Be very careful how you run ebay auctions or bid on items!

[auburnseeker]

This is not my listing but I read it and figured I would post it here so others can avoid possible hassles when selling or buying on ebay.

The principal here is when you run an Auction it is an auction,  not a classified ad.  Be careful which options you pick when making your listing.  Ebay doesn't like when you bend or make up your own rules (that's what the ebayer did when he was listing parts off his truck)  To the unknowing original bidder of the original auction he thought he was buying the lot for 1.00.  

You need to ,very clearly, in big bold letters, spell out any exceptions or very important details at the very beginning of your description so it's clear to anyone who can read.

Shipping amounts are also not magic.  Estimate your item accordingly when using the shipping calculator.  Add a bit for size once packaged and a little for weight and don't be cheap about it.  Buy a shipping scale.  They are under 40.00 to your door.  I have had mine 8 years and it functions flawlessly.  

Likewise as a bidder/Buyer be sure you know what you are getting by thoroughly reading the description if there is any doubt whatsoever.  I can't tell you the number of times i see a lot of parts and the guy says when you carefully read the description,  you are getting the one item in the far right corner Etc.  Which is usually overpriced for one item so you would assume it's the whole lot. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Other-Pickups-/152205223984?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2370236830:g:SGcAAOSwSv1Xkjsz&item=152205223984

 

[Harold]

The seller has a feedback of 755 so should know better.

[auburnseeker]

^^^^^^^^  You would think so.  

 

Most of his feedback I noticed is  as a buyer.  His older selling feedback has a couple of whammies right off the bat.  

Because one knows how to buy items on ebay doesn't mean they know how to sell. 

Who knows it might not even have been his ID to begin with.  Maybe a family members account. 

[jackofalltrades70]

I love the auctions of a really nice

looking project, that they only want to part out.  The auction is

for $10.00 and is only for one lugnut from the front drivers side wheel.  

I obviously am selling my parts all wrong!

[1937hd45]

Yes, sometimes the feature photo has nothing to do with the item in the auction, not that that is a bad thing. Bob

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Frame-for-Servi-Car-Original-Harley-Davidson-Frame-Trike-Police-3-Wheeler-1968-/152175150302?hash=item236e5884de:g:paAAAOSwll1Wy5Px&vxp=mtr

[auburnseeker]

Well sometimes sellers have been known to use props to enhance their product.  

I have never tried this but I'm having second thoughts.  Now I see why my sales are down.  I have been doing it all wrong.   That would be a new write off as well I believe. 

[1937hd45]

TWO if you have a good CPA. Bob

[joe_padavano]

Seriously?

Look, most dealers use ebay "auctions" as paid ads.  Their cars are overpriced and never sell on-line.  Ebay doesn't care so long as they make money.  This ad is no different.  Ebay has been squeezing small sellers with nickel and dime fees and price increases. This vendor is trying to minimize what he has to pay to run what is essentially an ad for parts. It would not be feasible or cost-effective to list every part in an individual auction.  Ebay gets upset when the think they are missing out on profits.  The "don't list phone numbers" and "no contact unless it goes through ebay" is solely to prevent sellers from closing a deal outside of ebay and thus avoiding these draconian fees.  Frankly, ebay has gotten so user unfriendly, catering mainly to larger sellers, that I have very little sympathy for them.

[Guest]

"...don't call if you plan to vote for Hillary"

[mercer09]

Seriously?

Look, most dealers use ebay "auctions" as paid ads.  Their cars are overpriced and never sell on-line.  Ebay doesn't care so long as they make money.  This ad is no different.  Ebay has been squeezing small sellers with nickel and dime fees and price increases. This vendor is trying to minimize what he has to pay to run what is essentially an ad for parts. It would not be feasible or cost-effective to list every part in an individual auction.  Ebay gets upset when the think they are missing out on profits.  The "don't list phone numbers" and "no contact unless it goes through ebay" is solely to prevent sellers from closing a deal outside of ebay and thus avoiding these draconian fees.  Frankly, ebay has gotten so user unfriendly, catering mainly to larger sellers, that I have very little sympathy for them.

 

 

 

well said.................. dont get your liver in a quiver!  

[Curti]

What does eBay think about automatic snipe programs?

[joe_padavano]

10 hours ago, Curti said:

What does eBay think about automatic snipe programs?

Since the snipe program program allows a higher bid to be placed at the last minute, all ebay cares about is that they make more money on fees as a result. 

[mercer09]

I use snipe all of the time on items I really want and rarely lose. they work very well.

just have to be realistic on the purchase price.

 

ebay has been pro buyer now for many years because of John Donahue, who had no interest in running ebay well. He did the owner and sellers a grave dis service. The new CEO is trying to correct some of that.

 

too little too late. I only use ebay to buy most of the time anymore. not worth the hassle of selling.................

 

fees are now at 10% on most items and then add the 3-4% paypal gets. on some items it becomes downright expensive.

when I sold, I would never list an item worth less then 24.99  just wasnt worth my time.

[39BuickEight]

There are certainly ways to sell very successfully on eBay.  From a sellers point of view, I dread the day their auctions automatically continue when a last second bid is made.  I know it's only time because they would make a lot more money that way (or maybe it would frustrate buyers so much they wouldn't, but I doubt that.)

 

I have done over 1000 transactions on eBay (about 100 seller and 900 buyer) and only twice have I ever had a problem.  Both times the sellers refunded my money for items listed as new that were not.

 

If a person READS all the words in the feedback available, both what is said and what the transaction was (selling, buying, and what were they selling?), it's not hard to use the site to your advantage.  Poor sales ads are easy to spot, as are ones that are completely fraudulent.

[Matt Harwood]

Why the hell would you write "if you plan to vote for Hillary, don't call" in your ad? Fine, you can be a political whackadoodle, but everyone's money is green, why wouldn't you take it? I just don't get these guys who are willing to cut off their own noses to spite their faces in order to make a stupid political statement.

 

That's like putting up a big flashing sign, "I'm a crazy person with unreasonable beliefs, don't deal with me!"

 

I buy eBay ads in bulk. I rarely expect to sell a car on eBay, but I do often expect some moron to wreck my auction and steal money from me. About 1/3 of my auctions end with someone hitting Buy It Now or passing the reserve, only to have them bail out or claim they didn't mean to buy the car or they changed their mind or some other stupid excuse (I heard, "My friend hit my elbow and made me push the button," recently). I lose thousands of dollars a year this way because eBay doesn't refund fees to dealers. So if you wreck my auction, that's $119 that I'm not getting back. Worse, the car is tainted. It never, ever bids to the same level in a second auction. NEVER. The car is done, at least on eBay, and at that point, I can look forward to dealing with future potential buyers who looked it up and saw it on eBay: "Well, I see you're asking $39,900, but it only bid to $2300 on eBay, so that's what I'm prepared to offer you for the car. I think that's fair, the market has spoken."

 

And if you use a snipe program, don't screw it up, OK? Just last week I had a guy interested in a car and he ultimately decided not to buy it. He called, said he wasn't a buyer, and that's was cool. No problem there. He stopped bidding. But he had already setup a snipe program to bid at the last second on his behalf and apparently forgot he had done so. So we're watching the car auction end and there are three very interested bidders running it up. It's going to sell (it was no reserve, a car I just wanted gone), but it's now beyond what I expected. And at the last second, this guy jumps back in and buys the car. Moments later, a frantic email from him saying he didn't mean to buy the car, please forgive him, please don't report him to eBay, he values his 100% feedback rating. So I contact the three underbidders to salvage the sale. Nope, no longer interested, which happens every time. As soon as they've lost, the interest is 100% gone. I don't get it, but it happens every time.

 

I still own the car and the only thing that happens to Dummy McIdiot and his snipe program is that he gets a secret black mark on his record that nobody can see, but if he does it two times in a year, he gets a sternly written letter from eBay or something. No feedback ding, no consequences, but I'm out $119 AND I have to sell this tainted car somehow. His snipe program cost me hundreds, maybe thousands.

 

So yes, some sellers are idiots. But idiot buyers outnumber the sellers about about 10,000 to 1.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

"I still own the car and the only thing that happens to Dummy McIdiot and his snipe program is that he gets a secret black mark on his record that nobody can see, but if he does it two times in a year, he gets a sternly written letter from eBay or something. No feedback ding, no consequences, but I'm out $119 AND I have to sell this tainted car somehow. His snipe program cost me hundreds, maybe thousands. "

 

I wish ebay would make non paying bidders a little more of a priority.  Atleast with my rinky dink sale amounts it's not a big deal except inventory you thought sold builds up after a while and you are still paying fees for a successful sale eventhough it's not a sale until it's paid for.  When you are running around 400 new auctions a month it's hard to chase down every non paying bidder (not worth the time unless it's a big item)

[39BuickEight]

They should make bidders on large items like automobiles put up a deposit in order to even place a bid.  If they don't want to do that, they can contact the seller anyway, just cant bid, and that's not a bad thing.

[misterc9]

The second and third highest bidders who lost interest as soon as they were out bid wouldn't buy after the auction because they believed they were being scammed on a shill bid racket.

[joe_padavano]

29 minutes ago, misterc9 said:

The second and third highest bidders who lost interest as soon as they were out bid wouldn't buy after the auction because they believed they were being scammed on a shill bid racket.

 

Or, they never intended to complete the purchase either...

[Matt Harwood]

I don't know the reasons but I think about this phenomenon a lot--there has to be a branch of psychology that studies this kind of behavior. I call it "sport bidding." They like hitting the button and must get a bit of a rush from it, but they don't really intend to buy, regardless of price. Maybe there's an off chance they'll get a deal or the seller isn't paying attention and didn't set the auction up correctly and they'll get a $39,900 car for $399, I don't know. I also wonder about the guys who bid on a car with a $39,900 Buy It Now who throw out $500 and disappear forever. They know that's not going to win the car, but they put in one mousey little sissy bid and vanish. Do they just want to tell their buddies, "Yeah, I was bidding on a Jag like that, but I was out-bid at the last minute."

 

If you're not playing to win, why play at all? I don't understand it.

[Matt Harwood]

Actually, not to belabor the point or to hijack Auburnseeker's thread, but did anyone watch something like this happening in real time at the last Mecum auction? There was a mid-60s El Camino that had apparently been restored by some Chinese car shop--they built a muscle car the way they thought Americans would want it. It was that chameleon-like paint that was blue then green then gold then brown then purple, and then they put flames on top of it. It was horrendous. The interior was actually nicely done (at least on TV), and it probably had a lot of chrome on a small block V8, I don't really recall. I was too astounded by the ugly paint to watch too carefully. I walked out of the room to get a snack or something but Melanie called me back in and rewound the footage to show me what happened. "Did that guy just buy a car he didn't want?" she asked.

 

So there's a guy letting his young son bid on it and they stop at like $19,000. There's a reserve, he's safe, right? But there are no more bids and the car sits on the block for a moment or two. The guy is scanning the crowd where [presumably] the other bidder was. Then the guy gives the "no more" signal and he and and his son start walking away. Suddenly they yell, "SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!" The seller had obviously dropped the reserve and this guy, who was just letting his kid have some fun and thinking he wasn't going to get in trouble, was now on the hook for owning this PoS car. You could see the dismay on his face immediately as they called him back to sign the paperwork. They cut away pretty fast, but there was no doubt in my mind that he had no intention of buying that car and was just letting his kid have what he thought was a little fun at the auction. After all, there was a reserve and they were under it when they stopped bidding. What could go wrong?

 

A painful lesson for someone, although there's technically no way for the auction company to force him to buy the car. I wonder what happened afterwards...

[smithbrother]

The Proof is in,,,,,, there are MORE horses rears, than horses,

 

Dale in Indy

[60FlatTop]

I see ads like that on Ebay all the time, for about 15 years, actually. I just think "Jerk" and move on. I have seen the misleading ploys since I was about 10 years old. I find them distasteful and they tend to make me an ethnic and cultural bigot when I try not to be.

The problem is, I can usually draw an accurate picture of the poster without even seeing them.

 

I had lunch with a friend today who had looked at a Cadillac for sale at a car show. The price was $6995. I would have told the seller it looked like it was worth at least $7,000.

 

It is funny, being raised in rural post WWII America. My Grandfather had two businesses named "Wholesale". I think the country boys and the city boys mixed cultures during the war and everyone came home think Uncle XXX could get it wholesale. That flim-flammery has spread from city cultural neighborhoods to the whole nation during intervening 70 years.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2016 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[mercer09]

A painful lesson for someone, although there's technically no way for the auction company to force him to buy the car. I wonder what happened afterwards...

 

 

right you are-no commitment to that bid.............................

[joe_padavano]

17 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

 I also wonder about the guys who bid on a car with a $39,900 Buy It Now who throw out $500 and disappear forever.

 

 

And I don't understand sellers who waste everyone's time by having an opening bid of $100 on a car with a BIN price or a reserve of $20k. Obviously the car is worth way more than $100.

[JACK M]

I have taken a couple of corporate sponsored seminars.

One thing they agree on is that if you make a ridiculous offer you might get lucky.

I'm one of those guys that makes a low offer, it doesn't hurt the seller any and I might get lucky.

It has worked for me more than once, not just online but face to face.

You never know if the seller just wants it gone.

I do respect the guy that says 'no low ballers', but if it looks like the guy just wants it gone why not try?

[capngrog]

Then, there are the sellers who declare "No Reserve" , but specify an opening bid of $10,000 on an item that may be worth, oh, say about ... $10,000.

 

Don't forget:  "For sale locally, auction may end at any time".

 

Have I got a deal for you,

Grog

[Guest]

55 minutes ago, capngrog said:

Then, there are the sellers who declare "No Reserve" , but specify an opening bid of $10,000 on an item that may be worth, oh, say about ... $10,000.

 

Don't forget:  "For sale locally, auction may end at any time".

 

Have I got a deal for you,

Grog

Ha Ha! Yes, that one has always bothered me as well. "Opening bid $10,000, Please feel free to bid as far over retail as you wish".

[mercer09]

On 8/16/2016 at 0:25 PM, JACK M said:

 

I do respect the guy that says 'no low ballers', but if it looks like the guy just wants it gone why not try?

 

If done tactfully and politely I agree-unfortunately, that isnt usually the case.....................

 

I have thrown several people off my property in the past for just being absolute a holes...................!

[poci1957]

8 minutes ago, mercer09 said:

If done tactfully and politely I agree-unfortunately, that isnt usually the case.....................

I have thrown several people off my property in the past for just being absolute a holes...................!

 

It is all in being decent about it.  Last week a newbie on the site was advised not to counter offer a $7500 (in person) asking price for a car.  I said nothing wrong with a counter offer if one is not a jerk about it and suggested something like the following:

 

YOU GOOD:  I think I would like the car and appreciate that you described it honestly in your ad, but I think I need to save a little cash to cover some of the work I want to do.  I have $6000 cash and I will take it today.

APPROPRIATE RESPONSE: Well I can't do that but I will split the difference at $6800 if we can do it today

 

YOU BAD:  I don't need it and I don't even really like big sled Buicks, I just saw your ad and think maybe I could flip it to a sucker if I could fix up the lousy white paint.  Tell you what, I'll do you a favor and give you $4500 but you will have to hold it for me until next weekend.

APPROPRIATE RESPONSE:  Get the h*** out of my yard and go away    

 

 

[cahartley]

I have, on occasion, listed some higher dollar items on ebay with what some might think is an outlandish opening bid but I don't play the reserve auction game.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but where else can I get free, world wide, exposure?

I sold a couple cars  well after the auctions ended at a reduced price but at least they got sold........commission free.......