Are professional Ebay sellers the scourge of the hobby?

[jetset]

I used to feel much more strongly about this topic, but not so much anymore. I don't care for resellers, particularly the ones that snatch up cheap BIN's and turn around and ell them at a 400% markup. In the long run, it inflates the cost for those of us here to play games and take part in a fun hobby. Unfortunately though there are much bigger issues with ebay than a few profiteers. At least some of them are collectors, and some even contribute to the hobby in thier own way.

The ones who have NO interest in the hobby and only buy and sell 100% for profit annoy me though.

[Technosis]

I wonder if any full time Ebay sellers have lost their houses due to tax audits?

 

I think that would be a bit of overkill........

 

If you find a nice and fair games delaer stick with them!

 

Fortunately the game stores near me that I deal with are owned by gamers who are more than fair......

[AtariJr]

I agree with AtariJr that Ebay is great for the import gamer.

If you pick up lots of singles you can be patient and wait until

you see someone in your area selling the game, all that shipping

charges adds up. $12-$14 for EMS or $3-$5 for Priority

 

oh man i know. i have a couple ebay stores i like to shop from that have places in america, even though they are based out in japan... whats that mean? it means that they get the items from japan, but ship it from america, meaning no crappy ems fees. oddly enough the games are cheap so the shipping doesnt even work its way in that way. i guess they just ship things in huge bundles to cut down shipping costs.

Edited March 17, 2007 by AtariJr

[Rik]

If non gamers want to scourge the thrift stores for games to sell on ebay,thats their right, of course.Life is competition.I want the games,I just have to get OFF MY ASS to the stores first,and grab them before they(non gamers,ebay sellers,etc) do,cant expect games to all fall into thy hands.The thrift stores here have quite a few buyers,and im quick,i grab all the stuff that this dude at the local flea market buys,before he even knows its there,its become a competition here just to get games,so you have to be savvy.I,ve started to depend on thrift stores now,since EBAY has become too stressfull,as ive encountered quite a few deadbeat,disorganized sellers on there.But dont get me wrong,ebay's a GREAT place to get any hard to find games of any sort,just been having bad luck lately with EBAY.

Edited March 17, 2007 by Rik

[shadow460]

I forgot to mention, the only way to buy on ebay is to snipe. Period. Even if you're only planing to spend a buck for 2600 Asteroids, you don't bid that one measly dollar until the last three seconds of the auction.

 

That said, I don't do much ebaying. I've purchased over 95% of my collection in the wild.

Edited March 17, 2007 by shadow460

[AtariJr]

I forgot to mention, the only way to buy on ebay is to snipe. Period. Even if you're only planing to spend a buck for 2600 Asteroids, you don't bid that one measly dollar until the last three seconds of the auction.

 

That said, I don't do much ebaying. I've purchased over 95% of my collection in the wild.

 

thats not necessarily true. there was a guy recently who was selling a bunch of saturn import games, and everyone bid 99 cents on the game (shipping was only 5 bucks on each)... it was like an unsaid thing of "hey, we can all get these great games for 5.99 if we work together". no one out bid each other, and everyone got the game they put thier first bid on at 99 cents. so in that case it was better to make the first bid first.

[Dusk2600]

i collect and sell, nothing wrong with that.

[darthkur]

I'd rather they didn't, but there's not much you can do to stop them or beat them to the good stuff. I guess you could always buddy up to a thrift store employee and get them to set stuff aside for you.

 

 

That's exactly what I do.

[starwardude]

All I've got to say, people can be cheap.

Edited March 19, 2007 by starwardude

[Rik]

I forgot to mention, the only way to buy on ebay is to snipe. Period. Even if you're only planing to spend a buck for 2600 Asteroids, you don't bid that one measly dollar until the last three seconds of the auction.

 

That said, I don't do much ebaying. I've purchased over 95% of my collection in the wild.

Yes,very true,and %100 agreed!You'll get absolutely nothing if you bid a couple days or hrs before auction ends.

Edited March 19, 2007 by Rik

[shadow460]

Well, not only that, but if you're willing to pay $30 for something, but you know it's worth a little less, someone's gonna bid over and over up to, and maybe higher than, your $30 bid. They'll do that in an attempt to become the highest bidder. In essence, they'll start a small bidding war with you, even though they won't win. Bidding wars mean higher prices, and that's definitely not what we want as a buyer.

Now if that same person comes along and tops a 99 cent bid, they may only bid $10 for the item. When your $30 bid comes in three seconds to the buzzer, they will have time to increase their $10 bid maybe once, but that's it. Now instead of paying close to $30 for the item, you might pay only $15.

[triffid_98]

I've collected a few games/systems on ebay over the years. My opinion on the subject is that there is not necessarily a user driven bidding war on some of these items. Some power-sellers routinely collude with each other using shill accounts.

 

ebay talks a good talk about how they prohibit it, but recent updates to their privacy policy actually encourage the practice. Bottom line, ebay makes money based on the final auction price. Shills drive up prices. Good for the seller, good for ebay, bad for you.

 

In fact there was recently an article in the times about it, check the link below if you're curious.

 

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007...y_shilling.html

 

Sniping is basically the only way around the problem.

 

That said, without ebay pros reselling their estate sale/lien auction finds, we wouldn't have access to a lot of the great artifacts of the past. It's give and take.

 

...

Now if that same person comes along and tops a 99 cent bid, they may only bid $10 for the item. When your $30 bid comes in three seconds to the buzzer, they will have time to increase their $10 bid maybe once, but that's it. Now instead of paying close to $30 for the item, you might pay only $15.

[***astro_boy***]

I am a collector and a seller. Have been collecting games and music for ten years and selling as well for about five. I run nearly all my auctions from 99 cents giving everyone a fair go. I see it as making a bit of cash back from the amount that i have spent on my collection.

[Rik]

Well, not only that, but if you're willing to pay $30 for something, but you know it's worth a little less, someone's gonna bid over and over up to, and maybe higher than, your $30 bid. They'll do that in an attempt to become the highest bidder. In essence, they'll start a small bidding war with you, even though they won't win. Bidding wars mean higher prices, and that's definitely not what we want as a buyer.

Now if that same person comes along and tops a 99 cent bid, they may only bid $10 for the item. When your $30 bid comes in three seconds to the buzzer, they will have time to increase their $10 bid maybe once, but that's it. Now instead of paying close to $30 for the item, you might pay only $15.

Yep,all very true,the thing that pisses me off is that if you leave a negative feedback,that is %100 justified,the seller will burn you by giving you a negative also,just to get back at you!,losers!,so leaving negative feedback scares alot of people,therefore creating a serious flaw in ebays system weeding out the bad apples.They must COME UP WITH A BETTER SYSTEM!!!!...PURE B.S

Edited March 19, 2007 by Rik

[shadow460]

Since I don't have a seller's account, a retaliatory neg isn't going to bother me. I won't hurt the person who leaves it.

 

Much.

[rockman_x_2002]

Yep,all very true,the thing that pisses me off is that if you leave a negative feedback,that is %100 justified,the seller will burn you by giving you a negative also,just to get back at you!,losers!,so leaving negative feedback scares alot of people,therefore creating a serious flaw in ebays system weeding out the bad apples.They must COME UP WITH A BETTER SYSTEM!!!!...PURE B.S

 

I posed a solution to this some time ago. One way you could fix the problem is by keeping feedback over a particular item secret until both parties have submitted feedback. For example, when an item arrives and a buyer leaves feedback, the only thing the seller will be able to see is that the buyer has left them feedback of some kind. They won't be able to see if it is positive, negative, or neutral until they have also left feedback. Vice-versa for the buyer concerning the seller, if the seller posts feedback first.

[Video]

Well, not only that, but if you're willing to pay $30 for something, but you know it's worth a little less, someone's gonna bid over and over up to, and maybe higher than, your $30 bid. They'll do that in an attempt to become the highest bidder. In essence, they'll start a small bidding war with you, even though they won't win. Bidding wars mean higher prices, and that's definitely not what we want as a buyer.

Now if that same person comes along and tops a 99 cent bid, they may only bid $10 for the item. When your $30 bid comes in three seconds to the buzzer, they will have time to increase their $10 bid maybe once, but that's it. Now instead of paying close to $30 for the item, you might pay only $15.

Yep,all very true,the thing that pisses me off is that if you leave a negative feedback,that is %100 justified,the seller will burn you by giving you a negative also,just to get back at you!,losers!,so leaving negative feedback scares alot of people,therefore creating a serious flaw in ebays system weeding out the bad apples.They must COME UP WITH A BETTER SYSTEM!!!!...PURE B.S

Yeah, but they do have the reply to feedback so when people read your feedback, you can have them read the explanation for recieveing it.

 

I often do business with people that have a lot of business under their belts. If they got 5000 feedback, and a 99% Positive rateing, it's a pretty safe bet they're not trying to rip you off.

 

Ebay also should link the buyer's and sellers feedbacks together, so escentually, anybody reading the feedback could see what was left for the other person if it was negative or justified.

 

I like Rockmans Idea though, have the feedback hidden untill feedback is recieved from both parties. That way, if you want feedback, you'll give more truthfull feedback to recieve it ,and won't ever recieve it if you don't get any, so it won't affect you badly either way (unless your a rippoff asshole or something)

[DreamTR]

The biggest issue I think people have with those "cleaning" out stores with sales and thrift stores with good games is that they ARE in fact going to resell the games, but think of it this way:

 

Most collectors here would NOT pass up something they see at a thrift store worth big bucks. You mean to tell me that if you already had boxed versions of 10 really rare 2600 games, you would just leave them be for "someone else" to pick them up and not keep them or rsell them yourself? That's hypocritical and plain stupid IMO.

 

A lot of the people "complaining" wind up eventually selling the stuff they acquired at thrifts and fleas for more money anyway. They sure as heck are not going to sell the stuff for the little amount they purchased it for.

 

The flip side to this are the people that get angry that someone goes to Best Buy/EB and takes all the clearance games for resale. I am guilty of taking some of these, but I always try to leave one of each title for the next person up there. I keep the ones I need, sell off the rest, and the money I get I use to buy more video games because I would not be abloe to afford it otherwise.

[triffid_98]

I'm sure this isn't making me any friends, but I'll give another example anyway. Some games are fairly rare, even on ebay. About 7 months ago I was looking for a copy of Blackthorne for the 32X. I'd heard it was quite good and wanted to play it (Its a lot of fun by the way). A powerseller, who shall remain nameless, made it a habit of buying every copy that would show up...and then placing them up for buy it now auctions at roughly 3 times the going price, effectively creating a nice healthy monopoly for himself. Therein lies the difference between collectors and um..whatever he is.

 

The biggest issue I think people have with those "cleaning" out stores with sales and thrift stores with good games is that they ARE in fact going to resell the games, but think of it this way:

 

Most collectors here would NOT pass up something they see at a thrift store worth big bucks. You mean to tell me that if you already had boxed versions of 10 really rare 2600 games, you would just leave them be for "someone else" to pick them up and not keep them or rsell them yourself? That's hypocritical and plain stupid IMO.

 

A lot of the people "complaining" wind up eventually selling the stuff they acquired at thrifts and fleas for more money anyway. They sure as heck are not going to sell the stuff for the little amount they purchased it for.

 

The flip side to this are the people that get angry that someone goes to Best Buy/EB and takes all the clearance games for resale. I am guilty of taking some of these, but I always try to leave one of each title for the next person up there. I keep the ones I need, sell off the rest, and the money I get I use to buy more video games because I would not be abloe to afford it otherwise.

Edited March 21, 2007 by triffid_98

[Almost Rice]

Yep,all very true,the thing that pisses me off is that if you leave a negative feedback,that is %100 justified,the seller will burn you by giving you a negative also,just to get back at you!,losers!,so leaving negative feedback scares alot of people,therefore creating a serious flaw in ebays system weeding out the bad apples.They must COME UP WITH A BETTER SYSTEM!!!!...PURE B.S

 

I have had a bad experience selling. I got an unjustified negative because the item was not up to the buyer's standards. The item was new and sold again after it was returned. I got a positive the 2nd time around. The person gave me the neg. the day they recieved the item and demanded a refund. My return policy was 60 days no questions asked. The guy deserved a neg. since the he gave me a negative before even notifying me to fix his problem. I like the system as-is. It allows for mutual destruction like the cold war.

[Technosis]

I'm sure this isn't making me any friends, but I'll give another example anyway. Some games are fairly rare, even on ebay. About 7 months ago I was looking for a copy of Blackthorne for the 32X. I'd heard it was quite good and wanted to play it (Its a lot of fun by the way). A powerseller, who shall remain nameless, made it a habit of buying every copy that would show up...and then placing them up for buy it now auctions at roughly 3 times the going price, effectively creating a nice healthy monopoly for himself. Therein lies the difference between collectors and um..whatever he is.

 

Were you not able to just outbid him in the eBay auction, or did he purposely bid higher than normal each time just to maintain this "monopoly"?

[triffid_98]

The latter. I'm sure I cut into his margins a bit but I wasn't going to bid him up forever.

 

Were you not able to just outbid him in the eBay auction, or did he purposely bid higher than normal each time just to maintain this "monopoly"?

[Hoodoo]

I started collecting when I started playing, back with the old A 2600, and I've found a few things...

 

1. Where I live currently, the thrift shops are OUTRAGEOUS for games. I saw Super Mario/Duck Hunt, one of the most common cartridges known to man,sold at Goodwill for $4.99. That's crap. Period.

 

2. I use EBay quite often,actually. I recently got Star Raiders,new, in the box complete with keypad for $2.85 (6.90 with shipping) and I know without a doubt,in the thrift stores here,something like that would go 30 bucks easy.

 

It's all about location. In places where there's a huge retro market, like here in Oregon,where I live, thrift stores often times inflate prices BADLY.I saw an NES once for !!100 dollars!! That's inexcusable. I have dealt with one specialized Ebay vendor of video games and have had nothing but pleasure in dealing with them.

[Video]

I started collecting when I started playing, back with the old A 2600, and I've found a few things...

 

1. Where I live currently, the thrift shops are OUTRAGEOUS for games. I saw Super Mario/Duck Hunt, one of the most common cartridges known to man,sold at Goodwill for $4.99. That's crap. Period.

 

Why does everybody always think $5 is so much? Look, even if you got a most common dirt cheap game for $0.01 (the cheapest possible price on ebay) you'll most likely still get slammed the $4-$5 fee anyways.

 

Yeah, it is crap though, but Ebay's going to honestly be no better for the cheap stuff.

[shadow460]

Ya vote wit cha wallet. If ya don't like the prices, then don't buy. It'll be on sale somewhere else if it's common.

Take a look around for some different thrifts.