# Ebay - Has anyone noticed?



## Lady Nyxie (Aug 30, 2006)

Has anyone noticed that the prices on Ebay are a complete joke? 

How many people think they can really make millions of dollars by shopping at Curbies, thrift stores and yard sales and then reselling it on Ebay?

Don't many of these people realize that you can buy much of this stuff brand new for less to begin with and save the cost of shipping on top of it?

Am I alone here? 

Sorry, little soap box moment.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Do you have examples?


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## Lady Nyxie (Aug 30, 2006)

Blow molds, books, decorations (multiple holidays), postcards... pretty much everything unless it is complete crap.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Ok, I see what you mean..4 blowmold christmas soldiers are selling for 75 bucks plus 30 for shipping. Ridiculous, and what's worse is it has 8 bids. It's the bidders that drive up the price of this crap.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

Most eBay sellers are part timers. I do use eBay for marketing though.


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## BuriedAlive (Jun 8, 2006)

Yeah, Jeff, you're right. eBay is good for marketing, but it's not a venue I use a lot of.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

LOL If someone can sell used blowmold Christmas figures for a profit, then my hat is off to them 

I use ebay for electronic parts like LEDs, good savings possible there, but I usually just look for a good 'buy me know' price instead of bidding. I have thought about selling props like LED spotlights on ebay, but have never actually done it.


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## DarkShadows (Feb 6, 2006)

Yeah, you just have to be on the look out for the "deals". Im actually goingto throw up the rest of my LED eye kit's to see how well the sell there.


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## turtle2778 (Jul 9, 2006)

Okay I can tell you..you can make a good deal of money on ebay IF you are willing to do the leg work. I made over 5k a few years ago in 6months to pay for my wedding. I sold all kinds of stuff that I had found at garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores. Mine was mostly kids clothes and little tykes toys. So yes it is possible to make money and not rip off the buyer iwth over priced shipping costs


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

Dr Morbius said:


> Ok, I see what you mean..4 blowmold christmas soldiers are selling for 75 bucks plus 30 for shipping. Ridiculous, and what's worse is it has 8 bids. It's the bidders that drive up the price of this crap.


Yeah I have seen prices like this before...
My Dad is really into Christmas so we have literally HUNDREDS of these things in our yard...
Can't imagine what they are worth!
.


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## DarkShadows (Feb 6, 2006)

WOW! 5k in 6 months? Not to bad, but I understand the part about leg work..

I put 3 LED eye kits up there really quick to see how well they'd sell.

* link removed by moderator *

[/cheap plug]


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## turtle2778 (Jul 9, 2006)

It was a lot of work, but it was also a good way to stay home and make money. I hate people over charging for shipping. I always make sure to tell them what I am charging for a box, packing, etc.. That way they know that it may be an extra 5 or 6 bucks for shipping. Also it depends on where you ship from. If you use USPS, costs are kept low, but if you use UPS or a satelite UPS store then it gets SUPER expensive. My first selling experience I sold about 300 dollars worth of toys after paying for boxes, tape, packing and then shipping I ended up making 27 dollars. It was horrible, but I learned to measure each box and weigh them with the item already packed in it box so there are no surprises. Most ebayers dont go that extra mile so you feel ripped off. Ive often wondered how an item that weighs less than a pound can cost 15 bucks to ship to me from the next state. Fact is it cant, unless the seller is over inflating the shipping costs which ebay says they cant do. What I have done in the past if it was an increase of more than 10 dollars. I contacted the seller and informed them of the shipping info and then asked for a refund of the overage. Its one thing to make a couple bucks its another to rip someone off totally. Okay Im getting down now. Hey DS, have you thought about adding an on off switch to your lights? That would make it a sale for me. Just a thought.


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## Ms. Wicked (Nov 14, 2006)

As with anything one would buy, you need to be informed about what a fair price is for an item. Set the price you're willing to pay and don't exceed it. If the seller prices something too high to begin with, just pass it by, as others are likely to do too.

Ebay is good for some things, such as niche items of interest. You can source items that may be spread far and wide across the country (or the globe). Many of these things are collectibles, which unfortunately drives prices up.

I collect vintage sewing patterns. Recently I've noticed that many of them are going for insane prices compared to ones that were for auction in the summer. I guess more people are sitting indoors behind their computers this time of year... I could scout garage sales for them (which I sometimes do) or start to attend estate sales (a big commitment and they are usually sold in big lots so you get the good with the bad). So the prices on ebay are sometimes worth not having to hassle...

But it really depends upon what you are looking for. There are a lot of sellers who start with high prices. The majority of the time, I'd imagine that the item simply won't sell, particularly if you can easily buy it somewhere else.

However, collectors often get caught up in wanting something badly. The recent ad campaign that tags "_Shop Victoriously_" is trying to entice people to buy on ebay _for the thrill and high of winning an auction_. I think there's a lot of that - bidders getting caught up in "winning" even when the price becomes excessive. ebay marketing has done their homework and has picked up on this psychology.

Nobody can make you buy/bid on something. I'm not sure that ebay is meant to be a place specifically to find deals. However, they can be found. There are folks who genuinely sell unwanted stuff just to get rid of it. (Although making money seems to be the objective more often.) Sometimes you catch an item on a lucky day.


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## DarkShadows (Feb 6, 2006)

Yeah, I hear ya on the shipping charges. I usually total that into the total amount of the product, then see if it really is a good deal or not.

and ya know, I never thought about that! The next batch I make, I'll be sure to put one one each. Thanks for the tip.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

I know one of those guys that gets caught up in the auction vibe. He's bought a ton of stuff on there and paid more than retail. When I'm looking for something like a tool or something that I can find in a local store, I go out and price it first. If my max bid plus shipping won't save me better than 15% I say screw ebay and just go to the store. My time waiting is worth something too.


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## psyko99 (Jan 11, 2008)

The bottom line is to be educated on the prices and caveat emptor - buyer beware. 

One example I can think of was when I was looking for a Kit 74 board. I found some at Electronics123 for $31 unassembled. Other sites ranged between $39 & $41. Some guy on e-bay wanted $90/board + $20 for shipping and these were unassembled. When I saw this I immediately reported him. A few days later, before the auction was over, they wern't posted anymore.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

There's some definate bad sellers out there, however there's some good sellers out there, too. It really depends what the item is and supply and demand. Cabbage patch dolls some years back were $$$, now you find them in thrift stores. Beanie babies the same thing, and did you see how much the WII was going for this Christmas?

I'm an Ebay seller, albeit an occasional one. Some people inflate prices because Ebay charges an amount to list your item, then charges an ADDITIONAL amount if your item sells, then if the customer uses Paypal (Ebay owns Paypal) an ADDITIONAL amount is charged for the service. SO you see how all those fees can be enormous on the seller, however $20 shipping for a circuit board is nuts. Just like the .99 cent items that have $10 shipping when real shipping only costs $5 or so.

That why I always charge actual shipping costs for my colored hot glue sticks, or items sold on Ebay.


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## pyro (Oct 7, 2006)

well the way i see it there a buyer for everything--hell im one of them i buy and sellon it and so far i ve done pretty good in both -- yep there;re are the nuts with crazy prices and shipping--just stay away from themif no one buys there prices will come down.


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