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The Sad State of eBay

#81
alembicbones said:
I think I'm like a lot of you and peruse eBay to see what's out there in the way of basses. In my opinion, it used to be a place where you could find quality instrument at a price point that you were willing to pay. Now all you see are ridiculously priced Buy It Now's and the super sketchy "From Japan" listings that are just a joke. For example, do a search on "Sadowsky Bass" and literally 30 listings come up that are so wrong that I just laugh. 3 or 4 might use the same picture and you'd be a fool to buy from these outlets.

It's really a shame. Ebay used to be so cool. Now, it's just a waste of bandwidth.

Bones
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Well, the world continues to change.

The real question is whether the listings that used to be there still are. I think so. But, you have to now use more filters in your searching to get the listings that you are used to seeing. Checking the "Used" box and a regional box, such as "North America" will get you roughly the listings that you are used to seeing. Hope that helps.
 
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#82
40Hz said:
I think it's more that eBay became viable once they did that. The whole "million small buyers and sellers" they originally envisioned didn't turn out to be workable from a business standpoint. The bandwidth charges and infrastructure required to do online auctions right is not pocket change. And they can't do it for next to nothing in fees despite so many people wishing they could.

Here's the thing. eBay is a business. Online auctions are a really clever idea. But not every really clever idea makes for good business. There's tons of desirable products and services people want that they're never going to see - because there isn't a business in it. That's something that comes as a shock a lot of times when people are dreaming up new business ideas. A great idea doesn't automatically mean it's a great business idea.

Sometimes, a great idea for a new business is truly original and turns out to be a game changer. But 99% of the time that "great idea" you have isn't being done by anybody else for a very good reason: there's NO money in it.

So I don't have an issue with eBay about their fees. If you're going to complain, complain about how little they do to police their users. And how slow they tend to respond when there's an issue or a problem. That's my only real complaint about eBay
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The issue is Ebay is a household name. People don't really look outside their comfort zone, if they want an auction item they tend to go to Ebay first. If you want access to those buyers you have to pay the fee. I understand that, but it seems to me there isn't much competition in the online auction space due to the consumers/buyers self-imposing a monopoly on ourselves, collectively.

Yeah, I get Craigslist, Reverb and TB are there as well but those aren't really the same. Reverb is a specialist site for musical instruments only, so the buyer pool is smaller and less representative of the general population. Craigslist has it's own fears and challenges associated (no rating system, anonymous, criminals use it). TB isn't bad, but the items tend to be more boutiquey or in the higher price brackets because we're all bass fanatics and like to spend our money on nice things.

For my money TB is the best source for deals on higher priced instruments. I have had a lot of success trading for what I wanted on TB as well. I go to Ebay as a buyer for cheaper basses or other items like bass parts. Reverb rarely has competitive prices even compared to brick and mortar stores so I don't use it. I use Craigslist sometimes if I want to avoid fees on an item that has bad resale value, and am willing to take a risk.

Anyway, I guess I'm not disagreeing with anything you said. Just trying to add my own observations.
 
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#85
interesting... I used to hate eBay because I had to use Paypal, and there was little recourse if things went wrong. These days, buying on eBay is as easy as Amazon and I'm using it more and more. Bought several basses in the past year that I think were reasonably priced and that I probably would not have found elsewhere. One of them was not as advertised, and I got 30% of the selling price back thanks to their guarantee (buyer had misrepresented the condition of the bass, and got several details wrong including scale length...). I also don't miss the 'good old days'.
 
#86
I got killer deals on two basses this year on eBay. In the case of one model, it sells every few months to patient knowledgeable bidders for 2/3 the price of what the same instrument typically sells for here. Like new condition, mint high-end hard case, roughly 1/2 price of new.

Also scored great deals on pedals, power supplies, batteries, cables, etc. One thing arrived and quickly died, seller replaced it easily immediately. Another thing didn't arrive, eBay issued an immediate refund. Stellar service.

Only slight rip-off I've ever had on eBay, over hundreds of buys & sells in about 15 years, was from someone I've seen selling prolifically here too. By the time I discovered non-genuine parts, which he then sold here and didn't respond to my emails when I called him out on it, too much time had gone by and it wasn't really worth it.

Any time I've ever checked "Sold Auctions" for on eBay for something I've considered buying, from rare amps to high-end basses, I see a price that makes me wish I'd paid that. Going forward, I will only pay that or slightly more. If some people are asking far too much, good for them. Makes no difference to me. In the case of the bass model I mentioned above, people are regularly asking far more than I believe they should and people are often enough paying it. So it goes.

Sold some stuff on eBay for the first time in years recently, great transactions on which both sides did very well. I place "Buy It Now" at the lower end or a bit below of similar items on offer and stuff's soon sold at a price I can control.

Never bought or sold on Reverb. Only times I've looked, the prices are as new or close to it. Usually the selection for what I'm looking for is poor or none.
 
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#87
StayLow said:
I got killer deals on two basses this year on eBay. In the case of one model, it sells every few months to patient knowledgeable bidders for 2/3 the price of what the same instrument typically sells for here. Like new condition, mint high-end hard case, roughly 1/2 price of new.

Also scored great deals on pedals, power supplies, batteries, cables, etc. One thing arrived and quickly died, seller replaced it easily immediately. Another thing didn't arrive, eBay issued an immediate refund. Stellar service.

Only slight rip-off I've ever had on eBay, over hundreds of buys & sells in about 15 years, was from someone I've seen selling prolifically here too. By the time I discovered non-genuine parts, which he then sold here and didn't respond to my emails when I called him out on it, too much time had gone by and it wasn't really worth it.

Any time I've ever checked "Sold Auctions" for on eBay for something I've considered buying, from rare amps to high-end basses, I see a price that makes me wish I'd paid that. Going forward, I will only pay that or slightly more. If some people are asking far too much, good for them. Makes no difference to me. In the case of the bass model I mentioned above, people are regularly asking far more than I believe they should and people are often enough paying it. So it goes.

Sold some stuff on eBay for the first time in years recently, great transactions on which both sides did very well. I place "Buy It Now" at the lower end or a bit below of similar items on offer and stuff's soon sold at a price I can control.

Never bought or sold on Reverb. Only times I've looked, the prices are as new or close to it. Usually the selection for what I'm looking for is poor or none.
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This pretty much mirrors my ebay experiences.

I did buy one bass from Reverb a couple years ago, for $300. A Peavey Forum in a finish I'd been looking for. The same bass would likely have sold for about 30% less on ebay, had it been available there. I knowingly paid extra for it because I didn't feel like waiting around forever. It's a cool bass, although not quite in the condition that was described. I'm okay with that and don't regret buying it. But as far as I can tell, Reverb prices in general are at the high end of the scale. Bargains are a rare thing on Reverb, but still occur on ebay on a regular basis. Looking back over the last 1-2 years, I've managed to find some terrific bass deals on ebay.

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#88
Antisyzygy said:
The issue is Ebay is a household name. People don't really look outside their comfort zone, if they want an auction item they tend to go to Ebay first. If you want access to those buyers you have to pay the fee. I understand that, but it seems to me there isn't much competition in the online auction space due to the consumers/buyers self-imposing a monopoly on ourselves, collectively.

Yeah, I get Craigslist, Reverb and TB are there as well but those aren't really the same. Reverb is a specialist site for musical instruments only, so the buyer pool is smaller and less representative of the general population. Craigslist has it's own fears and challenges associated (no rating system, anonymous, criminals use it). TB isn't bad, but the items tend to be more boutiquey or in the higher price brackets because we're all bass fanatics and like to spend our money on nice things.

For my money TB is the best source for deals on higher priced instruments. I have had a lot of success trading for what I wanted on TB as well. I go to Ebay as a buyer for cheaper basses or other items like bass parts. Reverb rarely has competitive prices even compared to brick and mortar stores so I don't use it. I use Craigslist sometimes if I want to avoid fees on an item that has bad resale value, and am willing to take a risk.

Anyway, I guess I'm not disagreeing with anything you said. Just trying to add my own observations.
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All valid points.

I do check the classifieds here a lot more regularly than I used to too. Especially after I saw a few things I wouldn't have minded owning that were marked sold the day they were initially posted. Live & learn, right?

Craigslist has been useless for me so far. I gave it a chance. But after six deals back to back (2 sales 4 buys) went sideways on me I wrote it off. Both sales and two buys were no-shows. Two other buys the seller grossly misrepresented the condition of the item. One time the person showed and the bass was as advertised. But he told me he needed more money than he had listed it for, and walked when I didn't go for the entire additional amount he wanted. The last time, I got suspicious because the guy seemed shady and nervous - and the serial number was scuffed up a bit although not completely removed. So when I asked him to play me a little something on the bass (which he claimed he had owned for close to ten years and had received compliments during a couple of studio sessions in the past) he freaked completely on me and bugged out. Which confirmed to me the thing was probably stolen.

So no thank you Craigslist. At least for me.
 
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#90
Yeah, you have to look harder on the bay anymore. Deals are still there.

More props for Reverb though... I've had good experience there so far.
 
#91
I wanted to post a thread where you post photos of basses that have been on eBay so long its kinda just a expected thing to see when you are browsing. Some basses are like stuck in time on there. Some custom painted fenders and rickenbackers have been there for years.

I have no idea why when I type in Fender bass I have to see musiciansfriends listings.....like if I wanted to buy from them Id go to there site, annoying. That seems a recent thing.
 
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#92
Also reverb is pretty good but they have some incompetent employees. This month something I listed sold on craigslist, so I deleted my ad. Reverb charged me the 3.5% they charge to sell there and after speaking to employees on 2 separate occasions they did not remove the fee, even when they said they would. So now I have to call again, a 3rd time..... I had another issue I needed help with and there employees sucked then to.
 
#94
There are several eBay-type sites here and I've used a few of them.
Have always used them only as a mean to contact the seller, meet him up, inspect the product and if it meets my expectations (they have everytime so buying them blindly would've been the same, though not the point) hand him the money and I pick up the product.

Money has always been tight so I rather be cautious about it.

Have not been able to sell yet, but I'd be even more cautious.
 
#95
alembicbones said:
I think I'm like a lot of you and peruse eBay to see what's out there in the way of basses. In my opinion, it used to be a place where you could find quality instrument at a price point that you were willing to pay. Now all you see are ridiculously priced Buy It Now's and the super sketchy "From Japan" listings that are just a joke. For example, do a search on "Sadowsky Bass" and literally 30 listings come up that are so wrong that I just laugh. 3 or 4 might use the same picture and you'd be a fool to buy from these outlets.

It's really a shame. Ebay used to be so cool. Now, it's just a waste of bandwidth.

Bones
Click to expand...

I partially agree, but then again ebay is great for buying and selling parts, electronics, etc. I think it just changed with the interests the the users.
 
#97
i've scored tons of quality bass gear on ebay (including this bass in the avatar) from both individuals and big boxes. it's a crapshoot of course, but the seller's rating, sales numbers and feedback help keep it pretty transparent. it's definitely more pricey these days than 6-7 years ago, as Big Corporate has glommed onto it and people attempt to jack prices across the board.
saying that, i think that TB is still the best, most trustworthy source of bass gear online.
 
#98
I am surely the odd man out (and don't call me Shirley!)
Ebay works well for me - Got my 4003 Blue Burst fretless there, my Guild B301 , my Dean Edge Pro 5 string
all excellent condition and a good deal. I also buy TONZ of parts on Ebay and again am getting the price
and part I want. The big thing is, as the maker and seller of Zero-Mod Thumb Rests I find it is THE # ONE
place people want to buy from ! We sell on our website and through BestBassGear but 3/4 of our sales
come through Ebay. As somebody who also does electronics, Ebay is unbeatable for oddball parts in
small quantity for a decent price. Chips, caps, power warts, I got the bigazz electrolytic cans for my Bryston 4 B
there last year - Better price than any mainstream seller (DigiKey Mouser Newark)
 
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#99
So I just bought a Fender Aerodyne Jazz off of eBay. I won it at a good price but it looked in bad shape, i was initially going to withdraw or just not pay for the order because I've heard some serious horror stories about the Japanese eBay listings etc. I've never made a "large" purchase on eBay before but the guy emailed me back and was super cool and let me get it for my original bid. He met his reserve and he seemed happy and I was a little more relieved. You talk bass guys are super good at giving solid fact and solid opinion when I ask questions (why I love these forums) the bass got here super fast and my fears as far as the way the bass was repaired are at ease. The thing is rad and real beast. I love it, I got it at an unreal price and it's better than I expected it to be.
 
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#100
Turlu said:
Ebay fees are horrendous and then you add the paypal even more horrendous fees, and for us canadians, you add the ridiculous US-Canadian funds conversion, and that gives you the idea just to stay away from Ebay now!
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Are you saying it sucks to be broke? Or it sucks to be Canadian? Or it sucks to pay fees for services provided?

I think we can all agree that it sucks to be broke. Been there many times, probably be there again someday. ;)
 

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