I haven't sold anything since 2006. I figured I'd start cleaning the basement out of close to worthless stuff so I listed this starter for a starting bid of $5. The guy that bought it said:


"Note I will pay $ 50 for the starter because it sold too low. Send invoice for $ 50 plus ship. Fed-ex ground is the most reasonable rate"


I said:


"what's the catch?"


he said:


"No catch - The invoice page allows you to adjust at the bottom . I was just trying to be fair"


So he paid me the $50 through PayPal (which I paid the fees for) and I didn't even send an invoice.


It cost $35 to send Fedex Ground and that was the cheapest (eBay's shipping calculator said $22.20 and I noted in the auction that I was going to charge actual shipping)


Ebay's final value fee was $5.01 for the $8.27 sale


Screw them. They're catering to professional sellers now and could give a *** about the casual seller.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/151876449811...84.m1559.l2649

 

Unfortunately, Mike, ebay has sucked for quite a while now. The outrageous fees are one problem. The encouragement to add unrelated search terms to ads to increase viewing ("fits: oldsmobile") are another. I could deal with that by including "not" search terms in the string, but the new reduced character limit and the loss of the wildcard search ability has made that much more difficult. I get most of my parts from Craigslist these days anyway. With sites like Searchtempest, you can search every national CL site.

Whoops, I guess I shouldn't have pointed that out. I don't want to increase competition for those parts...

 

I'm confused. The listing shows shipping charges of $51.48. That is a total of almost $60.00. You shipped it for $35.00 which leaves $25.00. Subtract final value fee and you still have $20.00. How is that eBay's fault?

 

The shipping was $35. The part sold for $8.27. The guy gave me an extra $6.73 because he paid $50 (I have no idea how he was able to pay whatever he wanted) so I have $16 and they charged a fee of $5.01. Do you really think that's reasonable?


And BTW....I think shipping shows $51.48 because that's to your ZIP. Mine showed $22.20 because it was to my ZIP. The actual, regardless, was $35 to the guy that bought it

 

It's not much of a secret anymore Joe


I used to like eBay because of the protection it offered. I have a ton of Mercruiser parts to sell from two boats I stripped (long story, don't ask). I don't have a good sales place for that kind of stuff. If it's Oldsmobile related I find I have much better luck here or on either of the Olds Facebook groups that I'm in. Local Craigslist is great for buying because no one buys Oldsmobile parts around here. I just picked up two 15x8 and one 15x7 repro chrome SS3's for $80. They were mounted once and are like new.

 

I'm not really following the math on this transaction, either...especially, as you mention the guy was willing to pay $50 plus shipping and then only sent you $50 ("send me an invoice for $50 plus ship")? Next, it sounds as though you absorbed the shipping? Regardless, as of a couple yrs ago, e-Bay now calculates their total transaction fees based on Sell Price plus Shipping. I generally figure about 10% as their part of the cut. Then, I believe Paypal fees are another 4%.

You just got an eye-opener on how much e-Bay has changed. I am a casual Seller and almost never start a listing as an auction. Can't tell you how many times I've noticed just what you experienced...an inexperienced or casual Seller starts a listing with a low price and it never moves. Buyer gets a great deal and Seller sits there scratching their heads wondering what happened. Back in 2006, the vast majority of listings were auction style. Most people enjoyed the concept of bidding. Not anymore. E-Bay has embraced and encouraged "Buy it Now" pricing...and, all those mass-merchandizers with their Chinese junk were quick to take advantage of it. Personally, I hate browsing the site anymore. Try a search for any Olds item and you'll get 500-800 listings and only a handful will actually be what you're looking for. Only way around it is to type "fits" as a delete in the Advance Search. Unfortunately, they are still pretty much the only game in town for national exposure. I have had some success buying on Craiglist...but, more often than not in my experiences, Sellers won't deal in anything but cash and prefer not to ship.

 

There are ways to adjust shipping prices when you list the item. I always figure on the high side, manually enter it in the listing and then add 10% when tallying up the shipping costs. Most eBay buyers are aware of the shipping hassles and I'd say on 90% of my sales the buyer and I talk and figure something that is fair to both parties. I prefer to use the USPS flat rate boxes because if the item fits in the respective box, it is a set fee. I always refund the difference if there is any and I've found most people are delighted to receive a refund and they will be eager to buy from me again. I do the same thing when I sell parts here. Usually, the few dollars one way or the other is incidental.
I went round and round with eBay regarding their wanting (and taking) 10% of the shipping, but got nowhere fast. My other solution was to list the items with a "Buy-it-Now" that covered my expected sale price and the shipping amount. When I list things this way, I also highlight "FREE SHIPPING" in the headline. This eliminates the shipping quibbles and the buyer knows how much the entire transaction with fees will cost. If I list items in an auction format, I usually set the reserve as my "floor" price including shipping and also use the "FREE SHIPPING" in the headlines.
Typically, I use eBay to shop, buy and guage the selling price for items I want to sell. I do, however try to sell those items here or elsewhere and sell on eBay when the items get stale on the other sites. I've not sold on Craigslist (yet).

 

If you like searchtempest and want to search the entire country check out adhuntr.com.

 

Stopped using EBay in 2008.... Mainly because EBay mandated the use of PayPal or a credit card system by the seller.... I could no longer ask for money orders....

 

Searchtempest does search the entire country - or any mileage radius that you specify.

 

If you wanna get rid of fits listings just type -fits. For example "oldsmobile valve covers -fits"

 

Ebay once was a great site for the average guy who wanted to sell something. Now they cater to volume sellers who offer large return times and a ton of other BS. They give stores and companies decent discount to sell they are trying to become more like Amazon. I was banned last year $265,000 in sales and only 1 negative feedback. Don't get me started . A lot of the money in that number was cars and a few RV's but I also sold a ton of other stuff.

 

ebay motors is the only section you can still ask for and accept money orders

there was a gray period that you couldnt but it changed quickly..


still..if you are selling weird stuff it the best outlet there is you have to come to terms with the 14%

i sell there..and i sell AMC stuff Buick stuff Pontiac, and a little Olds..if i tried to selll that stuff around here..id starve...

ive changed a little..i try to sell on brand specific forums, but some times the only way to come out is ebay...i'll use them til i cant justify it..

one thing i learned....research it..know what you have and its value..and unless its so rare theres no way it wont sell..use a reserve( i dont) or start it at a price you can live with..and get it on there as long as you can so they can find it...

 

Thanks, that's interesting, maybe I will consider giving it a try again.....

 

my biggest gripe w ebay (besides all of the above) is ebay caters to the deadbeat bidder.

my last DBB won the buy it now didnt pay and simply didnt respond to ebays requests for comment when i filed a DBB report....end result DBB received no penalty I had to relist the item after wasting 3 weeks w the DBB.

the previous DBB before that one didnt pay within the auction stated 2 days after end of auction, i extended the time frame to pay twice (at DBBs request) he still didnt pay, i sold the item using ebays second chance feature which lets you sell to the next highest bidder. DBB then files a complaint and leaves me negative slanderous feedback (my only neg feedback) , i responded to that w DBB didnt pay was given 2x chances more to pay over the next 8 days and item was sold on 2nd chance, ebay would not delete the negative feedback from DBB to me but deleted my factual feedback for him ????

ebay policy has now changed and sellers cant leave negative feedback for buyers ? WTH is the point of feedback then ?

 

Yes, the problem is that with the restriction on the length of search strings, you can't eliminate ALL the annoying, non-applicable terms.

 

"Ebay just sucks now"

That just sums it right up.

 

X2. Their approach is all about coddling the Buyer. I don't even bother with Feedback as a Seller anymore; unless reminded by the Buyer. It's so one-sided, I don't see the point.

I wasn't aware you could still ask for a money order on e-Bay Motors. Not sure it's worth excluding the option of payment via Paypal on a listing, though, as virtually everyone is accustomed to the ease of paying with Paypal and may walk away from buying the item. And, speaking of Paypal, there are a host of other pitfalls for a Seller if there should be a dispute with a Buyer.

 

I remember the days when you could buy toms of NOS or good used parts for just about any car you wanted. Now it is just inundated with cheap repos, or Chinese junk or totally worn out parts. Or trim parts for a 1950 that "fits 1970 xxx". There is virtually nothing NIOS available for sale.

 

I've been sourcing parts for my 442 for ten years now (and I really hope to be actually working on the car soon, lol) and there is a big difference between now and then on stuff on Ebay.

 

ebay changed the world...it brought parts into the living rooms of the common person that couldnt find stuff or had no clue how to find stuff.

its still a great resource...its just not a secret stash anymore....

i remember in 2000ish when you could sell a dog turd for 1200 bucks if you swore it was rare.....all gone..

i miss it too...as a matter, i miss the good days on craigslist too..i used to buy 3 or 4 cars a week sometimes double..now...1 or 2 a month...sucks...i miss the adventures for sure..i used to jump in the truck on thursday drive to a major city 4 to 8 hrs away and just buy all i could, including at least 1 car...just watching CL..i made weekends and sometimes a week of it...just loved it..gone...its just gone...

no good junkyards because pick-a-part bought all the local mom and pop yards....just all gone...miss it bad...when i dream its about junkyards a lot...and a consistant one about nail head dual quads for some reason...35 years ago i found a complete set up on a shelf in southern missouri for $150 with cleaner and covers..lol and i dream of searching for them a lot...same dream..new surroundings..

 

it sucks, but it reaches the largest audience. some of the bidders are real schmucks too.

i ran across one guy, bigcube350, that proved to be a real moron. he won a set of nos rh dash vents. description clearly stated what was included, where they're located on the vehicle, gm part number,and had pix of the pair of vents. i don't do returns, except on special circumstances. the idiot was covered by "buyer protection" he didn't avail himself of that, he also didn't accept my return offer. he left negative feedback which killed my 100% positive rating. i reported him to ebay with no response so far. he's apparently an olds guy, willie egdorf is his real name. i blocked him from any future bidding on my auctions. i have all the correspondence between him and i, which starts out with him asking if i have any lh vents, i responded that i had 1, which is reserved for my '83 h/o. that's when he flipped out. accused me of misrepresenting my parts as something else. btw, i've sold several sets of the rh vents prior to him, the last buyer's feedback was "item exactly as described..." and previous feedback was always positive. as of now, i can't even respond to his negative feedback.


bill

 

Sigh... I miss the newspaper days.

 

me too...ive bought more cool stuff out of the Kansas City Star than should be allowed...i lived in ST Louis and Kansas was my territory..i couldnt wait to get to KC every monday..just to get over here and get the Star...lots of fun...back when you actually had to have a personality and deal with people face to face..


real sleeper town for GTO stuff...also tons of Mopar stuff...big big mopar town.,,,as the broken record goes...gone..all gone...wait...i miss records too....and 80s mall haired bimbos with leather mini-skirts....wait..what where we talking about again?...

 

I've bought a lot of good stuff on Craigslist. But I'm not sure I've ever sold anything there. A buddy commented once that unless its something rare or in super demand, you have to price it way cheap to move it.


I still try to use ebay because the market is bigger. But not long ago I had two non-paying bidders and found just what others have said. No way for me to post negative feedback. I did try posting positive and making the comment that he failed to follow through and should not be trusted. Last I looked the comment was still there, but someone would have to go searching to find it.


John

 

I like ebay a lot...buying and selling it has been one of those life changers on how i shop since 2001....things i could never of found in the paper sure there is a little aggravation but so is everything else...amazon is getting pricey craigslist is good but you have to watch your back

 

I see it two ways here as related to accepting PayPal...
First, it there is a dispute, PayPal has refunded the money to the BUYER, and you may or may not have gotten your item returned to you.... Not to mention YOU pay for them to use PayPal and in some instances your money is held by PayPal until the buyer is satisfied or X number of days has passed...
Second, if I only accept Money Orders, I have more protection since I do not ship until the money order clears the bank or if it can can be cashed immediately, such as at the USPS... Also the BUYER pays for the money order.....
As for the buyer walking away from the sale because of no PayPal acceptance.... Well, I guess that buyer didn't really want the item bad enough....

 

actually the part that scares people with M/Os is the time it takes to make a claim...if ones lost..its 30 days at a minimum to get it replaced...and the crap they put you thru if you make a claim or file a dispute is terrible...reporting it to the postal inspector is like trying to tell a wooden cigar indian a joke,,,no ones listening...

on the other hand...theres many many, and more everyday that want nothing to do with paypal and ask me if they can do a m/o,,if they ask i always say yes and state..."in 7 days if it aint here...i relist"....and have never had an issue as a seller...as a buyer? m/os scare me...a lot

i can remember waiting a month for a m/o in the past...on ebay..and the old.." i sent it already" or its lost, can i send ya another....it was rare but happened many times

 

I've used ebay and CL for years. I'd take CL any day. It is definitely a country wide audience. Just 2 weeks ago I sold a sway bar to someone in NJ (I am in Texas). This happens a lot. No fees, no BS.

The ebay seller protection is a joke. Someone doesn't pay, and the seller opens a case. The case sits there for weeks, "Waiting for buyer response". Eventually the seller gets frustrated and relists the item. Open case gets closed. Useless process.

 

Thats true about ebay but you go look at the return line at any walmart people bring back crap without boxes or wrappers...worn shoes etc, but in your case you never got paid in the first place so your lucky...a newyork off duty cop just shot someone trying to robb him of cash when he went to look at a bmw listed on craigslist

 

True the personal aspect of CL can be dangerous but I have never had a problem. Some cities are designating CL meeting locations with lights and cameras (no joke).

 

How is that different from the the old days when we posted ads in newspapers? At some point you have to meet the buyer/seller

 

there were not as many a-hole people without complete lack of respect back then as there is now a days

 

I sold a perfect 2002 Excursion V10 on epay this year. It had 28k on it. The buyer bid and won for 22,600. We set everything up, I changed the oil, gassed it up, called him to make sure he was coming, and the day he was to come he called me at 7am to tell me the deal was off. I mfed him to high heaven. I sold the truck for 20k two weeks later. I contacted epay. I ave no idea if they banned him, flagged him, whatever. What a douche.
I've sold some stuff on there but not at the price I really needed to get. The shipping calculator has some major flaws in it. Overall, a very negative experience for me.

 

Yes, that, and a lot more people that otherwise would not use classifieds do use CL. The volume of good going through the method of selling by a private party has increased. Many of these people are vulnerable.

 

Every ad I ever put on CL gets the scammer idiots. Pretty much exclusively.
Rebuilt, pefrect running 403 at $1200, not one real inquiry, several scammers.
They are SLIGHTLY smarter lately, "I would like to see it after work" which sounds legit, followed by they do not even know what "it" is, and the BS about payment via ck...

I posted this ad for a "Frammis" with SCAMMER BAIT right in the ad, and STILL got inquiries about "the item". Good Lord. I forward the inquiries to "abuse@[their providor] and request termination of the acct, and the pinhead using it.

I used to follow other bidders on epay and let them help me find items...

I used to alert bidders if the item was obviously misrepresented- Cutlass air cleaner as 442 or the like.

One guy busted himself after I alerted two "different" bidders about an item, and got a reply "why do you KEEP BOTHERING ME?" Say what? A little investigation of who bids on what led to the obvious shill bidding- he was using 2-3 of his own other accts to bid up items and squeeze the most out of real bidders. One ID never bid on anything but this guy's items, and almost never won. I forwarded all that info to ePay. Never heard back.

Positive note: I had a guy contact me because I bid not enough on a Corvette faux wood steeing wheel- he offered me his, and it could have been a burn, but he was honest, I was honest, and voila I now have the crackless '68 442 steering wheel.

Ah, the halcyon days of yore.

 

I have a handful of things on Ebay at any given time. It serves as another way to advertise and without the scammers of craigslist. I still don't get that.

Now that there is a final value (commission on shipping as well as the price) it is getting very costly to sell there. I had someone offer me a combined offer on two items I had listed that was kind of a low ball. I counter offered with a price I could afford to sell the items at but had to do it off ebay in order to make the deal work to avoid the Fees. On a combined sale of $425 including shipping, the costs/fees by the time they used paypal and shipping was close to $100. He did not understand why I wanted to do it off ebay and with friends and family payment on paypal.

The costs are crazy now.

Just my two cents/sense

 

I also use to like ebay. In the "old days" if I had a same/similar item as someone else was selling I would watch it. After it sold I would contact the top "loser" and tell him what I had and make a sale. Worked great especially if the person was closer than the original seller. I had one fellow who lost a bid on a (overpriced imo) A-body frame. I had a perfect rolling frame with a solid Supreme shell that I included for cheaper than the one he missed. He came down from Canada for it. I never even met him because he came on the weekend. I always worked 16 hr days repairing equipment in the steel mill during weekends. Win win for both of us. Ah, the good old days.

 

Yeah, ePay found out how much $$$$ they were losing to coattail sellers, put a stop to that, and jacked the rates up from oh it used to be around 10% maybe, to I guess more like 25% per the above story. And no max limit, either. Not like, "oh, well we made $50 off your sale for our efforts, no need to go higher."

Here's today's idiot scammer from my CL ad:

"craigslist reply d549 (d5497177ee7c331ba8c2af4268655a72@reply.craigslist .org)

From: craigslist reply d549 (d5497177ee7c331ba8c2af4268655a72@reply.craigslist .org)

Good Morning ... Can i have your cell number to call.. I'm at work right now, I will be off work early today around 2:30 PM. I would love to come over today afternoon for viewing by 3:20. If not today, I can come Tomorrow morning around 9am or when will you be available?. Please reach me @ davidbuy901@gmail.com"



I am tempted to sign up davidbuy901 the scammer for all kinds of free email. Douchebags.

 

A lot of gritching goin on about eBay. I buy & sell a LOT on eBay, and as the old saying goes, 'There is no free lunch'. Here is a current copy of the ebay final value fees. This is what you are charged after your item sells (not applicable to eBay Motors sales, which are capped at $125.00)