Dumb eBay changes - yet again !

Is it just me,or has eBay become (in the last week or so)almost totally un-navigatable,as far as us modellers are concerned? Whereas
before we could just bring up a sub category like Tools,Supplies,
Engines or Gas Powered R/C,type in "Engines" and get a neat list of the currently available engines,now we get a complete mish-mash of glow plug aircraft,as well as R/C car motors and all sorts of other junk which we have to sift through. Up until a fortnight ago,I had on my "Favorites" about 4 separate Engines categories which now don't work. They have deleted the option of searching for a particular item in any one sub category,and you now have to basically foot slog through every single category,typing in "Diesel" or whatever to find an item. I'm glad I'm not trying to currently sell something,as I doubt anybody could find it! BOB

Forgot to mention - this is only on eBay US,not UK,Australia,Germany
or anywhere else. BOB

>Forgot to mention - this is only on eBay US,not
>UK,Australia,Germany
>or anywhere else. BOB


It is not just on Ebay US that dissention is apparent ....... my Daughter who has been an avid Ebay seller on Ebay Ca for many years has stopped using Ebay for selling purposes citing their recent sweeping changes and higher cost of shipping as the reasons ....... it would be interesting to see statistically what these changes have done to Ebay's business worldwide...................

I dont use it that often so for me a not so pro it is even harder to find anything.

Why mess with a good thing?

If you "hover" over Categories on the upper left, you can choose Toys & Hobbies. From there choose "Radio Control & Control Line", or there's even a sub-category called "Control Line & Freeflight". After that you can search through just that category.

As a buyer I'm happy to see the feedback rating changes that ebay has made. Sellers are now unable to leave negative feedback for buyers. Before this I never felt I could leave negative feedback for a seller for fear of receiving a negative feedback myself in retaliation. I'm sure there are many sellers with artificaially high positive feedback scores because of this.

Jim

Jim: As an ebay seller with well over 3000 transactions and a 100% feedback rating, I disagree with you.

I have received a couple of negatives over the years, but my response was to work this out with the customer, and thereby get the rating changed. This was successful each time. I did not simply hit the buyer with a negative as an emotional reaction, as you fear would happen.

Power has shifted a bit too far in favor of the buyer, I think.

And I can assure you that my rating is not artificial.

Currell

I never said all sellers have artificially high feedback ratings, but I belive my point is exactly why ebay made the change. I recently bought an engine from someone who took a very long time to ship, had poor communication, and also gave an inaccurate description of the engine. For MY purposes the engine was fine, but it wasn't in "brand new" condition like the seller said. In that situation I feel a duty to other buyers to leave a feedback that says be careful of this seller. Unfortunately, as someone with less than 20 purchases and who wants to start selling, I didn't feel I could risk being honest for fear of getting a negative feedback in return. Most (I said MOST) of the sellers I've dealt with hold the buyer hostage by requiring them to leave a positive feedback first before they will leave a feedback in return.

Having said all that, I don't disagree that this change could create problems in the opposite direction.

Jim

It is more difficult to search now than before. Some of the searchs and categories I had saved no longer work so I am constantly looking around to find items. They do bunch items that do not belong in that category and leave no option to get clearer as to the type item searching for. I have items to sell and am reluctant to try to sell them after all the problems I have read about and the power given the buyer. The only negative feedback I ever received was from sellers that put negative feedback on me after I did it to them for good reason. One advertised an engine as complete and it was not. Found he had a history of ripping off buyers.

Thank goodness I haven't sorted it since the last foul up. Decided to wait until I've binned the Vista which came on our new computer and got the ole reliable XP (I understand). I'd hate to have to sort it twice!!!
The story of our NEW Dell computer is another story, a disgrace in fact. Thank goodness the guarantee runs out in a few days and I can try and sort it without invalidating the guarantee, which has proved worthles so far anyway.

The other changes to feedback is they only count your last year in your percent rating. So if you have negatives over a year old they won't count against you. Also my number went up by over 100 last month but my overall sales (over 3000) went down to 1900. I wrote them and they said I lost all feedback from people that are suspended but they counted all the repeat customers. So if you sell to the same person it will now increase your number as long as there is more than a week between sales.
I do agree with the No negative policy for sellers. So many used it to ding buyers who leave a valid negative. I've only recieved one negative in my almost ten years on the bay and that was from some dufus that bought a cool 1950's place mat ( hunter theme). He got it and thought it should have been framed! And he only paid 2.00 for it. I always leave feedback for buyers when they paid. They did what they were supost to. There is some neat stuff out there for sure!


Have fun, Bruce H

well I had a problem too with a Supertigre engine I bought.I was advertised as mounted and lightly run but when I received it and inspected the engine it showed play at the conrod bushing for the crankpin.The engine had a pressure fitting on the backplate. I don`t know of anybody placing a pressure fitting to run it lightly. I don`t know how I missded because I look at the pictures real good. I tried to get a refund but was unable to. I posted a negative feedback and he cameback with a reply that I was trying to force a price reduction. I always inpect the engines I get from ebay I have experience with engines and know where to look. I will never again beleive the "lightly run" BS.

Juan

I really don't know how you people have bought anything worthwhile on e-bay. I've found that the professional buyers/sellers have the technique down to a science by stomping your bid during the last 2-5 seconds. I'm convinced they have some sort of computer program that knows exactly when to place that last bid and stomping out all other bidders.

I've bid on dozens of hobby stuff on e-bay, and haven't won a thing!

I give up!

Floyd in OR

I am by no means a "proffessional" seller or buyer but have had no problem selling or buying. When I bid on something I bid what I am willing to pay and no more than that. If it wins, cool. If not then I probably didn't really need it.

It is possible to get a good deal on ebay, but you have to be patient. In the past couple of months I've purchased two Cox Babe Bee engines for about $6 each and I scored a Norvel Big Mig .061 C/L NIB for $28. I usually don't bid on anything until the last 5 seconds to avoid the sniping as much as possible. I'll have to admit the engine deals are getting tougher to find now that flying season is here though.

Jim

>I really don't know how you people have bought anything
>worthwhile on e-bay. I've found that the professional
>buyers/sellers have the technique down to a science by
>stomping your bid during the last 2-5 seconds. I'm convinced
>they have some sort of computer program that knows exactly
>when to place that last bid and stomping out all other
>bidders.
>
>I've bid on dozens of hobby stuff on e-bay, and haven't won a
>thing!
>
>I give up!
>
>Floyd in OR

Floyd,

There are "Sniper" programs available the some folks use, but if there's something I want, I time my bids. The action happens in the last 15 seconds regardless of the length. There are only a few bargains there, but I have made a number of very good buys and sells there.

Randy Ryan <>
AMA 8500
SAM 36
BO all my own M's

>I really don't know how you people have bought anything
>worthwhile on e-bay. I've found that the professional
>buyers/sellers have the technique down to a science by
>stomping your bid during the last 2-5 seconds. I'm convinced
>they have some sort of computer program that knows exactly
>when to place that last bid and stomping out all other
>bidders.
>
>I've bid on dozens of hobby stuff on e-bay, and haven't won a
>thing!
>
>I give up!
>
>Floyd in OR


The best thing to do is decide how much you are willing to pay for an item then bid that ammount now. Do not wait until the last 10 seconds of the auction to bid. If your willing to pay $25.00 for a used McCoy 35 engine then bid $25 now. If other people wait until the last 10 seconds to bid and run the price up to $40.00 it is better they paid too much than you. If you really think the engine is worth $40 then you should bid $40 on your first bid not $25.
If you loose an auction it does not always mean your bid was stomped, if you bid what you think the item is really worth and got out bid then it means you did not get cheated. If your trying to get a bargin and bit only $15.00 don't cry about it if you loose.

If other people want to use snip programs that automatically bid the last 10 seconds of the auction that is fine with me. If other people want to waste their life away setting at the computer counting the minutes and seconds waiting until the last 10 seconds to bid that is fine with me too. I bid what I am willing to pay on my very first bid. If the other guy wins I figure he paid too much. I'm glad it wasn't me that paid too much.




http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2007/03/bikerecord_0330

OR.... what you could do is forget ebay and go to
Breeze Pay.
http://www.breezpay.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.pl



Paul Taylor

~I wish I knew everything you have forgotten about C/L.

Check out my Blog@
http://rootbeard.rcuniverse.com
A link to a slide show of a fun day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-_sR0ZydSQ

All the current changes are a great example of how fix something that works really really well and make it run just ok.
I can't believe that someone won't look at unfair trading with the insistence on using just PayPal. Surely there is a monopoly thing going on here?
It's still the best way to buy and sell, but only just!
I've been registered there for over 8 years and I liked it a whole lot better in the earlier days. eBay have gotten way too involved and greedy in my opinion and the whole thing is a license to print money. All they are doing now is scaring people off! crazy.
Ah well. I need another engine like a need a hole in the head!
I think it's time to stop buying but the Aussie dollar is so strong at the moment!
Cheers John

I buy way too many nice things on eBay. But you do have to be patient. The basic rule is, very few things are so rare that you will never see another one for sale. And if this one goes for a high price, that will bring others out of the woodwork for sale so you can buy cheaper.

And if you really want something, you do need to bid in the last minute. Otherwise someone will just run the bid up to run the bid up. The good news, at the higher price, it again brings out more of that item for sale.

I filled out my selection of lenses for photography and equipped a darkroom, mainly with eBay.

WRT C/L I have bought several engines and a couple of kits. OTOH I recently saw a Sig Akromaster go for about $50, when you can buy them from Sig for $23.99. So you have to know what things are worth.

>And if you really want something, you do need to bid in the
>last minute. Otherwise someone will just run the bid up to
>run the bid up.


I disagree with that. When I see something I am determined to buy I bid high to win. There was a model airplane kit that I wanted and I knew it would go for about $75.00 because I had been watching 3 other kits just like it had sold for $70 to $75 in the past 2 weeks so I figured this kit would sell in the same price range. I was determined to win so I bid $500.00. A few days later it sold for $76.00. The bid price was about $40 when I placed my $500 bid. You are right other people did bid an ran the price up but I didn't care I know the price range it would probably sell at.

I always big with 2 seconds to go. I win most times. I do not use any program to bid. I do it myself.

I dont know if its new or not but if you are searching for something not listed or you want to see more of an item, they will email you every time what you ask for gets listed. I think ebay does it for 30 days. I just tried it with something I wanted but never see listed and darn if it didnt work. I'll be bidding in 4 days 3 hours and of course right down till 10 seconds left!


Have fun, Bruce H

E Bay is comming out with an 800 number for people to use to solve problems. It is apparently for 100% positive users. June 16th.

>I always big with 2 seconds to go. I win most times. I do not
>use any program to bid. I do it myself.


Yikes! ......... you must a Teragig of bandwidth ........ a chap with a dialup connect is not going to have much chance against you! .......

Floyd,

Try www.esnipe.com

Henry

If I see something that interests me, I put in a bid for what it is worth to me. I make my own decisions. If someone thinks the item is worth more than it is worth to me, that is their problem, not mine. Actually, I have too much stuff anyway, and people who outbid me are doing me a favor

I am with Dick Byron... 2 seconds and SNIPE! Don't need a program for that, just a little patience.

You guys who wait ten seconds are about 8 seconds away from getting the winning bid

A a buyer it's just part of gettin' 'er done... as a seller I kinda count on snipers to pump up the bids in the last seconds.

It's not the snipers that get me. It's the ones that think your making money on shipping/handling charges. Also the people that have more maney than brains. It was interesting to see someone bid more on an item than you could get it for brand new from a dealer. Yes, I said was as I have a new auction site that is strictly/mainly for control line/model airplanes. Later,
DOC Holliday

Well, come on, Doc........let us in on your new auction site...TDurrill

I haven't used eBay in over a year. The last experience was quite negative and it doesn't seem worth the bother to me.

>>got the ole reliable XP <<

Reliable? Wow.

>It's not the snipers that get me. It's the ones that think
>your making money on shipping/handling charges. Also the
>people that have more maney than brains. It was interesting
>to see someone bid more on an item than you could get it for
>brand new from a dealer. Yes, I said was as I have a new
>auction site that is strictly/mainly for control line/model
>airplanes. Later,
>DOC Holliday
I believe that Doc is referring to the auction site on Stunt Hangar that Sparkey is running, "Breezpay". However with the motorcycle and other related items that are being auctioned it is not exactly strictly control line.

It is interesting how sometimes an Ebay auction goes a whole 7 days and no one seems to notice the item for sale and there are no bids. I won an auction and I was the only bidder. I paid for the auction, the postage cost me more than the item I bought. The package arrived today and the item is brand new. Brand New still in the original factory sealed box. Thats totally awesome. One thing bad about an item like this, it is hard to enjoy having fun with an item that feels like it was stolen. I know some collector would have a heart attach if he knew I was going to rip open the box and use the item and have fun with it until it wares out.

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2007/03/bikerecord_0330