e-bay selection not as good as it once was

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by torcan, Oct 6, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. torcan

    torcan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    I've been buying on e-bay since the late '90s. About half my purchases have been records (mostly 45s with picture sleeves). I've noticed the past few years the selection as to what's available just doesn't seem to be as good anymore. A lot of stuff that was easily available on the site years ago is now scarce and hard to find - even some of the "common" stuff.

    I don't know where it's all disappeared to.

    When I'm searching for something, if it's not there on first search I know I'm in trouble, because I just don't know where to find this stuff anymore. Some titles rarely pop up anymore.

    Anyone else notice this?
     
    Greg Gee and All Down The Line like this.
  2. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Discogs and live events like fairs. eBay and Paypal have driven a lot of dealers away and aren't delivering the sales they once did.
     
    PhantomStranger and Matthew Tate like this.
  3. Mirrorblade.1

    Mirrorblade.1 Forum Resident

    Yeah, I can't find much anymore.
     
  4. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    It's all there. Just be patient and set reminders.
     
  5. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    As a casual seller, I'd rather put something on Discogs rather than Ebay anymore. While one can kind of jack up a price on Ebay, Discogs is a better seller's marketplace if you really have something other collectors would want. When I started working for the store I'm at, they had a bunch of rare titles on Ebay that weren't doing anything. As soon as I moved them to Discogs, they moved quickly and for much more than what they originally had them on Ebay. Discogs takes less, doesn't require you to pay to on some sort of plan (if you sell a lot), and their site is easier to navigate. I'd suspect many more sellers have moved on and frankly, I'm glad.
     
    GentleSenator, Myke and 12" 45rpm like this.
  6. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    It's not like the good old days but when I don't see titles on eBay and check discogs instead I don't see them on Discogs either. In many cases you find the titles you might want but it's VG or worse condition.
     
    Greg Gee likes this.
  7. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Interestingly I found the opposite. Stuff I tried to sell on Discogs never sold, put them on eBay and they sold. I also don't think there's much of a saving between the two in terms of fees for lps and cd sales. It's minor when you, IMO, eBay tends to have more traffic than Discogs. In addition, eBay has a much better interface for a part time seller like me. On discogs it feels like decades of progress has never happened. I dislike putting anything on there to sell and pretty much just stick to eBay.
     
    Greg Gee, quicksrt, Dubmart and 4 others like this.
  8. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston

    This. Discogs doesn't even allow pictures of what you are buying.

    20 years on Ebay, no complaints. Discogs is a reference tool, nothing more.
     
    Greg Gee, quicksrt, 911s55 and 5 others like this.
  9. colinu

    colinu I'm not lazy, I'm energy saving!

    I have tried selling some collectibles on Ebay for what I think are moderate prices - no luck. It ain't what it used to be.
     
  10. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    nah. if you adequately describe what you're selling and list it correctly, the accuracy lies in the details. just like ebay, you have to do your homework before clicking the "purchase" button.
     
    Lost In The Flood likes this.
  11. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    There are advantages to both. Yes, eBay has pictures while Discogs does not. Also, IMHO, a bigger pool of potential buyers. No seller can leave negative feedback for buyers.

    Discogs has a more specialized approach where specific pressings are much easier to find and to verify which eBay sellers either rarely post or are clueless about. Negative feedback for buyers is allowed. Negative feedback can also be removed if appealed whereas eBay doesn't give that option, IIRC.

    Again, they each have the pros and cons. I use them both for difference reasons.
     
    Greg Gee likes this.
  12. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'll argue the same unfortunately needs to be said about Discogs. Sellers will oftentimes post their wares on the most convenient and usually most seen pressing entry ; 1st US pressing, for instance.

    3/5, sellers will admit when I ask them to confirm matrix info that the LP was added to the wrong pressing entry. Sometimes accidentally, sometimes obviously on purpose to increase the potential for a sale.
     
    sjsanford, eddiel and GentleSenator like this.
  13. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    definitely. hence my "do your homework" comment.

    at least you can be protected by paypal while shopping at both sites.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  14. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Even though I did, I've had to in the last week send back 2 LPs at my cost to sellers who admitted visually grading them. They refunded my shipping cost to me but I still had to pay for shipping back. A waste of time and money.
     
    GentleSenator likes this.
  15. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    i think that must be pretty typical for sellers with higher volumes. those guys get a lot of questions from me before i even think about buying.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  16. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    eBay has removed negative feedback left for sellers in the past. I'm not sure what their criteria is, but I've seen it done recently as well. They will also remove feedback if say a seller leaves a positive rating but the comment is anything but.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  17. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    The market has definitely changed over the years and the postage rates do not help matters, especially for Canadian sellers.
     
    formu_la and Dave like this.
  18. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    I do my homework..............................and then buy it on Ebay
     
  19. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    You should sign up for the Paypal return postage program. They'll cover up to $30 CAD with up to 10 claims a year. It's definitely worth it.
     
  20. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Thanks for that! Had no idea this program existed. I'll need to contact them about the possibility of submitting a claim for products bought and shipped to a US address, brought into Canada, and then returned to the US.
     
    eddiel likes this.
  21. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Here you go:
    PayPal Refunded Returns | PayPal CA

    Just activate it and you can do everything else online. There should be an option to claim return postage once you activate the program, under each payment you made.

    Not sure why I didn't include the link in my previous comment :)
     
  22. 12" 45rpm

    12" 45rpm Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    One thing I don't like about ebay is it's hard to read the feedback. How does one know if the 1000+ feedback score is from LPs or sales of $5 trinkets? Plus there isn't a culture of writing honest feedback on ebay. Most buyers don't. On discogs I find more than 50% give feedback and include good details about how accurately item was graded.

    So that's why I don't buy from ebay for LPs or sell there..
     
  23. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    That info is occasionally available. Depends on the seller. Some prefer to remove that info or to keep the feedback private which, IMHO, defeats its purpose or at least its use with potential buyers.
     
  24. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    I guess it depends on what it is. There's some collectors, like me, who rarely ever go to Ebay to look for stuff. I just wait for a good copy to show up on Discogs. I agree that some items can do better on Ebay. For instance, older Heavy Metal sells easily on Ebay.
     
    GentleSenator likes this.
  25. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    You can see what item was sold under the feedback comment so what I do is just scroll through it. It'll show those details for the past year or so.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine