More eBay Humor

OC Engineer JD Jan 16, 2009

  1. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Oh my gosh, I had no idea that PayPal has now been cut out of things. I'm like you that I want to limit how many retailers and service providers have access to my accounts. As with all of these arrangements, there seems to be no easy way to pull the plug and exit when you want. I don't want to be victimized by an upcoming eBay data hack.
     
  2. ggnlars

    ggnlars TrainBoard Member

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    Actually they have been pushing the BIN for several years. Fees tend to be lower & you can keep it active until it sells. You can specify when to drop the price and at what rate if it does not sell. It has a lot of merit for the seller. Yes he misses the wild bidding war, but those are really rare anyway. With a specific auction the result is dependent on having enough buyers see the auction during the time slot of the auction. With BIN, the seller sets the maximum price upfront. Then, he can control what he is willing to sell it for. With an auction he does not have that control. The buyers expectation tends to be different for auction relative to the initial price.
    The payment system is typical for the retail business. eBay is looking at all sellers as professionals & thus expect the float. Again they have been pushing for this for some time. They are not interested in the low volume seller anymore. This is actually the reason the profits are down. For most sellers have a web page and sell the same things there for less than what the charge on eBay, because of the fees. So unless it is unique, it is likely cheaper elsewhere. There current business model is full of holes.
     
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  3. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    flea bay sucks used to be good but there greedy greedy greedy. and dont gimmy any of that business BS......
     

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  4. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    As a user there for almost 24 years now, I have watched all of the "changes". I agree, they have been heading this direction, for many years now. Unfortunately it is the low volume seller which made them the success they are today. Payment system when shopping at a B&M store or their web site is not as complex for the walk-in or e-commerce customer. I agree about the web site issue, and have noted it many times in the past. (I have my own. Total control, much cheaper to operate.) If you leased a spot in a mall, you would have rules for business conduct there, as it is somebody else's property. BUT you would NOT be as subject to constant changes and fee manipulations as with this auction site! And yes, their business model is holey.
     
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  5. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    I quite using them some 10 years ago. After paying for things I never received. But, many online dealers are doing the same. I own an electric 'moped' I'll never ride.
     
  6. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    I think it might be time to sell my EBay stock :LOL::ROFLMAO::LOL:
     
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  7. tehachapifan

    tehachapifan TrainBoard Member

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    I'm extremely confused. I haven't sold anything in quite a while, but I just looked at an auction and still see Paypal listed as a payment option. Yet several people here said that eBay cut ties with Paypal. I've also found articles that say the same thing going back to 2018. How is it that it still shows as a payment option then?
     
  8. ggnlars

    ggnlars TrainBoard Member

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    Ebay has not banished PayPal as a payment source, just like Visa or Mastercard. I am not sure they can go that far. It one limts the sources of payment, then they are limiting the potential activity on the site. What has changed is the direction of the funds. Where before, PayPal was the funds storage(the bank). Basically all electronic payments went there. PayPal got the benefit for that.
    Since the two entities have split, Ebay is becoming the place where the payments go to. They are having to perform some of that banking function. Just like they accept credit & bank cards, they still accept PayPal for payments. Shipping label payments can also go through PayPal even though your using the ebay site for the transaction.
     
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  9. steve64d

    steve64d TrainBoard Member

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    Ebay used to own PayPal so for many years PayPal was the only payment option.
    That ownership ended years ago so ebay has been reducing their independence of PayPal as their customer's only payment source.
    It would not be wise for ebay to eliminate PayPal as an option as many customers will still prefer PayPal.

    It's been awhile since I've purchased anything on ebay, so my thoughts below might be outdated (or my feeble brain isn't remembering 100%).
    I think when you go to ebay checkout, every customer now has the option between PayPal or credit cards.
    It might be hard to realize a change because even in the "PayPal only" world, you would see a list of cards to select from. But those would specifically be your PayPal registered cards. This is still true, but today (before getting to that list), you can select "credit card" just like any other on-line merchant and enter your card details. By you selecting this option, ebay is going directly to your credit card's bank and eliminating PayPal as a middleman.
    It would be to ebay's advantage to get more buyers to switch to paying directly by credit card, but not to the point of loosing buyer's that insist on PayPal.

    The big change with "mangled (managed) payments" doesn't affect the buyers directly. It's all between ebay and the seller.
    Not all sellers have been converted to Managed Payments yet. For those sellers that are converted, I suspect processing sales paid via PayPal have changed.
    In the old world, ebay would forward all info to PayPal. Paypal would then manage all financial aspects of the transaction from debiting the buyer's card or bank account then forwarding the $$$ (minus PayPal fees) directly to the seller's PayPal account. PayPal (like a bank) has use of this money until the sellers withdraws the funds one way or another.
    With Managed Payments, I suspect ebay acts as if they were the seller. Ebay collects the $$$ from PayPal or a credit card per the buyers selection. If PayPal was selected, then PayPal's interaction is to simply draft the funds however they're going to do it and send the $$$ back to the "merchant" that requested it. Simpler processing for PayPal, thus I'd think PayPal's fee to ebay is lower than what the fee to the actual seller would've been. And I'd also bet ebay charges the seller close to what PayPal would've charged under the old system. Of course ebay now has the added cost of "managing" getting the payments (minus fees) to the seller and they wait a few days (have use of the $$$) until they do this.
     
  10. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    It's even different with American Express.:confused:
     
  11. jtomstarr

    jtomstarr TrainBoard Member

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  12. tehachapifan

    tehachapifan TrainBoard Member

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    Hmmm, seems like an odd grouping of shell parts. For example, I see cabs for different bodies from what's shown.
     
  13. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    We haven't had one of these noted for, oh, at least 10 minutes or so :D

    But what's interesting about this is the photo of the back of the box that these were packed in. It might explain some of the, let us say, misinformation, about the value of these High Speed* Items: you could order more "trains" for $7.95 each.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/384117917610

    *Sorry, couldn't resist the "Speed Lettering" :ROFLMAO:
     
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  14. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    Once again, the bain of my existence...High Speed! Being an SP modeler I routinely search for Southern Pacific and up to half of the returns can be these Readers Digest freebies that don't have working couplers and really crummy trucks. It is my understanding that whenever someone tries to post anything made by High Speed, they actually get a flag telling them that it was a RD freebie and that they should rethink posting the item. Please, just make them go away!
     
  15. jtomstarr

    jtomstarr TrainBoard Member

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    Bidding has ended on this item.
    The seller has
    relisted this item
    or one like this.


    Tom
     
  16. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    I have one that came with a bunch of other actual stuff. Should I try listing it? Purely in the interests of scholarship, of course. What do you think for an opening bid? Does eBay do fractions of a cent? I know, three quatloos*.

    "100% of the proceeds will go to the Home for Wayward Sellers." :confused:

    *cf. Star Trek, "The Gamesters of Triskelion" - look it up, kids.
     
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  17. tehachapifan

    tehachapifan TrainBoard Member

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    I can't stand these things showing up in all my searches either, along with the stupid "sponsored" listings that mess up my Low to high $$$ search parameters. I wish I could somehow block both.
     
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  18. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    Hey, they're vintage and rare. Start the listing at $50...probably a buy it now.
     
  19. steve64d

    steve64d TrainBoard Member

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    Place a minus sign in front of terms you'd like excluded in your search. IE, type this in the search box:
    "Southern Pacific" -"High Speed" -"Readers Digest"
     
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  20. tehachapifan

    tehachapifan TrainBoard Member

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    Ok, good tip! Does it work with sponsored listings too?:sneaky:
     

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