Ebay fees hit 10% Where do people buy their large format equipment

[wildtypitch]

I've been a regular ebay user for nearly all of my photography equipment for the past 3 years. I occasionally sell things too. My recent attempt to sell has reminded me of the frustations I have with the service in general. I must have in total spend around a whole day contacting ebay trying to resolve issues that were mostly faults of the system. In each case I was given automated responses that did not fix the issue, anyway....

I looked today and they charge 10% on final value fee, not only that but you must also offer paypal which charges another fee close to 5% and also you have to have a paid business account to accept paypal payments from a credit card!

In the end you end up paying around 15% on the sale of your product + insertion fees + paypal account fees

This seems to have affected trade as in the photography sections most things have ridiculously high buy it now fees and biddable bargains are few and far between.

Is Ebay still the place where photog's do their trade?

I'm looking into Ebid which seems as the only rival to ebay that has a chance. It is international. The escrow service seems to be a usable neat solution to faud (from personal experience i've discovered that paypal it not, they even charge you when you been done over!)

I'm going to start using ebid in a hope that it becomes more popular for photographers. There is a 3% final value fee and at the moment they have an offer of £50 for lifetime membership (never pay another fee again)
Has anyone else used them?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

There are also the APUG classifieds, of course, and the classifieds on lfphoto.info in the q&a forum (LF forum).

To post a classified ad on APUG, you need to be a subscriber, and to post in the classifieds forum on the LF forum, you need to be a member for at least 30 days, but you can browse and purchase from the classifieds on either forum as a new member.

 

[wildtypitch]

Forum posts are one thing but a recognised system where people can trade securely is another. I've never bought of a forum because I often find that the prices are very high. Maybe because the people who have used and cared for the equipment are selling them. The main thin g with ebay is that no matter what you wanted you could find it most of the time on ebay. This is less so nowadays but you still can, example I just bought a sinar handy with shift with schneider 65mm. Its great and no doubt I would not have been able to find one anywhere else. But when it comes to selling ebay it taking too much and obscure things are harder to find because seller are I think are less inclined to sell there.

 

[Ian Grant]

David's 2 suggestions are where I now buy nearly everything. Subscribe, you can buy sell, and post wanted adverts.

I've had some great bargains, here camera's lenses etc. Within a day of posting a wanted advert for a 135mm for a 5x4 I'd been offered a mint Caltar lens at a fair price for both of us.

An example at the moment is a superb 5x4 Press camera (not a Speed/Crown Graphic, this has a revolving back & far more movement) for $200 (US) it would sell for far more on ebay

My experience of buying from both Forums is that descriptions are more accurate, prices fairer and many very inexpensive, far less than typical Ebay prices - Buy It Now or finished auctions

Ian

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

eBay is indeed a larger market, so there's more stuff for sale and there are more buyers to purchase it. If you want the low prices and legal structures and feedback system of eBay, then you have to pay the fees for access to that system.

That said, I've bought items both here and on the LF forum, and I've found it to be quite reliable. People who are established as members of the forum community have a reputation to protect on the forum, and I would argue that that goes further to ensure honesty than all the controls eBay and PayPal have in place. Of course new members have less of a reputation to protect on the forum, so they are less likely to be successful in posting classified ads. As a moderator, I've seen very few problems reported between buyers and sellers on the APUG classifieds.

Usually if I have something to sell, I post it here first, and if it doesn't sell in a few days and is a LF item, I post it to the LF forum classifieds, and then if it still hasn't sold after a week or so, I'll put it on eBay.

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Forums.

I hardly use ebay now and most definitely will not ever sell on it if I can possibly help it. Fees too high, fraud too prevalent, customer service often non-existent and Paypal tantamount to robbery. no thanks.

 

[Jim Chinn]

I have sold a few items here and bought a few here and on the LF Photography forum. Everything sold fast with quick payment and no problems. What I bought was as advertised. Even though you need to be a subscriber, you would quickly recoup that amount in the fees you save over using ebay.

I still buy on Ebay from time to time but for someone like me who just sells an item once in awhile it has become way to much of a hassle.

 

[wildtypitch]

I must take a look at forum here.
As anyone had any success with Ebid. I'm thinking of heading that way. With forum I guess the problem is that you actually have to meet to trade. Great if local but impossible if not.

 

[Laurent]

With forum I guess the problem is that you actually have to meet to trade. Great if local but impossible if not.

I sold a few items via APUG, and shipped internationally without any issue...

 

[Ian Grant]

I've never met anyone in all my trades on Forums, and I've bought from a variety of countries too There's absolutely no need to meet up unless you live nearby or items are very heavy. That's now well over 50 transactions.

Oh not strictly true I gave my old 5x4 enlarger away on a UK based Forum and the person collected it in person (he's also an APUG member).

Perhaps a point being missed is that as a community we have some trust in each other.

Ian

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I ditched eBay a long time ago. They're making it very difficult for a seller to actually make a profit.
The whole scheme they have with holding funds is also ridiculous, so I will never sell an item there anymore.
Craigslist is actually a pretty cool place to buy and sell, even though there are a lot of duds there, it's free! The site just connects people, and the transaction takes place in private.

I have bought and sold items here on APUG, and I've always been happy with it. I do find that the classifieds system here could use improvement, but it works. And as a community it's nice to be able to perhaps even purchase things from other people you already know somewhat.

 

[jp80874]

If you start posting wtb (wanted to buy) ads on either form you may want to add some indicator of your location to your profile. It might be reasonable to ship a lens from California to England, but not an eight foot stainless steel sink. How specific about your location is up to you. There are differences of opinion here on how much to say.

I like you bought most of my gear on eBay up to about two years ago. Now in this economy I buy less from anywhere, but I buy more from the forms than eBay. Twice in the last year my eBay eSnipe account has gone into the dormant category.

John Powers

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've occasionally met people to trade items through forums, since I'm in New York, and there are a lot of people around here, but most of my trades have been by mail and on the basis of mutual trust. I bought my Linhof Tech V 23b through a forum, wire transfer to Croatia and DHL to New York, no problems. Most of the people I've traded with on the forums have been willing to send goods before the funds are received, and I've done the same when purchasing, since these are people I've been conversing with online for years for the most part.

 

[jaimeb82]

I've been a regular ebay user for nearly all of my photography equipment for the past 3 years. I occasionally sell things too. My recent attempt to sell has reminded me of the frustations I have with the service in general. I must have in total spend around a whole day contacting ebay trying to resolve issues that were mostly faults of the system. In each case I was given automated responses that did not fix the issue, anyway....

I looked today and they charge 10% on final value fee, not only that but you must also offer paypal which charges another fee close to 5% and also you have to have a paid business account to accept paypal payments from a credit card!

In the end you end up paying around 15% on the sale of your product + insertion fees + paypal account fees

This seems to have affected trade as in the photography sections most things have ridiculously high buy it now fees and biddable bargains are few and far between.

Is Ebay still the place where photog's do their trade?

I'm looking into Ebid which seems as the only rival to ebay that has a chance. It is international. The escrow service seems to be a usable neat solution to faud (from personal experience i've discovered that paypal it not, they even charge you when you been done over!)

I'm going to start using ebid in a hope that it becomes more popular for photographers. There is a 3% final value fee and at the moment they have an offer of £50 for lifetime membership (never pay another fee again)
Has anyone else used them?

I have limited experience with keh.com but they have reasonable prices it seems. I bought from them a RB67 for a little bit more than I could on ebay, but it was in mint condition, well packaged etc... I used to love ebay, and now I started to hate it for some reason. Do you know what I use ebay for the most part now, to learn about camera equipment, it is like a huge catalog of lenses, cameras and other equipment.

Just my two cents

 

[Shawn Dougherty]

The whole scheme they have with holding funds is also ridiculous, so I will never sell an item there anymore.

FePay is now my absolute LAST resort...

 

[removed account4]

i haven't bought photo stuff in general on eboink or anywhere else for that matter
in a long time, and i haven't sold there in even a longer time ...
the classifieds here are usually a good deal, and most of the time
you trade with a nice person, not always though.
pretty much my worst experience of my online trading ( since the early 90s )
was right here on aPug.

even with all its problems, at least with eBoo you can leave feedback and warn people
that sometimes things are not what they seem ...
unfortunately, here we can't leave feedback
.. so i will only buy from people i "know" or have bought from before.

 

[Ian Grant]

If you start posting wtb (wanted to buy) ads on either form you may want to add some indicator of your location to your profile. It might be reasonable to ship a lens from California to England, but not an eight foot stainless steel sink. How specific about your location is up to you. There are differences of opinion here on how much to say.

John Powers

Like John says locations in Profiles etc are important, and need to be clear like his.

It's no good just saying Paris or Athens when you live in the US versions. If John just put Bath we'd all assume he lived in the UK

Another pet gripe is put the Currency in adverts. If you don't put a location or currency & say $ I'll offer you Zimbawean Dollars All these forums are so International a $ could realisticly be US, Canadian, Australian or perhaps New Zealand.

Ian

 

[wildtypitch]

it seems to me that ebid would be a good choice the as fees are 3% or nothing for life if you pay a startup £50. and you get the pro's of ebay like user ratings and online payment systems. Only thing is lack of users, maybe using ebid linked to items posted in apug forums would be a good way to get things cooking for me anyhow. ebid also has a wanted section.

 

[Bosaiya]

There's also KEH.com. Quality is almost always well above the listed rating. I've bought plenty of Bargain items that would be listed as Like New with anyone else.

 

[Mahler_one]

Isn't there a larger potential "audience" on Ebay? Also, if one buys from one with a large number of positive feedback ratings ( smaller numbers can be "cooked" ), and uses the "Buyer Protection Plan", then one has some measure of protection. One can also use the escrow feature. All in all, I find Ebay a reasonable place to find some items, and to occasionally sell some as well. It's good to have some options, and all mentioned are certainly reasonable.

 

[BrianShaw]

It must be the 24th of the month.... this topic is about as regular as my wife's...

I've bought from every place mentioned previously in this thread, except ebid or craigslist. Never had a significant problem. Never met a seller either... only dealt through email/mail/paypal. My secret (that I don't mind sharing) is not being an extreme bargain-hunter and not being in a hurry to get something. It seems like the most frequent deals-gone-bad are those in which buyers take excessive risk. Patience is the key -- there only rarely is a truely one-of-a-kind item.

As far as selling, I'm not much of a seller and feel bad for the "small-timer" who gets faced with high fees on eBay. It seems to me, though, that they offer a lot of service for the price, but it does appear to have become a place where those operating on a slim profit margin can't turn a profit.

 

[wildtypitch]

Isn't there a larger potential "audience" on Ebay?

Yes the only reason why people put up with the horrible service you receive. I'm trying to start a silent revolution go to Ebid! they have escrow so you don't have to pay the paypal their mafia protection. trade per trade you stand to make around 15% more. just need a way of getting others to use ebid. link linking to classified forums here. I'm surprissed someone hasn't started a email petition/strike against these Ebay price hikes.

 

[chrism]

I don't quite understand where this Fee information on PayPal and eBay is coming from.

PayPal does not charge 5%, it charges 2.9% +.30 cents. Ebay also lets you list 5 auction items a month for free, and the maximum Final Value Fee you will pay is $20 on those items. So, on a hypothetical $1000 auction transaction, you are paying a total of $49.30, or less than 5%. Not unreasonable, I think.

 

[c6h6o3]

Ebid. According to WebSense, Ebid.com is a porn site.

 

[BrianShaw]

I'm trying to start a silent revolution go to Ebid!

(deleted. Too direct and probably offensive.)