- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 3 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
On another forum I’m on, someone mentioned why buying on eBay is difficult. Here’s what he said. Interesting to see how promoted listed are being seen by a buyer.
“Some sellers are idiots so they don’t spell things correctly or put in relevant keywords to assist the engine with pulling up relevant results. eBay doesn’t care if you buy the thing you were looking for so they include some wild crap in the results often. I have found things either miscategorized or just by dumb luck. So I generally use an external search engine pointed at eBay so I can get through the fluff. eBay also sorts results by how much folks agree to pay for the ad placement. So a high to low price search will be completely misranked based on ad costs and seller ratings and other stuff that is really boring to talk about. Its frustrating because you can miss the thing you were looking for or miss out on a good deal as a result.
Generally speaking I will search for an item a few different ways including best guess item mispellings and using both eBay and external search engines to make sure I have a good idea on whats available. Sometimes a seller has mulitple listings for an item just based on if you want to pay a surcharge for a drop shipper to get it sooner or not.
Their are also a lot of bad deals with new items being gouged at higher than actual retail prices. I’m not sure who the people are that pay way above retail for items, but their are plenty of listings like that so that stuff must sell.
-
The thing that makes eBay great for a scavenger might also make it not so great for the average buyer not that familiar with it. Sure, that is why eBay failed as a competitor to Amazon.
I do agree that eBay’s search algorithms have much to be desired. I sometimes google for something and find my options before taking a closer look at eBay. Their help function is particularly bad, and I almost always use Google first and then click on an eBay help link.
For the overpriced items, I sometimes wonder if people use that to prove that an item is worth more than it is valued. For instance, I recall a story here when someone saw two lamps in an estate sale with Ryanne’s listing printed out showing her crazy asking price. Eventually, those lamps sold for less than half of what was listed. If you’re setting up an estate sale and want someone to think they are getting a great deal, why not create an overpriced listing and use that at the sale? I’m sure there are other purposes to it. Like drive up the cost of classic Disney VHS tapes by having someone buy the tape and then cancel. I mean, I don’t really know, but that is what I think when I see those listings.
-
-
I spent an hour yesterday going round a group shop (antique centre where individual dealers rent space), having been round the thrift shops in the neighbourhood. The thrift shops were crowded- in the group shop it was basically me, a couple of other browsers, and a gaggle of gossiping dealers by the cash desk. They were talking about picking up stock from auctions and outdoor antiques fairs, which is probably why everything in the shop was overpriced, thanks to auction-house commission and antique-fair markups. I guess the house clearance business has been hit by the lockdown, plus the larger charities here in the UK have started providing clearance services.
Searching through these places is a nightmare- it’s visually confusing and physically difficult to navigate. There was a small Chinese blue-and-white vase in a locked cabinet which was priced at £1,200. It was at the back of the cabinet in a dimly-lit room, with a whole lot of fragile junk strewn across the floor in front of it. The label just said “Kangxi vase £1,200”- no attempt at explaining why it was the most expensive item in the whole centre.
Maybe the place is like a huge bookshop I used to visit. I could never find anything worth buying either for reading or re-selling, despite the fact that there were so many books that they were stacked three deep on shelves reaching up to the ceiling. Then I noticed that in the middle of the shop were several people using computers- they were the staff listing online the books that were worth selling; the shop contained the rejects.
-
I noticed that in the middle of the shop were several people using computers- they were the staff listing online the books that were worth selling; the shop contained the rejects.
I wonder how many book shops are just storage/offices for online sellers. Maybe the shop is just a place for regular people to donate or sell huge lots of books.
-
-
-
I wish eBay would allow you to easily narrow your search to their detailed category higher archy. Why can’t I search in:
Pottery & Glass > Glass > Glassware > 40s, 50s, 60s > Federal
As for bookstores, I find its a pretty even split. I have a few used bookstores that I source from and it’s clear that they don’t pre-scan the books.
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.