EBAY another perspective as a buyer

I see some sellers have some gripes, but Ebay is a useful tool for us car nuts chasing parts. Here is me in Australia of approx 3 million square miles, (USA 3.8 million Sq miles) trying to find parts for my 1939 Chrysler Royal.

You just simply search E bay for 1939 Chrysler, sure enough a few parts show up, maybe in the adjoining suburb (precinct) in OZ (highly un-probable) or 10,000 miles away in the US of A

For instance without E bay how would I have ever known that a real gentleman called Ted Dudley a Carby Guru in central Florida had a reconditioned 1939 Chrysler Carter B & B for sale and with a RHD throttle lever, amazing.

I noticed a lot of sellers complaints about Ebay charging them shipping cost percentages, can I add that as a buyer in OZ the shipping costs to Australia can vary wildly like $26 dollars for a coin token or $24 dollars for a starter motor...Huh!!

Who is losing or who is ripping off who ???

Ebay is pushing their Global Shipping program (and loading it onto sellers),which uses Pitney Bowes in Kentucky as their freight company, I have discovered as a buyer there is no facility to dispute E Bays Global Shipping charges.

Once a seller elects or is unknowingly linked into using their "Global Shipping Program" there is no way the seller can revise or re-invoice their shipping quote unless they completely cancel their listing and carefully re list without the "Global Shipping " trap.

In summary (or whinge) my greatest expense is generally not the part itself but the bl*dy sellers or mostly Ebays Global Shipping charges, there is just no sense to it !!

I sell some stuff but generally do US only and free or set shipping and it's buy it now pricing with best offer option. I feel for ya'll over seas, but it's just not worth the hassle for a small guy like me to measure every package. I just make sure my shipping is covered in my asking price. If someone from a state over offers me less I can accept it. If someone from Cali offers to buy for less I let them know I can't cover shipping then. Postal service and Ebay generally make far more than I do each time cause most of what I have is newer and un-valuable. But I'd rather help a car be a little more complete than throw out my late model stuff that isn't worth much. For big stores I'm sure they have it all figured out, but I'll bet Mr Dudley sells only occasional parts and isn't always looking for business so much as fair exchange of usable parts. Not sure what the winning solution for the hobby is, but like you said, at least you can find what you're looking for from home rather than flying over to Hershey!

Frantz, in my two year searching I have organized to get around UN-cooperative US only sellers by using many new made US based friends who on-ship to me.

(Keep in mind us overseas buyers will pay more to get that US rare rare part we usually cant get locally.)

Wish we could all afford to get to Hershey but I assume even so you could walk right past a pile of jumble and not spy that part you so desperately need. Bring on Ebay.

Mr Dudley would welcome any early vintage Carby enquiries, he is a wiz and good on modern multi carb set ups too.

R

I sell some stuff but generally do US only and free or set shipping and it's buy it now pricing with best offer option. I feel for ya'll over seas, but it's just not worth the hassle for a small guy like me to measure every package. I just make sure my shipping is covered in my asking price. If someone from a state over offers me less I can accept it. If someone from Cali offers to buy for less I let them know I can't cover shipping then. Postal service and Ebay generally make far more than I do each time cause most of what I have is newer and un-valuable. But I'd rather help a car be a little more complete than throw out my late model stuff that isn't worth much. For big stores I'm sure they have it all figured out, but I'll bet Mr Dudley sells only occasional parts and isn't always looking for business so much as fair exchange of usable parts. Not sure what the winning solution for the hobby is, but like you said, at least you can find what you're looking for from home rather than flying over to Hershey!

I agree with this 100%, I had done a favor a few months ago to guy from Australia who purchased some door handle finger shields for his 53 Pontiac. Asked me if I could send it to him direct and by pass the global shipping program which I did. I also offered being I was shipping him the shields if there was anything else he needed that I could pick up and send. He needed some freezeout plugs and spark plugs. I placed everything in a FedEx envelope and it cost over $100 to ship the cheapest way they offered! He was a great guy to deal with and he paid for everything with no problem, but shipping overseas direct as a seller is a pain in the butt! Hardly worth effort, as it is I seem to loose money on shipping once you factor in the cost of boxes, tape, and packing.

Did anyone else ever wonder why the cost of shipping in the states is the same cost as last year when the price of fuel is 1/3 less? I read that FedEx paid over $8.00 a share on the dividend to shareholders. I thought this was a GREAT stock to buy as well as UPS but when I looked FedEx was over or near $170 a share, and UPS was up there also, I think around $130.

With the price of fuel on the downside, NOTHING HAS GONE DOWN IN COST TO THE CONSUMER.

Sorry about your shipping woes, but I always said the hidden cost of every restoration (here in the states) is shipping and that is about 1/4 of the cost. I just bought a nice load of 62 Chevrolet parts that was in the classifieds on this site and the shipping was well over 1/3 of the total price I paid for the parts, not the sellers fault either, he did the right thing.

Franz forgot to mention in the cost of getting the parts from Hershey back overseas, you still have to pay to ship them back home.

I was leery of accepting the "GSP" system offered to us sellers initially. However, after using the system for the past 6 months and comparing it to my shipping costs prior to the program I've found that as a seller it makes more sense for my personal situation. Less hassle, less cost (on my end) etc.. but the problem is I have no idea what the buyer is being charged and I don't like that aspect of it.

I feel for you guys across the pond but the shipping costs have really gotten out of hand. The GSP is much more efficient for us small time sellers so I will personally continue to use it until there is a better way.

By the way, one of the main reasons I use the GSP now is because of all the people who complained thinking I was charging to much to send items across the world. I charge what it cost no matter where I ship but some folks want it for free and I'm just not playing that game anymore. I've shipped items that I had to spend half a day crating from scratch in order to get a transmission to it's location to buyers who have no concept of what it cost to ship.

Example:

sold a trans to a guy in Tennessee for $50 and shipping was $125 due to the weight, yet he wanted to bust my balls simply because he didn't "think" the tranny was worth that much. After materials (plywood, 2x4s, screws) and hours of hassle I made $35 on the deal if I'm lucky... Sure he ended up buying it and left me positive feedback, but was it worth it ? I don't think so anymore...

I see some sellers have some gripes, but Ebay is a useful tool for us car nuts chasing parts. Here is me in Australia of approx 3 million square miles, (USA 3.8 million Sq miles) trying to find parts for my 1939 Chrysler Royal.

You just simply search E bay for 1939 Chrysler, sure enough a few parts show up, maybe in the adjoining suburb (precinct) in OZ (highly un-probable) or 10,000 miles away in the US of A

For instance without E bay how would I have ever known that a real gentleman called Ted Dudley a Carby Guru in central Florida had a reconditioned 1939 Chrysler Carter B & B for sale and with a RHD throttle lever, amazing.

I noticed a lot of sellers complaints about Ebay charging them shipping cost percentages, can I add that as a buyer in OZ the shipping costs to Australia can vary wildly like $26 dollars for a coin token or $24 dollars for a starter motor...Huh!!

Who is losing or who is ripping off who ???

Ebay is pushing their Global Shipping program (and loading it onto sellers),which uses Pitney Bowes in Kentucky as their freight company, I have discovered as a buyer there is no facility to dispute E Bays Global Shipping charges.

Once a seller elects or is unknowingly linked into using their "Global Shipping Program" there is no way the seller can revise or re-invoice their shipping quote unless they completely cancel their listing and carefully re list without the "Global Shipping " trap.

In summary (or whinge) my greatest expense is generally not the part itself but the bl*dy sellers or mostly Ebays Global Shipping charges, there is just no sense to it !

With all due respect, why not avoid the excessive charges by asking first what the shipping charges will be? If you find them excessive don't bid or buy. I am not an ebay fan but I must admit the sellers take a lot of abuse, much of which is not deserved. It is not their fault that you are geographically disadvantaged. They should also be allowed to leave negative feedback for the buyers so that other sellers could disallow bids from buyers that are unappreciative. It is also not their fault that the transportation companies charge excessive rated. It seems to me that many times it is like shooting the messenger. Just my humble opinion !

Wayne

Because of todays shipping charges, we have been forced to discontinue shipping outside of the USA or Canada. I got tired of trying to explain the charges over which I have absolutely no control!!! When we were shipping world-wide, we would get on the shipper's website to determine our cost, and then mark up that cost 5 percent (not 50, not 500, simply 5) to pay for the cost of filling out all of the required customs information. And while I certainly appreciate the difficulty in finding parts for an ancient vehicle out of country, the insulting emails, the negative posts on automotive forums, etc., forced us to discontinue world shipping.

There are companies in the US that will allow vendors to ship a customer's purchases to them; and then when a agreed on number of purchases have been accumulated, ship all of these purchases on to the customer, thereby amortizing the shipping costs. I would suggest anyone "across the pond" investigate this avenue of shipping.

Jon.

I know I won't be shipping to Mexico any longer...

Just sent a guy a toolbox to Mexico City that wanted me to go outside of the GSP so I did. Shipping cost was $53 for a toolbox and some NOS mopar piston rings. He received them today and is now complaining I charged to much and didn't have enough bubble wrap around the item. Box was clearly dented and stated such in my ad (it's a used 50 year old Craftsman toolbox). I charged him $50 for shipping and he's still wanting money back now.

No mas shipping to mehico...

Dave - just wait until you send something from ebay through GSP, and your customer decides they don't want it, tells ebay it is not as described, and ebay deducts from your account: (A) the selling price, ( the GSP to the customer, AND © the GSP back to you! And all you get to say is: "thank you ebay"!

Jon.

"in my two year searching I have organized to get around UN-cooperative US only sellers by using many new made US based friends who on-ship to me."

That's good you do that. You have to understand that as an occasional e bay seller based in the US, it's not worth my time to fill out a long, complicated customs form for a $10 or $20 item. My time is worth more than that. If an item is going to sell for say, $100 or more, I don't mind, but for low priced items it's just not worth it. That's why e bay came up with the GSP. If anything, it opens up more items for you overseas guys to be able to buy. Doesn't e bay tell an overseas person what the shipping cost will be before they bid?

I sell a lot of car parts to Australia, and New Zealand and would rather deal man to man on the shipping cost rather than used the eBay Global deal. Filling out the customs form takes two minutes of my time, and makes someone happy, time WELL spent IMO. If I get a question on a listed part I can tell the future buyer in Australia or were ever I can change the auction, and REMOVE the Global option and deal directly with them on postage. Can some one on the recieving end please tell me what the package looks like when I do use Global? I address it to an address in Kentucky, is is opened inspected and repacked, or is another label stuck on it? If I deal directly and fill out customs forms the item has to be discribed, not so if I use Global. Happy to sell and ship World Wide ...................even Canada. Bob

Hey 1937,

Firstly as an Aussie buyer why should I buy a part from say an Ebayer in LA and then wear the "GSP' cost of being sent to PB in Kentucky, then trans shipped from there to Chicago then to me. It would be far cheaper to send straight from LA. NOW....here's the rub, the parcels are re labelled and in my case two parcels were "shoddingly" repacked, one so badly in fact that my desperately needed fuel bowl was smashed to bits !! How dare they open to inspect and repack my personal parcels, slacko's.

On another occasion I alerted a seller that his listing was shown as GSP delivery at an exorbitant price, he was unaware how this could have happened. He said go ahead and buy it and offered to re invoice me with a realistic shipping cost.

Oh Dear,... what a Schomozzle? ensued, firstly he found he could not revise the GSP cost as it was locked into his listing.

I myself discovered later I still got stuck with the Pitney Bowes GSP bill which was immediately deducted from my PaY Pal account.

So I ended up paying for shipping twice, once for GSP and then again when sent direct by my friendly Ebayer.

So,... I got slugged by EBay's GSP shipping bill even though they were not involved in the final delivery, I protested to EBay that why was I charged for a PB delivery they eventually did not handle !! EBay's message to me, "there is no facility to dispute shipping costs".

I have asked sellers many times why cant they just send a small item such as a 1939 Worlds fair token inside a greeting card for a few bits instead of GSP at say $17.50, why is it necessary to complete Customs forms for a Token or say a headlight clip, Come On!!!

Many USA Ebayers use GSP because they are too tight or lazy to assist us overseas enthusiasts, NO WONDER I FEEL DOWN, (under)

Rich

Rich, You and the seller can agree to end a sale, I forget the fancy eBay term, and it can be relisted or sold on a one on one deal with a better postage rate. As the seller I have no way of knowing what the GSP add on cost is to a buyer, most items go in a Priority Mail Flat rate box, well backed as if I was to receve it. Sorry to read that they get opened and messed with. Bob

To avoid all your frustration that you obviously suffer from why don't you do as others have suggested and have it shipped to a U.S. Friend or contact and have them on ship it to you privately ? Wayne

Ebay does not make it that simple. From what I can see from my own experience is that if ebay does not get the entire price payed with the GSP factored in through their invoice service it throws a flag that the item is not paid for. As Wayne stated the best way is to have a stateside friend to have as your shipping address

For items shipped internationally the GSP also factors in a separate charge, "Import Charges" which can add significantly to the cost.

Case in point a 1934 Plymouth gauge cluster currently bid to $305. on Ebay item http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-1934-Dodge-Plymouth-Instrument-Gauge-Panel-Cluster-Dash-Rat-Rod-SCTA-32-/271830889511?hash=item3f4a623427&vxp=mtr

The add on "Import Charge" is $46.23 in addition to the @27.96 shipping fee if shipped to Canada.

The total cost to ship anywhere in the US is $15.00 with obviously no "Import Charge"

If same was shipped to China shipping would be $150. plus $99.98 "Import Charge"

No idea what charges to Australia would be as this vendor does not ship there?

In short if I am looking to buy on Ebay the "import Charges" can be a deal breaker as anything able to ship USPS does not carry this additional charge.

In addition the "import Charges" escalate on a percentage basis so for some small low cost items this is a minimal cost but on small high value items this can be onerous.

last item I shipped to Australia was supposedly lost-insurance cant be had when shipping out of the US

guess who ate 400.00?

not only do I no longer ship overseas.................. I no longer use ebay. They are abusive to sellers..................................

Well, another perspective. I have bought USA parts on e-Bay for years and have never really had a problem. I am most grateful to those of you in the hobby who do sell to overseas enthusiasts and I admit to feeling a little peeved by those who won't. Ironically, my only e-Bay items (factory service tools) that ever went missing were sent to a friend in the US who was going to post them on to me because the seller would not ship overseas. A friend in Alaska has problems with sellers in mainland US too, so I am not alone.

Regards

Al

I have been selling stuff on Ebay off and on for 15 years. I get a little weary of it and stop for a while. And weary really is the word. Ebay has taught me that I have no customers or buyers. Every sale is Ebay dealing with THEIR buyer. Sellers are just a necessary evil for Ebay's cash flow. And the difference between necessary evil and evil may not exist.

Ebay will email an announcement of a policy change and its an event to roll your eyes and think "Oh, God, what did they come up with this time."

I have shipped all over the world through Ebay sales and personal. I can't recall a problem, other than a few buyers whom ask for me to break customs laws or smuggle for them.

I like buying accumulations of car parts and getting them in the hands of people whom need them. I did that in December and weary is coming into play again. It is a hobby thing. I have a "bread and butter" business. In the last few weeks I have considered being more aggressive with my regular job. I figure for every $1,000 of added work I will throw away $200 of the clutter of Ebay stuff in my garage and a storage building. One could say the benefits might be five fold.

Imagine, no clutter, extra room, and just the parts that relate to my personal cars. No one will ever miss that stuff.

Bernie

Bernie I agree with you 100%. Sometimes it is easier to throw something out

I'm getting to that point pretty soon. I'm looking into building a new shop at my house and selling my old shop location. With that there is alot of "stuff" I have accumulated. The problem is ebay makes you realize everything that seems valueless is actually valuable and everything that you think is valuable really isn't. I'm going to have to make that call pretty soon and just get a dumpster and start tossing. What do you do with a show quality rechromed 48 cadillac front bumper that UPS put a dent in that actually chipped the chrome. Technically only a core now. One I'm not going to bother shipping. Does it go in the scrap pile? a totally rust free set of complete MG Midget doors and decklid you could wax and put on the car, piles of brand new Head gaskets, Lots and lots of other stuff, NOS wheel cylinders, master cylinders, but every one needs a kit to freshen them only to try to compete against a Chinese made one that sells for 10.00. Moldings of all sorts. probably several hundred. many without numbers to Id them. Just so much junk but everything that looks like junk is valuable. So where do you start?

I started selling paper related stuff last year. If I could find a better source for it, I would get real busy tossing out the iron. The junk is starting to take over.

I was even working on a large tractor trailer load of parts last year. If that came through I was going to try to wholesale everything else I had with an opening bid of 100.00 lowering it if there were no takers and start over with that. Just so I didn't have to be the one to actually throw good NOS parts away. They are only valuable when someone needs them. The rest of the time they are a detriment.

Tricky D,

what kind of fuel bowl do you need ? I have a few along with some NOS fuel pumps so let us know what you need and maybe one of us on here can help you out. Got any pics or sizes of the part you're needing ?

I don't have any problems shipping directly to most on the AACA forum, if I have something you need you're more than welcome to it.

last item I shipped to Australia was supposedly lost-insurance cant be had when shipping out of the US

guess who ate 400.00?

not only do I no longer ship overseas.................. I no longer use ebay. They are abusive to sellers..................................

ebay is alot more seller friendly than being buyer friendly, i've been on both sides of that coin. i consider myself more a buyer than a seller, and i'm glad that i'm at the point where i have almost no need of ebay anymore, their fees and add on's have ruined the joys of buying and selling, compared to the early days of ebay.

charles l. coker

1953 pontiac tech advisor

tech advisor coordinator

poci

Charles,

I beg to differ, the fees on ebay are all on the seller. I too have been on both sides of the coin I enjoy it as a buyer. It has replaced swap meets and classifieds locating hard to find parts for me

As a seller Auburn Seeker put it best, what you think is junk seels for a lot, and what you think is gold sells as junk....... I inherited my Dads antique toy collection a few years ago and have been slowly moving it on e-bay, and I found no rhyme or reason to the prices paid

Bottom line, Ebay and/or Paypal are not on the side of either party (buyer or seller). Until there's a better way we have no choice.

Sure wish the swap meets were what they used to be locally, but even then, most of the guys who have decent prewar parts are almost all but extinct unless you travel 24-72 hours in which case most of us cannot justify.

I both buy and sell on eBay. I typically sell a bit, get discouraged and stop selling for a while. I buy whenever I find something that I need that I can't find cheaper somewhere else. eBay will sometimes be a great place to find a bargain, and sometimes it is more expensive than other alternatives. I used to enjoy it more than I do now, but it certainly does help buyers find things that they cannot otherwise find. I used to feel that the fees were reasonable. I don't know that I still feel that way. Every now and then, I sell some stuff for an older member of my AACA Chapter on eBay. I do this as a favor for him, as he does not feel comfortable dealing with it.

Here is my example of the day on eBay fees. My friend wanted me to sell an item that he felt should be started at a $5.00 starting bid. The item sold with one bid for $5.00. Of the buyer's $5.00 purchase price, my friend will receive $2.42. eBay and Paypal (which is owned by eBay) received $2.58 on that transaction. I should have talked him into a higher listing price on that one. It was not really worth my time for my friend to make that little on the item.

Here is my example of the day on eBay fees. My friend wanted me to sell an item that he felt should be started at a $5.00 starting bid. The item sold with one bid for $5.00. Of the buyer's $5.00 purchase price, my friend will receive $2.42. eBay and Paypal (which is owned by eBay) received $2.58 on that transaction. I should have talked him into a higher listing price on that one. It was not really worth my time for my friend to make that little on the item.

absolutely-no different then a lottery ticket-the state and feds win every week with their tax structure............ it pays to be powerful!

I was leery of accepting the "GSP" system offered to us sellers initially. However, after using the system for the past 6 months and comparing it to my shipping costs prior to the program I've found that as a seller it makes more sense for my personal situation. Less hassle, less cost (on my end) etc.. but the problem is I have no idea what the buyer is being charged and I don't like that aspect of it.

I feel for you guys across the pond but the shipping costs have really gotten out of hand. The GSP is much more efficient for us small time sellers so I will personally continue to use it until there is a better way.

By the way, one of the main reasons I use the GSP now is because of all the people who complained thinking I was charging to much to send items across the world. I charge what it cost no matter where I ship but some folks want it for free and I'm just not playing that game anymore. I've shipped items that I had to spend half a day crating from scratch in order to get a transmission to it's location to buyers who have no concept of what it cost to ship.

Example:

sold a trans to a guy in Tennessee for $50 and shipping was $125 due to the weight, yet he wanted to bust my balls simply because he didn't "think" the tranny was worth that much. After materials (plywood, 2x4s, screws) and hours of hassle I made $35 on the deal if I'm lucky... Sure he ended up buying it and left me positive feedback, but was it worth it ? I don't think so anymore...

I note you are not the first to mention transmissions. Maybe I am just inept, but nothing in my experience is as frustrating as crating one well! A bad joke for sure, and king of awkwardness!

ebay is alot more seller friendly than being buyer friendly, i've been on both sides of that coin. i consider myself more a buyer than a seller, and i'm glad that i'm at the point where i have almost no need of ebay anymore, their fees and add on's have ruined the joys of buying and selling, compared to the early days of ebay.

charles l. coker

1953 pontiac tech advisor

tech advisor coordinator

poci

Charles, with all due respect, I have to disagree 100%. Ebay hates sellers, and any dispute I ever had started with the assumption that I was at fault, as such. Perhaps experiences differ in accordance with the nature of the item sold, or something like that? Do you Ebay tires? I would have to believe, if so, that you would have much more experience than I at Ebay transactions. Not sure I recall a problem as a buyer. I have over 100 transactions on each side of the coin. They are sort of a monopoly, and know that even an unhappy seller will come back, as there is no equivalent to their service. On the other hand, they also know that if they earn a bad rep among buyers, that they will lose big time. The inertia they have from being first in the game is uncanny. Many have tried to compete, but I believe few (regarding used or old items), if any, have recorded a measurable market share for their efforts. I have to believe many of the upstarts would be far superior to Ebay, but name recognition, etc., has prevented them from successfully competing. Perry

couldn't agree with you more- both John and Perry regarding ebay and sellers- the noose came when John Donahue took over................... he slanted it all the way to the buyer, stopped allowing sellers to have feedback on buyers and essentially wrecked it for decent sellers. You might be surprised how many sellers have left ebay's venue out of disgust.

the good news is he is resigning-albeit let go because he couldnt even see the benefit of splitting ebay and paypal. He was a dinosaur from day one................. brought in by his pals from corporate hedge fund to run things.

He never understood the business.

couldn't agree with you more- both John and Perry regarding ebay and sellers- the noose came when John Donahue took over................... he slanted it all the way to the buyer, stopped allowing sellers to have feedback on buyers and essentially wrecked it for decent sellers. You might be surprised how many sellers have left ebay's venue out of disgust.

the good news is he is resigning-albeit let go because he couldnt even see the benefit of splitting ebay and paypal. He was a dinosaur from day one................. brought in by his pals from corporate hedge fund to run things.

He never understood the business.

Mercer09, I believe I have noted an ongoing spiral of poor partnership with each change of management, at least since 2000, which was when I started doing business with them. How about the genius who thought she could buy the governorship of California for about $200,000,000, (some of which was once my money) and failed miserably? She seemed to be at the helm when many unjust policy changes were enacted. I believe the splitting of Ebay and PP is overdue. I would have thought that that partnership was illegal and against anti trust laws to begin with (shows what I know). In the end, though, I will cover bets saying that this operation will somehow be used to once again relieve their customers (primarily sellers) of more money. They always offset the results of poor management (lost customers) by increasing costs to their customers (jaded to the fact that they have no choice but to comply or kick rocks)! I did not come to harsh feelings about them overnight, and am truly sorry to hold them, but my love/hate relationship with them has become mostly the latter. I should always remember that it is their company, and that they have the right to run is as they want to. I am, however, always dismayed when (in my opinion), authority trumps wisdom.

Ebay sent me a special certificate last year. It was for my 5 years as a seller. I started in 1999 with the same user name. History at Ebay, as with many corporations, resides in the financial offices in bite sized quarterly pieces. With each successive change in management the vision and ideals of the founder become more cloudy and untenable. Those whom worked directly with the founder in 1995 and knew his dream have dwindled in number over the last 20 years. As with many corporations in history, the 30 year mark is approaching. The corporate entity is in charge now. Many employees don't even know the name of the founder, much less his dream.

In today's economy the little Ebay drop off stores should be thriving. A replacement is due. It always comes, and from the least likely place in the corporate mind.

Growth in most corporations strives for new leadership, decorated with degrees from institutions like Stanford Dartmouth, or Harvard. These are old established institutions. Although revered, the buildings are old monoliths of another century. Many of the classrooms suffer from poor ventilation and in some cases mold. This environment is known to potentially cause cognitive damage to occupants. How long does your next corporate president have to reside in those buildings before they have the credentials for the job?

Yep, its no wonder the guys in their garage topple the status quo.

Bernie

Just sold an item for $55.

Ebay doesn't REQUIRE the seller use free shipping, but one is hassled if one doesn't, so we offer free shipping (48 states).

Ebay fees were $10.50.

UPS ground was $14.38

So my costs (not including the time to package, and packaging materials) was $24.88 on a $55 item.

Just saying.........

Jon.

It seems most sellers pay more fees to eBay than I do??? Listing is free and they charge me 10%. If you have your prices set accordingly, you will cover any fees/shipping. I don't list items that are cheap but are relatively costly to ship. Meaning, I'm not listing a $25 item with free shipping when I know it will cost $10+ to ship. I have an item on there now for $800 and free shipping, because shipping will be ~$100 and fees will be $80. I know it's not worth $800, but that's what I need to list it at in order to get back when I feel it is worth. If a person thinks I'm high, then they can simply not buy it.

I don't have anything I need to sell. I know that makes a big difference.

Sometimes Using FEDEX (as in your case Biscayne John..I think) can be a very big mistake as in 'huge'. ....a 'FEDEX' envelope?

If it wasn't for the cheap postal shipping rates on small first class items (anywhere in the country for 4.12 or less) and media mail, ebay would really be having a hard time. I ship probably 80 percent of the 3000-4000 items I sell a year via USPS first class. Especially when you are talking internationally. They better hope the USPS doesn't fold.

I sell several hundred items a year on eBay. Overall, a decent experience. I charge just enough extra on shipping to cover my costs.

Basically, it's come down to this. If I can't make $10 on an item after all costs, it just doesn't make sense to spend the time listing it.

I use almost exclusively USPS flat rate shipping. Honestly, I've never heard of the GSP until now. About 10% of my sales go international, down from almost 50% 5 years ago due to the exorbitant rise in shipping costs. What used to cost $13 to ship to Canada now costs $21. That's a lot of shipping costs on a $15-$20 item.

The biggest surprise to me was when I had a package come up missing in Italy a few months ago, I found out that small flat rate boxes and envelopes are considered first class mail internationallly and carry no insurance. WHAT? Then don't label it PRIORITY MAIL. I'm about ready to pull the plug on international shipping as well. I'm usually one of the first ones to come to the defense of the USPS, but that one really irked me.

I use Ebay's shipping system and ship only priority mail so that I don't have to fill out customs forms. It's just not worth my time, plus I get a nice discount of about 25% on shipping.

The only other things I can complain about are the inability to leave negative feedback for a buyer and that there is virtually no penalty for bidding on something and not buying it. Unpaid items happen weekly.

I agree with the no negative feedback for buyers and unpaid item problems. I told the wife they should have it set up that if an item isn't paid for after a couple of weeks your account becomes locked until it's paid for or the transaction is cancelled (incase the item bought was the wrong part, though you should make sure it's right before bidding) Now you get an invisible strike. Wow talk about intimidating.

Inspirational topic; I have a big trash bag full of stuff that is not worth the time and cost to sell. It will go out for pickup on Tuesday and I can even feel a little more breathing room. Each thing that gets thrown into the bag makes the next one easier to part with.

This afternoon I am going to stop at Central Tractor Supply and get some lawn care items. I'm going to see if they have a spray for piles of "stuff" in the garage that will keep it from growing and taking over.

Bernie

After all these years you'd think someone would be competing with ebay. Yahoo tried the auction thing, now it's only used in Japan. Some conglomerate of entrepreneurs can surely find investment capital to build a competitive system.

Years ago up north here Kmart was the discount king. No one could compete with this giant. Then, along came Walmart and practically put Kmart out of business. In fact Kmart holdings had to buy Sears to stay afloat. They built a Walmart Super Center on a hay field in my town. Soon after, the Kmart closed and they opened a dinky little Sears Hometown store that doesn't even sell Craftsman tools! There are other venues to sell on: Etsy, Amazon, Craigslist...but no good auction sites!