West Ham United A Complete Record 1900-87Available on ebid.net
Why buy on ebid.net rather than eb@y?
The simple answer is that items are MORE AFFORDABLE!!
Why is that?
(This is a long answer, so get yourself a cuppa, or you can just take my word for it, but the simple answer is there are no, or very little fees for the seller to pass on to the customer).
Eb@y charge their sellers a substantial amount in listing fees, final value fees and other fees for extras. On top of that, eb@y users are now forced to pay by or receive payment using P@yp@l WHICH IS OWNED BY EB@Y. This in turn means sellers have to pay more fees and in the end thier profits go down, or to be fair, let us not use the word profit - the majority of eb@y sellers (or that should be ex-eb@y sellers as many of them are leaving - more on that later)... yes as I was saying let us not use the word profit, the majority of online sellers are individuals trying to earn a living in a VERY competitive market - the word 'profit' has too many connotations of big business.
Now when the takings go down, an individual or a business, needs to claw this money back to stay afloat - the only 'legal' way to do this on eb@y is to either raise the auction start price (to guard against a low final price), or raise the Buy It Now price. The immediate problem here is that customers simply won't buy (one reason many buyers are now turning to ebid.net).
If customers aren't buying because of the prices, sellers are forced to get their fees back by other means. The most obvious is loading the cost of P&P in the hope that customers won't question this. Another way of reclaiming the cost of fees is to add a surcharge for using paypal.
Loading the P&P and surcharging for Paypal are not allowed on eb@y, even though it is perfectly legal for a business or individual to do this, eb@y's laws of self-protection don't allow this.
I can hear a distant chorus of hardened eb@y buyers in the distance chanting "and quite rightly so", but in the long run THE CUSTOMER GENERALLY PAYS THE SAME ANYWAY - the seller has to play swings and roundabouts with his takings to accomodate fees and keep the total price the same for the customer at a cost of reduced takings.
It is better the seller has freedom to set his prices (and any 'surcharges' the way he or she wants), in order that the buyer and seller get the best of a balance in a good deal
To be fair to eb@y, eb@y allows sellers to add 'reasonable' costs for P&P
To be fair to eb@y a small number of sellers take advantage of this and make the P&P cost really high and the start price low to avoid fees, but this 'spoils it for everyone. It results in fee avoidance for the seller - I am NOT condoning this method of keeping fees down, but the buyer usually pays the same or less - however I must stress, I am not condoning fee avoidance
I could go on (eb@y have put even more pressures on sellers), but simply put:
EB4Y SELLERS CAN NO LONGER KEEP THEIR PRICES AT A LEVEL WHICH IS MUTUALLY SUITABLE FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR CUSTOMERS.
The result is that eb@y sellers are going out of business. Bearing in mind that eb@y is (fast becoming 'was') a favourite place for retail therapy, those who enjoy shopping from the comfort of their own laptop, are now finding less and less to buy on eb@y.
To continue earning a wage, eb@y sellers are now moving over to ebid.net.
Eb@y buyers are now following ex-eb@y sellers over to ebid.net.
Eb@y is a relative desert. The shelves are metaphorically empty.
Why?
Eb@y sellers have HAD ENOUGH!
They are moving over to ebid.net, where they can sell by a variety of means. It is possible to sell on ebid.net WITH NO FEES WHATSOEVER.
The reality is you ONLY pay a 2% final value fee on a picture that ebid hosts for you IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO IT THIS WAY. Anyone with a bit of internet savvy will know that it is easy, easy, peasy to get your pictures hosted for zilch, resulting in NO EBID FEES.
The fees aren't passed on to you, the buyer, 'cos there ain't any (except the 2% picture fee, which most sellers can absorb)
RESULT - Ebid.net is really where a bargain can be had!
Is Ebid.net a safer place to buy?
Yes. Sellers are VERIFIED before being allowed to sell
So should I now buy from ebid.net rather than eb@y?
Absolutely, but BE PATIENT, you may not find everything you want. Ebid.net is still in a period of 'migration' where many ex-eb@y's sellers are building up their ebid listings.
Many ex-eb@y buyers are also fed-up ex-eb@y sellers. Their strategy is:-
If they can't find it on ebid.net, they look for it on eb@y, then....
If the item is found, they message the seller saying they will be prepared to buy it, if the seller is willing to list it on ebid.net.
Everybody wins - the seller doesn't have to pay eb@y's (and p@yp@l's) ridiculous fees and the buyer usually gets a bargain because the seller doesn't have to recoup the fees through the listing price or P&P loading.
I hope you have found this info, from a disgruntled ex-eb@y buyer and seller, very useful.
Now do yourself a favour - here is the link to ebid
Oh and before I forget... the ebid forums are rather cheery and helpful
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