Are fruitcakes running rampant on eBay lately? Selling, buying, listing, feedback, etc...

[Darth_Raichu]

1 hour ago, Alpinemaps said:

I’ve been moving product on eBay, but I’ve been aggressive with my pricing. No, I’m not undercutting anyone, but I am pricing so things will move.

I have a ton of crap that’s sitting here, not appreciating anymore. So while I not experiencing huge margins, I’m clearing out dead weight and getting capital back into my pockets that I can invest better.

It feels like the only buyers left on eBay are the bargain hunters who want the best items for half off or less

I am getting lazy on eBay.  I can move the same things on FBM with less efforts.

 

[brickvoyeur]

7 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

It feels like the only buyers left on eBay are the bargain hunters who want the best items for half off or less

I am getting lazy on eBay.  I can move the same things on FBM with less efforts.

 

True words. The only things I move on eBay at this point are used sets, and quick flips on promos.

[BillyBricks]

18 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

It feels like the only buyers left on eBay are the bargain hunters who want the best items for half off or less

 

 

I do feel like this sometimes when I get messages about items that don't have "Best Offer" as a feature and the person wants to negotiate the price while also asking for free shipping. However, I've had a lot of success the past couple of weeks on eBay. Of course, a successful month for me is the same as a slow week for many on this site...

[Brystheguy]

3 hours ago, zaphoid said:

eBays been almost dead for me.  Sold more on FB Marketplace.

I actually did my first sale on FBM with shipping. It feels a little "off" to me. For some reason, I don't feel like things are very well documented as the process goes along. Can you tell me more about what the process is if a buyer attempts to claim they didn't get something, etc.? Do you sell mostly local or offer shipping on MP? I list local but, to me, FB is the place where I get the less-than-half-price lowlifes.  Thanks.

[Mark Twain]

3 hours ago, Alpinemaps said:

I’ve been moving product on eBay, but I’ve been aggressive with my pricing. No, I’m not undercutting anyone, but I am pricing so things will move.

I have a ton of crap that’s sitting here, not appreciating anymore. So while I not experiencing huge margins, I’m clearing out dead weight and getting capital back into my pockets that I can invest better.

I've dropped prices so that I'm in the top five in most listings. The thing is, last year I had four months of flat sales, but this year I'm selling $300-$400 each month on average outside of the holiday rush--a huge improvement for a little guy like me. So I expected to see this increase over the holiday sale season as well. I'm only small time, but last year's Nov-Dec-Jan was over $3k in and my current sales aren't anywhere near those numbers. 

[elmaslıefendi]

15 minutes ago, Mark Twain said:

 I'm only small time, but last year's Nov-Dec-Jan was over $3k in and my current sales aren't anywhere near those numbers. 

Last year was insane. As soon as I listed stuff it was gone! I'm talking minutes. Not even low priced! 

The Bay is heaven in winter, hell in summertime (obviously). Just google the sales graph for LEGO products over the months, rises Sep, spikes Dec/Jan and flattens out till May. It makes sense which average family builds a LEGO set when it's hot & sunny outside? There are better things to do.

[zaphoid]

4 hours ago, Brystheguy said:

I actually did my first sale on FBM with shipping. It feels a little "off" to me. For some reason, I don't feel like things are very well documented as the process goes along. Can you tell me more about what the process is if a buyer attempts to claim they didn't get something, etc.? Do you sell mostly local or offer shipping on MP? I list local but, to me, FB is the place where I get the less-than-half-price lowlifes.  Thanks.

All my FB Marketplace stuff has been local.  You've got to go in thinking that everyone's going to haggle.  I price myself 20-25% below Amazon and go from there.  

[Pseudoty]

I got this email from eBay today:

Your chances of selling have just gone up!

Hi Toycentric, Buyers can now make offers on your listing.  Your listings that accept offers from buyers have a higher chance of selling because they provide you more opportunities to attract buyers and to make a deal. If you haven’t already, be sure to download our app, so you don’t let any offers pass by. Every offer is an opportunity!  If you don’t want to receive offers, go to manage offer settings to update your preference.

 

The best offer accept was set by eBay at 50% of my listing price which was the next lowest BIN to West End Toys. 

OBTW I did change the seller name so don’t hate  

[Darth_Raichu]

And here I thought things on eBay are picking up.  But even eBay does not think so.  Here is a screenshot of eBay sales from the past 31 days compared to last year for LEGO.  Ignore my bad number, just look at the whole market 10% drop from last year. Geez!!!

 

[LegoMan1212]

O O, bust talks again........ is it finally coming?

[Darth_Raichu]

38 minutes ago, LegoMan1212 said:

O O, bust talks again........ is it finally coming?

Nah, eBay and Paypal are still generating revenue.... everything is awesome!

[MrToes16]

Maybe they are collecting taxes now so more people are getting into that frugal mode. I know I have been setting my buying price for some items a little lower and holding fast on them.

[Darth_Raichu]

Speaking of taxes

Starting January 1, 2020, Hawaii, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan will be joining the list of states where eBay will be collecting sales tax on applicable transactions. 

[stackables]

1 minute ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Speaking of taxes

Starting January 1, 2020, Hawaii, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan will be joining the list of states where eBay will be collecting sales tax on applicable transactions. 

Looks like I don't have much time to get some expensive comics. 

[exracer327]

21 hours ago, Darth_Raichu said:

And here I thought things on eBay are picking up.  But even eBay does not think so.  Here is a screenshot of eBay sales from the past 31 days compared to last year for LEGO.  Ignore my bad number, just look at the whole market 10% drop from last year. Geez!!!

I was wondering about this.  For myself, I was buying a lot more on ebay last year than I am this year.  But that is because I basically spent my allowance on good deals around Black Friday through Target, Walmart, Amazon, LEGO, etc.  Not ebay.

[Voltron]

I've been a fruitcake recently...

Just been hit with a few ebay packlink package oversized payments, rookie mistake I know, but just got complacent thinking I didnt need to measure boxes anymore, doh.

If you use the Ebay uk packlink services you should definitely check parcel size, as it seems in the past they didnt care if you were a few cm's over, but now they are more vigilant now, got charged £4.16 (+VAT) for each parcel :(

For UK people, if sending via UPS (best way for parcels valued over £50 and bigger than royal main small parcel size), the way UPS calculate the max parcel dimension (max size limit is 180cm for parcels up to 10kg), take the parcel 2 smallest dimensions and times by 2, then add 80, this total value needs to be under 180cm for weight class up to 5kg. The 10 to 15kg weight class has a bigger max dimension size (235cm).

I had been using the boxes that lego ship the big sets in (UCS / Modulars etc), never been overcharged before, but guess they have been falling under the radar previously and they are checking box dimensions now.

[iahawks550]

With taxes, extra clicks, general public laziness, I'm guessing people are just buying from Amazon. Easier returns, more streamlined and "more trustworthy" sellers. 

Of course there is a price premium in doing that, but most people just don't care. 

[Phil B]

So here is another way EBay is screwing us over, besides the whole "automatic Best Offer" shenanigans. Again, this is on mobile. I have a listing for a partial Hogwarts Express up, which has the following description:

This listing is for a full consist of the Harry Potter Hogwarts Express as featured in set 75955. You will get:

 

- The Hogwarts Express Engine (bags 3 & 4 from set 75955)

- Stickers for the Engine

- The Tender car (bag 5 from set 75955)

- Stickers for the Tender

- The full manual

 

You will NOT receive:

- The station build from set 75955

- Any stickers associated with the station build

- Ron's luggage trolley with suitcases and Scabbers the Rat

 

Looking up my listing on the EBay app, I see this:

 

Look at how the app took random lines from my listing and put them together into a completely UNTRUE statement? It skipped the first few lines, then picked the "You will get" part (correct), took the third line from my "included" section, and 2 lines from my "Not Included" section to create the impression that this listing includes items that are explicitly excluded.

I can only imagine how a less thorough customer might use this to convince EBay that I have not sent the full item as described. Must be some sort of AI algorithm that they have let loose on our listings .... shameful.

[Jimking23]

It’s hard to get customers to read the description. I usually put “incomplete” or “damaged” as needed in the title section to protect myself. 

[Alpinemaps]

So here is another way EBay is screwing us over, besides the whole "automatic Best Offer" shenanigans. Again, this is on mobile. I have a listing for a partial Hogwarts Express up, which has the following description:
This listing is for a full consist of the Harry Potter Hogwarts Express as featured in set 75955. You will get:   - The Hogwarts Express Engine (bags 3 & 4 from set 75955) - Stickers for the Engine - The Tender car (bag 5 from set 75955) - Stickers for the Tender - The full manual   You will NOT receive: - The station build from set 75955 - Any stickers associated with the station build - Ron's luggage trolley with suitcases and Scabbers the Rat   Looking up my listing on the EBay app, I see this:

 
Look at how the app took random lines from my listing and put them together into a completely UNTRUE statement? It skipped the first few lines, then picked the "You will get" part (correct), took the third line from my "included" section, and 2 lines from my "Not Included" section to create the impression that this listing includes items that are explicitly excluded.
I can only imagine how a less thorough customer might use this to convince EBay that I have not sent the full item as described. Must be some sort of AI algorithm that they have let loose on our listings .... shameful.

The auto Best Offer “issue” seems to me, to be deliberate. This issue that you mention sounds more like a developer issue - eg, a bug (“feature”) of the app. I agree 100% with you, just speculating.

I’d also speculate that the app development team probably doesn’t talk to CS or the website development team. For all we know, the Best Offer issue could also be a feature because the dev team doesn’t know that it’s not support to do that.

Who knows.

[exracer327]

I'm wondering what insights those of you who have been doing this longer might have.  Besides sending an invoice or direct message to a non-paying bidder, how else do you get people to pay up after winning a bid on ebay?  Do you default to the next higher bidder after so many days of non-paying status?  I'm sure many of you avoid this by doing "Buy it now," which I also sometimes do.

I only have two of 80+ sales that are like this.  So it's not a huge problem, just looking for insights.  Thank you

[Darth_Raichu]

5 minutes ago, exracer327 said:

I'm wondering what insights those of you who have been doing this longer might have.  Besides sending an invoice or direct message to a non-paying bidder, how else do you get people to pay up after winning a bid on ebay?  Do you default to the next higher bidder after so many days of non-paying status?  I'm sure many of you avoid this by doing "Buy it now," which I also sometimes do.

I only have two of 80+ sales that are like this.  So it's not a huge problem, just looking for insights.  Thank you

Set it up so it will automatically open non paying bidder case after 4 days.  They have 3 days to respond (I think, it has been a while), but once the deadline passes you can ask eBay to close the case and return the listing fees back to your account.  Then you can move on to the next higher bidder.  This is the (official eBay) way

[Sandwraith]

1 hour ago, exracer327 said:

I'm wondering what insights those of you who have been doing this longer might have.  Besides sending an invoice or direct message to a non-paying bidder, how else do you get people to pay up after winning a bid on ebay?  Do you default to the next higher bidder after so many days of non-paying status?  I'm sure many of you avoid this by doing "Buy it now," which I also sometimes do.

I only have two of 80+ sales that are like this.  So it's not a huge problem, just looking for insights.  Thank you

Yeah this is super annoying, i rarely if ever do bids anymore because of people like this. It's especially worse if its an item you need to flip quick. What Darth_Raichu said is really the only option you have. Can't do much until ebay has closed the case. If you do anything before then, and they magically pay at the last second allowable, your're the one in trouble

What i have had success with in the past is very politely asking the buyer if they are having any issues with payment, or if they changed their minds and they can cancel their order at anytime no hassle. If you make them feel ok with their mistake/buyers remorse or whatever it was, they may be more inclined to admit they do not want the item anymore and cancel, thus allowing you to get the item listed again ASAP.

[exracer327]

1 hour ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Set it up so it will automatically open non paying bidder case after 4 days.  They have 3 days to respond (I think, it has been a while), but once the deadline passes you can ask eBay to close the case and return the listing fees back to your account.  Then you can move on to the next higher bidder.  This is the (official eBay) way

I've actually set my auctions to go to non-paying bidder status after 48 hours.  I even state this in my auctions.  In addition to the invoice and non-paying bidder messages, I usually send a msg advising that if they pay, the non-paying bidder case will be automatically closed.  I will try the msg with the "cancel bid" suggestion.  

I did have one person respond to the invoice and msg with a cancel request because his winning bid was "too expensive."  I checked previous sales for the same set and found that his wining bid was actually lower.  So I sent the guy a message telling him how much lower his bid was from previous sales and how happy I was to cancel his winning bid, per his request.  hahaha

Thank you for the input.  I appreciate it.

[trstnkn]

I know there has been ample discussion on Amazon accounts on eBay, but this one is puzzling.

I bought a 71043 Hogwart's Castle - open, damaged box but complete - $320.  In a matter of seconds, I saw listing pop up, looked at seller feedback (100% with 400+ transactions), hit buy now.  My son wants it for Christmas as his one gift.

Tried communicating with seller multiple times that I needed it before 12/25 and I would pay for priority shipping.  It supposedly was coming from TX.  

Four days pass, seller finally says "I shipped it."  I'm fretting that it won't get here in time since it said parcel select.  Well lo and behold, seller drops it at USPS in my city (not in TX) at 8:30pm Wednesday, arrives at my door before noon today in an Amazon box.  Of course Amazon return address says Hebron, KY warehouse.

Set is brand new with no damage whatsoever and is perfectly sealed in original Lego brown outer box..  Looked at sellers "sold listings", they've sold about 10+ of these - one each day in December.

Thoughts?