Do you eBay?

[Huntn]

I was pretty big selling items on eBay back around the turn of the century. If you are not familiar, eBay is an online marketplace that makes it easy for individuals to sell just about anything, new or used.

I sold 2 or 3 Mac Book Pros there. What I would do is buy the Applecare which was transferable, which as I recall, gave the computer a total of 3 or 4 year warranty (I forget) and just before it ran out, would sell it on eBay. So I could sell a $2000 computer for $900 which was not bad, then I’d buy a new laptop. This was also the time that I was traveling with work, playing games in Bootcamp, the program that allowed PC games to run on my Mac natively, so I was more interested in keeping the hardware up to date. Since then I have abandoned playing games on my MBP, and my 2016 MBP is still working fine. But I’ve gotten a little off topic.

In the past we have sold some Lego sets originally purchased for our Grandson, kept at our house, that he was no longer was interested in. The discontinued Harry Potter sets were (are?) amazingly popular. I sold them at profits.

​

Recently my wife discovered that since a popular brand Crabtree and Evelyn has closed it’s stores and discontinued some items that are still very popular, such as the Nantucket Briar scent used in a variety of products like a room spray, and scented draw liner paper of which she has several unused, that are now selling on eBay for ridiculous prices. In the last 2 months I’ve sold on her behalf a bottle of Nantucket Briar room scented spray ($12 retail) for $89, and Nantucket Briar scented drawer lining paper (retail $10?) for $80 each, and some Nantucket Briar scented bath soap (3 pack, retail $12?) for $70, buyer pays for mailing. I’m a bit impressed, a total of $800 product sold at approximately a 700- 800% profit. What else can I sell??

Perishable link:

Crabtree Evelyn Nantucket briar home room spray new | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Crabtree Evelyn Nantucket briar home room spray new at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[DT]

The wife was the Ebay __Master__ back in the day (late-90s), before people knew about the treasures that were hidden at thrift shops. Talking like $3000-3500 a month supplemental revenue.

I was curious, I've been a member since Jan 14, 1998

I do occasionally buy from Ebay, like from a retail channel where there's no concerns about the product and Ebay has some kind of promo so it's better vs. buying from their own storefront - or, the occasional very weird item that I can't find other places - for example:

 

[Herdfan]

Not much anymore. More buying than selling. But still rare.

I did a complete home-brew Crestron system via eBay back in 2005-2007. Now I supplement replacement pieces here and there for it and my Lutron system.

As @DT noted, I will buy from retail channels there when Google links to them, but rarely go there as a first choice.

 

[Deleted member 215]

Yes, I 'Bay. I'm an audiophile and I frequently buy LPs and vintage audio equipment on eBay and sell the same kinds of things (I have also sold MacBooks and iPhones on eBay without issue).

 

[lizkat]

I've only dealt with eBay once and it was a perfectly satisfactory experience. A guy who had the counterpart of my NY job out in LA --a transplant from rural western NY who also happened to share my experience in and liking for classical music-- had become a good friend, and we used to exchange gifts when he came east during winter holidays. One year he gave me a Starbucks 20oz mug, the LA one of the 90s "city" series. I loved the splash of deep orange in the palm trees of the design on the mug, practically the color of the tomato soup that the mug held for me in winter. I was so upset when I finally broke it a few years ago that I went looking for one on eBay. Struck LA gold someplace in Texas and didn't care that I was shelling out something like 40 or 45 bucks for it. Thing arrived promptly and in perfect condition, all bubble-wrapped and with a note expressing hope I would enjoy it.

My amazing sister though is a 'Bay past master... she's who found me my current Pfaff sewing machine, one of the last model that was still entirely made in Germany. One with all bells, whistles, owner's manual, case. And... separately... certain spare parts in case our dealer and repair person can't lay hands on them sometime in future.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

I only buy.
I wonder why does it take for my latest order from the UK almost a month to arrive??

P.S.: I have a seller (Japan, Tokyo) from whom I buy regularly. It takes 3-4 days for the packages to arrive... from the UK a month.... it's a joke.

Ohh.... btw, can we have a "Trade Thread" (sellers, buyers)? Who knows maybe it can be useful.

 

[Huntn]

I only buy.
I wonder why does it take for my latest order from the UK almost a month to arrive??

P.S.: I have a seller (Japan, Tokyo) from whom I buy regularly. It takes 3-4 days for the packages to arrive... from the UK a month.... it's a joke.

Ohh.... btw, can we have a "Trade Thread" (sellers, buyers)? Who knows maybe it can be useful.

That’s fine with me, how ever with direct dealing, both parties have to rely on faith, if money is sent first, or if the product is legit.

What I like about eBay since the last time I used them regularly, is that they upped their game, they now provide discounted shipping labels, their USPostal Service Priority Mail labels have tracking numbers, which I did not think the USPS included without extra payment for that service, and you can be assured you are being paid and there is a mediator if something goes wrong.

 

[DT]

Hahaha, have some clothes coming for the wife, shipping via Yun Express Who knows ...

(sorry, this is OT ...)

 

[Joe]

I used to back in the early 2000s. Not much anymore.

 

[User.45]

Yes, I 'Bay. I'm an audiophile and I frequently buy LPs and vintage audio equipment on eBay and sell the same kinds of things (I have also sold MacBooks and iPhones on eBay without issue).

It's a treasure trove for audiophile stuff. If you're willing to spend time, you can upsell continuously. I started out with a $250 analog synth, sold it for $400. For $400 I got a $400 analog polysynth (valued $450). Then I sold that for $400 and got a Universal Audio Apollo Twin Solo Thunderbolt interface for $414 (was around $550-600 new). I'm still using that 7 years later.

 

[User.45]

I'll add that I started using Ebay less when Amazon came by, and I started to feel that saving $50-100 on purchases that I would spend hours hunting down no longer were worth it. Honestly, if I think about it, my experiences indicate the very opposite, I ended up buying shit I don't need or duds off Amazon. At this point I'd probably trust it more than Amazon. Once I bought a used curved monitor on amazon, it arrived broken and it was packed so idiotically I gave the seller a 1 start (something I've never given before). The seller was harassing me about bankrupting his family business for weeks...

In contrast, the Mackie MR5 monitor speakers (MSRP ~$350 then) I got for $165 I'm still using and very satisfied with 10 years later (these still go for ~$120 these days). If I wanted to get back to analog synthesizers, I'd probably hit eBay again. That way I could try a lot of equipment and would end up spending zero $$ beyond time if I decide to sell them.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Only twice. The first time was when I bought a modem that was supposed to work with my Mac and didn’t, and I couldn’t return it. That soured me on eBay for the better part of two decades. Only other thing I’ve bought from them was an out-of-print DVD TV series (Ellery Queen) that wasn’t available anywhere else.

 

[ronntaylor]

I had a half.com account where I sold books after I was laid off my publishing job. A good friend suggested I sell all the books I was about to toss into the garbage. I was given 1st editions by all of the editors when one of their new books published. I only took them as a courtesy. Didn't realize that it was a gold mine, especially ARCs (advance reader copies) and uncorrected proofs.

It came in handy when I started working at Barnes & Noble and was able to get textbooks for a fraction of the listed price and was able to upsell for 200-400% right away. Once half.com was bought to eBay sales weren't the same and many of the buyers were shitty. A few times there were disputes and that forced me to track every sale to guard against scammers. It became a full-time job. I was able to get books and sale them to a discount wholesaler usually the same/next day, so I stopped selling on eBay a long time ago.

I used my account for occasional sales when I was a constant giveaway entrant and won a few smartphones, digital phonograph, projectors, mini-fridge, CDs, DVDs, etc. One of my last sales of those items was a Samsung Galaxy S smartphone where the buyer demanded the ability to make payments over several months. I reported his nonpayment and had to repost the phone which wound up selling for ~$50 less. Still have a $11.49 credit as a result all these years later.

I'll only buy on eBay maybe once a year. Usually due to some big discount code or someone in the household needs something not available elsewhere. I recall that I stopped using Amazon for several years. Only restarting using them once we got an apartment in out-of-the-way Virginia 7/8 years due to work. Gotten a lot of garbage in that time and usually try going straight to the brand's online store if possible. Hate receiving knockoffs/counterfeits even if AMZ refunds and tells us to keep the garbage. Just a total waste of time and frustrating that they don't care enough to put a stop to it. For about 8/9 months I kept getting random stuff from AMZ. Dozens of calls to CS couldn't put a stop to it. Most of the items we gave away as they were impractical for us (baby locks, fish tank filter, camera mount, etc)

@TBL & @P_X gonna get me back in the eBay game of shopping for analog cams with their talk about audio equipment buying.

 

[Clix Pix]

Years ago I bought a fairly rare Nikon lens on eBay and it arrived in great shape, as promised. A couple of years ago when I was trading in my Nikon gear in to a local store in order to make a switch to Sony, I was gratified to see that I was going to be getting more than double what I had paid for that rare lens.....

These days, I don't use eBay, but I occasionally look to see what various items are selling for or have sold for.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I used to sell but many no way now. but I buy a few things on there. I wooden art trust electronics and selling them is a big no.

 

[Huntn]

I used to sell but many no way now. but I buy a few things on there. I wooden art trust electronics and selling them is a big no.

I had excellent luck selling my computers there. Now buying something like a computer, a friend bought a used PC laptop and she disputed it with eBay because according to her, it did not have the graphic card that was advertised, and she told me that eBay sided with the seller as not a significant enough of a difference to find in her favor. Now if it was falsely advertised even if it was a mistake, I’d lose some confidence in eBay, however, I must emphasize that this was her story. I did not verify any of it first hand.

In a dispute over something like a computer, my fear as a seller is that someone after receiving the item could swap out memory or a hard drive and claim the computer was defective. I did make a point before shipping such an item to take pictures of it running, in the box, the package, plus a picture of the specs page showing it’s hardware and software specs. But I never faced a dispute.

 

[DT]

Ebay is still the place to score the "garage sale" stuff, but quite a bit of the obscure odds and ends are now available through Amazon's pretty expansive "marketplace".

I had excellent luck selling my computers there.

I gave it a very brief consideration when I went to sell my '15 MBP 15" the middle of last year, but I wound up using Swappa. They have better screening, actually review/authorize product posts, and their fees were smaller, highly recommended for selling and buying (my current Series 5 Watch and 3rd Gen iPad Pro are from Swappa).

 

[Clix Pix]

I've been lucky with my computers; I've had friends who were more than happy to take them off my hands. My iPhones I've usually traded in and ditto with iPads. Some years ago, though, a couple of times I sold an iPad to Gamestop back when they were buying people's used electronics. I don't know if they still do or not. It's just easier now to trade the item in at Apple at the time of purchasing the new replacement.

 

[rdrr]

I haven't used Ebay after one horrific experience. Back in the day, I bought a character that someone had built up for a popular MMORGP game. *sigh* Embarrassing to admit. The seller never gave me the tracking number of the game and login credentials of the account. I reported the transaction and put a dispute claim on it, which immediately froze my money from clearing. The seller complained to me and harassed me through email, claiming I already had the info. 30 days later Ebay found in favor of the seller and released my funds to the seller, without once contacting me. I had supplied all the evidence including the harassing emails outside of the Ebay community. They didn't even reply to my inquires about how could they close the investigation without once contacting me?

I vowed to never used Ebay again, and will dance when that platform finally dies.

 

[Joe]

I used half.com back in the early 2000s when I was an undergrad. I remember I would buy my textbooks on half.com for a lot less than what they were at the college bookstore. I would buy the international version which was the exact same book, but in paperback format. I didn't care it was a paperback as long as it was the same. Then when the semester was over I would sell them on half.com and get some money back. RIP Half.com