(OT) I'm confused - regarding Ebay

[clare]

The bid increment does seem to be somewhat arbitrary.

[clare]

An old auctioneer friend of mine had a saying -"an item is worth exactly what the highest bdder on a particular day is willing to pay - not one penny more, or one penny less"

[clare]

A "ploy" suggests an "illegitamate" action and you seemed to have some irational "fear" that they were out to get you.

[clare]

What bothers me most is selling prices that are very reasonable - or even unreasonably low, and then insanely exorbitant shipping fees.

Something that retails for $20, BIN price of $0.99 and shipping of $60

- for somthing that weighs a few ounces and will fit in a padded

8.5x11 envelope.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Real estate can go either way. The better agents invest their time and their money in advertising. Some will get you a better price than you can do on your own. Buyers want that 6% discount from the FSBO too.

Some agents will also try to get you to sell at any price. 6% of a low-ball is better than 6% of nothing.

[sms]

The real estate commission is not fixed by law at 6%. Most brokers are willing to take a lower commission except on very low priced properties. You just have to shop around and ask for it. This is especially the case on higher priced properties.

In my area, where a 50 year old 2000 square foot tract home sells for $2 million, very few people pay "full commission." 6% would mean $120,000 commission (split four ways). This would be considered insane. 4% is more common. On luxury homes, which can cost three to ten times as much, the commission is even lower.

That said, you probably don't get as much for your house when you sell it yourself versus using an agent.

[ItsJoanNotJoann]

id I say I was scared of anything. I DID say it may be a ploy by eBay to s care a shopper into buying _r i g h t n o w_ in the hopes they may think the item would be gone if they don't act immediately.

articular item.

Do you have reading comprehension problems or are you just stupid?

[Unquestionably Confused]

Aw, let them make some money. There are enough folks doing eBay professionally and using it as their store front. You wanna sell widgets worldwide? What's it gonna cost you?

Want to open a store in town and sell them? It'll damn sure cost you more than the 10% eBay is snagging.

Wanna accept credit cards? Wait until you go for a merchant account. Drive a hard bargain and maybe you'll get by with $25/mo merchant fee plus 2.5% per transaction if you have some volume. eBay? no merchant fee, 3%(?) per transaction? Great deal for the little guy and not bad for the big guy either.

Wanna play with a real puzzle? Who's making money on Craigslist.org and how? I mean beside the legit folks selling their goods and, of course, the cons.

[Unquestionably Confused]

[snip]

And these same folks who worry about SSL protocols and internet scams think nothing of handing their credit card to some teen in a restaurant to removes the card from sight and.... He's okay though. Good kid out on bail for drug charges

Most of the major issuers have waived the $50 liability for ANY purchase made on the internet. You're safer there than at Luigi's Italian Pizza joint down the street.

Pretty neat feature.

[bob haller]

merchant accout costs have dropped dramatically. I have a low volume selling friend who is happy the fee is under 2.5 percent with zero monthly charges

[Unquestionably Confused]

Agreed, but those charges are plainly stated and if you're willing (or dumb enough) to pay them, who's the problem? I'm fairly reasonable when judging other people's shipping charges. If I'm selling you an iPad or Netbook, what's fair? You and I both want it to get to you, I have to wrap it properly, schlep it to the post office of UPS store, pay their charges, etc. etc. My time has value, just like yours. Maybe I'm spoiled because I'm self-employed - not retail nor internet sales - and my knowledge, skills and time are the only thing I have to sell. I sell them by the 1/10th hour increment. If I'm going to "gift wrap", transport to the USPS, a Flat Rate Priority Mail pack with the vintage whatever you just bought from me for $15 that will cost (cheapest way) $12.80 or whatever to ship, don't expect me to charge you $13.00 to ship. That's why they call it shipping AND HANDLING

>

[clare]

True - I'm self employed too - I check the shipping cost before I place a bid, for sure. Sure makes you wonder how the Chinese can ship something half way 'round the world for less than I could send a letter from Windsor Ont to Detroit Michigan!!!! I bought some electronic components for less than $3, that would have cost me a minimum of $7 - more likely $15 anywhere in North America, and a minimum of another $7-$12 to ship from Texas, California, or Florida- and the shipping was included!! Shipping from Toronto would have cost me more than $3 - even picking it up in Cambridge would have cost me that in gas alone!!

[clare]

PayPal gives you a certain level of safety - the buyer NEVER sees your credit card info, and when buying off of Ebay with Paypal they go to bat for you if a deal goes bad.

[micky]

How does ebay make money off of paypal when I buy something on ebay?

I'm told they had to pay 100's of lawyers. Maybe they don't need all of them all the time????

[micky]

He explained this. Because he's on dial-up, it takes a lot less time to navigate through his own bookmarks than finding the watch list and then the item he wants.

[micky]

I told him the same thing. He's a complainer.

I got that from the first post.

[Stormin Mormon]

I bought item which was shipped to the wrong adress. Lost about $50 and no satisfaction from Ebay when I complained. This was maybe ten years ago, and was only one complaint out of many good transactions.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .

[Unquestionably Confused]

Ebay owns Paypal. Therefore when you buy my ebay advertised goods and pay me $100, Ebay skims 3% or whatever off the transaction, just the same as a "normal" card issuer does. It's a direct hit to the seller, indirect (in the form of higher cost, shipping (or wherever the seller chooses to recoup it)) cost to you.

I think we have to remember that whatever PayPal/Ebay is "making" off those credit card transactions, they - as sort of the escrow agent - are also paying a fee to the credit card issuer.

If I pay you with my American Express card via PayPal, Pay Pal is going to pay something (1½% or 2%) to American Express and then they, in turn, are going to withhold their fee of 3% (?) from what they pay you. Thus they are clearing only 1% to 1½% on the transaction.

They should not have to eat that any more than you should have to spend the time packaging my purchase and shipping it off to me without being compensated.

[trader_4]

That's true if you pay with a credit card. I have paypal linked to a transaction from my checking account. Not sure that incurs Paypal anything, anymore than paying your water bill with a check does. And I'll bet with the volume of transactions PP is doing, they get a better/lower rate on credit card transactions than your local hardware store.

[Unquestionably Confused]

[snip]

I suspect that you're correct on all counts. Their volume drives their costs down and increases profits. That's what makes the business world go around. As for the bank transfers, the costs to them are minimal and that's why they set the bank transfer as the default. Just try and change that in your PayPal setup