I remember a few years ago when I used to find all sorts of unique items and great buys on equestrian merchandise. Breeches, boots, pads, bridles, I was always able to get great prices.
Now I can’t seem to find anything. It’s all buy it now, or new items for full price. Also, the search menu seems clunky to me.
Anyone else have the same experience?
Perhaps, here is a flip side selling example. I had not used eBay in quite a while until a couple weeks ago when I listed a lightly used betathane pony harness for sale. Priced fairly. It had some looks and watchers but no buyer. After the auction ended I listed it in a FB group for $40 less than the auction price and a gal bought it within an hour.
I’ve also been using FB groups to sell and buy things but I do get tired of the “what’s your bottom dollar?” and “Will you sell this for half of what your asking AND cover shipping?” posts.
[QUOTE=enjoytheride;8903685]
I’ve also been using FB groups to sell and buy things but I do get tired of the “what’s your bottom dollar?” and “Will you sell this for half of what your asking AND cover shipping?” posts.[/QUOTE]
This is maddening. I will never be that buyer. I may ask if they will include shipping if I offer full price but that is it.
I just bought a couple items off eBay as a last resort, couldn’t find them elsewhere. It was not a smooth process and I’d rather not use it if I don’t have to.
I bought a used tractor attachment on eBay last week, so I’d say it still works for me. The bulk of listings though are certainly small businesses selling stuff that they got a shipping container full from China. I’m mostly not interested in that stuff and if I was I’d buy it on Amazon and know what day it will be delivered.
If you filter the search to show only “used” it might get more interesting. If you sort by newly listed it might get more interesting. Otherwise you get a lot of listings that have been there forever from businesses using it as a defacto store front.
I have gotten to the point where I list things on Ebay for the fixed price, not an auction. I add the all the fees on since the fixed price fees are higher than the auction format. But it does seem to get a bigger audience especially for an item that is exactly what that buyer is looking for. I sold 2 saddles that way and just listed an arena groomer. I have also sold a ton on FB but there are so many tire kickers, low ballers, or illiterate posts like “want”…with no message or other comments that it makes me crazy.
I still buy horse tack on eBay for good prices.
I too have found more success w/ FB groups. I have found a few things on E-Bay, but not many.
The fees Ebay now charges have become so high and greed based that the boutique sellers and individuals (who have all that cool stuff you mentioned) can no longer make a decent profit on Ebay like they used to. As a result they no longer sell on Ebay.
The fees average around 13% – even PayPal gets a fee – and a percentage is even charged on your shipping amount. Crazy!
I recently sold a saddle on Ebay-- sale price was 875.00 + 25.00 for shipping. Ebay took about 115.00 in fees. Really greedy IMO.
[QUOTE=enjoytheride;8903685]
I’ve also been using FB groups to sell and buy things but I do get tired of the “what’s your bottom dollar?” and “Will you sell this for half of what your asking AND cover shipping?” posts.[/QUOTE]
Me, too! I’ve started ending ads with “Reasonable offers may be considered. Will not respond to requests for lowest price.”
I think the selller base has changed too. Used to be people went to Ebay to find that cool thing – AND – were willing to pay the ‘cool thing’ price at a reasonable discount. But now it seems that buyers want the bargain basement deal of the century.
I had several people contact me asking if I would lower the price (of the saddle I was selling) because they only had X amount of dollars to spend. Since my saddle was an auction (no ‘best offer’) these people were committing a reportable Ebay offense – totally against the rules to ask a seller to lower their price!
Well, i guess as a buyer i have enjoyed ebay recently. I found an amazing seller for coolers, full neck ones that come in fun prints and are not gunna cost an arm and a leg. Plus free shipping! I do a lot of buisness with that seller and they are one of my favorites.
But my best deal yet has been my Wintec 2000 AP saddle, Came with leathers, irons, and all the gullets for 150 saddle, then i think it was like a total of 194 with shipping. The saddle is in pefect condition hardly ridden in. I feel like i got a screaming deal for that
[QUOTE=enjoytheride;8903617]
I remember a few years ago when I used to find all sorts of unique items and great buys on equestrian merchandise. Breeches, boots, pads, bridles, I was always able to get great prices.
Now I can’t seem to find anything. It’s all buy it now, or new items for full price. Also, the search menu seems clunky to me.
Anyone else have the same experience?[/QUOTE]
No.
I just bought an offside Champion & Wilton last week. Yes, it does need work but it is unique.
Be patient and check every three days or so and you will find what you want.
It just depends on what you are looking for. Would I sell on eBay? Nope, too much hassle and too expensive. But earlier this week I was looking for a new cinch (need a smaller size than what I have) for my new saddle (yay!). Found it online for $58, plus shipping in most cases. Went to eBay, $57.19 and free shipping.
Earlier this year I was looking for a good quality silver show halter and found one on eBay. Made an offer, they accepted, and we were both happy with it.
There are more sales sources now than there used to be. Ebay isn’t as exclusive as it used to be, with competition from Amazon, and other online retailers.
What ebay was originally for were sellers with used stuff that there was no local market for. It was a true auction format. Now it’s just a version of Amazon. However, they do have some sellers with specific things that are pretty unique. My truck console lost the padding around the cup holders, and only ebay offers a seller with a fix for that. Without him, I would have to replace the whole jump seat in my old F250.
There are also specific auto parts available through them that are hard to find elsewhere. And occasionally I can find the sort of used things that I first went to ebay in the early days for.
I think all the good sellers also got sick of eBay’s “customer is always right” crap. Can you blame people for not selling things on a website that allows people to say that they didn’t receive an item as described and force the seller to refund the buyer AND let them keep the item??? Plan and simple, they allow people to steal. I would not want to do business with such a company either.
I stopped selling items on ebay several years ago. Too many stories about sellers getting ripped off. And the fees are high. As a buyer I rarely look there, so many sellers just have new junk.
I hve a store on EBay. 100% clean feedback. Yes returns are a pita, but that BANNED from buying from me button works great for customers that fit idiot buyer description. Return something for cause? No problem. Ones that get snarky Or return something do to overdose of idiot brain get added to the list… Never to be heard from again. Sucks to get taken but it only happens one time per buyer.
Accepting returns from Idiots is just part of doing business with a company that can put your for sale stuff in front of millions of people. One has to be exceptionally careful in descriptions-forget to cross that T – someone will call you on it, hoping to get a bargain.
But 99% of my sales are a happy occurance.
I figure 10% goes to fees, and figure that into my pricing. I do fixed price only-an auction is just a waste of time.
Now I buy most of my supplies on EBay and run into a small number of idiot sellers also. But mostly they are solid people.
They tried to make Ebay another Amazon, and failed. Screwing all those small sellers in the process, forgetting the business model that got them famous in the first place.
But having tried Etsy and a fair number of other sales sites it’s still my first choice.
And have never seen so many idiot buyers that show up on FB. All wanting something for nothing - and a brand new spiffy something at that.
I have used eBay for the first time this year and so far I love it. I have found what I have been looking for for years:D and am so excited. I’ve only bought though and have no intention of selling.
NZ’s version, TradeMe, is having similar problems to what you describe though, buyers wanting the bargain of the century, muppets asking stupid questions, very high fees ect so I don’t think eBay is alone in its troubles. Unfortunately, there is no reading and comprehension test prior to membership
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