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Auctions on eBay: A Dying Breed
mrearlygold
Posts: 17,858 ✭✭✭
Auctions on eBay: A Dying Breed
By Catherine Holahan
Tue Jun 3, 8:08 AM ET
Bruce Hershenson, who auctions vintage posters online, is hanging up his eBay gavel. For almost a decade, Hershenson's business epitomized the e-commerce that made eBay (NasdaqGS:EBAY - News) famous. He sold rare, collectible, sometimes kitschy memorabilia in online auctions that had a starting bid of 99%. But as the business of buying and selling over the Internet has matured, the thrill and novelty of auctions have given way to the convenience of one-click purchases. Hershenson will hold his last eBay auction June 3. "The auctions are nothing like what they once were," he says. "They won't ever come back."
Auctions were once a pillar of e-commerce. People didn't simply shop on eBay. They hunted, they fought, they sweated, they won. These days, consumers are less enamored of the hassle of auctions, preferring to buy stuff quickly at a fixed price. Hershenson is emblematic of the legions of small business people who built their livelihoods on eBay but -- like eBay itself -- are having to rethink their whole approach to online sales.
Auctions on eBay: A Dying Breed -Continued
By Catherine Holahan
Tue Jun 3, 8:08 AM ET
Bruce Hershenson, who auctions vintage posters online, is hanging up his eBay gavel. For almost a decade, Hershenson's business epitomized the e-commerce that made eBay (NasdaqGS:EBAY - News) famous. He sold rare, collectible, sometimes kitschy memorabilia in online auctions that had a starting bid of 99%. But as the business of buying and selling over the Internet has matured, the thrill and novelty of auctions have given way to the convenience of one-click purchases. Hershenson will hold his last eBay auction June 3. "The auctions are nothing like what they once were," he says. "They won't ever come back."
Auctions were once a pillar of e-commerce. People didn't simply shop on eBay. They hunted, they fought, they sweated, they won. These days, consumers are less enamored of the hassle of auctions, preferring to buy stuff quickly at a fixed price. Hershenson is emblematic of the legions of small business people who built their livelihoods on eBay but -- like eBay itself -- are having to rethink their whole approach to online sales.
Auctions on eBay: A Dying Breed -Continued
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
0
Comments
<< <i>I disagree. >>
I agree to disagree. I believe more people are tired of ebay's problems than they are "auctions".
next............................
BTW, the guy who is the centerpiece of that article has been regularly announcing his departure since January on the powerseller board. He's also one of those that keeps predicting the end of the world.
Russ, NCNE
I suppose if enough complain, they may reduce the fees, but I highly doubt it. More sites will come into play and the auctions will be there as long as the customers are there.
President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay
I think it is more accurate to say that "true auctions" are a dying bread on eBay. I just got hammered on two coins that I sold via a 0.01 start, no reserve auction. One sold for half of my cost and the other about 40% less. Big pictures, honest descriptions. I remember years ago when I rarely worried about listing something in that format. Now I need to rethink the option of eBay, unless I start things at a real number.
It's certainly true that early eBay was mostly individuals just clearing out their closets and such, as opposed to professional sellers establishing a store front. The early days gave it some charm but added risk. There were more unknowns. In the early days, few coins were imaged and you had to buy on faith and the hope that there was a good verbal description...and that the seller was both competent and honest in their description.
These were the days when you could get nice coins for 60 cents on the dollar, before sellers expected to get retail...but you could also get clunkers.
There were positives and negatives for both. Like the days before TPGs, there's a tendency to wax nostalgic about what was good about the "old days" of eBay while blissfully ignoring all the problems and dangers the "new order" protected against.
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>I think it is more accurate to say that "true auctions" are a dying bread on eBay. I just got hammered on two coins that I sold via a 0.01 start, no reserve auction. One sold for half of my cost and the other about 40% less. Big pictures, honest descriptions. I remember years ago when I rarely worried about listing something in that format. Now I need to rethink the option of eBay, unless I start things at a real number. >>
I am much more careful about what I start at $0.01. My "true auctions" for certified large cents and walking liberty halves always seemed to find their proper price level. Increasingly I am starting less popular items near retail.
Mark
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/gold/liberty-head-2-1-gold-major-sets/liberty-head-2-1-gold-basic-set-circulation-strikes-1840-1907-cac/alltimeset/268163
March of Time - 27 Centuries in Gold
https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=36590
eBay's current management team is continuing on the road to ruin that the previous management team selected.
eBay's greatest mistake was going public. It has forced management to make mistake after mistake in an attempt to generate an unrealistic and unreachable return on investment.
Skype anyone?
"Begin your item at $.01 and watch the natural competitive auction process drive the price of your item up to its true market value!"
Ebay's current slogan regarding their auctions (borrowed from the highly successful Las Vegas Ad campaign):
"What starts at a penny, ENDS at a penny!"
Oh heck, maybe i'm just bitter because four of my ebay coin listings today (12 coins altogether including three buffalo nickels) EACH hammered down at one penny!
Gotta hate that. Were they the last coins you start at .01?
In light of this eye-opening experience, my answer to that question would have to be....................................... YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Socrates once said, 'If you're just gonna get one cent, why not at least get TEN cents?!"
very pleased with the outcomes.
i guess when you over pay for silver, nickel, and copper things like
that tend to happen.
gold though... heh.
<< <i>I think it is more accurate to say that "true auctions" are a dying bread on eBay. I just got hammered on two coins that I sold via a 0.01 start, no reserve auction. One sold for half of my cost and the other about 40% less. Big pictures, honest descriptions. I remember years ago when I rarely worried about listing something in that format. Now I need to rethink the option of eBay, unless I start things at a real number. >>
Now that eBay has increased their final value % added fees AND arbitrarily changed the rules to discriminate against sellers and make them sitting duck targets for weirdos, etc. (by not allowing sellers to leave a buyer a negative anymore), I'm selling a lot less now too.
Since they established this "no neg's against buyers policy", I've had to complete my first ever Unpaid item dispute against a non-payer! Why should they care if they pay or not anymore and waste my time and cost me my listing fees, since I can't leave them a negative anyway?
I've tried switching to "BIN or Best Offer", but am quickly finding out that most people seem to think that your willingness to consider "best offers" , means you want to sell it for a 60-75% discount off of your BIN price!
- Jim
The fees at Pay Pal are tough to swallow too. I just sold a lot of 42 G to VG Morgans for just over $600 but my Pay Pal fee was $19.00, yes that’s only 2.9% but, 20 bucks is 20 bucks.
The Ebay fees are harder to figure out, I just see I owe them $181.00 up to last week but, how that exactly breaks down is confusing. Also, the differences in how I list and how EBay charges is also very confusing, mostly by design. They love to say “fees apply” but don’t tell me what the fees are.
HOWEVER (did you notice the really big however?) if I compare selling at Ebay to renting even a small store on Long Island NY… WOW! Ebay and Pay Pal are mad-cheap!
There is absolutely no way I could maintain a brick and mortar store and pay rent on Long Island (which would be well, well over a $1000 a month).
I still think EBay and Pay Pal are taking too much but, honestly… how else can I reach people all over the country? A small store might see a few people a day but at EBay, I have upwards of 1500 to 2000, sometimes more, people looking at my 10 auctions each week.
Also, when it comes to buying, I can use the EBay completed items to see what specific coins are actually selling for, which seems to be 25% to 35% of the PCGS price guide… and I can also see by number of bids what’s hot and what’s not too.
All in all, the new fees suck but the alternative sucks more.
I don't like "true auctions" because I routinely get outbid. I prefer to buy using BIN. I know the price and if I am willing to pay it, I get the item. Quite easy.
I used to love true auctions because I could get rips routinely. That changed for me years ago when people started using sniping software. I refuse to give my username and password to some company I don't know just to snip items. If you know of a program that will snipe without requiring your username and password, let me know. I feel it is foolhardy to give that info to ANYONE.
I understand the eBay fees are higher. Gas is higher. Food is higher. What isn't higher now? Where else can you present your items to thousands of buyers without starting your own expensive website or opening a B&M store? I don't like the higher fees, but I also don't like Craig's List either. What are our options if not to use eBay? I just build the fees into the prices I ask and I'm always satisfied with the returns I get on BIN listings.
Jonathan