eBay

[Zthun]

Just so you know, you've probably been lucky so far, but eventually, you will find your typical eBay retard. That site does tend to attract the more trashier side of humanity and thus, you get uneducated people with middle school education who don't understand some of the most basic concepts of buying and selling.

If you are selling, you will get these buyers who just can't get it through their third grade mind that shipping costs more than $0.01 and when you sell them something that weights 2 -3 pounds for $5.00, they get infuriated when you charge them $8.00-$9.00 for priority mail shipping. It doesn't matter what the item is worth, some buyers just don't understand shipping charges. For example, NFL 2k1 for the Dreamcast is worth about $0.50, but I'm not going to sell it to you for less than $3.00 cause the shipping for that item is going to be somewhere around $2.50 (packing material, ink, mailer/box + USPS cost). I'd rather just donate it to the goodwill and get a tax write off than sell it for less than the price of shipping.

If you are buying, you will get these sellers who attempt to sell you garbage and claim that it works. I have had the worst luck with console systems. Tested and working mean nothing to me in a description when it comes to consoles. I once bought a Sega Saturn that was claimed tested and working. When I got it, it had no protection in the box at all, and sure enough, USPS played football with it and when it got to me, poof, didn't work. That's just one example of many I've had with sellers who don't use common sense.

[wyethin]

@shopkins

That's an affecting tale. I guess I didn't consider the possibility of eBay addiction as an actual phenomenon. In reality, I spent a couple hundred over the course of a few days and more consecutive time at my PC than I've spent since the release of Warcraft 2. However, I walked away with a good chunk of my collection and probably no lasting harm from my lost weekend. So while for someone generally frugal and lucid this was an act of manic indulgence, it was probably mild and insignificant when measured by the eBay insanity index.

[Shellshock!]

Ebay rocks. I continue to build a CIB GameBoy collection for free. Latest additions:

Bought sealed Darkwing Duck for $30, sold it for $100, used the profits to buy CIB Bionic Commando at $45 and CIB Parodius at $25, put $30 back into my Paypal account. Thanks Ebay!

[Bugbear]

Yes, but you have to realize, you're not getting all that money. Ebay just keeps upping it's final value fees, and then Paypal charges a horrendous fee for something that should be free.
I remember when the Ebay Final Value Fee was .8%. Now it's over 3%.

[wyethin]

I can't say I have a lot of interest in this CIB business. I paid extra for a copy of Gargoyle's Quest with the manual. Once I got it, it just didn't seem worth paying almost twice as much for. Basically, "You're a Gargoyle; press A."

[BetaWolf47]

You would appear to have a shallow understanding of irony.

That's not really irony.

But that is.

[wyethin]

But that is.

Let me get out my semantics sword +1 and we can hash it out.

[garagesaleking!!]

Actually it averages more like 6% to 10% depending on the item. the thing you have to realize is, ebay is worth every penny they charge. Despite the raises they can keep doing it because its worth it.

Now, dont act like amazon has no fees. I sold some textbooks and they charged me a 14% commission fee. That was outrageous, higher than ebay. Whats with that?

[Cornelius]

Actually it averages more like 6% to 10% depending on the item. the thing you have to realize is, ebay is worth every penny they charge. Despite the raises they can keep doing it because its worth it.

Now, dont act like amazon has no fees. I sold some textbooks and they charged me a 14% commission fee. That was outrageous, higher than ebay. Whats with that?

I track percentage on every sale I do, and they don't match your experience at all, so maybe you can tell me how your fees are so low.

on eBay my lowest fees are about %15 for a typical $20 sale (I include paypal's take, but my shipping cost is taken out of numerator). And that's an auction, not a BIN (I'm pretty sure... I don't currently track that in my spreadsheet).

Were those really expensive textbooks? Or maybe Amazon has lower fees on books? My lowest % on Amazon was %18 for an item the buyer paid $69 total on.

BTW, I agree that it is worth it. Amazon has been really good to me as a seller lately. The prices tend to be higher and listing is a lot faster and easier for me (mainly I don't have to mess with pictures, templates, etc.). Stuff that will do better on eBay has been piling up since I started using amazon, just because it seems like such a pain now.

[Shellshock!]

I can't say I have a lot of interest in this CIB business. I paid extra for a copy of Gargoyle's Quest with the manual. Once I got it, it just didn't seem worth paying almost twice as much for. Basically, "You're a Gargoyle; press A."

That's all taste, really. I don't care what the manual has to say, I can go to GameFaqs. I don't care what the box has to say either, I can download a scan of it. But personally I like having complete sets of games I really love just because I appreciate the art in the manual and box, as well as having it on the shelf. I feel like there's no reason to buy a lose cartridge because it's better to play the ROM on a flash cart.

Funny that you mentioned Gargoyle's Quest. I just got a second CIB copy of it for like $30, which I'll be reselling on EBay for $60+ as soon as I get it. Love that game.

[wyethin]

That's all taste, really. I don't care what the manual has to say, I can go to GameFaqs. I don't care what the box has to say either, I can download a scan of it. But personally I like having complete sets of games I really love just because I appreciate the art in the manual and box, as well as having it on the shelf. I feel like there's no reason to buy a lose cartridge because it's better to play the ROM on a flash cart.

Funny that you mentioned Gargoyle's Quest. I just got a second CIB copy of it for like $30, which I'll be reselling on EBay for $60+ as soon as I get it. Love that game.

You are a capitalist villain, God bless you.

[pseudonym]

Since when does Gargoyle's Quest sell for $60+? Jeez. I'm surprised that ryborg, darkslime, or some of the other ebay sellers/resellers haven't posted in here yet. I sell VHS tapes and DVDs on Ebay. It's been paying for my collection. I've barely had to pay anything out of pocket for the last couple of years.

[ryborg]

I'm surprised that ryborg, darkslime, or some of the other ebay sellers/resellers haven't posted in here yet.

Damn dude, let a brother have a social life. This thread's pretty dumb (who is JUST NOW discovering ebay??), but here are some words.

Just be careful with Ebay; there are plenty of horror stories. People get scammed easily, and the bad sellers know all the ways around the rules.

For the love of ----, don't sell anything! You'll end up paying out your ass in fees.

This is the stupidest thing I've ever read on these forums concerning ebay. Buyers have 100% coverage with Paypal. The absolute MOST a buyer will ever lose is the shipping cost to mail the item back to the seller if something is wrong. If an item isn't received, you click your mouse a few times and a you get a full refund.

Yes, you have to pay fees to sell items. Why is this a ridiculous concept? You're paying ebay a small percentage to gain access to millions of potential customers.

Paypal charges a horrendous fee for something that should be free.
I remember when the Ebay Final Value Fee was .8%. Now it's over 3%.

Please explain why you think Paypal payments should be free and why you think inflation doesn't affect ebay fees. Go.

[Bugbear]

I don't see what's so wrong with GQ; that describes a lot of games. "You're Mario; jump."

[Zthun]

Please explain why you think Paypal payments should be free and why you think inflation doesn't affect ebay fees. Go.

Paypal payments probably should be free to the seller. The buyer should really be the one to pay the fees. Why is it that the seller has to pay the fees, yet they get NO protection against chargebacks and false claims? They buyer pays nothing to paypal and they get all the protection. Now unless I've misread something, can somebody please EXPLAIN that to me. Paypal is almost as bad as car insurance.

[brykasch]

Yes I agree the buyer should be responsible for paypal fees. But you have to understand Ebay now is ONLY about the buyers, the sellers have become an afterthought.

I have gone to Amazon to sell books, music, and dvd's. The profit there and ease is much better than on Ebay, I can list it and forget it, when it sells it sells.

You can have a bad experience no matter where you buy an item, all you can do is do all the investigating you can before you purchase. Ebay does have paypal protection but it doesn't cover everything so beware of that.

[Nico87]

I sometimes overspend on eBay, but my I guess my salary is kind of justifying it. I always set aside a certain amount for savings, no matter how many games I buy in a month. As long as you keep money for savings, you should be fine. Nothing wrong with buying a game or two instead of a fine dinner one day, just don't let it happend too often.

I overspend when I get into a new system. This is because I usually spot out about 10-15 games to start with for that system. For example, I just got into the DS scene, and I quickly bought around 20 CIB games for it. DS games aren't really that expensive these days neither, I don't think I spent over $20 for any DS game. Use more caution if you get into a more retro system, or especially importing.

I usually buy a $100+ game a month, but the others are relatively cheap. If I've done good with my savings and paid all the bills, I might buy a couple of $100+ games, if I really want them that is, but then I cut down on the cheaper stuff.

Do like me, write a list in notepad or whatever of the games you are planning to buy on payday. Never overstep or buy outside of that list, and mark down the prices for each game next to it. It works, believe me! If you get that urge that you NEED to buy something on eBay that's not on the list, it might be okay if the games are cheap, but set a max sum for games outside of the initial list. I often do that, if the games on my initial list are rather cheap.

[ryborg]

Why is it that the seller has to pay the fees, yet they get NO protection against chargebacks and false claims? They buyer pays nothing to paypal and they get all the protection. Now unless I've misread something, can somebody please EXPLAIN that to me.

The buyer is the customer; the customer gets the "deal." I know that's overly simplistic, but that's the reasoning. If I as a buyer had a pay a $2.50 fee to send a $50 payment every time, I would make sure I used Paypal as little as possible. The reason Paypal got huge many years ago is its simplicity and low/no cost to the buyer. If the buyer had to pay the fee, Paypal would be no larger than Western Union money transfers today.

But you have to understand Ebay now is ONLY about the buyers, the sellers have become an afterthought.

This is definitely true, but unfortunately for sellers, this is the way to go. Sellers like myself have proven over the years to put up with anything to gain access to the MASSIVE user base of potential buyers. I wonder what the point is where sellers seriously start saying "Fuck it, I'm out." I'm certain it's already happening.

I have gone to Amazon to sell books, music, and dvd's. The profit there and ease is much better than on Ebay, I can list it and forget it, when it sells it sells.

Amazon is generally great, but the profit is all over the place I've noticed. Some items sell for far higher, some sell for far less. I love the fact you can post something, put it back in storage, forget about it, and it sells months later. I don't like how you can't use your own photos, you can't always list something as New-Factory Sealed (your account has to be at a certain "level"), you can't create your own listings unless you pay $40/m for Amazon Prime or whatever it's called, and that buyers can't formally make offers to sellers.

[Shellshock!]

Since when does Gargoyle's Quest sell for $60+? Jeez.

It's quite hard to find a CIB copy of it. Almost CIB-Belmont's-Revenge hard.

[Zthun]

The buyer is the customer; the customer gets the "deal." I know that's overly simplistic, but that's the reasoning. If I as a buyer had a pay a $2.50 fee to send a $50 payment every time, I would make sure I used Paypal as little as possible. The reason Paypal got huge many years ago is its simplicity and low/no cost to the buyer. If the buyer had to pay the fee, Paypal would be no larger than Western Union money transfers today.

I agree with the part that Paypal would be no larger than Western Union money transfers, but how is the seller NOT a customer. The buyer is a customer to me. I pay paypal fees so they can offer buyers protection? Why I don't get any chargeback protection?

This is definitely true, but unfortunately for sellers, this is the way to go. Sellers like myself have proven over the years to put up with anything to gain access to the MASSIVE user base of potential buyers. I wonder what the point is where sellers seriously start saying "Fuck it, I'm out." I'm certain it's already happening.

Yup.

Amazon is generally great, but the profit is all over the place I've noticed. Some items sell for far higher, some sell for far less. I love the fact you can post something, put it back in storage, forget about it, and it sells months later. I don't like how you can't use your own photos, you can't always list something as New-Factory Sealed (your account has to be at a certain "level"), you can't create your own listings unless you pay $40/m for Amazon Prime or whatever it's called, and that buyers can't formally make offers to sellers.

The only problem with Amazon is the hard fees. You have a 15% final value fee + 1.35 closing cost + .99 transaction fee. The fees are worse than ebay/paypal.