Has anyone else noticed . . . . .

[mk1]

That the amount of original BMC / Mini tuning equipment, memorabilia & general autoshite offered on ebay must be at an all time low.

I have been doing some of my old searches recently & I am staggered by how little genuine stuff comes up, whether its tuining equipment & brochures, BMC showroom signs & tat or just decent brochures there is very, very little on there any more. I wonder if this is a reflection of the fact that it has all been bought up, that demand has tailed off or that no one has any money any more?

Is it just me or have you noticed similar?

M

[rich@minispares.com]

I think that with the fees that ebay are charging now, most people are selling via forums or on word of mouth

anything interesting on ebay now seems to sell before the auction ends

[surfblue63]

I think it's down to the supply drying up. Only so many people have stuff in lofts or sheds and with Ebay being around for over 15 years most have probably been cleared out at least once.

If you go to car shows and have a look round the jumbles there's not much to be found there either. I did pick up an almost mint 1962 Morris Mini Minor manual the other day for a tenner. The binder has no splits, no creased (or greased) pages and it even includes the body repair section which shows the use of water soaked asbestos

By the way, there are some early Austin brochures on offer at the moment, including a Super Seven and 997 Cooper. Asking price is £20 each.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281156761821? ... 1558.l2649

[mk1coopers]

With eBay starting to add final value fees onto the whole total including postage I don't think I'll bother selling on there anymore, I've had stuff listed recently and it's failed to attract much attention, when you have to have a couple of trips to the post office to sort stuff out for overseas bidders it becomes even less cost effective, now people are going to have to charge more on postage or if you send at cost you are effectively loosing money. I've put the Lucas 700 spots I had listed in the for sale section here, again no real interest so perhaps people haven't got the disposable income they used to have ?, or I'm asking way too much for them

[Andrew1967]

With eBay starting to add final value fees onto the whole total including postage :

Is this the case ?

I know Paypal take their fee from the postage price as well as the final value fee which means people like me who (did) charge at postal cost only lose out. If the postage costs are also taken into consideration when working out the final value fee then that is outrageous.

[mk1coopers]

This is what I've seen



Final value fees change for all private sellers
Final value fees will be charged based on the combined value of the item listed plus postage. For example, if an item sells for £20 with postage cost of £4, the final value fee will be charged based on the combined value of £24. This will not apply if the listing offers collection only.


I'm sure if you dig around on the site it can be found, but I guess they are not shouting it from the rooftops

Found it

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/uk/201308051154442.html

[steve1071]

Have to agree, Mark. There's very little on there these days.

I suspect it's a combination of lack of supply, the ridiculous fees and numbers of idiots and scammers on ebay.

[InimiaD]

I concur with all of the above comments.

The biggest culprit in my honest opinion is ebay and Paypal. Their bubble is bursting and their response is to whack on some more charges not long after royal Mail hoisted up their postal charges.
The buyers / sellers have had enough. I don't bother selling on ebay anymore and only buy stuff that i actually need.

[Andrew1967]

Thanks for the heads up on that one, it's f***ing disgraceful.

That explains why a few months ago eBay enforced postage rates to be quoted upon listing 'to make it more transparent for buyers' or some bull like that. This is the real reason.

I suppose the only way to offset some of the costs is to work out the postage and add 10% for the eBay fees and 4% for the Paypal fees. It's a shame as I have never charged more than the actual postage cost.

What a lot of robbing b'stards they are.

[bpirie1000]

Agree e.bay have a lot to answer for...

Gone are the days of "I know a boy who is looking for that".....(actually speaking to folks)

All done on tinter web.

[Gray]

I wonder how long before they impose a buyers premium?

[Dean]

You pay to list your item.

Then you pay 10% of the final selling amount. So something ending at £100. Your pay £10 in final fee plus what it cost you to list. So you could be out of pocket up to 15%

Then if you want to transfer your money from your PayPal account to your bank account they will charge you a % again not sure how much, maybe 3-4 %. I could be wrong.

And also postage charges are crazy now. A 2kg item can be as much as £8 to send. Bigger items which are heavy I used a company called parcel monkey. Good prices and they collect from where you choose.


Back to what mark was on about, yes I also noticed the lack of good items on eBay. The amount that's in the classics only, for mini is down and I think it is due to when they joined them with new mini stuff.

I used to buy mini parts all the time on eBay. Rarely sell. But I now i hardly buy any mini parts on there anymore. I still check everyday, few things come up but go for too higher price than what I would pay.

But I agree selling parts on forums is now a much better way. You don't get numptys asking stupid question.

Mark i remember you saying a couple of years ago you were fed up with selling parts on eBay. That's why you started your shop on your main page of your website.

Most of the seller on eBay are shops and companies , W&P have loads of items on there along with Mini Speed.

Maybe there is a market to under cut eBay and make your own website just to sell mini parts at a low fee to eBay

[JC T ONE]

Agree to all the previus postings.

I wonder how long before they impose a buyers premium?

Dont start if they see your post, they just might say "ahh - now THERE is an idea" greedy baxxxxds

[jay weinstein]

hoarding...some of us can't help it!

[Austin Costin]

hoarding...some of us can't help it!

Maybe this is whats happening, people are investing in now rare car parts, who ever would have thought that some of these parts would be worth what they are now.
Many of us have been buying these tuning parts for years at a decent price and are beginning to realise that we couldnt afford to buy them in todays market.

As for ebay, it's just bought out the greed in everyone, cars were so much more fun before computers full stop, hunting down that part, word of mouth and contacts. You only knew what to look for if you were truely interested, now you just search the net and it's all there to see with a pretty price tag attatched.

[JC T ONE]

As for ebay, it's just bought out the greed in everyone, cars were so much more fun before computers

Totally agree to the buisness side of it,
but computers have also given us the chance to meet & share our interest with some nice people around the world.

hunting down that part, word of mouth and contacts.
You only knew what to look for if you were truely interested

Agree - the best & rarest parts were found without ANY help from computers.

now you just search the net and it's all there to see with a pretty price tag attatched.

Not everything

[Austin Costin]

Not everything [/quote]

No, but with in reason.

Sold to the highest bidder

[mk1]

I'm glad I'm not the only person who has noticed this. As far as the fees are concerned I noticed the recent change & thought it was totally out of order too.

I more or less stopped selling on ebay about 2 years ago when the fees went over 10%, I believe they are closer to 20% now.

I am thinking about selling a new batch of paperwork & other bits & bobs soon & will be advertising it here first in the hope of avoiding ebays excruciating costs.

M

[Pete]

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 !
Ebay's whole appeal (from their perspective) is that they assume a higher final value will be achieved by a seller compared to a private sale and so also assume that the fees will be willingly soaked up accordingly. I have found that some rare items I've sold on Ebay have actually gone cheap so that's not such a valid reason to use it. It's money for old rope, they're the biggest, they're the main players, they're making millions and they couldn't give a sh*t what you think.

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 !

[surfblue63]

I sell a bit on Ebay and have no problem with the fees and postage, I build all the costs it into my prices. I always look for similar items and price mine accordingly when using a fixed price listing. If I have anything rare then I will auction it and let it run. I recently sold 6 plastic Volvo models using the auction process, starting them at £0.99 each. One buyer brought all 6 for £200. So what if I paid a 10% seller’s fee and 3% payment fee to Paypal, I still made a healthy profit on them. The buyer also paid for the postage including £1 for P&P.

I blame a lot of the recent changes on greedy sellers taking the piss with excessive postage costs and trying to get away with paying final value fees.

There are fewer buyers now than there were 5 years ago, but that's more to do with the economic down turn than anything else. And as I said before, there is less stuff about as most lofts and sheds have now been cleared.


PS If you don't like Ebay you could always try Gumtree or Amazon.

PPS Auction houses charge anywhere between 10-25% (=VAT at 20%) sellers and buyers fees.