ebay found a new way to screw with buyers

[pwebb]

I always struggled with the word 'won' in relation to eBay. How can anyone have won when the reality is they ended up paying more than anyone else? eBay want people to get dragged into involuntary bidding battles so we should all resist it. As an occasional seller, I do want to get a good price for items I sell, but not if that means people bid more than they want to pay or can ill afford.

 

[sjcprojects]

To be honest, I just miss the good old days of everything starting at 99p. Though, as a seller that did backfire a few times; I once sold a decent office chair for 99p. The buyer paid with a pound coin, and did generously let me keep the 1p change…

 

[LondonClassic]

I always struggled with the word 'won' in relation to eBay. How can anyone have won when the reality is they ended up paying more than anyone else? eBay want people to get dragged into involuntary bidding battles so we should all resist it. As an occasional seller, I do want to get a good price for items I sell, but not if that means people bid more than they want to pay or can ill afford.

Involuntary bidding battles and people paying more than they can afford is bread and butter for the auction industry. I worked for two years on the trad auction side (a well known trad auctions website) and saw a few things that made me want to get out. The use of 'house accounts' to artificailly bid up items is widespread and tolerated and there is no scrutiny or ombudsman. This is before we get into how easy it is to launder money in an international online art and antiques auction...

Ebay in this regard are probably the good guys (comparatively) in the industry. The new models discussed are desperate attempts to shore up stock price in a declining market. Paypal was the side of the business making real dough and that broke off in 2015. The bulk of revenue seems now to come from drop shipped amazon goods sold on ebay.

 

[pwebb]

Involuntary bidding battles and people paying more than they can afford is bread and butter for the auction industry. I worked for two years on the trad auction side (a well known trad auctions website) and saw a few things that made me want to get out. The use of 'house accounts' to artificailly bid up items is widespread and tolerated and there is no scrutiny or ombudsman. This is before we get into how easy it is to launder money in an international online art and antiques auction...

Ebay in this regard are probably the good guys (comparatively) in the industry. The new models discussed are desperate attempts to shore up stock price in a declining market. Paypal was the side of the business making real dough and that broke off in 2015. The bulk of revenue seems now to come from drop shipped amazon goods sold on ebay.

Very sad and depressing but I fear we are unable to avoid eBay in this hobby. If there were a fair and ethical version it wouldn't be commercially viable and would likely be missing the feature set that makes eBay accessible to all.
I am constantly amused when collecting items when folks who wouldn't usually do anything complex online are happily scanning qr codes in the eBay app and seemingly oblivious to privacy concerns and the less savoury aspects about the eBay business model

 

[Betsy]

All the fake sh*t is back with a vengeance too, 1000s of accounts based in China or Chinese sellers with a UK postal address hawking fake branded goods.. after years of trying to stamp out this practice.. nowadays eBay don't seem to give a crap, obviously it's good for profits.





Pointless complaining.. there are 1000s of these accounts.. if you want legit trainers, eBay will offer an authenticity check, if you don't, you can buy 1000s of fakes because eBay are once again openly complicit in the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods like it was 2010 allover again.

Louis Vuitton handbag anyone?

 

[LondonClassic]

Very sad and depressing but I fear we are unable to avoid eBay in this hobby.

For now certainly. If you needed a 122mm Stronglight ISO taper 68mm BB your options are ebay, bikejumbles or here. The last two options require a massive stroke of luck. The way things are going - including @Betsy s point on fake stuff - points to an implosion of ebay at some point. Then its up to someone else to reinvent it. I like the Vinted model. Good buyer protections, paid authenticators. We kind of need a vinted for retrobikes and bits that can't be flooded with BSO and dross.

 

[Betsy]

The PO nearest to my work is in international student-ville.. you’re always in the queue behind numerous Chinese students with those pull along shopping trolleys on wheels old women used to have in the 1980s.. they’re full to the brim with small parcels.

The postmistress told me that their visiting families fill their student accom with eBay goods for sale in the UK..

..so when you see cheap Chinese goods for sale on eBay offering a 3-4 day postage and you wonder how it gets from Shenzhen to Sheffield so quickly.. this^ is how.. obviously it avoids import duty and VAT as well.

It offsets the cost of their education..

 

[sjcprojects]

I like some things about Vinted, but considering they invented the ‘buyer protection’ feature, it’s actually worse as a buyer than eBay is, due to the sneaky bit in their terms and conditions which mean you actually opt out of distance selling regulations - meaning you have to pay for returns even when items are not as described.

Vinted is also oddly rubbish when it comes to search terms - I found it impossible to search for cycling overshoes without getting endless cycling shoes instead, for example.