Ebay is at it again! (1 Viewer)

[theBaron]

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I use Fedex whenever possible, they provide me better service then UPS. Items seem to arrive faster, and with an account we just print up our labels and I drop them off at our local Kinko's.

Again, no competition, so no incentive to change. And they want to raise prices and cut service. That's a good way to attract more business.

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Belgium is a long way from Eyota Pete.
As I'm much closer would you like me to go over and pick them up, and then house them at my place? I could send you photos of your collection from time to time if you liked?

I could support that concept provided you sent me the Patton staff car as a sign of good faith.

Terry

 

[damian]

Was it you that bought the 10,000 euro collection? I was guessing Bill Sager. And did it have the Patton staff car?

Terry

You and I should work for the FBI we both profiled the potential buyer accurately.
Had to be a dealer who would buy a big bulk collection,
Looking forward to seeing it on the treefrogs auction site.

 

[jazzeum]

Was it you that bought the 10,000 euro collection? I was guessing Bill Sager. And did it have the Patton staff car?

Terry

That's about $14,000 before shipping. That's a lot of boxes. It'll be interesting to see what the return on this, whenever they get sold, which could take awhile.

 

[Peter Reuss]

Gentlemen...enough politics for the day. And yes, arguing taxes and gov't is politics.

We've all heard the USPS horror stories (and those without any)...let's move on.

 

[theBaron]

Gentlemen...enough politics for the day. And yes, arguing taxes and gov't is politics.

We've all heard the USPS horror stories (and those without any)...let's move on.

Right! And not only that, but this thread was hijacked. It's not a "USPS is bad" thread, but a thread about what lousy service eBay provides and how they are completely unresponsive to their customers.

Peter, when is the Treefrog auction site going to premiere?

Prost!
Brad

 

[jazzeum]

Brad,

Apologies for being asleep at the wheel. I will clean up the thread this morning.

 

[Peter Reuss]

Peter, when is the Treefrog auction site going to premiere?

Prost!
Brad

Brad - the PLAN is to have it ready right before the Chicago Show. We are working now to make sure that we don't have any bugs in it. While we don't expect any...you never know! There is the potential that an unforseen bug will push the premiere back...but we don't expect it.

How's THAT for not really answering a question! I just don't want to 100% promise what we can't deliver, and I want to make sure that the site is Treefrog quality before launching.

 

[Spitfrnd]

....
So without getting into any political discussions about who is currently in charge, I would just like to point out that breaking up monopolies should be something that all partisans can actually agree on in principle. Whether a particular administration can do it is another discussion and one which I am certainly not going to be drawn on.

Not everyone agrees that all of our country's legendary breakups were successful, the airlines being a quite notable example and telephone service still much a matter of where you are located. So before you agree on a breakup you have to agree that something truly is a monopoly and that a breakup is the most appropriate response.

Ebay has some of the indicia of a monopoly but it is not that clear to me that it has enough. At the moment, a large proportion of its transactions are simply exchanges at an alternative on-line location. The fact is there are many smaller on line alternatives, like Craig's list, depending on your region. Moreover, with the simplicity of creating a web page and the increasing sophistication of search engines, anyone can list their items with their own rules. I also think we will see increasing examples of specialized on-line transaction sites (auction is really a misnomer for Ebay and most others), like the planned TF alternative, which I look forward to enjoying.

 

[theBaron]

Not everyone agrees that all of our country's legendary breakups were successful, the airlines being a quite notable example and telephone service still much a matter of where you are located. So before you agree on a breakup you have to agree that something truly is a monopoly and that a breakup is the most appropriate response.

Ebay has some of the India of a monopoly but it is not that clear to me that it has enough. At the moment, a large proportion of its transactions are simply exchanges at an alternative on-line location. The fact is there are many smaller on line alternatives, like Craig's list, depending on your region. Moreover, with the simplicity of creating a web page and the increasing sophistication of search engines, anyone can list their items with their own rules. I also think we will see increasing examples of specialized on-line transaction sites (auction is really a misnomer for Ebay and most others), like the planned TF alternative, which I look forward to enjoying.

I agree with you there, Spitfrnd, that's where eBay is now, but that is after it's development from its original format as an online auction site. That's what I'd like to see, a rival site that focuses on secondary market transactions, so, an online auction and flea market, where prices ultimately are determined by two factors-the seller's asking price, and the buyer's offer that the seller accepts. eBay has morphed from that format into an online department store, through heavier emphasis on dealer shops and use of "Buy It Now". I think the statement that "eBay wanted to be Amazon.com" is accurately descriptive of what happened to the site.

I agree with you, too, about whether it's correct to identify eBay as a monopoly in the strictest sense, the Econ 101 sense of the word. In terms of the total potential market, eBay is probably not a true monopoly. It's rather the 800-lb gorilla in the living room, the largest such company offering the services that it does. But it has no real competition, which in the Volksmund, the vernacular, makes most people consider it a monopoly. I think eBay is a target that someone with some cojones could take on and defeat.

As with Pete and Shannon's effort to launch the Treefrog auction site, maybe we'll see more of the specialty markets that currently are served by eBay splinter off with their own sites. That's what I'd like to see-not just another toy soldier site, but other auction/flea market sites, that focus just on those kinds of transactions, with reasonable rules that protect both sides of the transaction, the seller and buyer, and that don't try to fix what isn't broken.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Cardigan600]

Yo Troopers, on the ebay knock, nothing is perfect in this world, but it does offer a great sevice and with Paypal payments. I remember before they took Paypal over I had to send cash to the USA for items I bought, there was no alternatives, besides these sending payments through Western Union which cost an arm and a leg. Also no back up, I had an item go missing bought off ebay and claimed through Paypal, was paid two days later. We do also have many online auction sites, Vectis, Artifact, Live Auctioneers. BUT & BUT what about the buyers premium 22.5% so if you buy an item for say £200.00 it cost an extra £45.00, ebay you dont pay any extra for an item, all the cost are down to the seller. The sellers might say its very expensive to sell to a World Market, well just try putting an add in your local paper for a week that only covers your town and see how much that cost. So ebay is not all bad Troopers when you work out the cost.
Bernard.

 

[Spitfrnd]

Yo Troopers, on the ebay knock, nothing is perfect in this world, but it does offer a great sevice and with Paypal payments. I remember before they took Paypal over I had to send cash to the USA for items I bought, there was no alternatives, besides these sending payments through Western Union which cost an arm and a leg. Also no back up, I had an item go missing bought off ebay and claimed through Paypal, was paid two days later. We do also have many online auction sites, Vectis, Artifact, Live Auctioneers. BUT & BUT what about the buyers premium 22.5% so if you buy an item for say £200.00 it cost an extra £45.00, ebay you dont pay any extra for an item, all the cost are down to the seller. The sellers might say its very expensive to sell to a World Market, well just try putting an add in your local paper for a week that only covers your town and see how much that cost. So ebay is not all bad Troopers when you work out the cost.
Bernard.

Oh I agree completely with that mate. I only use it as a buyer but it has been great for finding the odd items it would have taken years and thousands of miles to find otherwise. Frankly, with Amazon and related sites specialized sites offering pre-owned items (for books these include Albris and Abebooks), it has much competition for availability and price in many areas and has made its own contribution to stabilizing and lowering prices for many products. I am really not that much of a true auction fan since I think that artifically inflates prices but I do like the buy it now options and just bid once at the end with what I want to pay anyway. No question it has flaws and minimal customer service but it has and does provide an invaluable service.

 

[Njja]

Brad,

Apologies for being asleep at the wheel. I will clean up the thread this morning.

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Interesting, though it would seem that if the person that begain the thread

wasn't complaining, and was also following in the train of thought.........what

highjacking is really happening?

Or is it simply the opinion of the moderators?

 

[theBaron]

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Interesting, though it would seem that if the person that begain the thread

wasn't complaining, and was also following in the train of thought.........what

highjacking is really happening?

Or is it simply the opinion of the moderators?

Disambiguation: Blame me, this Brad, not the moderators, for introducing "hijacking" into the discussion, I meant it with ironic humor, in response to Pete's post that the discussion had taken a political turn.

 

[marco55]

The thread started about ebay and really got deep about the USPS.It's hard to keep a thread straight and true as there are a lot of connected issues usually with any topic.
Mark

 

[damian]

Not everyone agrees that all of our country's legendary breakups were successful, the airlines being a quite notable example and telephone service still much a matter of where you are located. So before you agree on a breakup you have to agree that something truly is a monopoly and that a breakup is the most appropriate response.

Ebay has some of the indicia of a monopoly but it is not that clear to me that it has enough. At the moment, a large proportion of its transactions are simply exchanges at an alternative on-line location. The fact is there are many smaller on line alternatives, like Craig's list, depending on your region. Moreover, with the simplicity of creating a web page and the increasing sophistication of search engines, anyone can list their items with their own rules. I also think we will see increasing examples of specialized on-line transaction sites (auction is really a misnomer for Ebay and most others), like the planned TF alternative, which I look forward to enjoying.

I said "in principle".

I think that teh way to defeat e bay is for specialized auction sites to develop. I think the Treefrog Initiative is very important. It will be a toy soldier auction site run by people who actually know something about toy soldiers.

 

[maddadicus]

I have witheld selling on Ebay for weeks now, waiting to try out the Treefrog auction site. Michael

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

As much as I hate eBay, items listed with them will always get the most people viewing them. I know that most of the people I know don't ask how business is on my site. They ask how are you doing on eBay. It's like Coca Cola. When someone orders a cola they usually say "I'd like a Coke". Doesn't matter what the restaurant is actually serving. I wish the Treefrog team much success with their auction site, but many have tried and eBay just keeps winning. I really don't see how they can match the exposure you would get on eBay. Plus you may think that the Treefrog community is large, but I'll bet that most of the Toy Soldier collectors worldwide don't even know about this board. I run into a similar issue with the action figure boards. Most of my customers I talk to on the phone don't even know that message boards exist.

 

[Peter Reuss]

A couple thoughts...

eBay is what is is...a place where millions of people gather together. I agree, our auction site will not have the same volume. However, there will be a few advantages of the Treefrog site which can help overcome that.

For one, there will no listing fees, so people can list however many soldiers as they want...at whatever price they want. Less risk for the seller...and a good number of listings for the buyer.

For another...the 'success' fee will be much lower than eBay's....4% of the final price.

For another...items won't get buried under the zillions of listings for non-toy soldier stuff that happens to have the same keywords.

For another...people can list ALL the toy soldiers they want ... even WWII Germans.

Do we have our work cut out for us in getting marketshare...you bet!

Soon the fun will begin!

 

[Phantom Warrior]

As much as I hate eBay, items listed with them will always get the most people viewing them. I know that most of the people I know don't ask how business is on my site. They ask how are you doing on eBay. It's like Coca Cola. When someone orders a cola they usually say "I'd like a Coke". Doesn't matter what the restaurant is actually serving. I wish the Treefrog team much success with their auction site, but many have tried and eBay just keeps winning. I really don't see how they can match the exposure you would get on eBay. Plus you may think that the Treefrog community is large, but I'll bet that most of the Toy Soldier collectors worldwide don't even know about this board. I run into a similar issue with the action figure boards. Most of my customers I talk to on the phone don't even know that message boards exist.

I have to agree with your comment about exposure. But for ordinary, commonly found, average priced figures, it may be much easier to sell them on the Treefrog site at a similar price and less cost than on e-bay. I understand that we will still be able to offer items in the classifieds at a set price.

It's the rarer, higher priced items that may need the greater e-bay exposure to maximize the sale price.

Terry