Is eBay dead as a pure "Auction" site??
keets
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There seems less and less true auctions at eBay, auctions that start at 99 cents or even some reasonably low amount. Things have been dominated for years by the use of BIN sales, typically at prices that just seem like the seller is fishing. Coupled with that is the fact that it is cheap to just roll over week after week. I am befuddled by this because there are often nice items I would buy at a lower rice or bid on if I had the opportunity. I have, as many probably have, tried to use the tactic of making offers but typically they are refused.
So tell me, will eBay as we all remember stay in our memories or is there hope that the site will maintain and maybe, just maybe, find some way to get back to its roots?
Al H.
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I run major error coin auction every single week that have a 99 cent auction start. People have got great deals from me.
At the same time, I run about 250 super high-end, super eye appealing major error coins that can be found nowhere else.
eBay made a commitment 10 years ago to be competitive with Amazon, and their fees reflect that. Many people want to buy now and have in hands in a couple days.
It think it will have to break first before it gets better if ever. Without true auctions most excitement of potentially winning at a great price is lost. I don't browse more than once or twice a week now when I used to look daily or even multiple times daily.
Maybe if everyone stopped buying they would re-evaluate, they must still making money. But I agree, Ebay seems to be a place for problem and over priced coins live... forever!!! Same revolving ones clogging up my searches for months/years it seems. Every once in a while a true auction comes along but it is no longer the norm.
I'm not sure you have to start at 99 cents to be a "true auction". Check out Stack's!
But, in answer to your question about 99 cent auctions. I will never do those again unless 99 cents is my "reserve". 20 years ago, I used to. But 20 years ago there was much less material on eBay. A coin dealer friend and I used to look at EVERY ITEM in a category DAILY. In that environment, things did not get overlooked and there was active bidding on almost all auctions because it was one of only two 1950D nickels on all of eBay.
Today? The only thing you could start at 99 cents is a 1913 Liberty Nickel.
There is now more material than any bidder can easily sort through. There is also so much material that there is little point in not trying to low-ball snipe - unless it is a truly rare coin.
The only people who can do 99 cent auctions are volume sellers who have a loyal following large enough. E
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
99 cent auctions work FANTASTIC for the unique items that I sell.
I buy from 99 cent auction ALL THE TIME.
Ebay is super awesome.
Small sellers, like myself, have been taken to the cleaners on several occasions using auction formats on ebay. I normally have been using "Buy It Now" with "Make An Offer" with most of the stuff that I don't want to get hosed on. Every once in a while I get a wild hair and put up a 0.99 start on an auction...results are normally not good.
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
And the more this becomes the norm, the more Ebay no longer is an auction site.
It is an auction site. It's just not an auction site that you can risk 0.99 cent starts with common items.
I run 500 auctions per month. I have ZERO complaints about eBay as an "auction site". However, I always start the auction at the minimum acceptable purchase price.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Not yet dead, I have to CC's up for auction that started at .99.
About 90% of the material l look at is BIN's. Yes, auctions are getting rather slim.
bob
One shouldn't put vodka in the Mimosas so early in the day.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I could never drink alcohol in the morning, it would wreck my day. Wake and Bake is a much better option.
Considering the website I'm on, it's not a bad idea.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
I had to look up "mimosa".
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
There are tons of items with high BIN prices that linger and wading through them can be a pain if you don’t use a refined search. Other than that, I find lots of things on eBay I cannot find anywhere else. I see many true auctions ending at high levels, so not sure if I say it’s dead.
@keets What is your definition of a "pure auction?" One w/o a BIN?
Not dead, but maybe on life support. It can also be tough to tell if the raw number of true auction listings are going down much or just being drowned out by the avalanche of overpriced BIN listings.
my main complaint is that eBay tends to be dominated by BIN "auctions" which are anything but auctions.
Got it. I guess that must pertain mostly to coin auctions. However, I don't consider an auction with an opening bid AND a BIN should be included in the count.
I buy BIN's all the time. I win auctions all the time. I am the second highest bidder in many auctions all the time.
I sell BIN's almost daily now. I sell with 99 cent auction every week.
Finding things on ebay does take work, that is why it is called work.
Not for me to answer the question posed in the OP
Just won a .99c auction on a 103 year old coin last night.($1.98 w/shp)
My next eBay listings will be BINs-accepts offers with a few .99 auctions on some modern slabbed coins as well.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
And it cost what to ship your item to you in a bubble mailer?
I use all the eBay formats to buy coins. Here are my last three purchased:
1804 PCGS spiked chin half cent XF 45: coin listed as BIN and over priced. Made an offer and seller accepted. Paid for more than half the coin with eBay bucks.
1838 PCGS CAC Reeded edge half dollar XF45. Won coin in 99 cent auction. Nice Coin better than seller photos.
1914 S $20 gold PCGS CAC MS 64 BIN. Purchased at fair BIN price. Received 10% eBay bucks capped at $100. Hard to find gold coins on eBay listed under BIN for fair price. Most gold BIN sellers have coins over priced.
Starting at 99c is not a true auction. That’s a way to get ripped.
I find GC has good auction guidelines.
Many of my auctions I start around Bluesheet - so if they don’t bid at least that means market dead not eBay.
Sometimes stupidity rules eBay sellers starting auction too low and I might win a coin that bids $180 for $70. I flipped one such Pickup I won for $68 which bids $180 to major dealer for $200 at recent Bellaire show which he purchased from my table before public came in.
I retail many coins (fairly priced around cpg or TPG) on eBay. Occasionally will get email from some dummy w rip off low ball offer - I just say “unless bin / mo already at best price.” Wonder why these clowns even bother.
I rarely buy on eBay anymore, although I do sell items occasionally. As a buyer, the site has lost its draw for me. I REALLY miss the old days.
These days it’s nothing more than another alternative to Amazon. That said, I wish I had been an eBay shareholder the last 10 years. The stock has performed quite nicely, so somebody is clearly transacting business there...just not me.
Dave
99 cents shipping is probably straight into an envelope in a 2x2. Technically should not go as a 1st class letter, but people try.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Although I don't currently sell coins on ebay I plan on doing so in the future. It would be hard for me to start an auction at .99 unless that's all the coin is worth.
There are so many common coins available that it's very easy to end up with a .99 sale when the auction closes. I'm a generous person but I'm not it the habit of just giving away my property. I think a BIN sale with accepting offers is the way to go for me. Accepting offers gives me the flexibility to set my price close to where I would want the sale price to be and no get taken to the cleaners.
We'll see how it goes.
Successful BST transactions with lordmarcovan, Moldnut, erwindoc
The way the market been slow, declining number of collectors, declines in many areas, the 99c open bid a risky option
I would say blue sheet or 65 pct of MV a low enough opening bid. If that does not get them to bid probably time to sell out or try another day.
A lot of them who open 99c have shills.
I guess I remember how eBay used to be because all my auctions started at 99 cents, offered free insured shipping and I sometimes used a reserve if I was unsure of what my sale price might be. admittedly I haven't sold anything with that venue for about 10 years but I have made plenty of purchases that are almost exclusively at a 99 cent starting price. I don't know what you guys are selling if you can't start at even zero and let people bid, is the market really that bad???
the type of thing that has dominated in areas where I collect is something with no "price guide" to reference so sellers list what may be a $200 item at BIN for $475 and keep rolling it over. if the market is so bad or confidence in a certain sale price is so unsure maybe not listing at an auction site is the answer. JMHO, of course.
Comments above mostly speak to a small slice of ebay.
My experience is that, on average, only 10% of the listings, across all categories, are auctions. The balance is BIN.
So, the answer to your question is yes, ebay is dead as a pure auction site.
As a test, I just searched on "Gaudens". More than 2500 listings. Click on "auction" and the number of listings is reduced to 168 (less than 7%).
I use ebay as a store, and usually only when I can't find something anywhere else at a decent price. It's probably been over a decade since I actually placed a bid on something...
For many areas, yes. And this is after things have started picking up (based on non-eBay auction data). I believe the buyer pool contains more flippers than collectors.
I would say dead as a pure auction site BUT not dead as far as luring shoppers/buyers. I use it quite often for many items. Of course with uncle breathing on them for tax it could create a problem for sellers that they can't or won't deal with the extra red tape.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
IMHO, several things led to the "demise" of most auctions:
1) I want it now, don't want to wait = BIN
2) Sniper Programs Few bid early, snipes are loaded, sellers are scared, newbies think someone can see their bid, or do not understand nuclear bids, and it all falls apart.
I am bidding on several 99's that will go in the 300 - 800 range. It will be interesting to see where they land.
Sometimes I put in a placeholder bid on low priced auctions to remind myself to go back and see how it ends, or maybe even buy it. A few times I have been notified I am the winner.
I have been on ebay for 20 years now, and I will run 99's sometime to clear out stuff that is sitting, 1 step away from the trash can. Even coins go in the trash, albeit, the recycling bin, sorted by metal type, and off to be melted down, if no one wants them or they have served their purpose and now are too badly worn, bent corroded, whatever, and it is time for the checkered flag.
eBay is still number one and will always be, I think. I have no problem finding great auctions and coins to be bought at a reasonable price. Granted it’s not what it use to be but I don’t think anything stays the same anymore. Does it?
I miss those old days.
I remember in the late 90's when there was sort of a battle between eBay and Yahoo Auctions, the latter had that annoying feature where the clock for "time remaining" would reset at five minutes if there was late bidding.
we all know who won.
eBay hasn't been a "pure" auction site in many years, but there are still many 99 cent auctions.
Part of the rise of BINs is that eBay has been encouraging it to compete against Amazon and that certain areas are not as strong as they used to be.
Areas with strong and broad demand do better with 99 cent auctions than areas with weak, or thin, demand.
.....of course it is.
Don't forget the Chinese counterfeits!
Sounds like Yahoo was closer to a real auction with the reset the clock feature. Perhaps most buyers don't want a real auction where the bidding isn't artificially limited by a fixed end time.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
The market is not what it was being in the tank like it is now.
Nobody but the brave or has shill bidders would start a numismatic item at 99c. Yes there are certain eBay numismatic sellers who do this but I firmly believe many if not all have shill bidders. The others who don’t start at 99c have been burned enough to know better.
I am concerned numismatics will fall out of favor like stamps or cards. Many are selling out or scaling back.
I am concerned numismatics will fall out of favor like stamps or cards. Many are selling out or scaling back
I have addressed this in the past for as long as 15 years. when things started to pick up due at least in part to the Statehood Quarter program many people noticed. what they noticed was money. it is a sad commentary on the Hobby of Kings that there aren't many pre-requisites needed to become a dealer and involved heavily --- mainly money, good, fast internet connection with savvy IT skills, price guides and an ability to interpret pop reports and collector trends.
I have already witnessed many "dealers" who got in on someone's coattails and got out when the going proved more difficult or competitive than they had anticipated. others have commented on stale dealer inventory, another symptom of too many choices(read: dealers) that is compounded by too many shows. when dealers fold and shows fall in number it will be good and the Hobby will actually get stronger, not weaker. I suspect I am not alone in a simple tactic --- wait, don't buy now, the coin(s) will still be available in a month or two and probably be cheaper.
Yes, close to dead as a true auction site.
Most dealers are scared stiff to list their items at $0.99 because they know the market is in the tank.
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
Whenever I sell I go with the auction option and start at the minimum I would take. It sometimes takes a few runs and perhaps a price drop if it doesn't sell after a couple attempts but no $0.99 starts for me. If someone emails an offer that is less I sometimes will lower it to that amount on the next attempt. They can bid at that level if still interested. I don't see too many real auctions listed anymore.
Jim
Ebay is not the same venue as it was 20 years ago....much different now. True auctions on coins are scarce and those have high opening prices/reserves. I do look for certain coins on ebay.. and usually disappointed. Cheers, RickO
Here is a TRUE eBay auction on some Big Error Coins .......
https://ebay.com/str/ctf-error-coins?LH_Auction=1&_dmd=1&rt=nc
It eliminates the sniping. Somehow, people love to snipe. It's like they beat the system or something. A rolling end is much more like a real auction. In fact, some of the other auction sites do use rolling ends.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.