Why does it seem that Ebay is sometimes more expensive than online stores?

[GassieBall]

Not all the time, but often enough. Then when you figure in shipping, a used bass on Ebay can cost more than from Musicians Friend. Is it that people don't do their due diligence?

[bongomania]

Due diligence? No no no, it's that people want as much money as they can get, and most of the time they paid more for the goods in the first place than MF did. Cost is higher, need for profit is higher, price is higher. Besides, nobody cares what you can get something for on MF, they only care that there's a chance some hasty ignoramus will pay their asking price.

[pin_head_47]

Are you talking about how much people list them for, or how much people actually are willing to pay for? I agree that I've seen many things listed at higher prices, but they don't usually sell for that much.

[Simo98]

Did it by chance say "Broken, not working, sold as is" at the beginning.

I find that with Ebay, people will pay bugger all for something that is brand new, and about 90% of the new price for a broken blender.

[stratovani]

The problem with eBay is that bidders don't do their homework, thereby paying far more for an item than necessary. Also, people should have a maximum price they'd be willing to pay for an item, and never exceed it. For example, last week I put a bid on a set of pots being auctioned off by the StratoSphere. They came from an American Deluxe P-Bass, and they seemed in good shape for used pots. So I bid $5.75 for them. They came in at over $17.00! Now these things are not made out of gold, they're used pots! The winner bid way too much, considering you can get new pots for a bit over $5. A seller is lucky when the bidder is too dumb or lazy to do his homework first before bidding.

[Mike N]

Originally Posted by stratovani

The problem with eBay is that bidders don't do their homework, thereby paying far more for an item than necessary.

This.

[m0nst3r]

It's a combination of the sellers not understanding the concept of depreciation and the buyers not doing their homework regarding the market price of whatever they're buying. Nothing annoys me more than seeing a person with a 5 year-old bass that's in bad cosmetic shape trying to sell it for what they originally paid. It's just as bad when someone actually buys it for that price.

[Skitch it!]

Originally Posted by stratovani

The problem with eBay is that bidders don't do their homework, thereby paying far more for an item than necessary.

This...again ; )