Generation eBay

 

My name's John and I'm an eBayer.

For me it seems remarkable that eBay has been going for over 20 years and has become a 'household name' in that time.

I've been a 'user' myself for over 10 years as both buyer and seller. Some people still reject eBay as being a risky market place but my experience has been positive on the whole. I've had just one experience of being 'ripped-off' by an unscrupulous seller where the item was never posted to me. However, thanks to eBay's payment protection scheme I reported the loss and received a full refund. No doubt eBay quickly realised the seller was a scammer and complete moron.  Ebay certainly can't afford to have such sellers damaging it's reputation. At the time I ignored the warning signs - new user plus very poor communications. I asked a few questions and had very short unhelpful replies. That struck me as a bit strange and I should have walked away. It's a shame there's not enough resources to track down and prosecute all these people. The urge to get a bargain seems deeply ingrained in many of us and there will always be those out to exploit it. 

During the late 1980's and 1990's the car boot sale was king. It was a great way for a seller to shift lots of stuff quickly and offered potential bargains for the buyer. I actually enjoyed the experience of selling stuff at car boot sales. I knew some people who felt very uncomfortable and even embarrassed to be selling at a car boot sale. It's unlikely you'll meet anyone you know and it's not as if you're selling your own underwear or something - now that would be embarrassing.

In recent times many car boot sales look like they're selling eBay left-overs. People now prefer to sell on eBay to get the most money and who can blame them. I would catagorise sellers as either people selling off old stuff they no longer want to make some money; people buying cheap items from elsewhere and reselling them on eBay and greedy people trying to get as much money as possible using whatever 'tricks' they can.

Almost anything seems to sell on ebay for the right price - even damaged or broken things! In my experience nothing escapes the roving eye of a buyer. Just when you think you're going to snap something up for a bargain price as the only bidder, in jumps 'Sniper Sam'. Sometimes I wonder if Sniper Sam really does want it, or just feels compelled to 'guzump' you regardless. There's no doubt that the thrill of winning a bid can sometimes be disproportionate. I can imagine Sniper Sam punching the air and yelling as if winning the lottery.

I find it amusing to see use of certain terms to enhance or promote something into a league it doesn't belong. My favourites are 'barn find' or 'warehouse find'. The idea is these are words which invoke feelings of something very rare and uncovered for the first time where it's been left undisturbed for decades. People love such stories. About 6 years ago I sold a 'Master Replicas' star wars lightsaber on eBay. It was one which I'd imported directly from the company in the US. I had one interested buyer who kept sending me messages asking about the condition of the box and even wanting pictures. I thought this was rather strange but obliged as he could be a buyer. Anyway, he did buy it from me which was good. It was perhaps a few weeks later he messaged me saying "you might be surprised to learn how much I sold your lightsaber for". Being curious I checked the Ebay listing which ended and discovered it sold for at least twice what I'd sold it to him for. His description claimed it was a unique 'warehouse find'. I sent him a message back saying "well done with that". It made me laugh reading his description and I was surprised someone actually fell for it. Even knowing that, I wouldn't have added such a ridiculous description myself. Some people have no scruples whatsoever when it comes to making money. I've come across a few eBayers who've bought things from me and then attempted to sell them on at a profit. This rarely works simply because the selling price is usually the 'going rate'. Personally, I don't think it's worth the hassle, but if you're someone with lots of time on your hands and benefits from a few extra quid then good luck to you!

The term "rare" is certainly over-used on eBay. Almost anything and everything can be described as 'rare' and remember that rare doesn't equal value. An old milk bottle top can be very rare but who wants one? The result is that the term has lost it's true meaning and often ignored. Lots of sellers seem to like the term "grab a bargain" which immediately puts me off. It just sounds like something from a cheap street market.

Having good photographs is essential for the buyer to see what he's getting. I'm always amazed how sellers  can post such poor quality photographs. I've seen photographs so blurred you can't see enough to make a decision on whether it's worth having. I can't help thinking this is done on purpose in some cases.  

These days I'm much more selective with things I buy from eBay and usually avoid getting sucked into a bidding war. I set my limit and if it goes to someone else then I just accept my fate - they wanted it more than me and were prepared to pay more so that's life. There's quite a good turnover on eBay so what's lost one day can be gained another. Yes, if you're a collector then some genuinely rare items might only be seen once every several years so you might not be prepared to wait that long. However, sometimes a rare item which sells for a good price can result in a steady stream of others being listed soon afterwards. This is a good thing for the buyer since the price starts to fall as soon as the market gets flooded.

I've come to the conclusion that the UK is full of people who just love to collect useless things. If you've got the space then you fill it with something. It reaches the point that you couldn't move house even if you wanted to because it would be too overwhelming to sort everything out.

If you're selling something and you know it has reasonable value then you can use the .99p starting price to lure in an audience. As long as you've listed it in the correct place with good description and photographs it WILL sell for the going rate. As a buyer I was becoming convinced it was impossible to find a 'bargain'. However, I've been lucky a few times where someone has listed something with a relatively low 'buy it now' price compared to the 'going rate'. Unless you need cash very quickly, a seller should always stick to the standard auction format to get the best price. If you start getting buyers offering you money to end the auction early, it's a sure sign it's worth more than they're letting on.

I once tried to sell a bomb on eBay before running foul of their new policy on prohibitive items. Seriously, it was a WW2 German incendiary bomb dropped on England. It had been made safe of course and just a collectors item. I'm sure use of the word "bomb" sent alarm bells ringing in the eBay office. Yes, maybe I was pushing my luck bit but it seemed a good way of selling it at the time. These days the eBay Police will jump on anything which breaches their very broad definition of offensive and dangerous weapons.

Now lets talk about eBay's 'Second chance offer'. On a couple of occasions I've accepted a 'second chance offer' on something which I thought I'd missed out on. I was delighted and thought how lucky I was. However, I've since had suspicions about this. It seems to me that it's very open to abuse. Surely you could simply get your spouse or friend to bid up the price. The risk is that the other person pulls out when the bidding gets too high. What if they then simply offer it to the last highest bidder - or am I missing something here? It seems there's no explanation as to why it's come back to you. I understand there needs to be a mechanism to allow the original bidder to pull out, even though I thought it was pretty much legally binding when you win something. 

Will I continue to use eBay? Yes, but in moderation.

Remember boys and girls........ that brand new North Face backpack or Apple charger is NOT genuine, so don't bother! Work hard, save hard and then buy it from a reputable seller.