Ebay now more a shop than auction site?

[RFS]

Is this what it's now become? Recently I was looking for a couple of OO coaches to complete some rakes.  A search on "Hornby Maunsell coach" gives 479 listings of which only 14 are auctions, the rest being buy-it-now. And quite a few of the auction listings have higher starting prices than some of the BIN listings for the same model. Only a bit better with "Bachmann MK1 coach" where it's 773 listings with only 67 auctions. 

 

Seems the only bargains to be had are where the seller doesn't realize the value of his items and lists at a BIN that is well below what they're really worth. Missed a couple of these recently, presumably because they got snapped up quickly!

[TheSignalEngineer]

When i first started looking at model railway stuff on ebay there were about 20,000 items of which two thirds were auctions, many starting at 99p.

The same search now will give nearly 300,000 items, about 8% being auctions.

[john new]

As I avoid e-bay most of the time from previous bad experiences then if such a change makes it a more stable and reliable trading platform then I welcome it.

 

Looked into the option of opening an e-Bay shop for SLS book sales, as it seemed a good way to open an e-store, but for us the fixed fees looked to be too high for a limited turnover so I can see why the e-bay shop BIN system works for some.

[phil-b259]

Is this what it's now become? Recently I was looking for a couple of OO coaches to complete some rakes.  A search on "Hornby Maunsell coach" gives 479 listings of which only 14 are auctions, the rest being buy-it-now. And quite a few of the auction listings have higher starting prices than some of the BIN listings for the same model.

Yes - and that is deliberate.

 

The rot set in when e-bay was floated on the stock market and new shareholders demanded ever grater returns. Fees, the feedback mechanisms and payment methods were all altered to favour the 'online shop' model - or in other words try and become the next 'Amazon'.

 

Had the business remained in private hands then it could well have stayed true to the founders ideals.

 

The issue is that while there are alternatives to e-bay for private sellers that are more in keeping with the origionalnethos e-bay had, model railways are such a nieche product (compared to say old cloathes / furniture / etc. listininb model railway stuff on them simply doesn't get the exposure that e-bay stuff does.

[hayfield]

eBay is a bit like Marmite, you either like it or you don't. Its a free world and no one makes anyone use it

 

Prior to eBay many items would either have been thrown away or sold to traders at a knock down price, and with the demise of model shops it is actually a good substitute for many who just cannot source the parts on a near by high street. Granted out of 280,000 lots only 22000 were auction but there are still great items available. Last week I bought £90+ worth of (un-used)Peco 0 gauge track parts for £30. Also a K's 14xx with a working compensated P4 chassis for £47, the chassis components cost more to buy, then from the same seller a Lima class 33 which had been converted to P4 £16

 

Then a hinge went on a bathroom cabinet, I needed a glass door pivot hinge. None available to buy in any local stores, we could not find any cabinets under £100 to replace it locally. All the pivot hinges on line in the UK were too narrow. eBay buy it now from China £4.89 inc postage from China and arrived within a week. Another purchase was 5 packs of desolder braid £2.89 inc postage

 

It does have its uses, like Amazon. I do try to support local shops, on the other hand if I cannot find it locally its a great resource 

 

As for eBay, I normally watch about 400 items, just waiting for the odd bargain to pop up

[woodenhead]

 

As for eBay, I normally watch about 400 items, just waiting for the odd bargain to pop up

 400 !!

 

That's why I think people are interested when all they are doing is watching.

 

How do you find time to pick let alone watch 400 items

[John M Upton]

Odd thing is I have purchased a few items off Ebay recently only for them to be delivered by Amazon.

 

How does that work?

[Titan]

Odd thing is I have purchased a few items off Ebay recently only for them to be delivered by Amazon.

 

How does that work?

 

Simple. They list items that Amazon have for sale, but they up the price. Then when someone buys one they purchase it from Amazon, put your address as the delivery address, and pocket the difference. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by Titan

[Kylestrome]

Seems the only bargains to be had are where the seller doesn't realize the value of his items and lists at a BIN that is well below what they're really worth. ..............

 

Why does everything on eBay have to be at a "bargain" price?

 

Whenever I sell anything on eBay, as a private seller, I set it up as a BIN in order to achieve a fair price. This is as a result of items in the past going for 99p that were really worth a lot more. If I'm not sure of the actual value I'll begin an auction with a starting price which is the minimum I'm prepared to sell for.

 

Personally, I also hate the auction mode of buying and nearly always buy items that are listed as 'Buy It Now'.

 

I would guess that there are just as many people out there who are happy with the way eBay is now as there are who dislike "what it's now become".

 

David

Edited May 30, 2018 by Kylestrome

[JohnR]

Simple. They list items that Amazon have for sale, but at a higher price. Then when someone buys one they purchase it from Amazon, put your address as the delivery address, and pocket the difference. 

 

Alternatively, they use the Courier company "Amazon Logistics"? I see no reason why they wont take on 3rd party work. 

[hayfield]

 400 !!

 

That's why I think people are interested when all they are doing is watching.

 

How do you find time to pick let alone watch 400 items

 

 

Error, Should have been 200 not 400, most go over if not all what I want to pay, may buy one or two items a week, sometimes nothing (last 15 days 3 items and nothing expensive). If something comes up that either I need or is cheap enough I buy it, last item being £1.99 with free postage (sleeper strip) 

[RFS]

Why does everything on eBay have to be at a "bargain" price?

 

 

If I'm buying something from a private buyer, which is pre-owned (ie used to an unknown extent), with no warranty and with the seller often saying "no returns accepted", then I expect a substantial discount from current new prices. All too often this is not the case.  Even those items listed as new will have no manufacturer's warranty, yet many of such items are often listed at RRP. . 

[Crosland]

If I'm buying something from a private buyer, which is pre-owned (ie used to an unknown extent), with no warranty and with the seller often saying "no returns accepted", then I expect a substantial discount from current new prices. All too often this is not the case. 

 

Is that a bargain, or a fair price for the condition? Some who complain about eBay seem to expect another 50% off

[jonny777]

 

 

Then a hinge went on a bathroom cabinet, I needed a glass door pivot hinge. None available to buy in any local stores, we could not find any cabinets under £100 to replace it locally. All the pivot hinges on line in the UK were too narrow. eBay buy it now from China £4.89 inc postage from China and arrived within a week. Another purchase was 5 packs of desolder braid £2.89 inc postage

 

It does have its uses, 

 

I agree on this part. For me, Ebay has become a convenient online Aladdin's Cave style shop - like those shops I think I remember from my childhood but probably don't. One where my father would go in and ask the shopkeeper "do you possibly have a 15 thou reverse thread self tapping grommet?" (or something like that). 

 

The old chap would rummage through a pile of old boxes, or open numerous drawers and as if by a miracle would produce a box of exactly what my Dad was after and reply "how many do you want?". 

 

I find the same miracle with Ebay. Type in a search for almost anything I need, especially small rarely needed items, and they will almost always turn up on Ebay. I do not want to bid for them, I just want to buy them - and so BIN is right up my street. 

[hayfield]

Why does everything on eBay have to be at a "bargain" price?

 

Whenever I sell anything on eBay, as a private seller, I set it up as a BIN in order to achieve a fair price. This is as a result of items in the past going for 99p that were really worth a lot more. If I'm not sure of the actual value I'll begin an auction with a starting price which is the minimum I'm prepared to sell for.

 

Personally, I also hate the auction mode of buying and nearly always buy items that are listed as 'Buy It Now'.

 

I would guess that there are just as many people out there who are happy with the way eBay is now as there are who dislike "what it's now become".

 

David

 

 

David

 

I think as buyers we all want to buy as cheaply as possible, but when we get round to selling we hope for a top price

 

Now no one is going to give us something for nothing, or top price for something we don't want anymore.

 

We can as it happens on eBay do things to increase our chances of either snapping up a bargain or increasing the appeal of the item we are selling, by the way we approach searching for the item, or the way we present the item for sale 

[Corbs]

I use ebay for nearly all my modelling purchases, mainly because I’m too lazy to search the internet and prefer to do it all through the one site...

[ejstubbs]

Type in a search for almost anything I need, especially small rarely needed items, and they will almost always turn up on Ebay. I do not want to bid for them, I just want to buy them - and so BIN is right up my street. 

 

The catch with this approach - and I'm partial to it as well - is that you need to know roughly what the thing you are wanting to buy is called.  In the past I have occasionally resorted to photographing the thing and putting it in to Google image search to see if any reasonably close matches show up, and then looking to see if one of the web pages with a matching photo divulges the name of the thing.  I've also posted the photo to online forums like this one, where the clientele, taken as a whole, generally has a fairly wide knowledge of the world, and asking "what's this thing called so that I can search for one on eBay"!

Edited May 30, 2018 by ejstubbs

[LBRJ]

I think that the less auctiony it is , the better.

I would much rather buy something there and then, preferably at an advantageous price of course, than go through a lengthy charade of an auction.

[Arthur]

It’s not only useful for finding odd bits you might struggle to find elsewhere, it’s also useful for finding things you never knew existed in the first place. There is such a vast array of items for sale that a vague search term for a tool, a fitting, a gadget, will often turn up some hitherto unknown solution. I’ve bought a good few useful items that way.

 

I buy a lot, not just modelling stuff, through eBay. For some things I’m probably looking for a used item, other times I’m looking for something new, auction or BIN, either way works for me.

 

Edit; And being rural, I don’t have to drive 30 miles into a big town to find and get things.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Arthur

[ejstubbs]

It’s not only useful for finding odd bits you might struggle to find elsewhere, it’s also useful for finding things you never knew existed in the first place. There is such a vast array of items for sale that a vague search term for a tool, a fitting, a gadget, will often turn up some hitherto unknown solution. I’ve bought a good few useful items that way.

 

Indeed.  Browsing eBay can sometimes lead to the discovery of stuff you never knew existed - or you never imagined people might try to sell, like this.  (As suggested by moneysavingexpert.com, no less.  Sometimes I do wonder exactly how grippy Martin Lewis thinks his subscribers are...)

[Sir TophamHatt]

I don't mind it being a BIN or Auction.

But I hate that eBay thinks it's a normal retail website.

 

Right now they have some 20% off promo but it isn't valid for all auctions/BINs. In fact, it's only valid on about 6 "shops" - disappointing.

[Butler Henderson]

Plenty of model shops have used Ebay for some time, not just the Rails of this world but smaller dealers who often do not have their web site. Hence its not unusual to do a search on say a loco that has just been released and find stacks of BIN priced ones as they are simply those dealers offerings. Often mistook by many who squeal about them being on Ebay already thinking some flash harry has bought one or more and is now ebaying them.

[centraltrains]

If I'm buying something from a private buyer, which is pre-owned (ie used to an unknown extent), with no warranty and with the seller often saying "no returns accepted", then I expect a substantial discount from current new prices. All too often this is not the case.  Even those items listed as new will have no manufacturer's warranty, yet many of such items are often listed at RRP. . 

 

Most defiantly not the case! Can be very frustrating to get a return case started out of the blue for something sold over a month ago! [and also suspected fraudulent returns eBay don't care about - their fee seems to do nothing! To send a "formal complaint" I was told I had to post a letter to mainland Ireland, which is quite expensive. And how do they reply? By email so much for cost equality... They took weeks to reply to the letter [i think it was forwarded to India] and the reply was just "We will get back to you soon once we have contacted the relevant departments". 2 weeks later from that email and still nothing. ]

 

 

As for buying, I love eBay, vast array of items which are hard to find in one place! While some prices may be high it's always up to me/you to decide to purchase or not. 

Edited June 1, 2018 by centraltrains

[RFS]

 

Most defiantly not the case! Can be very frustrating to get a return case started out of the blue for something sold over a month ago! [and also suspected fraudulent returns eBay don't care about - their fee seems to do nothing! To send a "formal complaint" I was told I had to post a letter to mainland Ireland, which is quite expensive. And how do they reply? By email so much for cost equality... They took weeks to reply to the letter [i think it was forwarded to India] and the reply was just "We will get back to you soon once we have contacted the relevant departments". 2 weeks later from that email and still nothing. ]

 

 

As for buying, I love eBay, vast array of items which are hard to find in one place! While some prices may be high it's always up to me/you to decide to purchase or not. 

 

Don't think you quite understood my post. All I was saying was that if I'm buying a second-hand item from an Ebay seller that obviously has no manufacturer's warranty etc, then I would not expect to pay close to RRP for the item. If it works when I get it, then fails a month later, than that's the risk I take. However buying such an item, and then finding it's not as described on delivery, is a quite different matter. 

[hayfield]

Don't think you quite understood my post. All I was saying was that if I'm buying a second-hand item from an Ebay seller that obviously has no manufacturer's warranty etc, then I would not expect to pay close to RRP for the item. If it works when I get it, then fails a month later, than that's the risk I take. However buying such an item, and then finding it's not as described on delivery, is a quite different matter. 

 

 

If it is describes as working, it should work, nothing to do with warrinty