WWTBAM Bored

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/12/ebay-users-say.html

The folks leaving comments on the story are seriously upset. I'm still using eBay, FWIW. Haven't had a bad buyer, though, so my time in the disgruntlement department simply may not have come yet.

Ebay's unpopularity has risen as its profits have fallen dramatically over the past few years as it has driven its bread-and-butter sellers away. Even when there was still a market for my merchandise, I quit selling on ebay essentially because their rising fees made it impossible to make any money on lower priced items.

Sadly, the only way Ebay will become more responsive is if it gets serious competition, and the only way that's going to happen is if someone else big decides to bite the bullet and take them on. Unfortunately, in today's economic climate I don't see any of the other big boys out there swallowing the startup losses they would have to suffer in order to set up a viable competitor to Ebay.

silverscreenselect wrote: . . . impossible to make any money on lower priced items.

I was interested in a $90 item on E-Bay a while back. The seller wanted $15 for the item, $75 shipping, to save the fees. As SSS points out, you couldn't do that on lower priced items.

I would have paid a fair price but decided to try another round of yard sales, where I found the item for $35.

silverscreenselect wrote:Ebay's unpopularity has risen as its profits have fallen dramatically over the past few years as it has driven its bread-and-butter sellers away. Even when there was still a market for my merchandise, I quit selling on ebay essentially because their rising fees made it impossible to make any money on lower priced items.

Sadly, the only way Ebay will become more responsive is if it gets serious competition, and the only way that's going to happen is if someone else big decides to bite the bullet and take them on. Unfortunately, in today's economic climate I don't see any of the other big boys out there swallowing the startup losses they would have to suffer in order to set up a viable competitor to Ebay.

Agreed.

My cousin and her husband had a nice side business selling things on eBay but they stopped because the fees made it impractical.

They sold some things for me when we cleaned out TLAF's house but that was as much a favor to Mom as anything else.