"Alternatives to Ebay?" Topic

Back a few years ago, individual gamers (as opposed to dealers and painting services) seemed to use Ebay a lot when they wanted to sell their excess stuff. I picked up some very nice small armies, individual units and terrain pieces there. But for the last couple of years, there doesn't seem to be very much of that sort of thing available. Does anyone have any insights on the reasons for this change, and also could they please tell me if there is somewhere else that miniatures gamers now go instead?

Facebook has a couple of groups for selling miniatures and games. I'm only on the wargame sales one and it only has the occasional items, not on the other ones so can't comment.

As for why – seems like that last policy/listing change from roughly a year ago really did chase off the individual sellers.

I did find some Mini Fig 2 Prussian Napoleoic war figures recently. Thing was I never did it before so got a EBAY gift card but it wouldn't take it (user not accepting?) But so now still have a gift card to use.

Still quite a lot on Ebay here in UK, with the occasional bargain. I think increased postal charges and the levying of commission on posting costs have made selling small lots uneconomic. A 28 mm mounted figure exceeds the 25 mm thickness for a "small parcel", so it costs a minimum of £2.95 GBP to post it. Add Ebay's 10% levy and a few pence for cost of packing materials and I need to charge £3.50 GBP just to cover my costs. As PayPal will not cover sellers unless they use tracked service, you have to add another £1.05 GBP to that. A few years ago I could post the same item for £1.00 GBP or so. Buyers will probably do what I do, work out total cost, set a limit on what they are prepared to pay and so bid less.
As for other options, I have sold a few bits to fellow club members and in Bring and Buys at shows, but have not tried any of the other options.

Try Bartertown for miniatures & wargaming:

bartertown.com/trading

Try Geekmarket for boardgames:

boardgamegeek.com/geekmarket

What SBminisguy said. There's also the TMP Marketplace, of course. The Facebook group I know of is Wargamer's Marketplace, it's mainly boardgames but miniatures are sometimes listed. If there's another venue, I'd like to know about it, I'll trade there too.

None of these markets support auctions, but I think that's an over-rated form of selling. Set your price, see if you can get it. If your lot doesn't sell, keep it or lower your price. Works for me. A lot.

Donate to a charity (check laws for deduct ability, etc.,)

Or just give it away, which is my new practice.

I gave up on EBay.

For the past few years E-bay has been trying to get rid of individual sellers in favor of corporate sellers. So they keep making it harder and more expensive…

Lead Adventure Forum has a seller/buyer section Bazaar of Obscurities.

link

I haven't run into the issues with EBay policy changes, but then again, I don't sell a lot through there.

There are many reasons for why an economic exchange changes nature. For EBay, one of the prime drivers of change (as it often is) is success.

Simply put, the broader a customer base an exchange has, the more likely there is someone out there who is willing to pay more than the current market "top price". That tends to drive prices up.

Usually, as with responses in complex systems, the price tops out "unnaturally" high. That is, the price will be driven up to where only a few will pay that, then that market will saturate (all the people willing to pay top dollar will already have one or no longer want one). This also compounds the trend toward "artificially" high prices.

The majority seller response to the "price shelf" is to hold out and decrease price very slowly. The situation of long hold of inventory and reticence to drop price creates an environment that is more amenable to large retailers that individual sellers.

Basically, it is the very nature of a small, independent retail exchange to drive itself out of that business and into another.

@etothepi
Excellent recap of market dynamics!

Facebook groups are the way to go these days. I was reluctant to sign up to Facebook until this time last year, all the usual reasons for this applied. Now I'm there though I kick myself for not having done it earlier.

I've sold plenty of stuff and bought plenty of stuff myself through the various selling groups with no problems, all those transactions have involved PayPal and they have taken there little cut. Otherwise no commissions were paid.
I have also had some success with "Wanted to Buy" listing as well.

Got anything in 25-30mm 18th century? 1:1200 ships? Contact me at sigurd@eclipse.net. I might be interested.