More ebay lunacy.

[Coach James]

Check out the high bid for these "Bonney Style" wrenches on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300133185147&ssPageName=ADME:L:DBS:US:14

Now check out the exact same set of wrenches on Overstock:

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garde...Wrench-Set/711621/product.html?IID=prod711621

The maker is "Grip" which I don't regard as real high end.

Coach

 

[Charles (in GA)]

The Ebay bidder is nearing retail and still has to pay $10 of shipping. He would have ended up $20 cheaper from Overstock and no hassles either. I bid considering the shipping costs and what the product is worth. If its new, I look real hard elsewhere. I generally consider Ebay a source of obselete, discontinued, and otherwise not available items, and pure bargains.

Charles

 

[Rusty67]

I know exactly what you mean. Ebay is starting to get rediculous. I ALWAYS look into what an item sells for retail and on the web before I go biding on it.

 

[Uncle Buck]

That is insane, I saw the same set at the junk store (HF) today. I was not interested enough to check the price. In fact I think those are HF or knockoffs of HF because they are laid out in the same trey and everything. There are some people who will buy anything!

 

[jimmycrackcorn]

I was outbidded one time for a Snap-on air drill, so i put in my maximum bid then lost the auction. Then i get this email about the auction saying that the owner is now giving me the drill at my maximum bid. So right away i see that he was biding his item up.

 

[eschoendorff]

I was outbidded one time for a Snap-on air drill, so i put in my maximum bid then lost the auction. Then i get this email about the auction saying that the owner is now giving me the drill at my maximum bid. So right away i see that he was biding his item up.

That just ain't right.

 

[mikeweb]

so whats so special about these wrenches?

 

[kythri]

Looks to me like they serve the same purpose as a set of stubbies...

I'd rather have my stubby GearWrenches, personally.

 

[Jbullfrog]

They are pump wrenches. They have a thin profile to get onto fittings and jam nuts on hydraulic lines and fittings. I have a set of Blue-Point that sold for $150 new that I found on E-bay for $30. Martin is the most well known current supplier.

As for E-bay, there are people that will pay more than retail because they don't know of another source. This is a good thing if you have extra tools and equipment to sell. As with any purchase, you have to know the value of what you are trying to buy.

 

[ColdDuckTime]

First post here...

Just to jump in, check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110152024100

I'm confused. The bidder even says what the retail price is, and Snap On *does* have a website.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

First post here...

Just to jump in, check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110152024100

I'm confused. The bidder even says what the retail price is, and Snap On *does* have a website.

All I can say is D U H !!!

Oh, I forgot, WELCOME aboard ColdDuckTime!!! Where are you located?

Charles

 

[kidney]

It's not the prices that get to me anymore, it's the shipping. It seems everyone thinks that putting an item in a box and taking a spin to the post office is worth 10 bucks extra shipping. At the same time, the sellers only do it b/c people are dumb enough to pay for it.

I will admit to licking my wounds once on an auction. It wasn't that I payed too much, I just wasn't paying attention to what I was exactly getting. I have scored some good deals, though. One being an Armstrong 1/2 socket set for 1 dollar. It was everything three extensions, breaker bar, ratchet, sae deep and shallow up to 1 1/4. I have no clue why no one bid on it. Maybe they will explode one of these days. But for 1 dollar I'm sure getting my use out of them.

 

[bmwpower]

It's not the prices that get to me anymore, it's the shipping. It seems everyone thinks that putting an item in a box and taking a spin to the post office is worth 10 bucks extra shipping. At the same time, the sellers only do it b/c people are dumb enough to pay for it.

That's why the new feedback system will come in handy. You can leave the same positive/neg/neutral feedback, but now you are able to leave a rating for how fair the shipping charges were, among other things.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

If you factor in the actual shipping costs, the time consumed to box an item properly, and the materials, tape, etc, gas to the post office or wherever, indeed, it adds up. Ten dollars in many cases is not unreasonable. What is unreasonable is the seller trying to jam something too big or delicate in one of the PO flat rate boxes and it getting destroyed on the way to you, because they didn't pack it right. An acquaintance recently said he collects old radios and had this happen. The smallish radio was forced into a flat rate box by a don't care seller, with no padding (no room for it) and the old radio was destroyed. The seller had low balled the shipping to help the item sell and could care less if you got it in one piece or not.

I have several items I would like to sell on Ebay, but have put it off due to the packing and shipping issues. One is a Chevy V8 aluminum intake manifold by Weiand for a spread bore 4 bbl. Not heavy, but have to find a appropriate size box and get it packed. Probably gonna take alot of my time for what I am going to get for the manifold, might get more for it scrap metal!!!!!!!

Charles

 

[philw]

Charles,
Check out craigslist.com
They charge no fees and it's free to list. I was able to sell a large woodworking lathe this way.

 

[dxdexter]

When I purchase items on Ebay I expect to pay for the postage and packaging materials, but not for the time it takes to package it. Where do you draw the line at how long it takes and at what $/hr the seller should charge.

Most sellers on Ebay charge more than places like Amazon or Columbia House.

If you actually timed it , most of us would see that it takes 5 or 10 minutes to prepare a package or letter-mail ,where tools are concerned ,and will would drop it off at the post office on our way by.

Shipping overcharging has become a secondary industry for sellers to avoid Ebay fees and make money off their ridiculously low "loss leading" starting prices.

 

[chad s]

I used to sell on ebay as a side business. Everything I sold, I made a profit on. A good prfit at that. I didnt buy anything (to resell on ebay) if I couldnt make at least $100 off of it, and in most cases, I wanted to double my money.

Based on the above philosophy, I NEVER made a penny on shipping, and I proudly advertised that in my auctions. I did in some cases, for larger items, buy new boxes and special packing materials, and I plainly stated that those materials would be charged to the bidder, but as for my time in packing, packing tape, crumpled newspaper, re-used packing filler, re-used shipping boxes, collecting those packing materials, etc, I never charged for that, it was all just part of the cost of doing business.

I made my money on the profit on the item I was selling, not hidden shipping fee's.

I get kinda pissed when I pay good money for an ebay item, and the seller feels the need to jack up the shipping to add even further profit margin.

A store charges the going rate for item "X" in his area. They dont add on an additional fee when you go to the register, to pay the cashier, do they? The cashier's wages are built into the price of the item, just like the labor to pack an item should be assumed as part of the ebay items selling price.

 

[Hammy]

I spend alot of time looking at e-bay stuff...it baffles the mind that some people will keep bidding even when the price is higher than it would be to go out and buy it at the store..

 

[chad s]

Look up the Snap On Thread Restoring kit on ebay. Used ones regularly sell for more than they retail from Snap On. (yea, you can buy the exact same kit at sears for almost half snap ons price).

 

[bmwpower]

I spend alot of time looking at e-bay stuff...it baffles the mind that some people will keep bidding even when the price is higher than it would be to go out and buy it at the store..

The only thing I can think of here is that is costs money & time to get up and go to the store, so it might be cheaper to just buy online. I dunno....

 

[jimmycrackcorn]

I did have great transactions on Ebay tho, i picked up a whole set of 3/8" chrome swivels for 70 bucks, it was a lady just trying ebay for the first time. I told her to end the auction early. That set off the truck is $600.

 

[PAToyota]

I think that some people get caught up in the frenzy of buying - almost like an addiction. I know one woman that spends entirely too much money on things she likely doesn't even know what they are - computer stuff and all sorts of crazy things - just for the "thrill" the buying gives her...

Others likely don't do their research or even realize that it is available elsewhere.

And I think quite a few don't figure in the final shipping charges they end up paying - I always figure out my maximum price, deduct any shipping charges, and bid up to that number...

 

[chad s]

I did have great transactions on Ebay tho, i picked up a whole set of 3/8" chrome swivels for 70 bucks, it was a lady just trying ebay for the first time. I told her to end the auction early. That set off the truck is $600.

So basicly your saying you took advantage of her?

 

[jimmycrackcorn]

I made her a offer and she agreed to the price i gave her, strickly business, she could have easly said no. There where no bids and she probably didn't know what she had, cause she did without question.

So yeah i probably did.......

 

[-lecroix-]

Yeah, you did.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Charles,
Check out craigslist.com
They charge no fees and it's free to list. I was able to sell a large woodworking lathe this way.

I sold a SCAG mower on Craiglist. I had bought it just to fix up and resell. It had a 72 inch deck, a big disadvantage. I spend almost as much on it in parts as I paid for it. Ended up making a decent profit, paid for my time to fix it up. Of course I let it sit for a year before I bothered to sell it, dreaded the hassle of the sale. I figure the manifold is an easy ship item and I get a bigger audience on Ebay, so I'll try that.

The one that kills me is the sellers who just don't know what they have and won't take the time to find out. I used to ocassionally email such sellers giving them info on the item if I really knew something about it. (airplane parts for instance) but I no longer bother. Most things, a couple of minutes with Google will tell them, they just don't care, could be worth a million bucks and the last one on the face of the Earth, they are just too lazy to bother. My brother collects military medals, he has found some real bargains due to dumb sellers.

Charles

 

[chad s]

I made her a offer and she agreed to the price i gave her, strickly business, she could have easly said no. There where no bids and she probably didn't know what she had, cause she did without question.

So yeah i probably did.......

Winning the bid at the end of the auction for a low price (for one of many reasons why that happens) is honest, its the way the gavel falls (literaly), but requesting an unexperienced ebay seller to end an auction so you can seriousely low ball her, so she is at an obviouse loss (that she doesnt know of yet), thats really dishonest. I was taught from a very early age that honesty and integrity is is the most important thing you can have in this world, its a shame you did learn the same.

 

[jimmycrackcorn]

I never lied to this women and nor, did i con her in anyway. You don't know the full story, mabe she stole the socket set. You think every item on ebay is obtain in an honest way. You may say im adding to the bullshyt in this world, but i feel i did no wrong, i feel that i would be more dishonest if i resold it on ebay, to turn a profit.

 

[Uncle Buck]

You guys are not going to resolve this because you have different opinions of what the Golden Rule actually means!