Ebay is dead

Woolco · 18 August 2019 at 1:08AM

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

I agree with you OP.

Ebay is not what it used to be.

Surprise surprise, the unexpected hits you between the eyes. Surprise surprise.

kangoora · 18 August 2019 at 1:17AM

4 life stages of an ebay sale:

1. Optimism - I'm going to make a small fortune from this
2. Realism - I should be able to sell it for a decent price
3. Pessimism - Well, at least I'm not going to lose money on it
4. Defeatism - I don't care what I get, I need it off my shelves!!!!

How often you achieve 1 & 2 comes down to what you paid and your knowledge of that particular market.

Everything (well almost everything) will eventually sell on Ebay, whether you get the price you want for it is another matter

I've recently sold a 1960's personal gamma radiation dosemeter after nearly 2 years listed, started wildly optimistically at £60 (only one on Ebay), gradually reduced a bit each 3 months and finally took an offer of £25 - only cost me £4 so nice profit but it was sat staring at me for 2 years

tomvox · 18 August 2019 at 4:52PM

If I sell it's because I no longer want something. I don't sell to make a profit. eBay still works for me - I'm sorry it doesn't for you but there may be a reason for that.

couriervanman · 18 August 2019 at 5:38PM

I used to buy sell antiques & collectables 20-25 years ago used to sell every Saturday at tynemouth station
Anything decent would get you more or less the book price wade/doulton/carlton ware/beswick/sylvac/shelley/moorcroft etc because if you wanted certain bits there were only a few markets around the north east.Then ebay came along and suddenly those wade nat west pigs that fetched £130 a set dropped like a stone to £40 20 years later,and it was the same for most collectable stuff

[Deleted User] · 18 August 2019 at 6:04PM

It's also worth noting that there is always a large drop in sales in the summer period as people find better things to do with their time than buying crap they really don't need to make themselves feel better on those colder evenings.

couriervanman · 18 August 2019 at 6:06PM

Thinking about it.......i would imagine most items be it clothes/games/books/electronic/sports etc etc have dropped in price because of ebay has saturated the market

mimi1234 · 18 August 2019 at 9:17PM

You have to remember it's school holidays so this might factor into it.

I've had a huge dip in sales over the last few weeks. I'm not some super seller but had a few bits and pieces listed which normally fly off the shelves. I've been relisting for a few months.

I have had a flurry today so I am happy. Hurrah!

StumpyPumpy · 18 August 2019 at 11:21PM

hubb wrote: »

Well I have to say after putting many varied and vintage collectable items (star wars/dr who/comics/books/dvd/etc etc) that Ebay is dead. 20 years ago I could make a small fortune on anything of this nature I listed. 20 years on, the items are even more vintage and its crap. hardly any views, and the ones with watches never become a single sale.

20 years ago I wanted to buy a book. A very specialised, out of print, limited run book. It had a British author and publisher but the only copy I could find for sale was in America at around $1000 plus shipping and when I contacted them it had been sold. I was living in London at the time and the author ran an art gallery there so I went to see him. He told me that even he didn't have a copy of the book. The publishers had gone bust and he had tried to buy back the original print foils but they had been lost. He had not found anyone willing to sell one of his own books back to him.

20 years on the book has never been reprinted but as I write this there are 17 copies available on abebooks with prices starting at around £65. The book is at least as rare as it was 20 years ago and is just as useful/desirable but internet selling has become massive in the intervening period. It has given people access to goods on a global scale. In the past "rare" might have meant 2,000 or 3,000 were produced. These days 2,000 or 3,000 means that half a dozen will be available for sale at any one time.

I'd agree that eBay isn't as good as it used to be but... fashions change especially where ephemera is concerned and what was once regarded as rare is now easy to find, It's not that eBay is dead it's that your goods have worldwide competition and prices go down when the market becomes saturated.

SP

soolin · 19 August 2019 at 9:38AM

hubb - you know what I am going to say- you have posted this same thread around twice a year for 10 years or so now, frankly if I were you I would give up- 10 years is a long while to continue using something that you believe to be dead.

As for the sci fi market, this is my market, it is my passion and where I started over 20 years ago. However, as I have said in the past years to you the market is no longer there, the older fans are downsizing and selling their collections- youngsters don't collect in the same way anymore.

20 years ago I would have had bidding wars both online and privately for something from say Babylon 5 or Thunderbirds- now with huge collections flooding the market no one is buying- they wait until it reaches pennies and then buy to play with. A year or so ago, (I probably mentioned this on your last thread) I bought several lots at a B and M auction from a collection being sold off by a private collector who was moving into a retirement property. I spent less than £50 in total on several boxes of things including sealed Dr Who and Thunderbirds (both early series not modern) - I sold some on ebay and doubled my money and have kept some and the rest I charity shopped. That £50 outlay from me probably netted the collector around £30 after fees, if that. I suspect when he bought the stuff it cost him thousands .

As it is I am left with more daleks than one person can reasonably need and no realistic hope of selling them at all, but I love Dr Who and am reluctant to charity shop them until I run entirely out of room.

I got out of the sci fi market as a staple of my ebay shop several years ago when it was obvious the market had gone.

sham63 · 19 August 2019 at 11:38AM

Ebay is not dead for the things I'm interested in, still as good as it was 20 years ago eg Guitars/guitar effect pedals and motorcycle parts. Useful things, not collectables.

Just glad I sold my collection of original punk badges 15 years ago as the market is now saturated!

Ebay is dead

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