Is ebay about to end selling vintage and unique items?

[LizzieMaine]

I tend to think of eBay as the Sears and Roebuck of used goods -- good for when you need some random piece of something you're trying to fix: my kitchen stove enjoys its replacement thermostat very much thank you -- but as Nobert says, there's not much soul to it.

Occasionally, though, you'll run into a vendor who makes a point of trying to put a personal touch on things. That record seller with the drawer full of random postage stamps is one. Another is a person I've dealt with several times who sells parts for old RCA broadcast microphones. Every time I order they enclose some little RCA-logoed throw-in -- a coffee mug, a mouse pad, etc. Very nifty and very nice gesture for a vendor who deals in a highly-specialized product line, and thus doesn't likely get a lot of volume business.

A jarring realization came to mind when I noticed I've been on eBay for twenty-two years now. I work with people who aren't that old.

As for real-world places worth going, for me it's the Chicken Barn in Ellsworth, which, a decade and a half before eBay ever sold its first broken Pez dispenser, was my primary source for printed matter of the Era. Browsing's not as much fun as it used to be because most of the stock goes to eBay these days, and because my deteriorating eyes just aren't up to browsing in bookstores anymore, but I still make a point of going up there at least once a year just for old' times' sake.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Another eBay annoyance that comes to mind. Lately they've ridiculously broadened their search results to include I guess what you call "fuzzy results" -- hits on terms that are alternate meanings for terms that you actually search.

I often search for radio-oriented material by year, and because I don't want to type a long list of things like "broadcast script catalog directory contract transcription" etc, I usually just search something like "radio 1936," and figure I'll get a good cross-section of all the stuff I look for.

Which was all well and good until sometime around the middle of last year, when suddenly the results for "radio 1936" came back heavily populated by brassieres. Now, I'm the first to admit that my underwear drawer is shopworn and tattered, and I could probably stand to expand the stock, but not while I'm looking for radio materials. I couldn't figure out why I was getting all these bra hits, until it dawned on me that radio is a synonym for "wireless," and all the bras that were showing up were non-underwire models. And 1936 equals 36, which is a common bra size. Searches for "radio 1934," "radio 1938" and "radio 1940" produce similar results. So now I have to search "radio 1936 -bra" if I don't want to combine lingerie with broadcasting.

There are probably other such weird juxtapositions, but I'd rather not know.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I have realized that "something" changed but could not figure out what it was...

I'm probably going back farther than you were meaning, but evilBay became a cess pool when Meg Whitman resigned her position as CEO in 2007 and stopped being an advisor in late-2008. It was never perfect, but it was far better when she was at the helm; they did what they could to make it a place for honest people to get together and work out their various deals. As soon as she left, the morons she left behind began changing rules in favor of the buyers and making it nearly impossible for the sellers to break even, let alone turn a profit.

 

[Old Mariner]

I'm probably going back farther than you were meaning, but evilBay became a cess pool when Meg Whitman resigned her position as CEO in 2007 and stopped being an advisor in late-2008. It was never perfect, but it was far better when she was at the helm; they did what they could to make it a place for honest people to get together and work out their various deals. As soon as she left, the morons she left behind began changing rules in favor of the buyers and making it nearly impossible for the sellers to break even, let alone turn a profit.

I really can't pinpoint the exact time, since I had a lot going on, but the nonsense does seem to have come after the period you mention. Before that time and up to it, I did pretty alright.

EBay had a book site as well (I can't remember the name, but you sold used books through it). After my friend passed away in 2012, I wound up with essentially all of her WWII stuff. I tried to list her books in that site, but it was like - no sooner than I got them listed, someone kept pulling them for ridiculous arbitrary reasons. It got to the point where I just got so fed up that I took down what few listings that were left alone, and just donated the lot to the local Salvation Army.

 

[Edward]

Another eBay annoyance that comes to mind. Lately they've ridiculously broadened their search results to include I guess what you call "fuzzy results" -- hits on terms that are alternate meanings for terms that you actually search.

I often search for radio-oriented material by year, and because I don't want to type a long list of things like "broadcast script catalog directory contract transcription" etc, I usually just search something like "radio 1936," and figure I'll get a good cross-section of all the stuff I look for.

Which was all well and good until sometime around the middle of last year, when suddenly the results for "radio 1936" came back heavily populated by brassieres. Now, I'm the first to admit that my underwear drawer is shopworn and tattered, and I could probably stand to expand the stock, but not while I'm looking for radio materials. I couldn't figure out why I was getting all these bra hits, until it dawned on me that radio is a synonym for "wireless," and all the bras that were showing up were non-underwire models. And 1936 equals 36, which is a common bra size. Searches for "radio 1934," "radio 1938" and "radio 1940" produce similar results. So now I have to search "radio 1936 -bra" if I don't want to combine lingerie with broadcasting.

There are probably other such weird juxtapositions, but I'd rather not know.

Does the Boolean '-x' work? I've tried it before, but it only seems to guarantee I get more of what I was trying to drop.

I'm probably going back farther than you were meaning, but evilBay became a cess pool when Meg Whitman resigned her position as CEO in 2007 and stopped being an advisor in late-2008. It was never perfect, but it was far better when she was at the helm; they did what they could to make it a place for honest people to get together and work out their various deals. As soon as she left, the morons she left behind began changing rules in favor of the buyers and making it nearly impossible for the sellers to break even, let alone turn a profit.

I felt a lot of changes were certainly necessary to better protect the buyer, but I certainly agree they went too far. I know at one time they wouldn't let a seller charge postage on a DVD, which, given the market value for most used DVDs is now barely £2, cut the point in selling. Esecially when they reduced to cost to advertise to almost nothing, but introduced a signifiant gouge to the final profit. eBay isstill useful to me as a buyer, though mosatly now I buy new things rather than used, and I don't browse the way I used to. I don't fidn it as useful aseither seller or buyer than I once did, though undoubtedly I will still sell some things on it and suck up their gouge as there appear to be few alternatives.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I felt a lot of changes were certainly necessary to better protect the buyer, but I certainly agree they went too far...

Oh, definitely. According to their records I signed up with eBay in June of 2001, which was a few years after Meg Whitman became CEO. At that time they were still trying to work some "bugs" out of the system, attempting to find that balance where sellers and buyers have reasonably equal control over their transactions. Reviewing the e-mails they sent to us members detailing the updates to their "terms of service" and such, it seemed to me they were sincere in their efforts to make eBay a "safe" place to conduct business. Then, almost overnight, the tone of those e-mails changed and their "new policy changes" were suddenly putting the majority of the "power" in the hands of the buyers. I've never sold anything on/through eBay, but I could see the mistakes they were making and, sure enough, almost immediately I began reading complaints on forums like this from people who were sellers on eBay and were losing money because of their new policies. It was pretty obvious to me that they were trying (and failing) to operate by committee instead of having someone with a clear vision overseeing things.

...eBay is still useful to me as a buyer, though mosatly now I buy new things rather than used, and I don't browse the way I used to. I don't fidn it as useful aseither seller or buyer than I once did...

I've also stepped back from eBay and don't "shop" there nearly as much as I once did. For a while it didn't matter what you were interested in purchasing--eBay was almost always going to be the least expensive option (in my experience, anyway). But the post-Whitman era has been problematic, and in recent years it seems other "sales" websites, including Amazon, have lowered at least some of their prices in an effort to be more competitive. So, yeah, if you're a "frugal" buyer like me eBay's usefulness isn't what it once was.

 

[Edward]

Actually, the thing I've used eBay for most in the last few years has been buying Chinese fountain pens and ink. I certainly remember the first time I found things cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere than on eBasy, and it being a shock.... ever since, I've always checked first.

To my mind, the mistake they made was always with the feedback system. The seller at a time could hold the buyer to ransom, with negative feedback as an automatic strike back for the same, and no realchance to challenge it. All they did was flip that. I always felt that the better way of doing it would be for each to fill in feedback in a double blind system where you only got to see what the other person has given you once you've committed and given your feedback on them. Course, I'm sure that could also be worked...

I think eBay are starting to hurt from competition, at least if their increasing advertising in the UK is anything to go by. I'd like to try something else, but I don't know... there seems little else that has the same reach for the sort of things I want to sell (though as a buyer, Etsy is increasingly a better shot for me), but I'm tempted to try Shpock. The main thing I want is a chance to be sure I'll get the money ok. Something that focusses more local might be best, as I have a lot to sell which I cannot either post or deliver, with not running a car.