I hope that someone (or some business) comes up with an auction site for collectibles. Not ebay. Ebay does not suit the needs of the small-time, part-time seller of collectibles. It used to be that way, but it isn't any more. And no one has come up with a suitable replacement. I tried Yahoo but had almost no success and now its auction site is being discontinued. So I will discontinue listing items for sale on the Internet. The web is no longer a viable option for selling Barbie and other doll items made between 1972 and 1999.
This is what is needed:
1. A site that allows sellers to accept Paypal e-check or cash payments so you won't have to pay the fees for the use of Paypal. Being forced to accept credit cards, and then being forced to pay fees on Paypal payments--both credit cards and e-checks--is an utter waste of money.
2. I never minded paying the placement and final fees on ebay, but because they've increased so much in the past two years, you have to have a fairly significant profit to cover them. Between the Paypal fees and the selling fees, one has to increase the prices of each item at least $5 to cover the costs. And with older small collectibles, that often prices them beyond the cost of what they are worth.
3. A site that does not permit sales of items under 5 years of age; a site that does not permit placement of brand-new electronic or computer equipment; and a site that does not permit sale of new genuine and/or fake designer purses or new official and/or bootleg DVDs and CDs. In other words, collectible items only, items that are no longer available in stores.
4. A site with a more workable, less bug-gy listing program. Something that is compatible with dial-up, Macs and older computers and won't take 30 minutes per item to list.
5. A site without the arrogant opinionated assholes who dominate ebay's Seller Central, convinced that the only acceptable options on ebay are finding items to sell that cost 50 cents wholesale that can be resold for $100 apiece, and then the only payment acceptable is Paypal.
Next week, I will be heading to the local antique mall. I was there last night and saw that many booths are now open. I will return to selling the old-fashioned way, by actually having the merchandise out in public and setting my own prices. In the meanwhile, I am waiting out ebay's 180 day waiting period until I can actually official resign from that website. I think it will be sometime in October. I haven't placed anything for sale on ebay for weeks, and when I did have stuff for sale, I believe I sold only one item since before Christmas.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
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