Do your homework when using eBay

Lynn · 08-06-04, 10:57 AM

It has been my experience that items selling on eBay very often sell for MORE than the retail price of the item. I am sure we could come up with a whole host of reasons why this happens, but thousands of books have been written on psychology, sociology and social psychology.

Here is a great example. I was following a VHS tape on eBay entitled "Ford Legends." It covers GT40s, Cobras and Shelby Mustangs; cool, right? Well, once it went over $10, I was no longer interested. When I went on eBay this morning, the auction had ended and the video had sold for $36.

I then went to Goggle and typed in Video VHS "Ford Legends."
A list of URLs popped up with Amazon.com at the top. I went there and purchased "Ford Legends" for $4.88.

Caveat Emptor!! Do your homework and KNOW what the value of the item really is before you start bidding. Otherwise, you could end up making a huge mistake and pay way too much. Oh yeah, and always check the shipping costs: a lot of sellars make their profit in shipping charges.

Lynn

Simon · 08-13-04, 05:29 AM

Lynn,

I'll go along with that. Last year I sold a set of soft luggage to fit a Honda ST1100 after I sold the bike.
I only paid £36 direct from a Honda dealer a month or so before, yet the auction went to nearly £60 + £8 p&p !
These were not rare or discontinued (they're still available from Honda now) yet it seems people must presume it's a bargain.
I say bring back the old days when you could go and talk a price DOWN !
Simon
(gotta get me some more of those bags though....)

Lee · 08-13-04, 10:29 AM

Absolutely!
I've been looking for an MSD Digital 6. $275 from Summit.
2nd hand ones on ebay go for about 230-250 plus post. Why? I don't understand why you would want a secondhand one for only 10-15% off. There is even a 'Buy it Now' currently for $300. Incredible!

Lynn · 08-14-04, 08:28 PM

I watch 3 mustang/ford forums that seem to have a little more "sane" pricing on the stuff. You have to be careful because there are a lot of shade tree mechanics on these forums who's idea of "good shape" is a far cry from mine. They also have no clue about what the term blue printing is either and if it says it is for a SBF they slap it together and hope. So if you get heads or anything that needs a flat, non-warped surface, I would highly recommend taking them to a reputable machine shop and have them given the once over and assume nothing.

The forums I watch are:

StangNet
NMRA Classifieds
Corral.Net Classifieds

Lynn