Is EBAY worth it?

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

... know what you are bidding on... Buyer beware.

Amen.

[Scot Minesinger]

I think most f us know right from wrong, and we do not need a laws to advise us.  However for those who knowingly do wrong, the laws are used to prosecute them.  It is not right to bid on things you have no intention of buying just to make the price higher.

Obviously all laws can not be enforced.

Anyway, I used to only bid on an eBay car I have seen.  And then I used to bid with just seconds to go with my highest maximum price.  The problem is if I bid say 10k on a car as my highest price and the next legitmate bidder down is at 7k, I should pay maybe $7,200.  But not if a bidder with no intention of buying bids $9,500. 

Now I reach the seller and make an offer.  Then I tell them this is it and I'm not going to bid against your brother in law.  Sell me the item and cancel the auction, or my offer is withdrawn.  This is effective.  Obviously, I say it all nicer than that and have to above all convince them that I am serious and honest.

E-Bay suffers an abundance of ethical problems.  Some people do very well, others not so much, but it is of all things not fair and not honorable.  And I can deal with that knowing it going in.  Each situation is a little different and you have to make a judgement.

Now you know, be very careful. 

[Lexi]

Exactly. But most of us never know who the false Ebay bidders are. I can see Ebay's problem..."how do you prove shill bidding"? Easier said then done. It is a problem that isn't going away soon. Also, traditional auction houses use "experts" to research, photograph and catalog items that cross their block. Ebay is basically "amateur night", as sellers do their own cataloging, for better or for worse. Don't get me wrong, I love Ebay, but only use it for the hard to get stuff. Paying the U.S. exchange rate is costly as well. Though some misuse Ebay, other matters can also involve Ebay's support industries. Read on, though this may be news to American CLC members...

I just received a Notice of Certification in the mail from a law firm who has launched a class action lawsuit against UPS (Canada) for charging brokerage fees to Ontario consumers for packages originating outside the country, without proper notification. The lawsuit was commenced in 2007 when an Ontario plaintiff complained about UPS in relation to an Ebay purchase of shoes, (and also subsequently during the period 2005 - 2011).

Even I thought then that their brokerage fee program was ill run, so I used to ask U.S. Ebay vendors when shipping to Canada to use USPS or FED-EX and to avoid UPS, based on my experiences with their international delivery service then. The matter was litigated with UPS who has denied wrong doing, but has agreed to settle for $6,800,000.00. They also agreed to amend their waybill and International parcel shipping order process. Distribution protocol has yet to be established.

Ebay shills and other shenanigans aside, one can still run into problems with peripheral corporate entities such as this UPS example. Although UPS did not admit to liability, they have agreed to pay out almost 7 million dollars to members of the class action. The Consumer Protection Act was used by Class Counsel to advance their case.

International Ebayers now have to contend with the Global shipping program nonsense, another layered expense that could have been handled differently in my opinion.

Anyhow, it just goes to show consumers that the high cost and aggravation of online shopping (not just on Ebay) can be a problem that is broad in scope. Some of these problems have been litigated while others are still out there, unchallenged as far as I know, and in your face. At present I am unaware that the Ebay Global Shipping Program is illegal or even unethical, though in its present form it constitutes an additional layer of expense that further complicates Ebay purchasing for International customers. There are issues with it. Those interested or affected are encouraged to investigate for further information. In the final analysis it injects an additional fee (and a potentially more lengthy shipping time), to your international Ebay purchase.

That law firm I noted earlier posted a lengthy list of fraudulent online auction activities to watch out for, which can be read at the link posted below. The list is rather daunting due to the sheer volume of online auction scams noted, (and not just limited to Ebay):

https://www.nyccriminallawyer.com/fraud-charge/auction-fraud/

Yes, I love Ebay and will continue to use it for those must have items. As always, buyer beware. Information on the lawsuit can be found here:

https://www.siskinds.com/ups/

Clay

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Suffice to say that rightly or wrongly, there are always going to be bad actors in almost every field of commerce of which the automotive trade is only one. That applies to vintage/antique, late used and even new.

Those who are aware of the pitfalls and who have done their homework stand a far better chance of beating the odds than those who are not. This, coupled with the risks inherent with old iron means you should look upon vintage car buying with just about the same trepidation you would when walking in to a casino in the days of the Wild West - perhaps even more. If one has any doubts about his skills to navigate this jungle, he'd be wise to bring along a buddy who's been around the track a few hundred times.

As far as shill bidding goes, I have no idea how illegal it is, nor is it possible to enforce even if it were. Therefore my sincere recommendation is to simply assume the worst, not get caught up in a urination contest, and when the bidding goes higher than you're willing to pay, just get off the damn thing. There'll be  always be another one.

One thing is for sure- I'd much rather buy an accurately represented high quality car, at a price I can live with - even if some shill bidding was involved - than a misrepresented low-quality car with no shill bidding involved. 

[Mackguare]

The auctions are dead on eBay. Unless you sell a really rare item. The auctions no longer work as they used to. One of the reasons is the sense of urgency of the buyers. They don't want to wait seven days for an auction to end. Buyers may require the item immediately and if they can't get it on eBay quickly, they will go to Amazon and buy it with Prime membership and 2-day guaranteed delivery.

[Lexi]

Yes, I have noticed that trend over the last few years. Lots of buy it now listings and fewer auctions, which for the most part I prefer. Clay

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

The auctions are dead on eBay. Unless you sell a really rare item. The auctions no longer work as they used to. One of the reasons is the sense of urgency of the buyers. They don't want to wait seven days for an auction to end. Buyers may require the item immediately and if they can't get it on eBay quickly, they will go to Amazon and buy it with Prime membership and 2-day guaranteed delivery.

I don't know about that. There are plenty of active auction listings at any given time on eBay for vintage cars.

Not sure what this has to do with Amazon. Does Amazon list cars nowadays? With 2-day guaranteed shipping? 

[Maynard Krebs]

Such is a subjective opinion.   Mine is that E-Bay sucks.   I far prefer CraigsList.   It's almost infinitely better!

[Scot Minesinger]

It would be easy for E-bay to solve some problems: You want to bid on a car - awesome put up a $200 deposit and if you back out of a bid, don't pay the seller or etc., the $200 is forfeited and the seller gets $150, eBay gets $50.  The $200 can continue to roll over over for each successful transaction.  This would stop all the stupid "juveniles, guys who did not talk to their wife, people who can get approved for a loan and etc." from opening an account and bidding for sport with no intention of buying or paying.

For the people who bid up prices for their friends, hmm...that is not so easy - any ideas?  High bidders that do not buy the car loose the $200 plus to bid again must pay $400, ($200 deposit plus $200 to next highest bidder)?  That is a tough one.  Life is not fair and this may be tough to level the playing field.

Ebay sucks no question, but it is an effective advertising platform.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

For anyone active in the buying/selling of antique/classic or otherwise special interest vehicles, eBay is an invaluable & indispensable platform. The viewership audience between Craigslist & eBay is not even remotely comparable. Ebay has better search and display tools as well as offering a wider array of selling formats, one of which allows sellers to require a non-refundable $500 deposit in order for buyers to execute a Buy-It-Now purchase.

Craigslist is frankly the last place I would ever go to advertise a relative high dollar collectible. That's not to say CL cannot be useful in certain situations for certain wares but even for every day vehicles, I've never had much luck with the "prospects" I've encountered through CL-  to put it mildly. 

[76eldo]

Eric

You are exactly right.

eBay is the best tool out there for selling and buying collector cars.
If you don't know how to conduct business, stay out of the deep end of the pool.

Brian

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

eBay has been a very good tool for me as locating parts, and cars that aren't available where I live is very difficult.

When one of my cars got pranged, the only way I could get replacement parts was via eBay.

Bruce.

[cadillacmike68]

I think most f us know right from wrong, and we do not need a laws to advise us.  However for those who knowingly do wrong, the laws are used to prosecute them.  It is not right to bid on things you have no intention of buying just to make the price higher.

Obviously all laws can not be enforced.

Anyway, I used to only bid on an eBay car I have seen.  And then I used to bid with just seconds to go with my highest maximum price.  The problem is if I bid say 10k on a car as my highest price and the next legitmate bidder down is at 7k, I should pay maybe $7,200.  But not if a bidder with no intention of buying bids $9,500. 

Now I reach the seller and make an offer.  Then I tell them this is it and I'm not going to bid against your brother in law.  Sell me the item and cancel the auction, or my offer is withdrawn.  This is effective.  Obviously, I say it all nicer than that and have to above all convince them that I am serious and honest.

E-Bay suffers an abundance of ethical problems.  Some people do very well, others not so much, but it is of all things not fair and not honorable.  And I can deal with that knowing it going in.  Each situation is a little different and you have to make a judgement.

Now you know, be very careful. 

I use a variation of this on items that are not cars. I've never listed or bid on a car on ebay for a variety of reasons.

But what Scot writes can be applied to non car items when the high bidder fails to complete the transaction (for whatever reason). If a seller then offers me an "ebay 2nd chance" which is a specific ebay method of offering an item to the next highest bidder, I write the seller back and tell him / her that I will only buy the item if ALL of the non-paying former high bidder's bids are "cleared from table" so to speak and the 3rd next highest bidder's highest bid is taken as the new "losing bid", with my offer being the next highest ebay bid increment over that bid.

A little bit much to read and decipher, but basically the non-paying bidder never existed is what I put to the seller. That effectively eliminates a potential shill.

And no I don't apply this to $5 and $10 items, but  I buy vintage Canon SLR cameras and lenses and they can get quite high, especially for a mint  Montreal Olympics F-1, and I'm not going to be shilled on a $3-4-500 camera.

[cadillacmike68]

The auctions are dead on eBay. Unless you sell a really rare item. The auctions no longer work as they used to. One of the reasons is the sense of urgency of the buyers. They don't want to wait seven days for an auction to end. Buyers may require the item immediately and if they can't get it on eBay quickly, they will go to Amazon and buy it with Prime membership and 2-day guaranteed delivery.

Exactly, you can't get a Los Angeles F-1 or a 1968 right side mirror on amazon.  The auctions are still viable for items that lend themselves to it.

[cadillacmike68]

eBay has been a very good tool for me as locating parts, and cars that aren't available where I live is very difficult.

When one of my cars got pranged, the only way I could get replacement parts was via eBay.

Bruce.

\

This, and just for hard to find parts as well...

I did use CL to sell my boat which I towed with my Cadillac. 

[Maynard Krebs]

From reading the posts here, I'm beginning to conclude that whether a given person likes or dislikes E-Bay.. partially depends on the price level of the market for the sort of cars they're looking to buy or sell.   I concede that E-Bay may be better for medium- to upper-price levels.   

I much prefer CraigsList because I'm in the lower-price range for cars that interest me.   I don't like to be "into" any given car for more than "x" dollars.   This is simply good risk management, IMO.   It makes more sense to invest the price-level difference in good mutual funds.   

The BIG advantage of CraigsList.. is that one knows immediately the geographical area where the car is.   With E-Bay, one has to spend a lot of time trying to determine where the car is.   There are some buyers who will not travel more than so many miles.   Thus, using Craigslist is more efficient, time-wise.

I agree with the poster that suggested the use of free ads for members of the CLC.   One of the two cars that I sold in the past (which are now beyond my means) was sold via that make's club magazine.   It's the readers of those publications that are interested in that particular marque, right?   That's why club membership is worth the $.

[D.Yaros]

As for trying to find the location of an eBay listed vehicle, the location is usually stated, albeit in small print, right below the shipping info.  Here is an example ==> https://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-Cadillac-Other-FLEETWOOD/273492417337?hash=item3fad6b1b39:g:q2MAAOSw34FbtUva:rk:2:pf:0&vxp=mtr

[Caddyholic]

  Not true I see the same adds all the time in multiple markets



The BIG advantage of CraigsList.. is that one knows immediately the geographical area where the car is.   With E-Bay, one has to spend a lot of time trying to determine where the car is.   There are some buyers who will not travel more than so many miles.   Thus, using Craigslist is more efficient, time-wise.

[cadillacmike68]

As for trying to find the location of an eBay listed vehicle, the location is usually stated, albeit in small print, right below the shipping info.  Here is an example ==> https://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-Cadillac-Other-FLEETWOOD/273492417337?hash=item3fad6b1b39:g:q2MAAOSw34FbtUva:rk:2:pf:0&vxp=mtr

That's not always reliable or accurate, but sometimes it is. Sometimes it just says Location: United States. That's a big help.