Ebay ripoffs - one perpetrator?

Remember to compare costs including delivery.

It's not uncommon to see people paying over the odds, and setting prices unusually high. This is something that happens with auctions.

I'm buying a camera. The postage will cost more than the price I bid. I see quite a variation of price on similar hardware. A lot of the high-price items don't get sold.

Reply to
David G. Bell
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Has anybody noticed that a certain individual appears to be running a over-inflated LR parts business on Ebay?

His stuff is littered all over a search for landrovers, and all seems to be very highly priced - an oil filter which Craddocks want £2.65 for he is selling for £4

There seems to be a lot of this at the moment, is the Ebay bubble going to burst soon?

Alex

Reply to
Alex

Who?

Well... If people are silly enough to pay...

Not as long as people are prepared to pay...

I do agree that it's very silly, but the seller isn't wholly to blame IMO.

Reply to
Mother

To be fair, I don't think Alex actually mentioned any names :-)

Reply to
Mother

Ah, you want flameproof a air filter...

I dare say that Craddocks, Blanchards and any number of other LR parts suppliers are onto the same gravy train (the two I mention are, to my knowledge, employing extra staff on a part time basis to place eBay ads). I maintain that it isn't necessarily any kind of 'con' - as purchasers are quite evidently prepared to pay the price - and appear happy. Notwithstanding, Alex is a shit stirrer, no doubt 'bout that whatsoever ;-)

And there lay a lesson for us all - lest we be exposed before our peers* for being rip-off merchants!

(*shameless Pink Floyd reference)

Reply to
Mother

Not a very good example. Yes that filter costs £2.65, but Craddocks would charge you £6 postage on top =£8.62.

Do you mean The Land Rover Orphanage

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?

His filter is still £4 + £1.60 postage =£5.60 and what ever someone wants to bid upto. This seems pretty reasonable and convenient to me, especially if someone wanted a filter below Craddocks prices which are already low.

What is your problem with this seller or eBay? I've always been very happy with eBay purchases. If you stop bidding when the price gets high you wont ever feel ripped off. Have you personally had a bad experience with this seller, he has 99.9% positive feedback, so everybody else is happy with the service he offers.

I've never purchased from the guy, so I'm not defending him or his reputation. However, I don't see any reason to attack him on a.f.l. David

Reply to
DavidM

No you're right, but an alegation with no names is just boring ;P I want smoke AND fire! I searched for "oil filter land rover" on the eBay home page and found what he meant, only one of the 11 results was at or near £4. It's Alex's fault, he wanted me to find it!

When I was searching for my SIII it was infuriating watching people bid like mad for the Landies that _I_ wanted. Why can't they all just go away and stop pushing the price up! I ended up getting it through a broad beg on a.f.l, so there is a happy and non-eBay end to the story. David

Reply to
DavidM

In article , DavidM writes

Quite so. I use bidding ('sniping') software. Contrary to some views, all it does is ensure I don't spend too much in my enthusiasm to win an auction. I lose quite a few, as the last-minute bid doesn't give me time to increase the amount.

OTOH, it has meant I've paid *sensible* prices for a good number of items, and I find eBay very useful as a consequence. For example, I acquired an example of a very unusual early musical synthesizer/organ that my dad designed in the 1970s. Previously, the only one I'd seen was in Australia. Paid a fair price, but I can't imagine how else I'd have obtained one.

OT Land Rover, I've bought one or two items, and I *do* think the effect is to push up prices, i.e. to favour the seller. For example s/h Defender doors: usually the amount of clean-up work doesn't justify the price. Like most Defender owners, I need a set (of five), but I've held off bidding, as I know it's not worth it. The psychology of eBay distorts the laws of supply/demand a bit - when you go to a real auction, you watch older + wiser bidders in action, and all but the silliest learn what things are really worth. On eBay, nobody is whispering caution in your ear, which is why I use Cricket (the sniping prog).

Browsing the Land Rover lists (and BMW bike, and electronic stuff, and...) remains a fun diversion for rainy evenings though. Perhaps I

*am* hooked!

Regards,

Simonm.

Reply to
SpamTrapSeeSig

In article , Mother writes

I can't blame them. Running a parts business is a statistical nightmare, balancing the cost of stocking the really unusual against the annoyance factor and damage to reputation if you don't have it when the customer calls. It's a judgement call on the purchasing department all the way.

We baulk at the mark up on some parts, but they subsidise the cost of others. For example body panels - not only high cost items in themselves, but very fragile, meaning increased warehousing costs and high attrition rate through accidental damage in-house. My heart doesn't bleed for them, but I recognise the skill in getting the right stock levels to stay popular and profitable at the same time.

I know, you don't see them begging on the streets, but as long as they don't lose focus on their core mail-order business I can't see the harm. After all, if you're doing a repair and need clutch plates or UJs it's probably *now*, so eBay isn't going to help much. It's the hobbyists that have the time and, by definition, the deeper pockets...

Regards,

Simonm.

Reply to
SpamTrapSeeSig

I dont see anything wrong with Ebay items at whatever cost. if you dont like the price go elsewhere, simple as that. Nobody is forcing anyone (Alex) to bid for anything, are they?

Reply to
Richard

I'm kind of...hooked on ebay....so I'm interested to know more about this Cricket..where can I get an umpire who will tell me when I'm out of the bidding game?

Reply to
john smith

No, I'll grant you that one, but I get the feeling with ebay that a lot of people are putting things on at over-inflated prices, claiming them to be "rare" or "difficult to source" or whatever and taking advantage of the more gullible element of ebay punters.

I have spotted another firm selling thier product(s) on ebay, one or two at a time, and they are regularly bid up to 20-30% more than the same firm (openly) sells them for on thier website. I have no gripe with this firm, as they openly include on Ebay the links to thier websites, where the prices are openly published, yet people still pay more!

The bottom line is Caveat Emptor. Check other prices first, and bid accordingly.

Alex

Reply to
Alex

People must just get caught up in the auction or something. Seems very stupid. I was told today by one of my mates that someone he knew had just sold a shower on ebay after he decided it was the wrong colour for his bathroom. he had put in the description 'bought recently from B&Q for £xxx', and it went for £20 more than that.

Reply to
Tom Woods

Non-eBay-users may not be aware that eBay allows automatic bidding, so you can make a bid of "up to X".

The advantage of bidding at the last minute is that other people don't have a chance to reconsider their value of "X".

I suspect a lot of people don't quite get the idea of auctions, sellers and buyers.

Reply to
David G. Bell

In article , john smith writes

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(sadly, the 'Cricket' in question is an insect)

It's a bit lumpy but it does work.

Regards,

Simonm.

Reply to
SpamTrapSeeSig

On or around Tue, 20 Jul 2004 23:56:40 +0100, Mother enlightened us thusly:

tear down the wall!!

Reply to
Austin Shackles

On or around Wed, 21 Jul 2004 18:38:59 GMT, Alex enlightened us thusly:

exactly. if you can't be arsed to cave, then you deserve to empt at a high price.

there are always some trying to sell stuff at silly prices - in ukrmc we get occasional posts about how some eejits have bid 240 quid for a part which can be got for 120 brand new; however, the buyer can always find out for themselves what the item's worth, and bid or not bid accordingly.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Quite so. If someone is prepared to pay "whatever" for an item, that's his decision an nobody forced him to do so. As a seller, why should I constrain a prospective purchaser?

Anyway, one mans junk is useful to someone else and just because I was about to fling something in the skip doesn't mean that shouldn't have put it on eBay. I made a lot of money (relatively) and clearly a lot of people were very much in need of the various odds and ends being auctioned, judging by the activity and the end prices.

Its clearly ridiculous to suggest that people should be forced to sell things at a given price. Its called price-control and it doesn't work.

Mike.

Reply to
Mike Buckley

The implicit assumption is an honest description.

In other areas of interest, I know of traders who are inclined to be a trifle economical with the detail, if not actually misleading. I have a camera lens designed by the Carl Zeiss company before WW2, but it was made about 1962 in the Soviet Union. "Carl Zeiss lens", anyone?

Also, a gentle reminder, folks. Think about how you title and describe a sale, think about search strings people might use. If you're also selling a fishing rod, and mention you're selling a Land Rover part in that description, you'll irritate quite a few Land Rover owners.

And the feedback I get is almost embarrassing. It's as if some people don't pay...

Reply to
David G. Bell

A neighbour of mine moaned ceaselessly about programmes on the TV being crap. Decided to tell him about the "off-button" he does'nt bother me any more. It's a free world. What's the old saying ? " a fool and his money are soon parted " !!

Reply to
Hirsty's

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