sh!t these days.

J.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='917893' date='Aug 7 2010, 12:16 PM']And there's still the occasional mad bargain to be found:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Washburn-SB40-Bass-Guitar-/270616091785"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Washburn-SB40-Bass-G...r-/270616091785[/url]



Jon.[/quote]

Did I mention [i][b]dull Pacific Rim instruments[/b][/i]?



For some reason, Washburn have just never made it onto my radar.

[Annoying Twit]

It's obviously basschat's fault. All of the basses are being sold here, not on ebay.

A variation on "all your basses are belong to us"?

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='917948' date='Aug 7 2010, 01:26 PM']Did I mention [i][b]dull Pacific Rim instruments[/b][/i]?



For some reason, Washburn have just never made it onto my radar.[/quote]
I've got a soft spot for the late 70s/early 80s Washboards, probably due to my first "quality" bass being a B20 Stage series Explorer-ish posing plank. Borderline unplayable unless you had gorilla-arms, but a work of art as far as finish & attention to detail was concerned.

And you have to admit £85 is ridiculous for a top-end Matsumoku/Yamaki (no-one's entirely sure) bass. Dull or otherwise!

J.

[Annoying Twit]

My searches seem to come up with all sorts of interesting stuff. If Ebay isn't a patch on what it was a few years ago, then it must have been amazing then.

I don't use ebay saved searches. I build up and refine searches bit by bit, then have them as shortcuts on my toolbar.

Edited August 8, 2010 by Annoying Twit

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='918252' date='Aug 7 2010, 07:02 PM']It's obviously basschat's fault. All of the basses are being sold here, not on ebay.

A variation on "all your basses are belong to us"?[/quote]

That's a fair comment. Certainly I've done most of my buying/selling/trading here for the last two years, and I've yet to regret the change.

[martthebass]

I occasionally have a dabble on the bay when I'm looking for something specific that I can't find on here. I've noticed it is getting 'thinner' tho. I've been looking for a fretless Ray or Sterling for a couple of months and not a single private (read - sensibly priced) example has come up. Quite a few 'dealer' based but all at the top end of the market.