EBAY dealers/sellers: Does Cheney have a point?

[grasswire]

To DU-ers dealing on eBay:

Are you selling stuff because you lost your job? Are you selling stuff because your job doesn't pay a living wage? Are your eBay sales up, or down?

Tell your eBay story here. I'll wager that anecdotal evidence shows that Cheney's notion of eBay as an economic force is ALLLL wet.

[mark414]

1. he was right!

over the summer i sold about $500 worth of old records, books, cd's, and movies because i couldn't find a job.

thanks dick cheney!

[vi5]

2. I have been buying and selling for over 3-4 years now...

Not as a career, just as a collector and seller of stuff.

I can tell you that 3-4 years ago I could put something out for bid and be totally blown away at how high the auction would go.

Now, I'm lucky if I get face value for most things I put up.

I have definitely noticed people on ebay being less inclined to spend money, especially on more frivolous things such as collectibles.

[quispquake]

10. I've been noticing the same thing...

I was doing auctions a coupla years ago, and would get good money for collectibles...I ran a couple of auctions the past few weeks, and I'm barely getting my opening bid on anything...not to mention the OUTRAGEOUS Paypal fees they now charge sellers...

I'm not doing any more anytime soon, that's for sure...

[Cassandra]

11. Same here, except...

I've been selling partially to make some space in my apartment and part to get more money as my business is very slow. A few years ago, the prices I got were sometimes astonishing but that is rarely seen now. And that's understandable; I've seen several things that a few years ago I would have killed for but I just can't afford now. All it takes per auction is one or two people not bidding to depress the prices.
Despite Cheney's claim, I've always declared my ebay sales.

[quispquake]

12. Oops...duplicate post...

Never Mind...

[LynzM]

3. Don't remember where I read it,

Somewhere on DU, I'd wager, but the economic effects of ebay selling are already included in the statistics that tally incomes, etc. I'm sure someone will have a link for you :)

The stuff we would be selling is supplemental income, things we'd otherwise give away or donate, but could really use the money.

[Hello_Kitty]

7. I think the CEO of E-bay went on the news

To state that E-bay transactions ARE reported and included in the GNP.

[2Design]

4. Selling stuff to pay rent = lost money = not a gain

Not a place for a business unless you are a large volume seller - and those types have driven everyone else off ebay

very few make money on ebay any more
But it is better than putting in a trading post or classifieds because you have a large audience - and better than yard sales since many cities require a permit and the ad in the paper cost too much

So it is a way to sell and get something back for your stuff

[ClintonTyree]

5. I sell..............

a few things now and then just for extra cash. I go to a lot of auctions and try to find things I think I could make a couple of bucks on.
Sales are WAY DOWN from just a year ago. Stuff that people were paying $100 for 2 years ago now goes for $20, if you can sell it at all.

Cheney can go, well he can go Cheney himself!

[Tyler Durden]

6. Cheney has a point...on top of his head.

Fucking rePUKE pinhead.

[REVOLT823]

8. I have been unemployed for 8 months and have sold stuff

on there to survive and pay bills. I wouldn't qualify it as "income", more like survival.

[tjdee]

9. I'm wracking my brains right now thinking of something to sell.

I've been buying and selling for a few years... but I've made less than $100 a year except for the time I bought shoes for a relative and ended up selling them for a bit more than that.

Now that I'm unemployed, haven't sold anything...don't have anything to sell--which I'd have to pay seller's fees on so that my profit would be about 50 cents.

IMHO ebay right now is a buyer's market (as it should be, Ralph Lauren jeans for like 6 bucks? Awww yeah!)... so as usual, Cheney is full of it.

[devinsgram]

13. Ebay used to be a good place to sell

until they let the wholesalers on, now it's just junk. Also, if you are not careful you can get ripped off. I did. Some people have someone they know bid against you so it takes the price up then when it gets so high they drop out. I've also gotten really ripped off on ebay. For instance, refurbished ink cartridges where they refill them and sell them as new. Cartridges work for a while then quit. I could go on and on, buy on ebay at your on risk.

[treefrogjohn]

14. I've been selling off my record collection for a year now

I want to take my wife on a cruise and don't know any other way to pay for it without going more into debt. I think of it as a big yard sale.

[Vickers]

15. eBay was started while Clinton was President...folks were optimistic

and small business (which eBay started out as) was encouraged.

And now?

[TrogL]

16. The amount is insignificant

Huge fortunes are not changing hands on Ebay. I suspect the effect on the economy of ebay is about the same as one WalMart store. If Cheney is touting Ebay as the "new economy" he's delusional. Unfortunately, of course, people will buy it just like they've bought into every thing else he's said.

[salvorhardin]

17. eBay used to be a place you could make money

I have a client who used to do around $2,000 - $3,000 (equates to about $850 - $1,200 profit) a month in sales on eBay selling stuff like is pictured below. These were items that used to sell for between $60 - $300 a piece, depending on the item. It was a real business. This was in the late 1990s.

However, it seems like starting about three years ago the market almost entirely dried up. Now, it's almost impossible to even get the wholesale value out of any of his items, and it's not because his inventory line got stale (he continuously sought out different items) or bad management (he had previously started, ran and sold at good profit 3 different businesses). Part of the problem can certainly be ascribed to the Bush economy -- people just don't have the dough to spend anymore.

The real reasons lie though (I think) in the evolving eBay business model. No longer are they the high-tech equivalent of the local bizarre or flea market. Rather they have aggressively partnered with large corporations (like Disney) and other companies that dump tons of their overstock into eBay (for instance -- Vtech has their own store on eBay where you can buy refurbished phones at discount).

Also, eBay has put into place software technologies that directly harm the independent seller. An example; every listing you will see helpful suggestions for items from other sellers that are similar to what you are looking for.

Fraud is rampant. If you investigate feedback ratings for people selling computers or other electronics you'll see feedback scores in the thousands yet they've only been on eBay for a few months. Looking at the individual feedback you'll notice the exact same feedback description being left by multiple people all around the same time.

eBay is no better than any chain mall store now IMHO. The small occassional sellers and the people making a business off eBay are nothing more than paid advertisers for eBay allowing them to claim themselves to be the largest store in the world.

[amazona]

18. no, sales are waaayyy down

They have never recovered from the blow of having postage rates hiked twice in 2001, thanks to the anthrax killer.

An item I could sell for $25-30 in 1998, if I can sell it all, it will go for a buck or two.

[grasswire]

19. I rarely venture outside the "collectibles" merchandise...

...so my experience is probably atypical. It's still a flea market to me because of that. Individual sellers.

When I began selling on eBay about six years ago, it was like found money. Just astonishing. I sell vintage and antique paper items. Some folks with a lot of money had NO care what the bid was. If they wanted an item, they paid an astronomical price for it. Something I thought might bring $20 would end up selling for hundreds of dollars. I'm remembering a horse race program that sold for $400+ and a piece of sheet music that sold for $1150, and some old letters that sold for $1600. The sky was truly the limit. My only problem then was acquiring stock to sell.

75 percent of the items I listed sold, and sold at a significantly higher price than my opening bid. Now, about 18 percent are selling. I only list better items, cutting way back to avoid listing fees for items that don't sell. And I'm only getting one bid on nearly everything.

A dealer of similar merchandise in New England tells me that his eBay sales are in the toilet. Another long-time dealer tells me that he's doing well in coins (something people turn to in tough times) but his other lines are kaput.

I also have a small retail operation in an antique mall. Sales are down there, as well.

One area of sales that is still holding firm price-wise is home decor. People are nesting, and women are still buying pretty things for their home. I'm shifting my merchandising in that direction; away from "collectors" toward "decorators." I'll be framing old prints and displaying vintage papers in ways that homemakers can visualize them at home.