Pros and Cons with selling/buying on eBay

Hello all,

As a forum member here, I'd like to take a poll about your feelings concerning buying, and selling on eBay. (Bikes, cars, parts, shoes, Barbies, etc) I've seen a smattering of varying opinions here over the years and would like to conduct a little "market research" if you will. This poll is quite valid, I assure you. I have no affiliation with eBay, nor will I ever, but it does concern a good number of vintage fanatics like us. So, please, let em fly!
I hope the moderators will keep this topic posted in this section to reach a fair number of members. Thanks in advance for your time.

Respectfully,

Jason Delacroix

I have 95% positive experience with e-bay, 3% negative on the fees, and 2% negative on flaky "buyers".

Selling:
(I've sold nearly 300 items)

I have a perfect score as a seller, mainly because I take extra care to thoroughly describe every aspect of every bike, component, and part that I sell. I also take a good array of photos (especially of bikes), in good light, to show great detail, and point out every defect so that I can't be faulted for not describing or mentioning a defect. Lately I've been starting the bidding at my "bottom dollar", with no reserve; that has produced good multi-bidding sales which typically results in near the highest price the market will bear. I also spell out in the listing that the starting bid IS MY LOWEST PRICE; that has resulted in zero e-mails asking what's the lowest I'll take or the very stupid (but common) "what's your reserve?"

I've had very good results with buyers, 95% of them leave me a positive feedback, 5% leave no feedback. I've had 2 buyers "win" the item, only to flake out and not pay up. 1 time I offered an item to the next highest bidder and it sold, the other time, the flake was an only bidder.

I had one negative experience with a buyer that claimed he never received the item (an old computer), but I received the delivery notification from USPS, and supplied it to e-bay who quickly closed the case in my favor.

Shipping:
On any item that will fit in a USPS flat rate box, I include "free" shipping, and adjust my starting price to cover the flat rate box/envelope. On small items, I use USPS rate. On anything over 14", and heavy items that won't fit in flat rate boxes, I use FedEx ground / home delivery. If you buy the postage on e-bay, you get an even better discount than the typical online pricing (with account) of FedEx and USPS. I don't use UPS only because the nearest drop station is 8 miles away.

For most of my bike auctions, I include door-to-door shipping, or $500 credit towards overseas / international shipping. I use Keyboard and J.C.Motors, depending on the zone (Keyboard has limited west coast service). I offer tear-down and/or crating FOR A FEE. I also offer "personal" delivery up to 400 miles away for the same cost as Keybd/JCM. I live less than 400 miles from the nearest sea port (Galveston), so that helps international buyers.

Buying:
(I've bought over 100 items, and have only 1 negative feedback as a buyer on the VERY FIRST ITEM I ever tried to buy on e-bay many years ago)

I use EZ-Sniper for auctions, and typically "Buy It Now" feature if available. EZ-Sniper has helped me win 99% of items I bid on. The 1% that I lost ended up going for way out of my price range, so no loss.

I've personally had very good success and no issues with sellers apart from one very flaky seller that took almost 2 weeks to FINALLY ship my item after many excuses (I left him a "neutral" feedback score). I've only had one bad experience with a damaged part, and also left that seller a "neutral" score.

I've never had a shipping problem with any item bought on e-bay (that I can recall).

So, overall, positive experience by far.

For what it's worth, I ALWAYS offer bikes and parts here in the "For Sale" section to any member at "any reasonable offer around my starting bid".

JCD said:

Hello all,

As a forum member here, I'd like to take a poll about your feelings concerning buying, and selling on eBay. (Bikes, cars, parts, shoes, Barbies, etc) I've seen a smattering of varying opinions here over the years and would like to conduct a little "market research" if you will. This poll is quite valid, I assure you. I have no affiliation with eBay, nor will I ever, but it does concern a good number of vintage fanatics like us. So, please, let em fly!
I hope the moderators will keep this topic posted in this section to reach a fair number of members. Thanks in advance for your time.

Respectfully,

Jason Delacroix

Click to expand...

Just because it's on e-bay does not mean it's a good deal. You need to do your homework as many e-bay sellers sell at above retail prices.
Then again there are still good deals to be had on e-bay, particularly in the industrial surplus market. I buy a lot of my supplies on e-bay and commonly spend 3 to 5000 dollars a month through paypal. Jim

PS, E-bay does a great job of resolving problems when they do happen.

Years ago I use to buy heaps of Norton parts off ebay when they were the right prices (cheap) even if I didn't need them, I would then take those parts I brought cheap to the Gatton or Maleny swap meet and sell them for double and sometimes triple my money, I have never had any problems with anyone when buying and still have 100% feed back, I have never had any parts not show up and I always pay by Paypal, as for selling bikes boats etc I have only had one time when I was selling my BMW bike that a scamer tryed to rip me off the old one where he is working on a oil rig and if I pay another $1000 extra can you send it to my transport company, I will put the money in your Paypal account, then I recive a invoice from Papal and when I logged into my paypal account no money at all it was a fake invoice, I knew straight away it was a scam so I played along for a week or so after getting emails from the scamer saying where the money and bike, he even phoned me up a few times abusing me till I told him it was in the hands of the Fedral Police well I never heard some one hang up so quick.
It like anything you just got to be aware of scamers that are trying to get easy money out of you, I always go throught Paypal as if you do have troubles they follow it up and cover your cost if things go wrong but so far I have had no problems at all dealing throught ebay, some don't like the fees charged when selling but if you add them fees to the over all reserved price its a good ways to sell things.

Ashley

Grand Paul's review is spot on. He knows his stuff. I buy more than sell on Ebay and have always been happy with my purchases. I did sell one high dollar sports car some years ago and I think it was a straight $60 listing fee. That was a good deal. Nickle and dime stuff is OK but it costs you 10 or so percent to complete the transaction. Just the cost of doing business. If you are unsure of the price something will bring, Ebay is a good route. If you know what you want for a part, try Craig's list first as it is free and less hassle. If no takers locally go to Ebay. Thanks for this post as it is interesting stuff in our new "global economy". :roll:

I have had great luck both with buying and selling. I have not made or sold any large items, such as motorcycles or cars.
Mostly smalls. Its always been good for me.

For the most part eBay sellers are very honest, as well as buyers. Out of the 150, or so, things I've bought on eBay I've only been stung once. A guy from Texas sold me an inoperative AC recovery unit. I did get my money back, from eBay, though. Another experience I had with a seller from Texas was a Russell Day Long seat I purchased for my BMW. The seat was a bit rough, but was not any rougher than pictured on the listing. The seller emailed me to inform me he was sending me $100 because he felt the seat did not warrant the auction price. He did, indeed, refund a $100. I had the seat recovered and ended up with a Russell Day Long seat for less than half the price of a new one. BTW, a Russell Day Long is ten times the seat of a Corbin.

I have a pretty good Ebay rating myself. Have only had issues with a couple of sellers, one who obviously thought exhaust clamps were measured by o.d. and not i.d. Some can be a little hinky, but when it comes to small items, it's a waste of time making a big deal out of it. For the most part, I have had positive experience buying and selling. Chinese suppliers are particularly eager to please, and some will bend over backwards to avoid negative feedback. Ebay is certainly several steps above the sewer known as Craigslist.

While I think eBay is expensive to sell things, what is the option? Set up a table at a flea market? Time is worth money!
I have had hundreds of transaction on eBay, mostly as a buyer. I have had several (less than 5) difficulties, but they were
resolved to my satisfaction. Compare to free Craig's List where every whacko in the region calls to try and scam you.
Yes, I've had the poor merchant marine officer out at sea and his "agent" would be picking up the bike with a cashier's check.
No, I didn't fall for it. PayPal, for all it's faults, provides a degree of insurance against bad people. No, they can't stop
jack asses from bidding on things and then failing to follow through with payment, but nothing is perfect.

I've sold several cars, trucks and bikes, as well as parts on EBay. I've also bought a lot of parts and tools. Overall, I've been very satisfied. I don't have to answer phone calls from people who want to talk for an hour. I don't stay home waiting for people who never show up. I find it especially useful with old parts that I don't know the value of. Let the market decide. I have had only one disappointing experience as a buyer, when I won a no reserve auction on a Triumph subframe. The seller kept making excuses for not shipping it and finally refunded my payment. I had one person win an auction for a Honda 350, then back out when they found out the cost of shipping, but I did keep the deposit, so it was no great loss. Those have been my only problems in over 10 years of using EBay, so I am very satisfied.

I've sold one thing on eBay and it was a complete failure. It was a Triumph timing cover that I used to dip my toe into the eBay waters. I started at $.01 and I think it sold for $.10. I think I lost money even after charging for shipping.

But I'm going to try it again for a really nice AJS tank and T120TT engine in hopes of getting a high bid.

From a private buyers point of view in the UK I check the following:
Sellers feedback
Description of item against photographs
Ensure there is a location for the seller
Contact seller if I have any doubts.
If you look on other items for sale, there is invariably plant machinery for sale!

I have made many purchases, most, if not all fine with some good bargains.

I few years ago whilst trying to buy a Commando I became aware of a scam which unfortunately still appears to be running.

Fully detailed advert, including photos
None or very little feedback for seller
Buy it now price, much cheaper than realistic value, sometimes as much as half
Instructions to contact seller with email or mobile, not through eBay

I followed one of these up, bike, at the other end of the country with a friend, buyer out of the country, of course I could leave a deposit! Or pay in full for it to be delivered!!

Throughout several years of watching the adverts are re hashed along with the same photos!

On the plus side, I have reported many of these and they have always been removed but I am surprised now that they are not identified t source.

I bought a Commando privately in the end!!

I've been an EBay member since the mid 90's and have bought and sold thousands of items.

For a number of years I sold used factory machinery and parts. I learned early on to make the deals on large items buyer's responsible for shipping. It worked great. I sold large machines and a truck would pull up and we would load it.

Setting a reserve costs a little more, but protects you from selling an item for a dime when it's worth a lot more. Best way to do this is to price the item fairly but a little higher than you would on Craigslist to insure you cover your costs.

Ratings are important. If you are bidding/buying something that is expensive check the rating and number of feedbacks. Low feedback number is a red flag, particularly if the last sale was 3 years ago or there are any negatives. On sellers with a high number of feedbacks check the last 6 months for negatives. The few times I've been burned I forgot to check feedback until afterwards...it really does work.

EBay is a great resource to buy and sell, but as Jim said earlier do your homework. I've seen used parts listed for twice what you can buy OEM parts for. Watch out for high shipping charges on low priced items. Many sellers try to get their asking price by bumping shipping charges.

I have primarily been an E-Bay buyer. I tried to sell a marine diesel engine some years ago, but no one seemed to want it until months after it was scrapped.

So, fees? I have heard that E-Bay has some of the highest fees??? What do you sellers experience? I have tons of items that would move faster at higher sale's prices on E-Bay, but the fees? I have been using Craig's list which has its scammers (more than E-Bay for sure).

What is the actual cost of selling on E-Bay?

I have purchased many things on ebay over the years and never run into a problem as far as being ripped off. Never big ticket items and generally under $100.00. The ebay experience changed for me however when they implemented their Global Shipping plan. Unfortunately as a Canadian this affected me greatly and caused me to radically change my ebay habits. This system is managed by a third party which is Barnes and Noble and what they do is calculate shipping rates and import duties on behalf of the seller. Unfortunately many times shipping rates are completely out to lunch and import duties are applied to stuff which should be exempt. Because of this I usually avoid sellers enrolled in this plan and look elsewhere. As well you really need to do your homework when shopping. Some asking prices for items are way above what you can pay for new old stock at a dealer. A very recent one that made me burst out laughing recently was a chewed up used woodruff key for a Norton alternator rotor that had a buy it now price of $65.00.

swooshdave said:

I've sold one thing on eBay and it was a complete failure. It was a Triumph timing cover that I used to dip my toe into the eBay waters. I started at $.01 and I think it sold for $.10. I think I lost money even after charging for shipping. But I'm going to try it again for a really nice AJS tank and T120TT engine in hopes of getting a high bid.

Click to expand...

Never start the bidding below your absolute bottom dollar, and I mean covering shipping if you include it in the auction.

zotz said:

Some asking prices for items are way above what you can pay for new old stock at a dealer. A very recent one that made me burst out laughing recently was a chewed up used woodruff key for a Norton alternator rotor that had a buy it now price of $65.00.

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But, it was the last of it's kind! They don't make them any longer...

Thank you all for the comments and critique. I have bought and sold large and small on eBay for many years and for the most part, I share your very same experiences just about every time I use it. Most of my transactions are really positive transactions, and some have been trying on my nerves.

What I'm really after in this thread is to see if anyone would change anything at all about the whole experience: buying, selling, feedback both as buyer and seller, etc. We are given the parameters by which we can either choose to or not choose to participate in that auction style forum. If we had a say in how it operated, what features would be included/excluded or incorporated into existing features?

Haven't sold any Norton nor bike/auto parts on ebay, but I've sold a lot of film camera gear. Personally I think the fees are a bit steep. 10% for ebay and at least 3% for paypal. That said, I've made some money on ebay, but I start off with my bottom price plus shipping. Shipping is a real pain in the butt, figuring the cost and insurance if needed. I also sold some Leica film equipment but did that on Craig's List. They went like hot cakes for my asking price nearly $6K for a black M6 and $3K for a M3 including lenses. Sold a Saab and Mini on CL too at fair price. I only had one bad deal where a guy got a camera that he said didn't work when he got it, sent it back and he didn't pack it good and broke the LCD, but I collected on the insurance for full price less postage. Guns are easier and lots cheaper to sell on line but I have to go through an FFL, and pistols are nearly a no-no because of shipping costs. I've sold a few pistols locally on armslist. But in general, it's a all big pain, not something I enjoy doing but I figure I get lots better prices than taking the stuff to a dealer. I usually try CL first. I still have a bunch of stuff I need to get rid of. It's probably the best deal if you have the time and aren't willing to give stuff away.

grandpaul said:

swooshdave said:

I've sold one thing on eBay and it was a complete failure. It was a Triumph timing cover that I used to dip my toe into the eBay waters. I started at $.01 and I think it sold for $.10. I think I lost money even after charging for shipping. But I'm going to try it again for a really nice AJS tank and T120TT engine in hopes of getting a high bid.

Click to expand...

Never start the bidding below your absolute bottom dollar, and I mean covering shipping if you include it in the auction.

Click to expand...

It was just a test and to show that I actually sold something. I did charge for the shipping so I broke even.

Plus it was a learning experience.