Mild Ebay Rant

[ol' yeller]

Ebay, the home of overpriced auto parts. Since I came back to the Reatta fold last August, I have been watching Ebay to pick up any hard to find Reatta parts. In the past I was able to restore a couple of much older Buicks picking up NOS or hard to find used parts on Ebay for a good price. Nowadays, it seems everything on Ebay is way overpriced. The other day,I saw a foglight bulb priced at $85. Why go to the trouble of even making that listing? Mis identified headlight switches are asking $200-500. Parts that are readilly available from Ronnie's site or from Jim Finn are being offered at anywhere from 20-100% markup. Parts that won't work on Reattas even though they say they will such as 4 piece floormats. Do any sellers on Ebay actually get buyers for this stuff? Who would pay these prices? I now go to Ebay only for entertainment as there seldom are any bargains there. I miss the old Ebay. I guess I'll find other ways to spend a rainy morning. Rant over and I feel better now.

[Ronnie]

I share your frustration with eBay. One of the reasons the Reatta prices on eBay are so high is the bargains are quickly snapped up in offline deals and then posted again on eBay at the high prices you normally find. I'm not saying anything is wrong with that but offline deals do lead to higher prices to the average eBay buyer.

Another reason the prices are so high, compared to the old days, is because eBay+Paypal fees and shipping rates have gone sky high. That cost has to be passed on the the buyer. I use to sell a lot on eBay. I've sold hundreds of items on eBay. I quit because it got to the point where eBay and the postal service made all the money and I made very little for finding the products and doing the packaging and shipping. You have to charge a large markup in order to make anything because of all the fees you have to pay.

Before I started The Reatta Store I got emails at Reatta Owners Journal everyday from Reatta owners wanting me to help them find the correct part for their Reatta. I helped all of them out by doing research to determine the correct part they needed and then I pointed them to where they could purchase it.

I started the Reatta store in order to help Reatta owners find the right part for their Reatta at the best prices possible. Each part has been hand picked by me and cross references several ways to make sure it will fit correctly. That takes the guesswork out of buying the correct part when you shop at the Reatta Store. It saves me having to find someone the correct part each time I get a new email.

I still get the emails requesting information on parts but now I can point them to the Reatta Store where they get the part that fits their Reatta at some of the lowest prices on the Internet. Most of the time they get free shipping included. I get a very small commission to help offset the cost of maintaining the Reatta Store and Reatta Owners Journal... at no additional cost to the buyer. The Reatta Store is a good deal for everyone involved.

On average, I find the Reatta Store is probably cheaper on most new Reatta parts than eBay sellers if you take shipping cost into consideration.

[NCReatta]

I buy tons on eBay. I sell nothing there though

[Bushwack]

Let me put this out there. As a Californian, Amazon was usually the least expensive marketplace to shop. Shipping was often free and there was no sales tax (a benefit when buying big ticket items). But that has changed as of a few months ago. Amazon opened a warehouse in SoCal and every purchase delivered to California has sales tax added (even if the item originates out of state).

This made me think as eBay as an alternative for new (not used) item purchases. Think about it...eBay sellers don't have the overhead that Amazon now has or the pressures of Wall Street to hit financial targets (which was Amazon's position 15 years ago that is making the big box stores obsolete). I always prefer to buy from small business.

To make a long story short, I bought three big screen TVs for a collective $576 less (with shipping, no tax and adding PayPal fee) from eBay vs the same items at Amazon. Of course when buying from an eBay source, you must do your homework that the seller will stand behind the purchase. But everything else being equal, eBay can be an excellent alternative to Amazon.

On the flip side, eBay is (or has) terrorized the resale value of Reattas (and most vehicles). You want to sell your Reatta??? Hemmings, Autotrader - usually a waste of money unless you have a high priced, desirable collectable. It's either eBay or to a lesser extent, CL. A gorgeous 48,000 mile '90 Reatta convertible (white/saddle) only mustered $6,800 on eBay a couple days ago; missing its reserve price by $3,000. While I think the car is worth $10,000+, eBay has dictated otherwise. The seller just needs to face reality he has a $7,000 Reatta. But I wont dwell on this any further as it has been discussed a couple months ago.

[ol' yeller]

Since I have been back on Ebay, it appears that the private seller has almost disappeared. It also seems that most often what is listed doesn't sell. It would be interesting to know what the percentage of sales vs listings is on Ebay but I'm sure Ebay wouldn't want that out there. All I look for is Reatta stuff and it seems that the vast majority of stuff doesn't sell and is relisted over and over. I think Ebay is going to eventually crumble from too high prices and no buyers. I just don't understand why someone would pay $35 for an AC front brake rotor when you can get it for $10 less on Amazon through Ronnie's site. And who would pay $85 for an $8 lightbulb from the FLAPS?

[Guest Corvanti]

in the fall of 2011, i sold around 70 items thru ebay, mostly Corvette and Studebaker NOS and used parts i never got around to installing. my timing was good as they had a month of no seller fees for up to 50 auction sale items - then extended it for another 2 weeks. i sold just about everything except 3 or 4 junky non car items. i didn't ask much over garage sale prices, but it was surprising to see how high some items went for if more than one bidder wanted/needed the item.

i don't know if ebay still does the free listing thing except for a day or so at a time.

[Bushwack]

in the fall of 2011, i sold around 70 items thru ebay, mostly Corvette and Studebaker NOS and used parts i never got around to installing. my timing was good as they had a month of no seller fees for up to 50 auction sale items - then extended it for another 2 weeks. i sold just about everything except 3 or 4 junky non car items. i didn't ask much over garage sale prices, but it was surprising to see how high some items went for if more than one bidder wanted/needed the item.

i don't know if ebay still does the free listing thing except for a day or so at a time.

Ebay has a formula on when and to whom they offer free listings. And I think 2x/year they offer free listings to all for a short period of time.

[Guest Richard D]

I used to buy vintage transistor radios at garage sales and from ebay. I would then repair them, polish up the plastic cabinet and resell them on ebay. There was not a lot of money to be made but it kept me busy and it was entertaining to watch the collectors bid on them. Then ebay bought paypal and fees went sky high, shipping went up it got to the point that I was just breaking even or losing money. Now unless I come across a very rare and valuable collectable radio I don't bother.

Thanks, I feel better.