Posted by Neredbojias on 08/27/05 00:09

With neither quill nor qualm, Stan McCann quothed:

> Neredbojias <neredbojias@neredbojias.com> wrote in
> news:MPG.1d771b3cc8bcf3949897a2@news.intergate.com:
>
> > With neither quill nor qualm, Tina - AxisHOST, Inc. quothed:
> >
> >> "Neredbojias" <neredbojias@neredbojias.com> wrote in message
> >> news:MPG.1d76945f4ed2866498979e@news.intergate.com...
> >> > With neither quill nor qualm, Ed Jay quothed:
> >> >
> >> >> Neredbojias <neredbojias@neredbojias.com> wrote:
> snip
> >> >> >> >With neither quill nor qualm, Tina - AxisHOST, Inc. quothed:
> >> > It seems you have a great understanding of the marketplace. Now
> >> > let me ask this question. What are your thoughts on ebay? I,
> >> > myself, have never logged into ebay because it seems to me that
> >> > the concept is very much to the purchaser's disadvantage. Ie,
> >> > many buyers:one product (-per item). In it's short history, ebay
> >> > appears to have been very popular but that could very well be a
> >> > fad, the appeal of something new and different.
>
> There really are advantages both ways. I was selling for a while and
> if I had kept up with it, I would have started pulling in a profit. I
> stopped after having some issues with PayPal, not with eBay. Although
> they are pretty much one company.
>
> >> >
> >> > Anyway, I don't think my position will change on this issue for
> >> > the simple reason that, to me, ebay is nothing more than a
> >> > "legitimate scam", -an "auction for the masses", a commercial
> >> > balm for the egos of those who embrace it in rather the same way
> >> > we have been discussing enterprise otherwise.
> >>
> >> I bought a whole kitchen full of brand new appliances on eBay, at a
> >> price that couldn't be beat around here and with very little effort
> >> on my part. I saved over $2000. If I got scammed...I wish I'd get
> >> taken advantage of more often.
>
> Motorcycle parts. Motorcycle gas tanks can be very expensive in the
> hundreds of dollars. I got one that had a very small scratch on the
> paint, no dents at all, for $150.00. Mustang is one of the leading
> names for motorcycle seats; good seats at good (for the quality)
> prices, again in the hundreds of dollars. I got a nice one that has a
> small tear in it for $50.00. Those two deals saved me hundreds.
>
> >
> > I do not doubt your words, but how can one "beat the market price"
> > at what is essentially an auction? You said "brand new appliances"
> > so it isn't a case of one person's junk... Perhaps wholesalers
> > advantage themselves of ebay to do a little retailing on the side.
> > Or crooks.
>
> Or what I call wheeler dealers. When I was selling on eBay, I was
> selling for the guy that lives across the street from me. He goes to
> auctions and picks up lots of whatever there is. Much of what he gets
> is pure junk which is put on pallets and sold to a Chinese company.
> Some stuff is picked through and found to be good. I was selling cable
> modems for $30 or less. I was selling transparancy makers for $150.
> We were both coming out ahead on the sales.
>
> >
> > Then again, maybe you were just lucky. Occasionally one can even
> > find a (true) bargain at Nieman Marcus's. But I still maintain that
> > the ebay concept is phffft. There was a couple that lived near me
> > who used to go around the state collecting junk (-and I mean junk)
> > to sell on ebay. They made quite a substantial profit - for a
> > while. Then something happened, I don't know what, but all of a
> > sudden ebay wasn't such a golden goose anymore. Possibly others
> > began offering superior junk for a similar price.
>
> I don't think it is luck but finding someone that had picked up a bunch
> of overstocked furniture. For the other; one man's junk is another's
> riches.
>
> >
> > Anyway, the concept, on a logical basis, isn't viable. If it works,
> > I'd like to know how.
> >
>
> Sure it is. The only reason I hadn't made a profit yet is because I
> had put up some stuff that didn't sell well which ate into the money
> being made from the stuff that did. A few more of those transparancy
> makers I was selling would have put me in the black. There are ways of
> getting stuff extremely cheap allowing it to be sold at a profit. And,
> as I found as an eBay seller, on some of the small cheap items, you can
> make your profit from the shipping instead of the item. For instance,
> one of the items I had that didn't sell well was Hot Wheels (new in
> package) from the 60s and 70s. At a buck or two each, I didn't make
> anything from the cars. At $6.00 shipping, I was making about $3.50
> per car from the shipping.

Well, you make a lot of sense. I guess what I'm really saying is that
the American buyer, in general, is stupid. Sure, I understand the
concept of someone (-the seller) spending time to locate a not-
blatantly-common item of little intrinsic value for someone else (-the
buyer) who wants it but in many instances this basic principle is
ridiculously exceeded by the price margins appied to the sale. Perhaps
that's it, the buyer isn't as stupid as he is lazy, although one relates
to the other, also.

Anyway, I'm not an economist or financial wizard, but I do watch my
pennies and it really irks when when I find I've overpaid for some crap
I probably didn't need or even especially want in the first place. I
tend to hold grudges in that respect; if a business gets me once, it
*won't* get me again because I'll boycott it good and proper. I didn't
go to McDonalds for 5 years because some a-hole countergirl rooked me on
a 1/4-pound cheeseburger/2ble cheeseburger deal. Furthermore, in the
last 3-3 1/2 years, I've only been to Mickey D's twice, to boot. Yeah,
they made out on that deal.

(I realize that the countergirl is not the corporation, but who am I to
blame? If a company can't control its employees, they *are* to blame.)

Americans are always bragging about their rights, but if they'd argue
their right in the marketplace with equivalent zeal, we wouldn't have so
many damn scams and ripoffs.

--
Neredbojias
Contrary to popular belief, it is believable.

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