eBay UK - Are auctions less used now

[TonyGamble]

There is a long eBay thread running at the moment but it is US orientated. They liken it to Craiglist and Fred Miranda and a quick look at both of those indicate to me they are hardly ever used in the UK.

I'm in the process of upgrading my two E-M5 bodies from ii to iii.

I contacted the UK end of MPB but it is hard to get excited about their offer when I look at eBay. A minor point but what annoyed me about MPB was that they dropped their offer by £20 a body when they learnt I no longer had the original Oly batteries. Both of mine died years ago and I currently have eight ExPro that I use. So each body can go with four third party batteries - but MPB say that is not what their customers want!

What I was surprised to see was that of the last eight sales of a mk ii on eBay UK six of them were from Buy Now listings and only two were from Auctions. When I was selling off my FF Canon kit ten years ago almost all the non trade listings were Auctions.

Has anyone in the UK noticed this?

If it is becoming the norm is it a good idea to suggest a price and also accept offers - or do they become time wasters? Maybe a better idea is to pick a fixed price and if it does not sell try dropping it a bit?

Tony

London UK

 

[Dareshooter]

If you are going to use BIN with offers it sometimes helps to ask a higher price than you actually want to allow yourself a bit of wiggle room. I always end in the ball park regarding price but I have had sales where the buyer has paid the full asking price. As for MPB I find that with cameras and lenses you end up with a little less than you would have had on ebay by the time postage,ebay and paypal commision are taken into account and with MPB there's no risk of running into a dodgy customer.

 

[markyboy81]

There is a long eBay thread running at the moment but it is US orientated. They liken it to Craiglist and Fred Miranda and a quick look at both of those indicate to me they are hardly ever used in the UK.

I'm in the process of upgrading my two E-M5 bodies from ii to iii.

I contacted the UK end of MPB but it is hard to get excited about their offer when I look at eBay. A minor point but what annoyed me about MPB was that they dropped their offer by £20 a body when they learnt I no longer had the original Oly batteries. Both of mine died years ago and I currently have eight ExPro that I use. So each body can go with four third party batteries - but MPB say that is not what their customers want!

What I was surprised to see was that of the last eight sales of a mk ii on eBay UK six of them were from Buy Now listings and only two were from Auctions. When I was selling off my FF Canon kit ten years ago almost all the non trade listings were Auctions.

Has anyone in the UK noticed this?

If it is becoming the norm is it a good idea to suggest a price and also accept offers - or do they become time wasters? Maybe a better idea is to pick a fixed price and if it does not sell try dropping it a bit?

Tony

London UK

I usually list BIN with an offer but limit the lowest offer I can accept, so that the system doesn't alert me unless it's an offer I do accept.

Often I'll get offers come in via the messaging inbox that are lower than I'll accept and I usually reply to say that if they want to do a deal off eBay they can. I'm surprised how many do this, probably as I've got 100% feedback. Either way it's win win for buyer and seller and two fingers up at eBay

 

[D7000ShooterUK]

"Often I'll get offers come in via the messaging inbox that are lower than I'll accept and I usually reply to say that if they want to do a deal off eBay they can. I'm surprised how many do this, probably as I've got 100% feedback. Either way it's win win for buyer and seller and two fingers up at eBay "

It's win for the seller but not the buyer as the buyer would forego any eBay buyer protection for any deal done outside of eBay.

I have always found MPB UK very good to deal with for both buying and selling an it is less hassle than eBay.

 

[rich_cx139]

I don't sell a huge amount on ebay but I always sell by BIN/best offer - with a low offer limit and a high but not unreasonable BIN price

Just gives a little bit more chance of detecting scammers or dubious buyers if they make an offer and then I can block them. If push comes to shove and someone I dont like the sound of does a straight BIN then i will reverse the transaction even though ebay will punish me.

The problem is that there is sod all protection for sellers now on ebay so every little helps.

Anyway, this works for me and I haven't been taken - yet.

As a buyer - I just dont like auctions - they either take too long or there is a feeding frenzy. Surprising how much stuff goes for more than you can buy from a uk dealer - with a warranty or from e infinity etc.

When i buy from auctions, I may load a initial low bid but I always snipe it ( I know the max price I want to pay )

 

[markyboy81]

"Often I'll get offers come in via the messaging inbox that are lower than I'll accept and I usually reply to say that if they want to do a deal off eBay they can. I'm surprised how many do this, probably as I've got 100% feedback. Either way it's win win for buyer and seller and two fingers up at eBay "

It's win for the seller but not the buyer as the buyer would forego any eBay buyer protection for any deal done outside of eBay.

I have always found MPB UK very good to deal with for both buying and selling an it is less hassle than eBay.

Yes, it's a gamble for the buyer but if the seller is honest like me then it's win for the buyer as they are getting a discount.

 

[pcrc11]

"Often I'll get offers come in via the messaging inbox that are lower than I'll accept and I usually reply to say that if they want to do a deal off eBay they can. I'm surprised how many do this, probably as I've got 100% feedback. Either way it's win win for buyer and seller and two fingers up at eBay "

That is THE best way to get yourself kicked off of ebay for good. No joke, they will catch you sooner or later.

 

[markyboy81]

"Often I'll get offers come in via the messaging inbox that are lower than I'll accept and I usually reply to say that if they want to do a deal off eBay they can. I'm surprised how many do this, probably as I've got 100% feedback. Either way it's win win for buyer and seller and two fingers up at eBay "

That is THE best way to get yourself kicked off of ebay for good. No joke, they will catch you sooner or later.

I don't think they care to be quite honest. If they kicked my off they would lose money, so I think it'd be highly unlikely.

 

[thetwonk]

I auctioned off my D750 on EBay with reserve of £600 and a bin of £750. It included cheap grip too. I wanted £650 and got £640 so I was happy. I would not have set my reserve price any less because I won’t give things away. It’s still a great way to sell and buy just keep clear of sellers with less than 100% feedback.

 

[Coaster95]

I Recently sold some gear on eBay and got £560 after all deductions compared to £475 offered by MPB who I've also used in the past for part exchange and their process is very easy. eBay have 'sell anything for £1 maximum fees' weekend offers about once a month now so I always post items during those. I used to auction but now post with a buy it now price with offers which I set it to automatically accept/reject at a price I'd accept. I've been selling on eBay for years and never had a bad experience. Get the best photos you can of what you're selling (as photographers we have an advantage here!) Good luck

 

[TonyGamble]

I'd forgotten about those occasional promos.

£1 a deal is a good site better than 10%.

I'll leave my alert on this thread.

If you spot one could you alert me please.

I'm happy to sit on the two bodies for a while.

Tony

 

[Holger Bargen]

There is a long eBay thread running at the moment but it is US orientated. They liken it to Craiglist and Fred Miranda and a quick look at both of those indicate to me they are hardly ever used in the UK.

I live in Germany but I also look for offers in UK. I can live with both ways: either fiy prices or auctions and, yes, I see "buy now" offers more often. Something I don't like are auctions with "minimum price limit not reached" limitations. In general I have nothing against this option to avoid sales far below the value of a product. But I often see the limit in a range where I would expect a "buy now" offer. It looks like a strategy to get more than a fair price fo a product without having any risk.

I'm in the process of upgrading my two E-M5 bodies from ii to iii.

I contacted the UK end of MPB but it is hard to get excited about their offer when I look at eBay. A minor point but what annoyed me about MPB was that they dropped their offer by £20 a body when they learnt I no longer had the original Oly batteries. Both of mine died years ago and I currently have eight ExPro that I use. So each body can go with four third party batteries - but MPB say that is not what their customers want!

What I was surprised to see was that of the last eight sales of a mk ii on eBay UK six of them were from Buy Now listings and only two were from Auctions. When I was selling off my FF Canon kit ten years ago almost all the non trade listings were Auctions.

Has anyone in the UK noticed this?

If it is becoming the norm is it a good idea to suggest a price and also accept offers - or do they become time wasters? Maybe a better idea is to pick a fixed price and if it does not sell try dropping it a bit?

Tony

London UK

 

[Coaster95]

I'd forgotten about those occasional promos.

£1 a deal is a good site better than 10%.

I'll leave my alert on this thread.

If you spot one could you alert me please.

I'm happy to sit on the two bodies for a while.

Tony

Yes, it makes a big difference 10% vs £1 per item.

Last one was earlier this month and they have had one every month for a while now so there should be one in March.

See here

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www.hotukdeals.com

I always get an e-mail from eBay but you can set up an alert from this site if you register

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www.hotukdeals.com

Hope this helps.

 

[TonyGamble]

Seems to be a deal on now.

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www.hotukdeals.com

I have not looked deeper as I am not quite ready.

Tony