Your Thoughts about EBAY

yardape

NAXJA Member #272
Location
Maryland
As someone who occasionally buys products on Ebay to save a few bucks here and there, I've often been curious and amazed at how some of these internet entrepenuers gather their inventory,... particularly those individuals who seem to sell hundreds of pieces of totally unrelated items,.... And then there are the people who sell brand new Craftsman tools. How does that work? Are they falling off the truck on the way to Sears? Are more of these products stolen than I ever imagined?

I've had visions of scavengers going through the wreckage of New Orleans with humongous trucks looking for anything and everything they could throw on the internet to sell on Ebay. Think about the $1000's of dollars worth of professional grade automotive tools in every gas station and dealership that due to their weight would most likely have stayed put or sunk into the mud near where they were originally located. Same thing could be said for any jewelry store safe,.... although most likely since there was a storm warning, most of this kind of thing left with their owners.

If anyone has direct experience with any of these thoughts I'd like to hear what you have to say. I just bought a brand new remote for my garage door opener for slightly over half of what the original manufacturer wanted on their website. I just don't get it unless their buying wholesale but with some of these items like Craftsman there is supposed to be only one place to buy their stuff.
 
A lot of times people sell old inventory on there.

I buy old jeeps/4x4's for the sole purpose of parting out on EBAY. It's amazing what people will pay for some odd parts.
 
Alot that sell new tools, etc get them from overstock, other auctions, etc...

Ive sold HUNDREDS of snap-on tools, alot that were the same thing that i aquired through overstock auctions, freebies from the snap-on guy(do ALOT of business with him), etc. Sometimes its a business doing an inventory reduction or someone going out of business. Wouldnt surprize me if alot of the stuff is stolen though.
 
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Some people sell odd and ends for other people that do not want to mess with ebay. The person who sells these odds and ends make a little profit off each item they sell for someone. Also pawn shops do alot of bussiness over ebay. That is where you one seller selling unrelated items.
 
All makes sense. Thankyou. Jeffro,... do you have an ebay store to browse?
 
Had a friend who made his living on ebay.
He would take a couple days a week driving to all the TJ Maxxes, Value Cities, and Marshalls (basically all the stores that blow out last year's name brand stuff) in Chicago.
He'd find close out deals on North Face, Descente, and Salomon outdoor clothing and shoes.
He'd also buy high end fashion brands like Hugo Boss and Armani.
All for around .10 on the dollar.

He'd sell it on ebay for triple his money to people who were thrilled to buy the stuff for half off retail.

Made a good living, best of all, TAX FREE.
 
I saw on the local news last night that a new business started up down here in Richmond, that'll list any crappy Christmas presents you get and don't want :laugh3: . You bring it in to them, they photo it and list it on eBay and auction it for you.......their cut is an even 32% of the winning bid.

Not my cup of tea, but I gotta say it ain't a bad business idea....

Jeff
 
From a buyers perspective, I'm not a fan of ebay, you really have to know what you are buying. I've gotten burned twice on scsi hard drives where it would have been cheaper to just buy them new from a regular supplier. Other stuff like jeep parts, I've done OK on, my rule of thumb is nothing from ebay that plugs in or has moving parts. What amazes me is that people will pay higher than dealer prices for jeep stuff. When I needed a TJ soft top frame I bid on one that was about 40 miles from me, it sold for $100 MORE than the dealer wanted [with my BMJA club discount], looked like two bidders got into a pissing contest. Finally bought two at a jeep swap meet for a good price...
From a sellers perspective, I"ve only listed two things on Ebay and got a bunch of crackpot responses that just turned me off, the main reason my 1981 Yamaha XS1100LH is till nicely stored in my shed. I may actually put it back on the road next year.
 
I've been buying on ebay for a while and never had a problem. Even bought most of my Apple stuff on line. Anyone interested in some old Macs? hahaha Anyways just started selling and I have to agree with Rich. 7 items sold to 5 buyers, 3 buyers have no problem with the only postal money order or cashier's check, no paypal. After the auctions end, 2 buyers couldn't read that I didn't accept paypal. Large letters and very evident. 40% of my buyers can't read or understand instructions. Doesn't look good for the next 12 items I have set up to sell. Waiting till I finalize with these two nuts before I list any more. A guy I know goes around to auctions and buys tons of books, literally, and sells them on ebay as a living. He says he's never had a problem. Wait till I see him the next time.
 
I get my stuff from work... I sell the cylinders that we can't sell at work due to a small customer base and then give the company a cut of what I sell.. Otherwise A lot of this stuff would be sold as scap just to get it out of the way...

Also you wouldn't believe the stuff our goverment gives away!! I got 150 out of the 500 fire extinguishers back from them that I sold a year ago. Nothing wrong with em, they just didn't need em and wanted us to dispose of them...
 
I'm with Rich here, I've seen customers get screwed over for RC stuff over the past several years. I just got this e-mail today, I kinda figure it's a phishing expedition. Odd part is, I don't have an E-Bay account!

----------------------------------------
EBAY CUSTOMER -169981A1-169981
To: [email protected]
----------------------------------------
Dear $username,

Your business is greatly appreciated and to show our thanks we would
like to
simply go to the following website and fill our form out and we will
award you a free gift.
http://www.traducian.com/ebay/

Thanks Again and Enjoy!










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Ebay is ok, but the shipping companies are who are really making out on the ebay deal! Also, if it's a good item that people want, you can forget getting a good deal. Finally, the last seconds are when action takes place on the items I've tried to get and that sucks...for the potential buyer. Great for the seller. Jeff
 
hello all i've been on both ends of the stick.i've bought and had no problems. i reacently started trying to make some profits from ebay and have not had a real good experience to date.i've sold the same thing three times,finaly sold it the last time right before christmas.same problem as stated above people cant read and dont understand that when you buy it now and dont purchase the item ,the seller has to pay again to relist every time.and pay pal still hasnt set me up in there system so you do the math and come to your own conclusion? i started all of the selling arround thanksgiving and still dont have a functonal pay pal account.
 
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