Crapola!

[ReefHound]

Read the thread again.

OK, done, your point is? Why should you have sniped this auction?

 

[Mo2vation]

How does this work exactly? If you are the high bidder why would the seller agree to end the auction early? He already has your commitment, he has nothing to lose and everything to gain if someone else bids it higher.

Or do you mean offer before you bid? I guess I always assumed that if a seller wanted quick cash or had a strike point then he would have provided a Buy It Now option.

I'm a bargain sniper and get a lot of steals but you gotta be prepared to lose a lot of auctions. I'm trying for a Olympus SP-350 right now and my last 7 snipes have failed but I'm gonna get it eventually. I like to look at the Completed auctions to see the lowest prices an item goes for and then shoot for that as a maximum.

Dude - there are so many reasons...

Just because you are high-bidder TODAY doesn't mean you're going to win. You know this. And just because the it was sold to the highest bidder, it doesn't mean it sold for the price posted at the auction's end. Maybe he wanted to sell it to that PERSON, at a different price agreed to offline.

eBay is all about managing risk. Its all about trading risk for cash. If you're going to eBay for any other reason, you're not making money, you're not saving money, and you're just feeding the ebay machine. ebay is about managing risk.

Some things are high risk, some are low. Some sellers are high risk sellers (as you pointed out here) and some are low. You manage your cash and apply the appropriate amount of cash to the appropriate amount of risk.

A $1200 camcorder for $500 is high risk - there are a zillion things that can go wrong with it, I can't fix it cheap, etc, etc... a $500 regulator for $125 is very LOW risk, as they're cheap to repair, are more durable than a camcorder, etc.

I end auctions early and sell stuff to people all the time because:

1) the guy who contacts me with a side deal will have the money and will pay. I've communicated with them a few times via eMail (or over the phone) and I know what I'm getting into.

2) Time - I'm trading time for cash. I want the cash now, and I don't want to chase a guy after the auction ends. Mr. Side Deal has the cash now. I may make a little less, but I'll get it a lot faster.

3) Side deals are cheaper - if I end the auction early and sell to Mr Side Deal, I'm either NOT paying eBay's final value fees, or I'm paying a lower final value fee, as I ended the auction before the item was bid up higher. Either way, it makes for a cheaper cost-of-sale (managing risk v cash flow again...)

4) Mr Side Deal may be local - I save on eBay fees AND PayPal fees if dude brings cash. I save time in boxing and shipping. My time is worth a lot of money, so I appreciate these savings and pass it on to the buyer.

5) Mr Side Deal is a pro. They are usually looking for other stuff, too. I'll get the eMail, I'll float out the price and terms and ask if they're looking for anything else... My AOV (Average Order Value) and IPO (Items Per Order) is much higher with the Side Deal guys. And ALL OF MY ADD ON's are cost of sales free - as there is no listing, no photographing, no paying fees to list, etc. In short, dude contacts me about a single item and leaves with a full cart.



Your snipes aren't working because you're bidding too low (and likely too slow.) You're benchmarking your snipes on the lowest prices shown in Completed Items - and these lowest prices by and large include a lot of the side deals we're speaking about above. Of course you're going to lose - these prices are likely for auctions that didn't run to complete, or are the fluke killer deal.

You're in this for the fun of getting a great deal - so you can not only get your stuff, but make yourself feel great that you got it at a once-in-a-lifetime price. That's OK, and if that's your deal, rock on. By contrast, I'm in this to make lots of cash and get the stuff I want at my price. When / if you and I go head to head on an item, you will get crushed everytime and still be waiting for that killer deal - while I've snagged that thing you were watching out from under you and flipped it the next week to some other "bargain hunter" for a lot more than I paid for it.



eBay so rules...


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Ken

 

[ReefHound]

Your snipes aren't working because you're bidding too low (and likely too slow.) You're benchmarking your snipes on the lowest prices shown in Completed Items - and these lowest prices by and large include a lot of the side deals we're speaking about above. Of course you're going to lose - these prices are likely for auctions that didn't run to complete, or are the fluke killer deal.

I know I'm bidding low (slow?) but there are a gazillion of these auctions and it's only been a week. This camera is for personal use, not to flip. Looking at the lowest 5 prices on the Completed listings page, not one of them was ended early. Statistically, there aren't enough of these side deals going on to matter. But I can't wait til we go head to head. What are you shopping for these days?

Dude, I know how to play Ebay, I was asking about what's in it for the seller to end auction early. Paying lower FVF fees doesn't make sense, kinda like taking a lower paying job because the taxes will be lower. Paying high FVFs is good, it means you are getting good sales. Getting cash now (those 3 day auctions are unbearable, huh?) is not important to me. Non-paying bidders have not been a problem either. With only 900+ feedback mostly as seller, maybe I just need more experience. But I'm not going to risk getting my account terminated for fee avoidance or auction manipulation (like several sellers I know) by setting up side deals. As Ebay says "although there are legitimate reasons for ending a listing early, abuse of this option will be investigated." They don't like it because it "can undermine trust in the marketplace".

 

[ReefHound]

Something else, with over 600 Ebay sales I can count on one hand the number of times a buy contacted me about ending an auction early. Are you soliciting this in your auctions?

 

[Mo2vation]

Something else, with over 600 Ebay sales I can count on one hand the number of times a buy contacted me about ending an auction early. Are you soliciting this in your auctions?

I know you wanna hit with me on this eBay subject, seeing as you have had 600 - 900 eBay transactions (and I'm flattered, really) but you are way out of your league here my friend, Hound. You need to trust me on this. Just your "Dude, I know how to play Ebay, I was asking about what's in it for the seller to end auction early. Paying lower FVF fees doesn't make sense, kinda like taking a lower paying job because the taxes will be lower. Paying high FVFs is good, it means you are getting good sales" illuminates your ignorance. Its OK - this stuff takes awhile to learn. I've been making lots of cash on ebay since 1998.

FVF is not a measure of good eBay sales. Its a measure of paying a lot of money to eBay for the privilidge of selling on their site. eBay is an excellent customer acquisition tool. Its a very expensive sales tool. You need to take off your eBay hat and put on your business hat.

With well over 10,000 eBay transactions, I know that soliciting off-site offers is against the eBay TOS. There are nuances of eBay that even a power user such as yourself haven't come to master yet.

I'll just give you two examples:

1) With ebay OWNING PAYPAL, and nearly all of the side deals going through normal payment channels (read: PayPal) how sharp are the teeth in their patroling of this entire side deal issue? Answer: Pretty Friggen Dull.

2) They even continue to put in window dressing to "discourage" it (such as the new-ish hosted eMail version of "Ask Seller a Question") yet you can bypass that eBay monitored hosted eMail dialog by simply hitting "reply" and it goes to reglar email.

Its toofless, man. Their threats are sabre rattling. Your other power user buddies got pinched because they're noobs.

I'm done with the eBay lessons for today. Wanna know more, get my DVD.


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Ken

 

[undefined]

With over 10,000 eBay transactions, I know that soliciting off-site offers is against the eBay TOS.

---
Ken

Hence the reason some of us (like me) solicit the seller to list the item with a Buy-It-Now of a price we are willing to pay. eBay and Paypal both get their cut

 

[ReefHound]

With over 10,000 eBay transactions, I know that soliciting off-site offers is against the eBay TOS.

---
Ken

I'm sorry, I was thinking feedback numbers, that's over 600 seller feedbacks.

With just a little over 400 seller feedbacks, you must have the world's lowest feedback ratio. Most people get at least 25% without even asking for it.

 

[ReefHound]

Hence the reason some of us (like me) solicit the seller to list the item with a Buy-It-Now of a price we are willing to pay. eBay and Paypal both get their cut

And the reason some of us just provide a Buy It Now option on auctions to begin with.

 

[undefined]

And the reason some of us just provide a Buy It Now option on auctions to begin with.

And for that, you have my thanks! I have gotten to the point I had bidding. I either put a snipe in on an auction, or ask the seller early on the throw up a buy-it-now and just get it over with. If I'm ready to buy something I don't like screwing around.

 

[ReefHound]

And for that, you have my thanks! I have gotten to the point I had bidding. I either put a snipe in on an auction, or ask the seller early on the throw up a buy-it-now and just get it over with. If I'm ready to buy something I don't like screwing around.

I've talked to a lot of people who feel the same way, and in fact, filter their searches to only show Buy It Now auctions. There are lots of things I buy in the same way. I don't waste time, for instance, "bidding" on a pack of rechargeable batteries. Of course, there is a lot more that goes into the final decision than price.