Has anyone else noticed . . . . .

[surfblue63]

The trouble with buying 'off Ebay' is that all too often a forum seller holds an unofficial auction anyway with 'best offer' being requested. I've even offered money on here for items that's been accepted and then been politely asked for an extra tenner to seal the deal before now !
The best way to sell it seems (as has been suggested) is to list your stuff with a contact number, something which I'm surprised they've not banned , yet !

You just need to go on to the Mini Forum to see the problems that arise with Forum sales, especially when sellers ask for payment as a gift. I only buy directly from forums when I can see the item first and pay cash on collection.

[bmcman.ie]

yep, i agree, i know this only too well! ian.

[JC T ONE]

as I said before, there is less stuff about as most lofts and sheds have now been cleared.

Well people also leave nice things, even if they are put up for auction.

Check item no 566, a old lowmilage rustfree firetruck, fully working and driving.

No one bid, so a scrapyard bought it for 1 Danish krone = 0.11 GB pound

Same faith to all the spare engines & other parts = all sold to the scapguy, for almost nothing

[captain]

ebay? don't give a toss about anyone,s concern,I have had a lot of serious issues with them lately,they are a bit like your local council they make the rules , and don't care what you think, there decision is final

[Andrew1967]

Theres no doubt that in general the highest prices for parts will be achieved on eBay and thats why it still popular. It needs another auction site to take them on at their own game but thats going to be a tough call I would think.

I have seen that some sellers try to circumvent final value fees by charging high postage rates which usually results in a lower auction price and hence lower final value fees. However, as has been raised on eBay's own forums, is it legal to charge a fee on something they do not actually provide a service for ? Legal or not its still taking the pi** and just encourages people to overcharge for postage.

Sellers can be reported for charging high fees and it also affects their ratings. Also, if the postage rates are high, don't bid and then moan about it, you know up front what the charge is !!!

[Pete]

And let's not forget the amount of shill bidding that goes on, absolutely rife from my observations.

[Lord Croker]

I've been selling on ebay for about 5 years & the biggest downturn I have seen has been this year with the hike in postage charges. I do not charge for packaging or my time, just what I pay at the Post Office. Unfortunately it seems that in common with so many businesses, when volumes of sales fall, the charges increase to make up the financial shortfall, as ebay have done, not a good idea in a recession! Maybe lessons should be learned from Poundland, who go by the old philosophy, 'Stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap' which has led to them being one of the strongest retail outlets in the country. I used to specialise in rare or re-furbished Mini parts, but as said previously, these items are not as numerous at Mini shows & auto jumbles, so not only have my costs increased, my sources have decreased. When I first started selling I could see it as a viable business, where the more time & effort you put into it, the more money you would make, now the number of people even viewing an item has dropped dramatically, so sadly, I don't have that confidence in it any more. It's a great shame, a good idea turned bad by greed. I still sell on ebay, but now the ratio of sold / unsold is not in my favour.

[madaboutcherry]

http://uk.ebid.net/

this site has been has been around for while now, but it,s completely dead. I,ve had a few saved searches on it for about 6 months but I haven't had a single email yet

[mk1]

Other auction sites are simply not an option, its like a flea trying to compete with a blue whale.

I suspect that I can hear the sound of a bubble bursting.

M

[mk1coopers]

I'm now having trouble (for the first time in over 200 transactions) with someone wanting to return an item that was NOS, I wasn't 100% on its fitment so listed it as 'looks like' and asked that people checked it would fit before bidding (it wasn't a Mini part), despite offering a refund of the items price less postage (and we are only talking £16 here) when it stated no returns on the listing the buyer is gong to take out a dispute, it will be interesting to see what eBay say, but I suspect they will find in the buyers favor, so I'll loose my 100% rating. I did stop selling for a number of years as the effort wasn't worth the rewards, so I think I'll stop again! I'm clearing out parts that came with a MK1 Cortina project, to raise some funds for some upgrades to the MK 1 Mini, so if any of you guys have one (or a friend with one) PM me and I'll get a list together of what's left, current items include 13x6 Minilite style GB wheels, a couple of gear change housings and a short engine, but I'm sure there's more there if I look for it

[JC T ONE]

I'm now having trouble (for the first time in over 200 transactions)
with someone wanting to return an item that was NOS

Some people just dont look at the pics, its amazing how they posses a drivers license

But sometimes its good done a few good buys, becourse I studied the pic,s a little extra.

Hope all goes well, but as you wrote, they will probably take his side in the matter