EBay is doing a good job

JHS5120

I know that it is a common practice to criticize eBay and their fees, but I want to play the Devil's Advocate and pose an argument FOR eBay and all of their recent rule changes (and fee increases).

Right now things are looking pretty good for the hobby, it's a bull market for sports collectables. Within a couple years wax boxes that previously sold for $200 now sell upwards of $800 (if you can find them), post-war staples are reaching record prices (just check PWCC's completed listings) and there is a stronger presence of collectors under the age of 20 than there has been in years. Our collections are worth more now than they have been in a while. We all saw what the recession did to collecting and I remember threads about "the end" of this hobby all together, yet here we are, 3 years later and experiencing record prices and an astonishing demand for cards. Most of the credit is due to the economy and some of the credit should be given to the hobby's resilience, but there is a small (yet meaningful) amount of credit due to eBay.

Last year total eBay sales (excluding eBay Motors) reached $67.7 billion (that's $67,700,000,000), up from $53.5 billion in 2010 (a 27% increase). With 12 million more active users today than there were last year, it's safe to say that eBay is growing. Now, I find this absolutely remarkable considering where eBay was 3 years ago. Why does this matter? EBay dictates the health of our hobby. If you combine every REA, HA, SCP, Mile High etc. auction EVER you wouldn't even skim the surface of the revenue eBay has generated within the sports memorabilia industry. If you browse VCP 9 sales out of 10 belong to eBay (with some exceptions of course). If eBay takes a hit, so does the hobby and if eBay succeeds, we all do. Is this a good thing? No. But that's an ENTIRELY different discussion.

EBay is doing its best to create a more unified and structured marketplace. They are being very assertive and very pushy. We have seen more new rules over the past 36 months than ever! It started with no negative feedback for buyers, then we started to see some fee increases, then came the PayPal monopoly, then they made photos mandatory, then they made "Top Rated" status impossible, then they pushed free shipping on us, then more fee increases, then they changed their listing format (then again), then more fee increases, then they took away messaging our contact info, then another fee increase and finally, ANOTHER fee increase! Where does it end!?!?! It seems as though eBay WANTS us to fail! And yet, we see growth. We see new members entering the hobby, we see record prices and we see a mountain of demand for our cards. EBay is doing something right and I for one like the structure.

Now, I hate fee increases as much as the next guy! I will lose a couple thousand dollars this year because of their most recent "9% across the board" fee standard. I hate it, but it's just the cost of doing business. I would gladly pay 9% (plus another 3% for paypal) to buy and sell baseball cards. It's the cheapest price in town. You can consign to an AH and pay 10% seller's commission and have another 20% taken in buyer's premium or you can open a brick and mortar store and go bankrupt. In comparison, eBay is a bargain.

While some forum members may throw out the term "FEE-Bay" or complain about the “Regime” taking away our rights, I see nothing but prosperous times and opportunity on the horizon. My collection is larger than it's ever been and I have derived nothing but joy from buying, selling and collecting online.

Dpeck100

I think EBAY is great. Sure there are a few issues but on the margin it is a tremendous vehicle for buying and selling merhcandise.

When I first started in the hobby in the 80's you could only buy from card dealers and if you wanted to sell they offered you 50% of what they planned to price it for.

Even a relatively small collector like me can get top dollar for their cards which makes is much easier to make adjustments to your collection or buy excess cards to move to help cover the cost of the one's you plan to keep.

EBAY provides liquidity which has increased the demand for collectables tremendously. Without EBAY I think card prices would be much lower across the board.

olb31

It's hard going to show and forking out a couple of hundred dollars for card, but its easy to do on EBAY. I think EBAY does a great job. I prefer buying from EBAY over any other venue.

bobbyw8469

<< <i>While some forum members may throw out the term "FEE-Bay" or complain about the “Regime” taking away our rights, I see nothing but prosperous times and opportunity on the horizon. My collection is larger than it's ever been and I have derived nothing but joy from buying, selling and collecting online. >>



You make very good valid points. I enjoyed reading your article. Wonder if it will still hold true next year when Ebay raises fees again....or the year after that with the following increase?

nam812

<< <i>........because of their most recent "9% across the board" fee standard............. >>



I believe it is 10% (capped at $250) across the board.

DCanfield

Another thing that ebay has offered us is the ability to obtain or sell that odd item. Whether it's a rare collectible, a part for a classic automobile or just a plumbing fixture to replace the old broken one, without ebay you might never find it. In years gone by I've schlepped around from show to show seeking that 1 thing I desired, usually to no avail. Ebay has made it much more likely that I can obtain what I'm looking for or in the reverse, I can find a buyer for that odd item I'm trying to sell.

JHS5120

<< <i>I believe it is 10% (capped at $250) across the board. >>



Very true Nam, I should have specified. I have an eBay store and I believe it's only 9% for now.

Estil

<< <i>
When I first started in the hobby in the 80's you could only buy from card dealers and if you wanted to sell they offered you 50% of what they planned to price it for. >>



IF you were very lucky and your items were really popular. As Beckett advised in a mid-90s issue regarding trades with a dealer (this may not be an exact quote):

"If you have a Thomas/Griffey that you want to trade for a bunch of "other guys" you'll probably have some luck. But if the opposite is true, dealers want your Andrew Jackson, not your Kirby Pucketts."

I'm sure you guys can guess what they mean by "your Andrew Jackson"


As for my take on Feebay, yes they are driving me crazy with their hidden fee increases and their Paypal monopoly. But they made absolutely the right call regarding not letting sellers leave a negative because all that did in practice was cause retaliatory feedback against buyers (I was a victim at least once or twice). How can sellers who don't do their job right be held accountable if buyers are scarred to leave honest feedback?

wrestlingcardking

I live in a rural area and I think that the internet and a place like ebay decreased the value of a card like my Nolan Ryan RC (bound to happen with today's technology). There only may be a handful of Nolan Ryan RCs within a hundred mile radius of my home. Now a collector may just go online to a place like ebay and have many options to purchase the one that they want. I do think that oddball items that people did not know exist and truly are rare have increased substantially due to ebay. If you took the wrestling all stars from 1982, there probably would have little interest in my area, but online with a worldwide marketplace there is clearly demand for them and others realize this. This is outside of the whole grading and supply and demand with that.

I'm a fan of ebay despite my frustrations with them from time to time. I have clearly got top dollar for some items when a dealer would have never given me anything close to the prices that I actually received.

MrNearMint

Good thread! I agree, I think eBay is a great source for buying items that could be otherwise difficult to find. I can't speak about the fees since I am only a buyer.
When I first signed up on eBay, I bought like 10 cards in just a few months which doesn't seem like much to some but is quite a bit for me. I was/am addicted. eBay is a hell of a drug!

3BoyzTrading

The above reasons is why eBay keeps taking.....and taking.......and taking........from sellers.

Mapleleaf

I don't know that ebay has done us any great favours. I remember when it started in '96 and was called Epay and avoided because "rich people bid on things" meaning you had to pay a lot more to get your collectibles. Everything I collect has gone way up in price since Ebay started.

Sure it's allowed small time collectors to list their cards etc but at the cost of bricks and mortar stores. I liked stopping in at those stores and spending some therapeutic time chatting with the owner and buying some cards for what seems like crazy low prices now. And you had the item in hand. I don't even know where one exists within a couple hundred miles of me now.

The Paypal monopoly drives me crazy. How long before it will be used to tax sellers?

Yes, I use ebay for buying and selling but I like it a lot less than I did 10 years ago.

sbfinley

Yes, Ebay is "Good", but the problem is that it could be "great" if they took into account the sentiments of a large portion of their customers. The only thing more concerning than the fact that have no competition in regards to the auction format is that they seem hell bent on squaring up with Amazon for their new business model.

totallyradd

I do pretty small sales on eBay as I've only really sold bobbleheads and a handful of cards, along with some other miscellaneous stuff. None of which are too expensive. The way that I seem to not let the fees bother me is that I just look at my paypal account and not the charges. For some people that will probably be a silly business plan, but for me it's not a business. I basically use eBay as a bartering system to get other cards or pieces to my collection from items I sell on the side.

I do understand the gripe of the sales percent going up, no one wants to lose money, but as many have said, you can get your item to a place across the country rather than in town, making the demand a huge percentage greater.

Does the 9% work out well for those selling consistently without a shop (as a business) vs being on a lease for a store front? Curious how that evens out at the end of each month, I can see it going both ways depending on the numbers from month to month.

soundgard

<< <i>

Yes, I use ebay for buying and selling but I like it a lot less than I did 10 years ago. >>



I feel the same way. Ebay was great to buy and sell on before 2009. Has really gone down the tubes since. Buyers can leave negative feedback for no or little reason, and ebay lets it slide. I have lots of high dollar rarities i would consider selling on ebay. But refuse because I dont like the idea of giving ebay part of my profits with the never ending increasing fees..

miklia

a truly innovative and successful company doesn't leave its clients and users constantly hoping for a competitor to emerge.

in fact, i would counter the initial post by saying that ebay's benefit to the hobby was already maxed out by the year 2000, and the more recent changes and fees have temporarily and artificially inflated values for many items, as many now don't want to deal with low-ticket selling due to the fee-heavy hassle it's become. auctions are dropping out in favor of BINs that are much higher too. and perhaps not least, it's so much less fun to use ebay than before, as both a buyer and seller.

regardless, an interesting take JHS, and certainly not an easy position to argue!

Archaninator

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Estil

At least Feebay is still ok as a buyer but I bet their fees are probably keeping some good affordable merchandise away

soundgard

<< <i> I bet their fees are probably keeping some good affordable merchandise away >>



When I look for items, i click on auction to avoid all the BIN's. If there are no auctions then I dont look.

emar

<< <i>

<< <i> I bet their fees are probably keeping some good affordable merchandise away >>



When I look for items, i click on auction to avoid all the BIN's. If there are no auctions then I dont look. >>



I've gotten some very good deals with BIN. Sellers looking for a quick sell and fast cash.

Dpeck100

Emar I was thinking the same thing.

Some of my best buys are Buy It Now listings where the seller is not aware of recent pricing on the item or they are just looking to move it quickly.

Archaninator

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soundgard

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i> I bet their fees are probably keeping some good affordable merchandise away >>



When I look for items, i click on auction to avoid all the BIN's. If there are no auctions then I dont look. >>



I've gotten some very good deals with BIN. Sellers looking for a quick sell and fast cash. >>



I dont have the time to look for hrs upon hrs to find that one good BIN once every year

emar

The right BIN price does take patience.

Auctions take patience as well. I've never felt more frustrated trying to win an auction. Multiple times in the past few months I've tried a snipe well over the highest bid only to be 2nd or 3rd place bidder.

emar

To the OP: As a collector & hobbyist, I do appreciate having a platform like ebay and the liquidity it gives my collection. I can place a real-time value on it.

Dpeck100

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i> I bet their fees are probably keeping some good affordable merchandise away >>



When I look for items, i click on auction to avoid all the BIN's. If there are no auctions then I dont look. >>



I've gotten some very good deals with BIN. Sellers looking for a quick sell and fast cash. >>



I dont have the time to look for hrs upon hrs to find that one good BIN once every year >>






It definitely is time consuming to find good buys but they are out there. Everyone's time is valued differently but regardless of compensation everyone like's the feeling of getting a steal. On EBAY it happens everyday.

A poorly priced Buy It Now is where the best deals can be had as very few eyeballs get to see them before a purchase is made. A badly listed auction has in many cases 7 days for someone to find it vs. a few minutes in a Buy It Now listed items case.

JMDVM

As a buyer its still good, but as a seller its been going steadily down hill. I feel like I'm being "nickel-ed and dime-ed" and it is especially galling to be double dipped on postage by both Ebay and Paypal. Being restricted to using only Paypal is monopolistic---if I want to take checks or money orders it should be my right to take on the risk. Customer support is awful----its like talking to a bunch of chimps reading from a script. With this kind of performance , I will never trust Paypal with my SSN.

grote15

<< <i>As a buyer its still good, but as a seller its been going steadily down hill. I feel like I'm being "nickel-ed and dime-ed" and it is especially galling to be double dipped on postage by both Ebay and Paypal. Being restricted to using only Paypal is monopolistic---if I want to take checks or money orders it should be my right to take on the risk. Customer support is awful----its like talking to a bunch of chimps reading from a script. With this kind of performance , I will never trust Paypal with my SSN. >>



If there were a better option, it would be utilized, but ebay is still the best game in town and offers a venue for sales you'd never realize otherwise. Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't compelled free shipping yet...though with the new internet tax laws looming, you will probably have to furnish that SSN or find another venue.

JHS5120

<< <i>As a buyer its still good, but as a seller its been going steadily down hill. I feel like I'm being "nickel-ed and dime-ed" and it is especially galling to be double dipped on postage by both Ebay and Paypal. Being restricted to using only Paypal is monopolistic---if I want to take checks or money orders it should be my right to take on the risk. Customer support is awful----its like talking to a bunch of chimps reading from a script. With this kind of performance , I will never trust Paypal with my SSN. >>



I don't think it's going down hill at all. I have been much more successful over the past two years than the five before. Ebay fees have risen, but so have sales. I accept money order as payment all the time, it's unfortunate that I cannot advertise that I accept it, but I understand that eBay is a business trying to protect their buyers and prevent customers from finding loopholes in their system.