"ebay" Topic

Perhaps it's just me but does it seem that ebay auctions, for miniatures and related items, has taken a hit since the end of the year?

By that I mean the number of items placed up for auction seems to have decreased significantly

I think this is normal for this time of year.

Yep its the norm over Christams season

Not that there is that much worth buying on ebay these days anyway. Too many dealers flogging stuff at close to list and not enough real sellers. I am trying to give ebay a miss in '09 and only buy direct.

I've noticed the same thing. The golden time for e-bay and miniatures, especially painted miniatures, seems to start around Thanksgiving and ends around Christmas time. That's what I've noticed anyway.

I think in the past two or so years overall there has been a drop. I use to buy all the time on ebay and have several searches I use but now I don't see much I like or want.
VR
James Mattes

I've found a lot of stuff that I need (too much stuff, really) on eBay lately at very decent prices. Most of what I've been looking for is in-production stuff from GW, and that always seems to be listed.

I've been getting the best deals from a group of sellers who sell the GW stuff complete, but without boxes. So you get everything that comes in the box mailed to you in a padded envelope with free shipping. Most of the auctions recycle every two days, so if the price on the thing you want goes over what you wish to pay, you can try again in a couple of days. It's worked out well for me so far. I got a killer deal on a Baneblade last week. I've also had some good luck buying from the UK, as the exchange rate is decent right now and there seems to be less competition for the overseas stuff.

People have cleaned their closets and attics. The early and golden days are over. Although, you can still get some good deals, in my view.

UK ebay has seen an increase, IMHO. Last couple of years the total auctions has dropped a lot, this year it seemed higher, although i reckon this is due to people listing individual figures instead of batches

Look for larger lotts if you have the money and buy that way (few and far between though), smaller lotts in most cases are padded with HUGE shipping prices.

I saw some Essex minis on their yesterday and the guy had 8 models for $8.00 USD starting bid with $5.00 USD for shipping (8 Models!!) and if you bought more of his 8 figure groups he added more shipping so you end up paying somthing like $12.00 USD for 24 28mm minis – good grief!

Wargames is having a sale so in this case it is cheaper to buy direct, and I have seen a lot of this lately, because companies are discounting also.

"FEEBAY" I do believe has seen its golden days pass, I have not seen many good deals on their lately also but they have new rules that make it tough for all concerning.

I actually like looking on here for items to purchase and believe that more of us are turning to other methods for our online buying.

well they need to make a decision this year about where they are going or the site will not be able to hold onto its strangle hold on the market much longer.

Everything connected with ebay is down and has been since this time last year when the changes were announced…

I use to sell allot on ebay, but with the downturn in the economy and all the dang rules with ebay anymore, i just quit selling painted figures there anymore, too much time and effort for so few dollars, I was taking losses after postage, Paypal & Ebay's fees, i just gave up. I tried the minitatures market but never had one sale, that site is just a waste of time.

I keep thinking about using ebay – as much as anything to bring Garrison to a wider audience – but the current rules and apparent costs involved have really put me off.

I also agree that selling and buying on Ebay has slowed down. In my own buying, I am looking for a better deal. And the stuff I have sold in the past month or two, few bidders, few lookers. My golden time was 3 to 5 years ago. Lots of lookers and numerous bidders. I think between the changes at Ebay and the economy it doing a number to folks out there.

Listing fees and changes in payment terms (favoring Paypal) and limiting negative feedback have driven some buyers and sellers from Ebay in the past year, even before you factor in the current state of the economy. I still buy on a limited basis and focus on specific unpainted figures. You can still get a wide variety of Foundry, Artizan and Copplestone figures at good prices. As for sales, I cleaned out part of my gaming club's unpainted leftovers in 2008, but the listing fees did add up. The figures that remain unsold at upcoming convention flea markets will go back on Ebay. There are still some deals out there, you just have to look.

I can remember seeing over 100 to 160k items listed in the miniature wargames category, now it seems lukcy to average around 20k.

they (eBay) will probably raise their prices to regain money lost to less postings which will just drive down their posting count more in the long run.

Now, as a seller, postage never hurt me for that amount was passed on to my customer. eBay & PayPals fees still seem modest to me IMHO in comparison to the cost involved in maintaining an online merchant account, especially when you consider the amount of traffic generated.

I tried the wargame specific auction house that used to advertise here but was sold to someone else, might be called miniatures market now but I don't know for sure, anyway I tried to sell there and had no success at all.

It seems to me the best traffic avenue for small wargames sellers is right here on TMP, especially with the advent of the good trader status.

For vendors it still seems to me that eBay is your best choice, look at some of the more successful stores there, for example Rebel Minis (bigsnowtradingco on eBay) is a powerseller there, simple truth is he wouldn't do it if it didn't generate cash for him.

The only problem with selling to members of TMP or Bartertown is there are some who are not part of the wargaming community, and are there to steal. I was ripped off for around 60.00 on Bartertown a couple of years ago (yeah the price for the Mechs was too good to be true). You get a little more protection from Ebay. But I have had good trades on TMP and Bartertown, so I can't say I wouldn't ever use them.

I think the problem with Ebay is their listing fees. I've heard from a few people that Ebay's too cost prohibitive for most people to make some money.

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