Bill, I'm afraid I don't agree with your statement about eBay. The great thing
about eBay is you can find the part you want
(eventually). If you had to go to every swap meet (autojumble) on the planet
to find just "the part" you were looking for the cost
would be outrageous. Sellers on eBay who set high reserves either don't sell
an item, the first time around; or, sell it to someone
that apparently feels it is more valuable than you do. The buyer and seller
are creating the market value for these items. "The
price a knowledgeable buyer, and a knowledgeable seller agree upon".
If the item doesn't sell the first time it generally shows up again at a lower
price. That's the free market a work. No one is
forced to buy; and of course not all items sell.
I have sold items on eBay that I previously would have tossed out. With eBay
someone has the opportunity to buy an item they may
have been looking all over for, an item that might be trash to me. Have you
ever wanted a set of 1964 Buick 300 cast iron exhaust
manifolds? No? Me either. But someone was willing to pay $52 for mine. He
was happy and so was I.
Without eBay the manifolds would have ended up in the landfill.
Larry Hoy
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On
>Behalf Of bill king
>Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2001 2:23 AM
>To: mg list
>Subject: Ebay
>
>
>Ebay is starting to honk me off. In the good old days you would sell, trade
>or give parts to people who needed them for a reasonable 'fixed' price. Now
>everyone thinks they have a long lost gem which they must get maximum value ,
>they set high reserves, come just short of lying about condition and then set
>outrageous shipping and handling prices to increase their profit. I recently
>was contacted via Email by someone who had a part I wanted who said he wanted
>best offer. If I was the only person and offered one cent I would have got
>the part I guess. I replied requesting his price and never heard back. What
>I need is a flea market where the parts are listed, with prices and terms and
>you buy the part. No BS, no hassles.
>
>I feel much better now.
>
>Bill
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