is shipping gonna kill ebay?

[tomslik]

maybe swap meets ain't on their way out....

whatcha think?

[unklian]

Did something change ?

[tomslik]

been to the gas pump lately?
heard ups and usps are gonna jack up rates, don't know about fedex (yet)

[34ford]

been to the gas pump lately?
heard ups and usps are gonna jack up rates, don't know about fedex (yet)

mailed a fedex package friday and there was a 1.42 fuel surcharge on a 15# package.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I've used the flat rate USPS  Priority mail boxes many times the past year.  Many parts of the Crosley cars are small , but can be heavy.

USPS Priority  flat rate boxes are up to 70 pounds if it fits in the box  for the 48 USA states.

I beliueve UPS  and Fed - EX have used the fuel surcharges for a few years.

What can whiz me off with Fed-Ex ( I use them more than UPS) ... is additional residential charges.  Seems to be a difference from regular residential to really - really residential ......more  remote I guess.

I use the ship calculator on Fed-ex and found I need to add a few pounds to be accurate for a real quote

I believe eBay is gonna kill it's self with the fees and add-on charges.  They seem to want the small guy out the past few years.  All the mass merchandisers are getting thier collective butts smooched on eBay now with discounts on every thing

[kb426]

Current shipping charges make a difference in what I buy know. Small purchases that the freight is more than the cost are just about done. Real heavy stuff I have to need badly. The everyday 10 to 30 dollar stuff I pay attention to and decide how much I want it. I don't think ebay is done yet because people value ease. You sit and order and it comes to your door. Not bad. No traffic, no crowd, no sales people that you may want to kill before you leave the store. We pay for convenience. UPS charges hurt me alot anymore.

[Charlie Chops 1940]

My relationship with eBay is a little classic love and hate. I buy only and skip the selling. It's a fantastic market to locate stuff you will never see locally and from my point of view it works best for buyers. Shipping costs hurt everyone though. I have also noticed in the past 4 or 5 months that sellers are tending to give up the feedback system because eBay treat sellers so shabbily. eBay has also gotten very greedy especially with the virtually PayPal only payment which helps the coffers at a corporate level and then a fee for everything possible. Selling prices that look very high may or may not be the norm but if eBay takes 20% your margin is fer crap

I still love to sell at swap meets and admittedly have sold quite a bit of stuff on the HAMB - high traffic does it there for sure. Craigslist (an eBay subsidiary) works good on a local basis too.

We are all gonna take a big hit on gas prices from here on out I'm afraid. China is a HUGE consumer market for gas and that seem to be the driver at the per barrel level right now.

Just some thoughts.

Charlie

[unklian]

Oil went way up a couple of years ago, Ebay survived that one.
So I don't see them disappearing anytime soon.

[BFS57]

Hello;
Was on the web a few days ago and couldn't find the "ask the seller a question" button!?
What gives with that?

Bruce

[Uncle Bob]

I'm mostly on the same page with Charlie.  It's a good resource for finding things, getting an approximate idea of what stuff is worth at any given moment, and sometimes entertaining.  I still sell from time to time and in that star rating feedback the only line I don't have full stars is shipping cost.  Like Tony I have to swag my scale results a might because neither USPS or UPS scales sync with mine, and since theoretically they're monitored by the State they are correct.  Whatever.  When I'm low on what I charge the buyer I eat it, when I'm high it's usually less than a dollar so I keep it.  But some infrequent buyers probably think the relatively high shipping costs are me ripping them off.  They're probably out of touch with what stuff costs now.  Of course there are the sellers who offer an item for a decent price, but then charge $20-30 shipping for something that will fit in a USPS $4.70 flat rate box to boost their profit or cover their nut.

From the buyer end I've learned that for some things, like shop consumables for example, some of the same vendors on ebay also sell through Amazon for the same unit price, and there are often "free shipping" deals as long as you''re patient.

Future costs of fuel might make the cost of shipping even more onerous.  The past decade the Chinese have been going around the globe making contracts for future supplies of crude.  On the other hand in this country we have a tendency to let the tree huggers make those kind of decisions......which usually means nyet.  We constrain exploration and production, make it more difficult for refineries to exist, much less expand.  And forget about building one (or a nuclear power plant).  Of course when the stuff hits the fan in the next few years all we'll hear about are those "greedy oil companies".  And the real problem causers will get the free pass again.

One other thing that could harm any online vendor, not just ebay, will be if the States ever implement a sales tax on online purchases out of state.  Right now shipping costs on many taxable items is about the same or less than sales taxes (depending on where you live, here we're kissing near 10%).  Consumers will find a way.  It wouldn't surprise me if, much as with bartering to avoid taxes, when shipping costs reach a certain point we car guys may put more emphasis on relay networks as an alternative.

[Charlie Chops 1940]

Uncle Bob hit on a big one with sales tax collection. I've often wondered why, with all the clamor of states wanting sales for out of state purchases, eBay hasn't went to sales tax agency in every state that has a sales tax and offered to collect the tax and forward it to the state for some percentage of the proceeds.

Wait, don't yell at me for putting it in words. I'd almost be willing to bet it has been put under consideration somewhere.

Charlie

[unklian]

If anything "kills" ebay, it will most likely be their own management.

[Carnut]

Well, I'm done selling on ebay, at least for awhile.

I was kind of a flash in the pan as a seller on ebay. Seems last fall I was making money despite myself and I managed to get the Top Rated Power Seller icons. But sales just went away in the spring and never came back.

I tried selling stuff besides magazines on ebay like photo prints and calendar prints. They sold a bit, but I never made enough profit off the stuff to pay for the listing and selling fees.

So it kinda became a hobby of me just putting stuff on ebay and not really making any money, but being happy I was giving folks something to enjoy. Sure did enjoy all the positive feedbacks, really ego stroking.

I slowed down over the summer but tried listing a bunch of stuff in the last 3 months in hopes there would be 'Christmas Sales' no such luck. I wound up paying ebay $156 in December for almost no sales.

So I am back relying on my website for listing magazines for sale and actually making a bit of money there with 1 or 2 sales a week.

I'm still in for buying on ebay for things I can't find local or am too lazy to get out and look for local. So far the shipping hasn't bothered me on my purchases.

Heh, heh, actually on my own little forum, there have been some folks who have had some hardships in the computer department so I have been on ebay buying specific model older lappys at real reasonable prices and shipping them out to folks and then taking up a collection on the forum to pay for them, It has really been working well, I am fortunate  to be techie enough to setup and make sure a lappy is in good condition before I ship it out to folks.

So for me no more ebay sales, but I'll still be buying on occasion.

[unklian]

I've noticed a LOT of "shill bidding" lately.

[Charlie Chops 1940]

I've noticed a LOT of "shill bidding" lately.

What are the clues to shill bidding? I really am ignorant.

Charlie