had a look through a regular serch earlier "austin seven"
there doesnt seem to be much on, i magine many people are wondering what to do.
i remember the good old days, when the average auction house charged 15% commission. and ebay took over the world only charging 5%.
most auction houses as they had to pay more and more in internet charges to advertise there business. listed there charges to 20 to 25%
which gave ebay the chance to charge 10% without confrontation. which we all got used to.
im sure ebay will employ plenty of number crunchers, and they will have worked out whats happening in modern auction charges.
the lattest thing to the market, well its been there a wile. but its picking up speed is the salesroom and easylivebid.
which has lifted modern day auctions to many or most charging 24% to 32% most will then charge 5 to 7% for bidding through salesroom.com
all this is were ebay finds it a no brainer to raise fees to 12% this will im sure soon enough go to 15% and we are likely to see transfer fees on top in 12 months.
personally id love to advertise everything on this site, but its the same as listing on my own website. people dont see the urgency of coming forward and buying.
were as an auction, with the clock counting down. you understand the urgency if you need that item.
19-06-2021, 09:59 PM (This post was last modified: 19-06-2021, 10:03 PM by Tony Griffiths.)
(19-06-2021, 06:25 PM)flywheel1935 Wrote: The hard bit is getting the sellers details prior to actually bidding, I just bought a cheap item off a chap, just to get his details so I can get to see the rest of his stuff prior to him selling on ebay (Its A7 bits), so I can do a private purchase.
Like said before, sneak a contact number into the sale item, ( as a "part number" ).
(19-06-2021, 09:42 PM)Tony Betts Wrote: .....which has lifted modern day auctions to many or most charging 24% to 32% most will then charge 5 to 7% for bidding through salesroom.com
so why are people not putting on free Facebook, free facebook groups, and free forum? Is it that they don't want to deal with sending something (and receiving payment) without the security of ebay in case things go wrong?
But remember I've been buying and selling in the 7 world for 30 years. Trust me when I say I have a good study of austin 7 owners.
Most are told 2 things when they come into the austin 7 world. Everything is cheap? And everything is plentiful?
That may have been true many years ago, but not so today. When it's cheap and plentiful today. It very poor quality.
But today when its pointed out to most owners that on average there cars are 90 years old. And it's not as easy to get things as it was 20 years ago. There eyes open a little. (The thrust is a shock to most).
The reason why more dont advertise and sell on ugleface book.
Ugle face book, the forum, and my own website. Dont have "URGENCY"
The small numbers of owners that realise the world has changed, it's no longer the 1970s. What we now call the dark ages. Use ebay.
So for instance, that coil switch panel you need for your ulster rep. I can list on ugly book, the forum, or 7ca.co.uk and you can view it. You can wonder why it's so expensive. After 6 weeks you may even send an email asking if it's still available. ( if it is theres an excuse to chip the price). NO URGENCY.
But ebay is an auction, there is a finish time. And you will probably pay more. URGENCY, URGENCY, URGENCY. Dont miss it if you need it.
20-06-2021, 08:15 AM (This post was last modified: 20-06-2021, 08:18 AM by Andy Bennett.)
I agree with Tony on the urgency point for auctions. There is also the thrill of the chase in an auction. But there is also the way it is made very simple to 'buy-now' on ebay. A few clicks and you have bought, paid and had it delivered to your 'usual address'.
It is that convenience which I can only assume makes people pay double the price of some things on ebay rather than going direct to our cherished suppliers, where the process can be as simple, but not always. With many Cherished Suppliers (not all, some have v slick purchasing websites) you can't buy direct from the website so you have to call, give credit card info over phone, where you are immediately going into potentially questionable ground with your personal credit info rather than entering through a secure site (is that person at the end of the phone entering your info straight into a card machine, or is it being written on a scrap of paper to be thrown into the bin and later picked up by someone else less trustworthy, who knows). If you know the supplier and trust them then OK, but for new customers you just don't do that any more if you are buying consumables etc
Paypal was introduced when no one trusted the internet and didn't want to give it their credit card details. People were happy to talk to someone and give them their details, so basic websites worked. I think ebay has seen the Amazon payment model work, where people are now happy to hand over credit card info through an automated secure site. So ebay don't need to 'lose' money to paypal any more, so are cutting them out.
As to Facebook. Lots of people, including me, simply won't use facebook for their data harvesting approach.
To compete with ebay you need a slick website with instant payment processes so people can order a head gasket at 1am on a Sunday. Some Cherished Suppliers have done it. I have done it for my honey sales and it works well and isn't expensive. I use a free sales add on with paypal and my site costs £7.95 a month hosting. I pay paypal 5%. The rest I taught myself.
Andy
I'm finding that quite a few buyers are playing games and trying to fleece genuine sellers.
On several occasions I've had 'damage' reported to stuff I've posted. The buyer suggests that they will accept a lower price and fix it themselves.
I, however, insist that it is returned despite it costing me and surprise surprise find it intact and perfect ! I rarely offer stuff for sale now, it's not worth the hassle.
I also notice than run of the mill A7 parts are priced way over what our trusted traders charge.
Having said all of that Ebay is often the place to go for obscure little parts and components.
Buy an Austin 7 they said, It's easy to work on they said !
One of the best features of eBay is the search function followed by ticking the little heart-shaped "Follow This Search" box. I'm always telling my customers about it when they express surprise that their 1950 milling machine is no longer support by an army of brown-coated spares men inhabiting a 4-story parts building and running a next-day-delivery service. Over the years using 'Follow this Search' I've been alerted to all kinds of interesting literature - as well as mechanical items. The photographs people post are also often of value - some of the amusing or unusual motor covers that post - modified or not - I've not paid $75, I've just right-clicked on the upper half of the image and saved it.
(20-06-2021, 09:38 AM)Barry Townsend Wrote: I'm finding that quite a few buyers are playing games and trying to fleece genuine sellers.
On several occasions I've had 'damage' reported to stuff I've posted. The buyer suggests that they will accept a lower price and fix it themselves.
I, however, insist that it is returned despite it costing me and surprise surprise find it intact and perfect ! I rarely offer stuff for sale now, it's not worth the hassle.
I also notice than run of the mill A7 parts are priced way over what our trusted traders charge.
Having said all of that Ebay is often the place to go for obscure little parts and components.
I have had the same experience Barry, I sold a Hassleblad camera and buyer contacted me through eBay to say it was damaged. It was extremely well packaged, but I didn’t have a leg to stand on and I was concerned that if I asked him to send it back, the buyer would damage it himself to prove a point...I gave him a hefty discount...
Tony Betts' assessment of the whole auction scene is spot on. Lockdown has certainly propelled platforms like Thesaleroom and ibidder to the fore - but it has resulted in yet more cost to the buyers (and, by extension, less money for sellers as bidders factor in the costs of purchase and so reduce the level they will bid to).
On top of the commissions there is also the cost of getting stuff delivered from the auction house. Some use mailing services, some pack and send 'in-house'. Recently I wanted to bid on a small item with a value of maybe £30. Trouble was, the auction house was up in the North-East, a four hour drive away, and their charge for packing and postage was minimum £28 + VAT. Made it stupid expensive for one item - let alone the extra commission for using the online platform and a buyers' premium of 20%. If you succeed in buying multiple items the shipping costs can become relatively reasonable but for small single items it is disproportionately costly.
I have no doubt whatsoever that in the not too distant future the auction sale pendulum will swing back the other way and a new enterprise will spring up to provide a sensibly inexpensive bidding platform, safe and low-cost payment scheme, and effective customer service standards. The auction houses and platforms have become far too greedy and are very exposed to commercial challenge.
I am pretty sure that years ago there used to be something just like it. Now, what was it called...? Ah yes...! Ebay, I think... Whatever happened to them I wonder...
