yahoo auction retired. where to sell, buy and bid now?

[sundaymorningstaple]

I have to admit, I've only used eBay Singapore once. That was to buy USANA vitamins. Otherwise my purchases are all on the US site and most are shipped to my farm (most are vintage items and products that I know well. After all, I'm vintage as well.....

[road.not.taken]

I buy stuff on ebay all the time-- new, vintage, clothes, shoes, etc. Most I have shipped here. My daughter liked these new Nike running shoes we saw at Queensway, and elsewhere around town. I can buy them on ebay and shipped here for about $20 less than they cost here before GST.

[sundaymorningstaple]

road.not.taken,

I don't use eBay for clothing (yet), but I do use American Jeans in California (online) for buying my 501 Levi's. (I've bought 6 pair since losing all this weight) with the last batch of three coming in last Friday. Cost is about SG$75~80/Pair including shipping (in batches of 3) but going up some thanks to the financial crap kicking the exchange rate down. That's around half the price of going to the Levi Shop here in Singers and paying $149 a pair for 501's! And I don't have to have the bottoms hemmed like I would have to do here. (also, the ones here are made in China & Philippines and are cut for local body builds. Kinda like a cheap hotel if you know what I mean!

[earthfriendly]

That is so they don't have to pay the commission to eBay but they will make about 30 bucks profit over and above what they sell the item for. And, most are similar in some way.

The seller will not make anywhere close to $30 if he ships oversea. I bought a book which had to be shipped out from SG to USA. Cost of book was 26.25 and shipping cost was $45.75 for a total of $72. When I questioned the shipping rate, they emailed me the rate charged by the carrier. They were not profiteering from shipping charge. It is very expensive to ship ovesea from SG. The book weighed one pound (about half kg).

[QRM]

Its true here they dont understand the concept of an auction, I often list things to start at $1, I get lots of people emailing asking if there has been an typo error, and whats wrong with it if its selling for a dollar

Then there's the annoying habit here, where people set the minimum reserve at almost the buy it now price which kinda defeats the whole point of an auction.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Its true here they dont understand the concept of an auction, I often list things to start at $1, I get lots of people emailing asking if there has been an typo error, and whats wrong with it if its selling for a dollar

Then there's the annoying habit here, where people set the minimum reserve at almost the buy it now price which kinda defeats the whole point of an auction.

They do that on the US site as well occasionally. A purchase I made just last night had a hidden reserve and a "Buy it Now" price of US$45. My max bid price was $35 about an hour before (but the high bid (me) was $31 w/free shipping (stateside). That's where it closed. Within an hour though I got an email of a "2nd Chance offer" and a buy it now price of $31.......

so I bought it!

The ones I hate over here are the ones who set an opening bid only a buck or two below the buy it now price! Why bother to open it up for auction at all?

[ksl]

Singapore is probably the only place you will see goods on an auction, above the normal retail price. Example ipod classic 120GB 398 from the apple ipod store. Ebay.sg 450.

Singaporeans expect used items to sell at above 50% of the retail price. in US and Europe used items can be found for two 3rds of the price and new items at 50% off in many cases.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Hey stranger! Welcome back. Been on a long holiday where there is no Internet? 2 months has to be a record for you!

[ksl]

Hey stranger! Welcome back. Been on a long holiday where there is no Internet? 2 months has to be a record for you!

Would you believe I had a bloody heart attack while in UK, couldn't fly for a month. I guess it started on the trip over, with a little cramp in the calf muscle, the actual attack came about 3 weeks into my trip. Goes to show, that health & fitness doesn't help much when the Grim Reaper is on my tail LDL at 1.4 and classified low risk according to the experts! Just thought i would prove them wrong

The hospital have no idea yet why it happened, so I'll have a CT scan here next week, didn't stop me going to the quiz night the week i was discharged.

But made me realise to live for today. A couple of my friends in Europe have also departed to greener pastures, which was also a shock. It was a toss of a coin, to see if i made it back to Sing

[sundaymorningstaple]

Well, you are too stubborn for it to be much more than a diversion.

Glad you are back in the braces again but it might be a good idea to fall back and regroup. You ain't a spring chicken anymore no more'n I am.

Good to hear from you again. Was wondering what happened as it wasn't like you. Glad you are okay. Does tend to put a different outlook on life doesn't it.

[earthfriendly]

Singapore is probably the only place you will see goods on an auction, above the normal retail price. Example ipod classic 120GB 398 from the apple ipod store. Ebay.sg 450.

That is so they don't have to pay the commission to eBay but they will make about 30 bucks profit over and above what they sell the item for. And, most are similar in some way.

One forumer points out seller lowballing the price to avoid ebay fees while the other said sellers like to highball. We are talking about the same website. Ladies and gentlemen, you decide which point of view is more valid! And yes I know we are about different sellers here.

KSL, welcome back. I was wondering where you went and missed your rambling.

[sundaymorningstaple]

EF,

That one's easy......

If someone is highballing and someone else is stupid enough to buy it at an inflated price over retail for a product that still on the shelves, and to buy it from someone where there are no guarantee, then they can well afford to pay the small sellers fee. Still related to the same thing, they won't use auctions as they feel that "they" might get ripped off as opposed to ripping off someone else if the item goes for less that they though it was worth and then having to pay commission on the sales price as well.

That one's easy to figure out.

[earthfriendly]

You have lost me 100 %. On the last sentence. And I thought economic was a tough subject. I shall have to wait for hubby to come back from work and interpret it for me. I do a few ebay transactions in the USA, but not an expert on auction.

[sundaymorningstaple]

EF - I'll try to clarify just for you...

If I have a object that "I" think is worth $10 but want to auction it off hoping to find somebody who thinks it's worth more, I might put an opening bit of $1. This will get the auction moving because initially those who think they might get it cheap will bid. That will encourage others who 'really' want the item to start bidding and if all goes well, will eventually bid up to what it's worth to them (hopefully more than it was worth to you). When This happens the seller AND eBay wins and so does the buyer as he bought it with his own sense of value that he attached to it. The fear here is that if they do that and the item sells at say $5 instead of the $10 that "they" thought is was worth, they still have to pay a commission to eBay. Then the old "fear of losing" mentality takes over so they find other ways to ensure that they "don't lose" so they come up with.....

If I have a object that "I" think I can get some dummy to buy at 50% more than the actual published value, who am I to complain about the commission? I've already ripped off the buyer big time so I come out way ahead and the buyer get ripped off. eBay also comes out ahead. If I don't sell it, I used up eBay's bandwidth and eBay get nothing whereas with an auction, if it's sold, regardless of the price, eBay get's a commission to keep the site running. The buyer loses and eBay wins. I win big so can afford to be magnanimous and pay eBay's commission

If I have an object that I place on eBay, I pay a commission to eBay for every successful sale. However, eBay cannot charge commission on anything but the sales price. Therefore, if I pad the shipping and handling charges outrageously, I am ensuring the additional profits in my pocket that eBay doesn't get a commission for and the buyer is getting ripped off as the total cost of the item is inaccurately reflected due to the inflated shipping. In this case I win. eBay (the host) loses and the buyer loses as well. But as long as "I" win that's all that's important, if the host loses too bad (although eventually the host will have to shut down for lack of operating capital due to those "abusing" the system.

With regard to postage, I've been here a long, long time. I think I know what postage charges are like here. In my example I was talking about a "Pamphlet/Brochure" that was only about 10 or 15 pages long at the most. It would cost all of maybe SG$2.50 to send it anywhere in the world (it's not a "book") AND the seller was going to charge anybody who buys it in Singapore the same shipping which shows that the seller's primary intent was to rip off the buyer and avoid paying commissions to eBay. The seller was charging US$20 for shipping even if they lived here in Singapore. Four times the "buy Now" price when common procedure would be to pick it up at a mutually agreeable MRT Station.

So, at the end of the day, Not many serious auction buyers find their way to eBay Singapore because of the practices here which defeat the purpose of "auction" sites. They should just use online stores instead.

[earthfriendly]

In US, Ebay started off as an auction site. Right now it has evolved into much more and there are many traditional as well as brick and mortar using it to tout their merchandise. It is no longer an internet garage sale store. And on some forums, I hear people complaining about skyrocketing of fees by ebay making it hard or not worth the while anymore. But of course, Ebay has to do whatever it takes to stay in biz and still end up with a profit margin of their expectation.

It would cost all of maybe SG$2.50 to send it anywhere in the world (it's not a "book") AND the seller was going to charge anybody who buys it in Singapore the same shipping which shows that the seller's primary intent was to rip off the buyer and avoid paying commissions to eBay. The seller was charging US$20 for shipping even if they lived here in Singapore. Four times the "buy Now" price when common procedure would be to pick it up at a mutually agreeable MRT Station.

You make many assumptions in your posts, very frequently.

As for the auction you pointed out, I am under the impression seller is targeting overseas buyer, hence my previous comment. No seller is under obligation to deliver the goods in person. And they should perhaps charge a personal delivery fee for it then. And are you saying that this seller should do this just so buyer can avoid paying a shipping fee? This is strictly busness and I don't think the seller would want to lose out so much money. A mom helped me purchase my disney show ticket and mailed it to me even though she lives in the next city. A few weeks ago, I paid $3 shipping for concert tickets. I could have picked it up from chinese bookstore close to my house. It is not an activity that I would want to spend my time on. $3 is very reasonable for shipping. I have been charged more for shipping and on top of it, some places like to add a handling fees.

This ebay seller may be minimizing the fees by upping handling charges . At least I know what I am getting myself into as all the cost of doing biz with her/her is stated.

On a side note, coming from SG, I wonder why don't they just provide a total cost to me, instead of quoting me one price for actual goods/ services and then tagging on gazillion fees to it. Have to tip for this and tip for that. And the tips can represent a seizable percentage. And all the extra money they try to extract from you. In both public and private shools, not uncommon to get over 3 fundraising events, per month. I want to see schools and students succeed. But I am not interested in buying more gift wraps, sovenirs, candles, cookie dough and photo taking. When I told preschool director I am not interested in having my daughter's pic taken (another fundraising event), in her most civil, polite and smiley tone of voice, she said "to stay in school, your daughter has to take the pictures". I already have way too many photos of my kids don't need another one. And you know what, I still like her as she is a lovely lady. And I know she acted like that due to budgetary constraint that she has to work with. It is nothering personal. They all know the cost of running a school, why not just include it in the school fees and let us parents know up front. And I don't mind contributing to the school and just writing a lump sum check to them, instead of nickel and diming. This is an education center, not a busness. I rather see them focus their time and energy on the kids.

Another example is car rental. And I am not referring to mandatory like taxes and license. Anyway, why don't they just tag that on and just quote a final price. As a consumer, I am only interested in the total out-of-pocket cost. Rented a car a month ago and kena charged over $20 because they are offering me a different car. I don't understand the logic. I reserved a car from the full size category and that catergory car was offered to me upon pickup. I am not gonna argue over $2o since it represent a small fraction of the actual rental price for our rental of a week. But I still don't understand their reasoning. When they say it is different, maybe they mean it is a different color from the one I selected off their internet site. It could be since I don't remember the color of the car in the photo on their site that I clicked on .

Anyway, reason for my long post. They all try to get the most out of you, be it Singaporeans or Americans when it comes to biz transaction. It is called what the market will bear. Methodology may be different but concept is the same. Maybe one way is more acceptable to you then another? And I understand no one style or culture will please everyone. We all have our likes and dislikes. And I shall stop using childish anti like "I think SMS is essentially anti Singaporean" .

We recently installed Uverse, a ATT cable service. Promising rebates on the contract. And the hoops they make us jump thru to claim it. I nearly gave up.

And the SBC yahoo that overbilled us because of overlap billing when we switch to DSL. Overcharged us monthly (I think for over 5 years). A few thousand dollars involved. Our fault too since hubby did not review the bills. No luck when contacting them. Consumers beware and read your bills. If you make a mistake it is your fault and when they make a mistake it is your fault too, that's the lesson I learn here.

A few months ago, I had home depot installed bifolds in my daughter's closet. Could have gone on craigslist and gotten a contractor for much cheaper. Thought it would be prudent to pay the premium and deal with a reputable biz. At their store, they told me it is best to include all the charges upfront and pay for it and then deduct it later for services we don't use. Big mistake!. They charged $75 to haul away existing door, $65 to climb up a flight of steps (daughter's room on second floor), parking charge (distance subject to their interpretation). Speak about extra charges, these people are the experts . Since we kept the old door, we naturally requested for a refund. 6 phone calls plus 2 visits later, we eventually got it. All the hoops we have to jumped thru. Really due more to bureacracy and people working different shifts. And to their credit, I don't think they charge us for parking. Or wait a minute, I pulled out my car from my garage so they can park in my spot .

Before that I actually phoned Lowes (they tend to have better service compared to home depot) for them to come measure my door for a fee. The fee could be credited towards installatin service, if you use them. I visited their warehouse to select the door only to be told that my size door has to be custome made from scratch for over $900. That's just for the door itself. Based on my understanding closet doors come in many different sizes and HD has cut their stock to suit our closet. And I think it is unfair that Loewes did did not issue a refund it is due to their own limitation that we could not use their installation service.

When it comes to collecting money from these busnesses, it sure ain't easy. Maybe they hope the consumers will give up.