[meteorite-list] I thought of an idea on how to get around the price increase on eBay on some items

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:49:23 -0400
Message-ID: <e51421551003300949w49a92076v4ba5a789987e5951_at_mail.gmail.com>

Greetings Count and List,

The Count brings up some very salient points here. As a buyer, I love
eBay still - despite the occasional verbal beatdowns I dish out to
it's management. Nowhere else on Earth can you sit in the comfort of
your own home and bid on so many different meteorites that you can
almost fill out a complete type collection in a single 24 hour period.

As a seller, the Count nailed it about the types of buyers that
sellers want to see. I've seen some amazing but mind-boggling auction
results on eBay - all because two or more rookie/uninformed bidders
got into a contest of thrill bidding.

It was as a seller that I first encountered the Count, when he won one
of my auctions. Although he is a savvy buyer and usually not the type
that most sellers like to see, I was very fortunate to meet him via
eBay. And that is one thing that eBay's management hasn't wiped out
yet - the vast global reach of this centralized buying hub and the
ability to meet new people. People can argue over the fairness of
fees, and the utility of rule changes, but eBay is still a force to be
reckoned with and it's not going away any time soon. The thing that
bothers me sometimes about eBay is the overall direction that it has
chosen to follow over the course of the last 10+ years - not any one
particular change, rule or fee.

Congratulations again to the Count for his spectacular and
astronomical Nevada chondrite find! :)

Best regards, clear skies, and happy huntings!

MikeG



On 3/30/10, countdeiro at earthlink.net <countdeiro at earthlink.net> wrote:
> G. Axelsson said "eBay is not an ordinary auction house."
>
> He is right. It is superior to any auction house! Again from experience in
> owning and operating an auction conglomerate, I say that the price received
> at auction for an item is directly related to the number of bidders
> participating. The number of bidders participating is directly related to
> the number of potential bidders who were informed of the sale. eBay's format
> allows anyone to find a category of item for sale easily and instantly. No
> auction company could afford to advertise and promote enough to reach eBay's
> market of potential bidders. In other words...the more bidders...the higher
> the price. Competition and emotion drive bids.
>
> Knowledgeable bidders such as ourselves...are not the people I want to see
> buy my goods. Neither, do I want investors as the high bidders. I want those
> bidders who are acting on emotion, are inexperienced in values, and not
> buying for investment or re-sale, to be my high bidders. When I sell to a
> dealer, or investor I am disappointed because I know I sold wholesale. You
> want that bidder with a pocketful of bucks who wants the item because your
> description "hooked" him and he doesn;t care what he pays for it. Yes, the
> knowledgeable bidders walk away grumbling while you dance off to the bank.
> eBay is where those "mooches" as we so irrevelantly referred to them
> hangout. By the tens of thousands.
>
>
>
> Count Deiro
>
> -----Original Message-----
>>From: G?ran Axelsson <axelsson at acc.umu.se>
>>Sent: Mar 30, 2010 3:46 AM
>>To: meteoritecentral <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>>Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] I thought of an idea on how to get around the
>> price increase on eBay on some items
>>
>>Hi all!
>>
>>eBay is not an ordinary auction house. It doesn't handle the goods, it
>>doesn't create a catalogue and it doesn't provide an auction house so
>>all buyers can come and examine the goods before the auction.
>>eBay is an automatic system where the seller and buyer enters all the
>>details. As a seller I add all pictures, a description, starting price
>>and so on. The buyer enters his bids. And when the auction is over the
>>seller handles the transaction, packs the goods and sends it away.
>>If eBay would have twice as many auctions the overhead wouldn't double.
>>They would only need some more computers, the software is the same. It's
>>economy by scale. During 2008 goods for over $60 billion were sold on
>>eBay. In Q4 2009 the revenue were over $2 billion and the earning were
>>more than 50% of that.
>>
>>As I see it, there isn't a big difference between eBay and companies
>>providing online stores.
>>I had a lot more auctions on eBay before but the community feeling has
>>been lost and the fees is constantly getting higher so I mostly stay
>>away from it.
>>
>>Somehow every other digital service is getting cheaper as computer
>>science advances, except for paypal and eBay who raises the fees
>>regularly. They can do it because they are big and by all practical
>>means they have a monopoly on online auctions and payment services. They
>>don't need to raise the fees but they can, therefore they do it.
>>
>>I have a plan and I'm working on an alternative to eBay ... if I finish
>>it I'll tell you more.
>>
>>;-)
>>
>>/G?ran
>>
>>countdeiro at earthlink.net wrote:
>>> Hello fellow Listees,
>>>
>>> As some of you know who attended Michael Blood's Annual Auction at the
>>> show in Tucson, I am pretty familiar with auctions. In fact, my family
>>> and I owned and operated one of the largest and most highly diversified
>>> auction sales organizations in America. Licensed in eight states, we sold
>>> everything from coins to casino/hotels. So, let me just say this. There
>>> isn't a legitimate auction house in the country...hell in the
>>> world!...that will provide the means to advertise, promote and sell your
>>> goods for less than EBay. Nor will they provide the wide range of seller
>>> and buyer services, protections and payment methods that are a part of
>>> package offered by EBay. It is the best deal I ever heard of for both
>>> buyers and sellers and that's why they have such tremendous market
>>> numbers.
>>>
>>> Our auction business had a 10% buyer premium AND a 10% seller fee PLUS
>>> consignor/sellers were charged for extra advertising position, photos,
>>> etc. etc. At an average seller cost of 15%to 20% we still had to beat off
>>> sellers with a stick...because we were cheap compared to Sotheby,
>>> Bonhams, Phillips and Butterfield whose selling costs can float right up
>>> to 40%.
>>>
>>> Prau that nothing happens to the guys and gals making the cost decisions
>>> at EBay.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Count Deiro
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>
>>>> From: Gary Chase <garychase at live.com>
>>>> Sent: Mar 29, 2010 1:13 PM
>>>> To: mlblood at cox.net, photophlow at yahoo.com, meteoritecentral
>>>> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>>>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] I thought of an idea on how to get around
>>>> the price increase on eBay on some items
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Good Morning Listees and Bottom Feeders..
>>>>
>>>> Isn't this America? If you want to use a service pay for it. Do you go
>>>> to McDonalds and decide that the hamburger is too much and try to figure
>>>> out a way to cheat them out of their hamburger? Do you steal from
>>>> Walmart if you think they are charging too much? Stealing from eBay is
>>>> no different.
>>>>
>>>> Why don't all you bottom feeders leave eBay and go off to your second
>>>> rate auction sites that have been mentioned here before. Leave eBay to
>>>> the real dealers.
>>>>
>>>> Also, could one of you rocket scientists explain to me how a buyer gets
>>>> hurt with the higher fees if an auction starts at a penny or 99cents?
>>>> No one is forcing you to bid any higher than you would pay for the piece
>>>> somewhere else.
>>>>
>>>> Gary
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 08:30:32 -0700
>>>>> From: mlblood at cox.net
>>>>> To: photophlow at yahoo.com; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>>>>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] I thought of an idea on how to get around
>>>>> the price increase on eBay on some items
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi Shawn and all,
>>>>> Actually, I think that would be an excellent response to the greed
>>>>> Of eBay. If everyone in the meteorite community did that, it would get
>>>>> The message across to buyers. Of course, it would have to be a "sliding
>>>>> Scale" application, as the "shipping and handling" charges would be
>>>>> Perhaps only $5 above actual shipping cost on some items but could
>>>>> Go up to hundreds on other items.
>>>>> SCREW EBAY -These dudes are making BILLIONS on nothing
>>>>> But their automated system. Not one minute of additional work or
>>>>> Other overhead has been involved in their 8.75% of cost sellers
>>>>> premium.
>>>>> It isn't as though they have had to hire more help or pay higher rent
>>>>> Or deal with increased travel expenses or ONE THING - they just
>>>>> Arbitrarily decided, "hay, we got millions of sellers now depending on
>>>>> Us - we can start sucking them dry!" and, like the stinking credit card
>>>>> Banks jerk people around legally. SCREW EBAY.
>>>>> I think this is a splendid partial solution.
>>>>> Way to go Shawn.
>>>>> Michael
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 3/28/10 10:36 PM, "Shawn Alan" <photophlow at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hello List
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have seen this done before on eBay with items I have bought. The
>>>>>> seller
>>>>>> would offer the item at buy it now for $2 and the shipping would be
>>>>>> 15. Now if
>>>>>> your a seller and offering an item that isn't that much I could see
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> seller charging $15 to $40 for shipping and handling/packaging quote
>>>>>> un
>>>>>> quote, if they know the item will go for that rate at buy it now or 5
>>>>>> day
>>>>>> auction bid, where it would only go for $2 to $5 at closing, which the
>>>>>> seller would only be charged for the closing cost and not the shipping
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> handling cost (that was a long run on sentence). I guess its worth a
>>>>>> try on
>>>>>> certain items that sell for a fixed rate.
>>>>>> Just a thought
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Shawn Alan
>>>>>> ______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
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-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
http://www.galactic-stone.com
http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
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Received on Tue 30 Mar 2010 12:49:23 PM PDT