Lots of rubbish on eBid!

[SalusLibrorum]

The thing that really annoys me about the penny book situation is that it's not only small light paperbacks that are at .01p, it's also HUGE hardbacks, and giant paperbacks, there is no way on earth that they can be sold for 1p for the ordinary seller without them incurring a huge loss on the postage. Talk about devaluation, even with a PPI account the big sellers must be making a loss on the large hardbacks, and I suppose they must just swallow it.

[amcveigh200]

Exotic

When did this seller last visit his/her shop?

I don't think there is anything wrong with all the listings if they visit the site to update shop etc. The zero feedback has nothing to do with it IMO.

If they visit the site & their store once every 3-4 week at a minimum, then I have no problem with it, but if they don't bother visiting their store, then they should have an email or something to check they are still a viable seller and that their goods are still available.

Agree, maybe I'm just ultra sensitive and don't want to get ripped off but I've been put off by sellers that haven't been too their store for 2 weeks, that could be 2 weeks of me waiting for a response as too where my goods are?

[Riverwood]

Hi all, it seems some of you are getting my point and others are not.......
I buy quite a bit online, because I hate shopping in shops I look for everything I can online, unless I know (or think I know) I can get it cheaper in a shop. When I decided to buy something I search all the sites I sell on and usually use Google Base/Products as well. And for some items, such as electronics, I also take a look at other specialist sites. I then buy from the cheapest option.

In my use of eBid over the last 19/20 months I have repeatedly found DVD's and books and other stuff (me and the missus like a good film and a good read and I am a PC 'nerd') that are up for sale on here at an inflated price. The sellers, in these cases, have no feedback do not always have a shop and have little or no hope of getting a sale. There really have been quite a few items like this for me......

Yes, I do the same. If I can buy something online for a reasonable price, including shipping, then I do, because I find shopping a pain in the butt - and I do agree, if you see a lot of over-inflated prices on a site, it doesn't look good. I really encourage sellers to think like buyers, and price their items reasonably, with the expectation of selling it. I would think once there's more competition on the site, we'll see less over-pricing.

[amcveigh200]

I collect LPs from a certain well know singer/drummer, and I've found myself the difference in price between sellers on ebid, there's always been a bargain seller though. But yes, as more sellers join and more buyers this will level out. Maybe some sellers are testing the market place?

[Riverwood]

Further to the 'Some things look expensive, well they are expensive' stuff.
As to the penny books thing and the disgust this has generated. If I have a book for sale and there are loads of this book (say 10 or more) listed at a penny on Amazon then I cant do anything, in my opinion, but list it at similar price on here. Or in my case I list it at about £2-2.50. I dont see why this is a problem?

It's not a problem and there's a big difference selling for 2-2.50 pounds or dollars and selling for a penny. I see it as the difference between the penny price giving the mental connotation that the item is nearly worthless, and the 2.50 price implying that it's a lower priced, plentiful book. I often end up selling books for only a couple of dollars because I made the mistake of bringing them home and finding out there were already hundreds of them for sale. Fortunately, I've gotten a bit smarter in my buying habits!

And, having read some of the penny sellers rationale on amazon for the way they sell, cutting every corner possible to make 20-30 cents profit per book is beyond ridiculous. It doesn't have to be that way, and it hurts everyone in the business.

[Riverwood]

The thing that really annoys me about the penny book situation is that it's not only small light paperbacks that are at .01p, it's also HUGE hardbacks, and giant paperbacks, there is no way on earth that they can be sold for 1p for the ordinary seller without them incurring a huge loss on the postage. Talk about devaluation, even with a PPI account the big sellers must be making a loss on the large hardbacks, and I suppose they must just swallow it.

Exactly! Anything to be at the top of the list.

[inversions]

I asked on the amazon UK boards about how much people with post office accounts had to pay for postage because I had a large book to list that if I listed it at a penny it would have cost me money! And there were a number of bulk sellers who had it at a penny. And basically, with a paid amazon account and a post office account it would still make some money. Not a lot but some. I think that these 'mega listers' are a pain but that is the way of the world unfortunately. I am a socialist but I live in a capitalist world. I have given up on the hope of a world revolution, which is the only way a communist economy could be set up, and now take advantage of the capitalist system where I can. I see the penny listers on amazon as a fact of supply and demand. I cant compete with them but I still buy from them if they have the item cheaper than elsewhere.

I do not feel that the penny listers are cheapening the book. Everyone knows that the postage charge is £2.75. And if there were more buyers for the item then it would be a higher price!

[starlady22]

I asked on the amazon UK boards about how much people with post office accounts had to pay for postage because I had a large book to list that if I listed it at a penny it would have cost me money! And there were a number of bulk sellers who had it at a penny. And basically, with a paid amazon account and a post office account it would still make some money. Not a lot but some. I think that these 'mega listers' are a pain but that is the way of the world unfortunately. I am a socialist but I live in a capitalist world. I have given up on the hope of a world revolution, which is the only way a communist economy could be set up, and now take advantage of the capitalist system where I can. I see the penny listers on amazon as a fact of supply and demand. I cant compete with them but I still buy from them if they have the item cheaper than elsewhere.

I do not feel that the penny listers are cheapening the book. Everyone knows that the postage charge is £2.75. And if there were more buyers for the item then it would be a higher price!

I was thinking of listing some books on Amazon, until i saw all the 1p books listed in the same cat. I did wonder how they could do that, and why they would do it. Now i know. Thanks

Jane

[SalusLibrorum]

They do devalue books way beyond the supply/demand thing. They have software that adjusts the price to a penny under the lowest all the time, you list and an hour later their software adjusts to a penny under whatever you listed it at.

When there are more than one of them up to this on the same book you end up with a situation where the software they are using competes against each other and drives the book down to 1p whether it's a popular fast selling book or not. It's crazy. Yes, it's capitalism, but yes it's devaluing books unnecessarily, you'll find that almost all new popular paperbacks are now listed at a penny, to the point where if it's new and popular I don't bother with it on there at all because there is no point.

I am, however, considering listing them on here, because not only can I charge the right postage, I have a feeling that the market here really does "cheap" rather than "harder to find and expensive" and I'd like to get some sales .

[iwiw60]

as for checking stores often i suppose i am guilty of this i only go into my store to list or make / delete new catagories but that is still a couple of times a month at least , i never sign in as i use auto sign in and ebid is my first page that opens lol ,

Merlin, I'm afraid I'm confused on this issue...when I first opened my stores I "saved to favorites" my Seller Account page, and ever since I go into eBid via that saved link. Does that mean I have not "signed in" and might risk eBid management not realizing I'm in my account, listing, making changes, etc., off and on all day long, every day?

I have wondered from time to time why it was that I was not automatically redirected to a sign-in page (such as the 'other' site does), but have been so busy building my stores I have overlooked the extra step that is involved.

Could you elaborate further on this for me? I'm just an 'ol senior citizen, missing brain matter, and would really appreciate clarification on this....thank you!