Do you eBay?

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

I like to. Quite often you come across a gem of a sale. And selling things, you have the greatest audience on the internet. Pity they charge commission for every sale - not unlike auctions over here in the UK.

 

[tvguy]

Haven't use EBay in a decade when my daughter sold her College books there.

 

[scrump]

I will check for random items when it occurs to me, but I haven't seriously purchased anything in a long time.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Sell there all the time. They give you 250 no insertion fee listings per month so I try to keep my account loaded with enough items to use those up.

I occasionally buy stuff on there but not very often.

 

[PollyannaMom]

No. DH used to have an account but someone hacked it and caused a bunch of hassle. We haven't used eBay since, and I kind of miss the option.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I don’t do much buying there anymore but the odd item can still attract my interest. The only time I sold items was when we downsized.

 

[LoveDaisy]

I am not an eBay user but my parents have been cleaning their house and have been giving me my Barbie collection. It is not something I still collect and I don’t really have room for them so I’ve been debating trying to sell them on eBay.

 

[kanerf]

It is one of the places I check when I am looking for something. I have purchased many items there over the years and sold some things as well.

 

[_19disnA]

Never used it. Seems like too many scams relating to items to being sold. No interest in using it to sell anything either. Rather use Amazon when looking to buy things where there are legit vendors selling items. Other websites like Walmart often have the same item for sale at a lower price so it pays to look around. It seems like Ebay has many one-of-a-kind type collectables for sale and way too much hassle getting your money back if item isn't as advertised.

 

[Tuffcookie]

eBay is the place to go if what you are looking for is vintage. Just this year I bought a vintage Ecko potato peeler! Mine finally broke and I did not like any of the current ones that are made. Hope this one lasts 40 years, like the last one!

 

[JBRB828]

I haven’t used it in quite a long time. However, I do go on it to look for a specific item.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Never used it. Seems like too many scams relating to items to being sold. No interest in using it to sell anything either. Rather use Amazon when looking to buy things where there are legit vendors selling items.

Amazon has problems with fakes on many items as well. I have stopped using them for any technology item due to that.

https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/1bz1seb/sandisk_fakes_through_amazon

Other websites like Walmart often have the same item for sale at a lower price so it pays to look around. It seems like Ebay has many one-of-a-kind type collectables for sale and way too much hassle getting your money back if item isn't as advertised.

Getting money back from eBay is easy. Open an item not as described case and you ship the item back with the provided label. Once item is delivered the refund is automatic. Even if a seller doesn’t accept returns. Note: it’s better to contact the seller first before doing this because they may work with you where an INAD ties their hands.

eBay policies are very much in the buyer side when it comes to disputes.

 

[Ronaldo17]

We buy from eBay quite a lot, very rarely sell though.

 

[sailorstitch]

A recent brag worthy sale of mine.

 

[irlandaise]

Pity they charge commission for every sale - not unlike auctions over here in the UK.

What business model do you suggest for online auction companies to stay in business if they don't charge fees on sales?

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

What business model do you suggest for online auction companies to stay in business if they don't charge fees on sales?

I am no expert. Surely this would be the obvious way… but then I consider Vinted. Every sale you make, you keep every penny and don't even have to pay delivery. That is levied on the buyer. But what confuses me is that the cash surplus is infrequently more than £2-£3. Where's the profit in that? If I tried to ship using a super-economy courier, I'd pay more than that, ignoring the insurance! Yet they turn a profit. I don't get it!

 

[fla4fun]

I used to buy things occasionally from eBay when they started out. It was more like a huge garage sale back then, direct from one average person to another without all the people creating stores and trying to run a business. That change brought out the counterfeit merchandise, and contributed to the theft rings stealing to sell items online. I still browse every now and then, but I would never buy.

I am getting more reluctant to use Amazon as well, and avoid some types of merchandise altogether as it could be counterfeit or stolen. I mostly download books from the Kindle section of the website these days.

 

[irlandaise]

I am getting more reluctant to use Amazon as well, and avoid some types of merchandise altogether as it could be counterfeit or stolen.

I buy almost exclusively from Amazon itself. Sometimes you have to dig around to see whether an item is sold by Amazon. There's no checkbox to filter for that, so you may be presented with multiple sellers and have to scroll through them.

When what I want isn't available from Amazon, I look for sellers who have very positive scores and who use Amazon shipping.

I sold a bunch of stuff on eBay when I was downsizing, and I occasionally buy through that platform. Again, I look for positive scores from buyers.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I am not an eBay user but my parents have been cleaning their house and have been giving me my Barbie collection. It is not something I still collect and I don’t really have room for them so I’ve been debating trying to sell them on eBay.

I was a Barbie seller years ago. Are they pre 1980s Barbie items? Made in Japan or Taiwan? Any Sears made Barbie clothing? You can get some serious money for some of those items.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I buy almost exclusively from Amazon itself. Sometimes you have to dig around to see whether an item is sold by Amazon. There's no checkbox to filter for that, so you may be presented with multiple sellers and have to scroll through them.

This only means it’s being shipped by Amazon though. The Amazon inventory is often coming from 3rd parties who are not the manufacturer.

Check out the above link regarding SD cards. That is a commodity that Amazon itself is shipping fakes out due to mixed stock from unscrupulous suppliers.