What ever happend to the auction house ebay??

handyman

Do you remember the good old days when ebay used to be an auction house?? I do, those were the days. It seems that lately that all ebay has is buy it now and ebay stores. What happend to the good old auctions. Search PSA and you have to go through 10 pages of BIN "auctions" before you find just one real auction, and if you do it has a high asking price. WTF!! Not only are they BINs but they are 50% higher than what the person who is selling it bought it for on ebay a week ago. Im not pleased with ebay. I think ebay has made it cheaper for people to make these types of auctions but I think it will hurt them. Its making me not want to go to there site anymore. And I have been for the last 9 years. JOKES!! Not to name any auctions but here is an example. Hypothetically speaking, A PSA 9 QUAL Ernie Banks Rookie card Asking price 10K, HA thats what a solid 9's SMR is.
ITS AN AUCTION HOUSE NOT A STORE! Let them ride , it makes me not want to even bid even if they are book price.
Or are more people trying to sell off there collections bc they feel the market is topped off, and now they are asking the prices they thought there cards would be worth after they bought them.

Boopotts

People have learned that you only need to get torched a few times with low hammer prices to make paying the extra listing fee worthwhile. I know I learned that about 8 months ago with a '63 Fleer Kemp PSA 8 that sold for something like $80.

storm888

"People have learned that you only need to get torched a few
times with low hammer prices to make paying the extra listing
fee worthwhile. "

//////////////////////////////////////

handyman

Ok I can see that. But it has gotten out of hand. People are asking crazy prices for items that I can find cheeper at a high priced dealers website. It is stupid what some people are askings. And I am mainly going after those who know they are doing so. Ebay isnt the same anymore and its going to die out if this keeps up. Sell Sell Sell thats all Im going to do with there stock. Just look how many of the items that are listed are actually selling? Not much. It seems with the idea that people can make a living buy and selling on ebay has finaly gotten out of had. Greed, Fantasy prices, It has become no fun and a joke. Its all about market price and these people are fishing. It will cause the whole idea of ebay to fail.

handyman

If ebay is going to be like this. I think they need an option that you can search true auctions and not this fantasy junk.

RoarIn84

Ebay ain't going anywhere...It's here for good (or bad). All they do is make $$$$$. Unless some kinda hotshot competitor site takes off, but that's unlikely- at least in the forseeable future. I do agree that many prices are outta hand and it has become more of a set-price department store of sorts, but sellers are willing to pay the fees even knowing they have a very slim chance of getting their price. I think some collectors just like to brag about their items, and that's fine with me! Like a card show- it's a SHOW- as in "Hey! Look what I got!!" I recently saw a PSA 10 1975 Hank Aaron with a BIN for $9500 and seller was FIRM. I personally think he was so excited about the grade he got and wanted to show it off; and if someone bit, well even better!

Nascar360

I was thinking of building a web site that only dealt with graded sports and non-sports cards. The inventory would be made up of anyone who wanted to sell graded cards. All sellers would have to be checked out first to make sure they are legit before listing cards. Sellers could sell the same cards but they have to be competitive with the price or they will lose the sale to the lower priced card with the same grade.

I am looking for some feedback on the web site idea, what do you think?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EBay's Strong Earnings, Outlook
Help Quiet the Critics, for Now With Holidays Completed, New Sources of Revenue Are Needed to Sustain Pace
By VAUHINI VARA
January 25, 2007; Page A3

EBay Inc., the onetime highflying Internet auctioneer, has recently faced questions about a slowdown in its core auctions business. Yesterday, it began to answer some of those questions.

Sales of videogaming consoles and other items, plus a strong marketing push over the quarter, helped boost the San Jose, Calif., company's core auctions growth in the fourth quarter beyond some of the sluggish growth rates that it has delivered in previous quarters. The performance drove up eBay's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, temporarily silencing some of the company's critics, and sent it shares soaring 13% in after-hours trading.

• The News: Holiday sales pushed eBay fourth-quarter profit up 24%.

• What About Investors: Renewed growth in the company's core auctions business helped ease worries about growth prospects.

• Outlook: Chief Whitman plans to reinvigorate the core auctions business while growing in areas like comparison shopping and classifieds listings.

"I think it's a very strong quarter," said Goldman Sachs Group analyst Anthony Noto, noting a renewed "vibrancy in eBay's marketplace."

The results, coupled with a raised revenue forecast for 2007, could mean things are improving for eBay. The company has in the past few years struggled to keep up the pace of its once-torrid growth, as online merchants have found alternative paths to potential buyers through search-engine advertisements and postings on other Web sites such as Amazon.com Inc., Yahoo Inc. and online-classifieds site Craigslist.org. That had sent eBay shares down 49% from their high point in 2004. Now, eBay is ramping up efforts to reinvigorate its core auctions business and find new sidelines for growth.

"Certainly, there is the law of large numbers, but that said, we think there's a lot of room for growth," Chief Executive Meg Whitman said in an interview. "We're going to do things to reinvigorate the core auctions business and grow our new businesses" in areas such as comparison shopping and classifieds listings.

The bulk of eBay's revenue comes from its core auctions business, where it charges sellers a fee to list items for sale, then takes a cut of their revenue once an item sells. As growth in the total value of merchandise sold on eBay has slowed, the company has tried some initiatives meant to increase its presence in the broader online-retail market, such as improving security, launching a marketing campaign and introducing a new, more straightforward site called eBay Express meant to draw more mainstream buyers.

Some of those initiatives appear to be paying off. In the fourth quarter, revenue in eBay's Marketplaces business, which includes the core auction site and sites like Shopping.com, rose 24% from a year earlier, up from 22% growth in the previous two quarters. The value of goods sold on the site -- a key indicator of eBay's health -- rose 20% from a year earlier, up from 17% growth in the third quarter and 18% growth in the second quarter. EBay's total revenue increased 29% during the quarter.

To branch out beyond its core business, eBay has also made a string of acquisitions, including a $310 million deal for online-tickets seller StubHub Inc. last month and a $2.6 billion purchase of Internet-calling firm Skype in 2005, which some industry watchers say has yet to pay off. Ms. Whitman admitted that it has taken eBay longer than it had hoped to fully benefit from the Skype acquisition, but that business grew rapidly in the fourth quarter, with revenue increasing 164% to $66 million from $25 million in the year-ago quarter. The year-ago figure represents Skype's operations from the October acquisition through the end of 2005. Ms. Whitman said she plans to better integrate Skype's features into the main eBay site in coming months.

EBay has also ventured into international markets. While it has performed well in some countries, such as Germany, it has stumbled in countries such as China, where it recently announced it would shutter its site and replace it with a new one run mostly by local partner Tom Online Inc.

EBay has also made a big marketing push to bolster its PayPal online-payment service amid pressure from Google Inc.'s new rival service, Google Checkout. PayPal's revenue grew 37% in the fourth quarter, compared with 41% in the previous quarter.

As a result of some of those efforts, eBay increased its projection for 2007 revenue to $7.05 billion to $7.30 billion, which represents year-over-year growth of 18% to 22%, ahead of its earlier projection of 17% to 21% growth, which would have meant revenue of $6.98 billion to $7.22 billion. Analysts' consensus estimate called for revenue of $7.15 billion. EBay Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan attributed the improved forecast largely to the recently announced StubHub deal, which is expected to close this quarter and generate revenue of $105 million to $120 million in 2007.

Still, eBay's quarterly results may be difficult to repeat, because the company benefited from strong one-time holiday sales of items like Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co.'s Wii gaming consoles, which were difficult to find in retail stores. Consumers who turned to eBay to buy the items often paid sky-high premiums, according to holiday data from the company. "We clearly benefited from the activity around those products," said Mr. Swan. He said sales of certain hot electronics boosted the total value of goods sold on eBay, but declined to offer more details.

Certain key numbers still raise red flags about eBay's growth. For instance, in 2006, the value of goods sold on eBay-branded sites and its Half.com site rose 18% to $52.5 billion, compared with 30% growth in 2005 and 44% growth in 2004. EBay also saw slower growth in its number of active users last year, compared with 2005.

The online auctioneer also said it would increase its share-buyback program by $2 billion.

EBay reported its results after regular trading hours. In 4 p.m. composite trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, shares were up $1.38, or 4.8%, to $30. In after-hours trading, shares jumped $3.79 to $33.79.

PuertoRicanFogBank

People have learned that you only need to get torched a few times with low hammer prices to make paying the extra listing fee worthwhile. I know I learned that about 8 months ago with a '63 Fleer Kemp PSA 8 that sold for something like $80.

Well stated, Boo.

NJMH

WinPitcher

A PSA 9 QUAL Ernie Banks Rookie card Asking price 10K, HA thats what a solid 9's SMR is.


So? That seller is a scammer. I can find many 'auctions' for sports cards that start at .99 to 9.99. What I think here is that some people want something for nothing. BIN's in many cases are fair and a benifit to both parties. If a person feels that a fixed price or BIN or even a starting point is too hi then move on to the next auction. It is rather simple.


Steve

detroitfan2

Two things:

(1) Once the 20 cent listing day stuff finishes, your search will not be "10 pages of BIN auctions".

(2) There is a way to search true auctions. Simply click on the "Auctions" tab located directly between the "All Items" and "Buy It Now" tabs at the top of your ebay search screen.

gregm13

<< <i>People have learned that you only need to get torched a few times with low hammer prices to make paying the extra listing fee worthwhile. I know I learned that about 8 months ago with a '63 Fleer Kemp PSA 8 that sold for something like $80.

Well stated, Boo.

NJMH >>



I agree 100%. For every card that sells for 10x SMR, there are 100 that sell for 25% of SMR. Personally, I won't start any auctions for 99 cents because far too many times, I've had $20 cards sell for 99 cents. To hell with that - I'll start at $4.99 and if the cards doesnt' sell, then it will sit unsold on my desk at home.

Regards,

Greg M.

cravetopps

detroitfan2 is correct. it's the low listing fee that gets these guys off the sidelines and the auctions get filled with all the BINs, most of them ridiculous and most coming from one or two well known sources. It clogs the listings and you see the same cards time and time again, mostly the heralded "0X0...." cert numbers. It seems that for the most part, ebay reflects market supply and demand in the pricing but if a seller wants to protect their investment, that's fine. But, for the vast majority of BINs, the pricing is absolutely ridiculous and my suspicion is that for these guys, all they need are one or two very motivated, inexperienced or naïve buyers to make their day.

handyman

I never once called anyone a crook. All Im saying is that some people make stupid prices for there cards. The PSA 9 QL Banks was just bought from mastro for only 500.00 and the asking price is 10k. It's a joke