Ebay

[Mimi Nakamura]

So, I decided to have a look at Ebay for the first time in quite a while....

I was shocked and disappointed to see how much it had changed - no longer are there standard private sellers, selling retro soft/consoles etc. but just a bunch of Business Sellers.
I used to like using Ebay because I knew that my money was going to the small guy trying to make a little extra cash, but now there are just a bunch of Business Sellers selling huge amounts of games/consoles, and I'm guessing none of them have any real passion for games, other than the money it can make them. It looks like most of them will sell any kind of junk to make some money (countless copies of shit Saturn games for a few dollars in Buy It Now auctions). I thought the whole point of Ebay was for the small man to make a bit of money, not for businesses to exploit it.

Do good game selling private sellers exist anymore on Ebay? I'll be spending most of this year in London and New York, and I'll probably feel the need to buy a few games while I'm away, but there is no way I'm giving my money to the Business Sellers!

[ubikuberalles]

Shuffling this off to the proper E-bay forum...

[sniperCCJVQ]

This is the "new" ebay!

It's slow, its suck, you waste time because you can't find anything

You should see the *UPROAR* on the ebay message board right now...

There even a rumour (true?) that in June...the "old" ebay will cease to exist to be replace entirely with this new "improve" crap.

[ryborg]

Do good game selling private sellers exist anymore on Ebay?

Yes, of course there are, but they no longer make up 99.9999% of all sellers like 7-10 years ago. Ebay's skyrocketing fees and terrible management has scared away untold thousands of sellers. There's simply too much BS for the average person to list a few things a month. I've been selling consistently since '98, but even though I'm just one person, I have to run it like a professional business in order to make good money; you have to.

Also, don't forget about sites like ChasetheChuckWagon. Independent, single-category auction sites are gaining popularity, which I think is great news.

[Cornelius]

I've always tended to prefer buying from sellers with pretty much perfect feedback, but lower numbers of it. About 1000 or less. I guess since that's the category I fall into, I know that I'd like dealing with someone 'like me'. It seems with the big game sellers they rarely give a good description, and what they do give is often untrue (e.g. dirty games, torn labels are not "good" condition). BINs also turn me off of a seller. I guess that doesn't help you find 'standard private sellers' (nor really sure what you mean by that), but it often works for me.

You might also try looking on ChaseTheChuckwagon.com

[Kitsune Sniper]

I tried selling on the Chuckwagon.

Not a single message from a buyer, not a bid, ever.

Good idea? Yeah. But it doesn't pay the bills.

[ryborg]

BINs also turn me off of a seller.

Really? Why is that? I can see being turned off if a seller has all BINs with a 200% markup, but if the price is fair and they are accepting offers, I don't see what the problem is.

[Cornelius]

Really? Why is that? I can see being turned off if a seller has all BINs with a 200% markup, but if the price is fair and they are accepting offers, I don't see what the problem is.

Unfortunately the 200% markup describes 99% of BINs. The other 1% are usually over with before I ever see them.

I'm exaggerating, probably, so part of it is that I'm just cheap, so fair is usually more than I want to pay.

[Cornelius]

I tried selling on the Chuckwagon.

Not a single message from a buyer, not a bid, ever.

Good idea? Yeah. But it doesn't pay the bills.

I know what you mean. I want it to work pretty badly, but, well, my example: I put Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance II (PS2) up on chuckwagon for 20 starting, 25 bin (both w/ free shipping), and got nothing. Finally moved it over to eBay and it sold for 36 + 3.88 shipping to Canada (US shipping would have been free), of which I pocketed 32.56. For that margin I'd have thought someone would have bought it to flip! I did advertise here (the only place I ever do), too.

I know that sounds like a gripe against CTCW, but I don't mean it that way. Its really more of my frustration that such a good idea isn't yet working.

I will say I've also had two great transactions where I think it went perfectly... both buyer and seller probably did better than they would have if it were on eBay. Unfortunately I never got any feedback for either.

[Kaboomer]

Ya have to keep giving the Chuckwagon a chance. Price things realistically and give some thought how you structure your listings. One of our members RICK63 has sold over $10,000 since he joined in May 08. PATS1717 has just sold their 1,717 item and they have only been a member since Sept 08. Lots of others are selling too. Just need to keep using it and it will work. If you list only a few items you aren't giving the site proper time to work for you. We've sold over $100,000 the past year so stuff is selling.

Keep in mind to, that many of you list things differently on the Chuckwagon vs. on Ebay. For example, listing it on the Chuckwagon with a high starting bid vs. listing the same item on Ebay with a low starting bid. Sometimes our members list things with a reserve on the Chuckwagon and then with no reserve on Ebay.

There are lots of factors that affect whether things sell or not. It's not always the site. I have sold tons of stuff myself with low starting bids and they get bid up just as they would on Ebay.

Watch the CIB Bubble Bobble I am listing and see what it does. $5 starting bid and no reserve.