Question:
In the movie "40 year old Virgin", one of the characters runs a store called "We Sell your stuff on Ebay". (or something along those lines). A few times people don’t understand what the store is _for_. Do you find there’s a significant number of people that don’t understand what Ebay’s about these days?
Yes, mostly on eBay.
Response:
In the movie "40 year old Virgin", one of the characters runs a store called "We Sell your stuff on Ebay". (or something along those lines). A few times people don’t understand what the store is _for_. Do you find there’s a significant number of people that don’t understand what Ebay’s about these days? BTW, great movie. Very funny.
I understand what eBay is _for_, but I don’t get the store model. Anyone want to share their thoughts? Who pays the fees, and as a seller, what benefit is there to sell through a third-party if the third-party is then entitled to a cut. eBay listing fees, final value fees, upgrade listing fees, presumably some sort of payment fee, and then a third-party commission. I think it would only make sense for something large and valuable with a low investment in.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – In the movie "40 year old Virgin", one of the characters runs a store called "We Sell your stuff on Ebay". (or something along those lines). A few times people don’t understand what the store is _for_. Do you find there’s a significant number of people that don’t understand what Ebay’s about these days? BTW, great movie. Very funny. I understand what eBay is _for_, but I don’t get the store model. Anyone want to share their thoughts? Who pays the fees, and as a seller, what benefit is there to sell through a third-party if the third-party is then entitled to a cut. eBay listing fees, final value fees, upgrade listing fees, presumably some sort of payment fee, and then a third-party commission. I think it would only make sense for something large and valuable with a low investment in.
eBay store models only make sense above a 97 percent commission. Which matches the 30:1 sell/buy ratio that should be sought out for eBay success. See http://www.tinaja.com/glib/ebaysell.pdf — Many thanks, Don Lancaster Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552 Please visit my GURU’s LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com
Response:
eBay store models only make sense above a 97 percent commission. Which matches the 30:1 sell/buy ratio that should be sought out for eBay success.
Got to be the case. But the stores seem to be marketed towards small ‘get rid of old stuff’ sellers instead of the buy low sell high sellers (who probably are capable of a successful presence on eBay). Also, the store needs to have significant volume in order to return some value to the seller while keeping their doors open. I mean, the seller needs to think this is a deal to have someone else list for them, otherwise they would test the waters themselves. I can’t see the store model lasting.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – eBay store models only make sense above a 97 percent commission. Which matches the 30:1 sell/buy ratio that should be sought out for eBay success. Got to be the case. But the stores seem to be marketed towards small ‘get rid of old stuff’ sellers instead of the buy low sell high sellers (who probably are capable of a successful presence on eBay). Also, the store needs to have significant volume in order to return some value to the seller while keeping their doors open. I mean, the seller needs to think this is a deal to have someone else list for them, otherwise they would test the waters themselves. I can’t see the store model lasting.
Stores seem to be good for inventories of widely available merchandise with fairly stable pricing. Like CDs, DVDs, popular books, etc. Things that aren’t going to get much variation in bids in auctions, and can be listed in stores a lot more cheaply and don’t have to be relisted every 7 or 10 days. — Joanne
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – eBay store models only make sense above a 97 percent commission. Which matches the 30:1 sell/buy ratio that should be sought out for eBay success. Got to be the case. But the stores seem to be marketed towards small ‘get rid of old stuff’ sellers instead of the buy low sell high sellers (who probably are capable of a successful presence on eBay). Also, the store needs to have significant volume in order to return some value to the seller while keeping their doors open. I mean, the seller needs to think this is a deal to have someone else list for them, otherwise they would test the waters themselves. I can’t see the store model lasting. Stores seem to be good for inventories of widely available merchandise with fairly stable pricing. Like CDs, DVDs, popular books, etc. Things that aren’t going to get much variation in bids in auctions, and can be listed in stores a lot more cheaply and don’t have to be relisted every 7 or 10 days.
I didn’t mean eBay Stores (online), I meant eBay stores like "Sold on eBay" B&M stores where a third-party lists and sells for you. I can’t figure how they make money… at least make enough to stay in business.
Response:
I didn’t mean eBay Stores (online), I meant eBay stores like "Sold on eBay" B&M stores where a third-party lists and sells for you. I can’t figure how they make money… at least make enough to stay in business.
Ahh. Well, I suspect they do it like pawnshops do. Give the person very little for the merchandise, and sell it for as much as they can get. Ask them if they buy the stuff outright or sell it for a percentage — if it’s a percentage, it’s at least 50%, I would guess – and that would be after subtracting their listing expenses. I referred some people to Trading Assistants to sell some stuff for them, and they couldn’t find one that would list for them – they all wanted to buy the stuff, and didn’t want to pay much for it. That wasn’t an exhaustive search of TAs – just the few listed in their city, so I don’t know if that holds true across the board. — Joanne
Response:
The real purpose of many Trading Assistant operations is in fact to bait the boobs and lowball buy collectibles and other valuable items which they have other channels for. I bought a McIntosh 240 for $100 cash from a guy in a parking lot on his way in to such a place about a year ago. A strictly by chance conversation based on the TA being in the same strip mall as my maildrop.
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