The Final Straw Of An eBay Seller

After three years of service, I am sad to say that my eBay store is finally going to close.

I have endured policy changes that seemed designed to destroy the very product that I sold, sports cards. Every year there would come a new restriction that further hindered my business plan. My sales dwindled. Sometimes the store was just operating to sustain itself and nothing of a profit was seen.

First, the geniuses at ebay took away store items for under a dollar. My business was made by adding commons to a few higher purchased items. It was usually between 5 and 50 cents, but I added the allure of combined shipping and cards flew out the door. These initial changes were something that I almost did not recover from.

Then, optional insurance was taken away. You were supposed to increase your already high prices or increase the shipping to include things like insurance. Either you offered it or you didn't. Choice was taken away. Already overpriced commons priced at one dollar, with a low shipping price of $1.75 and the allure of combined shipping, sat there even longer.

What made me stay? Well, eBay lowered the insertion fees, which helped my bottom line a little more. I was able to offer a few more cards and not worry about unsold product chipping away at my small profit.

Now, comes word that on March 30, eBay is requiring basic stores (which I have) to have fixed inventory at 20 cents per month per item. That is a jump of 17 cents per listing per month! Part of the attraction of having the basic store was the reduced listing fees for store inventory. By paying the fees for a basic store, I was able to list each store item for 3 cents per month. This luxury is now vanished. It is replaced by greed and manipulation.

I have no doubt that this will decrease the overall listings and sales on eBay. Why would a company founded on the consumer getting the best deal, shoot itself in the foot at almost every opportunity in the past two years? I haven't been able to offer the best deal on some items for two years. Now, I can't even afford to keep the good fight going.

Here's where you can help me, dear readers and friends. I would like to open an online store where I can price items for any price that I see fit. This way I can offer a bunch of commons, along with the higher priced cards. Basically, something for the set/team builders and player collectors, etc...

I would prefer to have no insertion fees, if possible. I would like to keep the inventory up until it's sold. In essence, very low overhead. Operating my eBay store has been one of the great pleasures of the last few years for me. It's hard for me to accept that this experience has to end, but my time with eBay as a store option is forced to a premature end.

Any suggestions?

Cubs Fan Fails To Sell Loyalty On eBay

A Wheaton, Illinois native and current Minneapolis, Minnesota resident, Scot Moore, tried to sell his team loyalty on eBay. Like the Cubs season in October, that didn't get very far either.

Scot had offered his team loyalty to the highest bidder, all in the name of charity. Moore had planned to donate his winnings would go to two Minneapolis theater companies that perform for low-income audiences. Despite both companies being backed by Springboard for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Scot did not have the proper documentation. So, eBay pulled the listing, citing that it violated policies.

The highest bidder when it was shut down? $7,100, from a White Sox fan. There were no discernible bids from any Cubs fans.

This is troubling on many levels. Do Cubs fans not care that one of their own is losing his faith enough to auction it off? Does a fan of another baseball team care that much about converting someone? Can loyalty be bought off, even for a good cause? All are reasonable questions that I don't have an immediate answer to.

If the charity angle wasn't used, how many bids would Scot have actually gotten? Maybe most of those bids were for the charity part. We'll never really know the intentions of the bidders.

Take away the important part of the auction, which is the charity donation, and this is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen on eBay. One can't simply switch team loyalties because someone pays him enough money. The heart wants what the heart wants. It is not swayed easily by large sums of cash.

Are Cubs fans that fickle? Your team breaks your heart over and over again and you simply give up? That's not the definition of a fan, to me. You stick with the team you chose through good and bad. It makes those winning years even sweeter, when they happen.

Are White Sox fans the desperate to convert Cubs fans? I would hope not, but there's always a few wackos in every crowd. I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that the main motivation on everybody's end is the charity, but who knows. Every team has their "interesting" fans and misinformed fans. They will do stupid and pointless things and try to convert the masses in ridiculous ways.

I disagree with eBay about pulling this one. Let's skip the charity part. If someone is stupid enough to auction their loyalty off, let them. If someone is stupid enough to actually pay thousands of dollars to purchase that one person's loyalty, let them. Each of them deserve their own special place in commerce hell.

Scot did say that if the White Sox fan did win and he was forced to root for the White Sox, that he would become a fan of A.J. Pierzynski. He likes his spirit. My question... if Scot likes Pierzynski's spirit, why isn't he already a fan? Officer Barbrady, I call shenanigans!

More eBay Changes

I find myself in a confused state, just like this man. I'll never really know how he got to where he's at now... twice, and I'm not really sure why I found this in my eBay inbox today.

Goodbye and Thanks from eBay Express

We're Closing Our Doors but You can Still Sell All the Same Fixed Price Inventory on eBay.com

Dear fmercury39,

It's been our pleasure to work with Top eBay Express Sellers like you and we thank you for your loyalty. This message is to let you know we will be retiring eBay Express, effective September 16th.

Looking back, eBay Express helped us break new ground. Going forward, we're adding the best features to eBay.com:

Enhanced search and find functionality for fixed-price offerings

Higher search visibility for sellers with exemplary track records

Reduced risk for buyers to purchase thanks to automatic buyer protection for the full protection price, plus original shipping costs on any eligible purchase made with PayPal (starting this fall)
Since we've added these features to eBay, it makes sense to direct traffic and focus all marketing resources on a single destination.

As eBay Express goes away, rest assured, your inventory will display on eBay.com with no interruptions. In fact, an even bigger market of qualified buyers is already searching on it now.
And you won't need to do anything differently to list your items on eBay or to fulfill your orders.

For details about continuing your business on eBay, please visit Frequently Asked Questions.

Once again, thank you for being a Top eBay Express Seller. We look forward to your continued success at eBay.com

Best regards,
The Team at eBay Express

I never really understood eBay Express to begin with. I guess, I got a little business from there, according to a few invoice statements, but I never signed up for it. It was just there.

I'm sure this will alienate even more eBay sellers and customers. I could really care less. eBay has me so disillusioned right now, that I even inquired at Beckett on how to become a dealer. Let's just say the information I got was promising and devastating all at once. I doubt I will be becoming a Beckett dealer any time soon.

If eBay wants to shoot themselves in the foot, that's fine by me. I just wish that they would leave me out of it. I was perfectly happy with the way things were last year at eBay. I didn't need any changes. Why would I? Every change that eBay has made this year has effected me negatively.

Getting rid of eBay Express is probably the first change that they have done this year that won't directly impact me. Although, I'm sure that I'll be sorry that I wrote that. Knowing my luck with eBay this year, this will probably drive my monthly sales down to zero.

Will any place appear that has no listing fee and a minuscule final sales fee? Beckett does have that for dealers, but there's a catch. There is a $200 start up fee and monthly plans starting at $249.99. That would be fine, if I was trying to enhance an already existing shop, but that does not fit into my budget right now.

If anyone knows of a place where we can all sell at, where the only fees are final sales fees, I'm all ears.

Beckett Up, eBay Down

The new Beckett.com is getting better by the day. It functionality is slowly improving, but the keyword is slow. It takes me about 10 times longer to do things on the new and improved site.

I keep running into script errors and a few scattered F5 warnings. Searching within one's collection has vastly improved. The appearing/disappearing new releases, such as 2008 Allen & Ginter and 2008 Goudey have me worried.

The bells and whistles are shiny, new and good, but it's all a distraction from the problems in other areas. When the new site debuted, I likened it to the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. Now, it seems more like an intelligent chimp. It's not quite what you want from a conversation point of view, but it's cute and easily frustrated. Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp, eat your heart out.

By now many of you have heard the new changes that are happening at eBay. By November, the only accepted payments will be electronic payments through eBay's site. As a buyer, I have no problem with this. I use PayPal for all of my purchases anyway. As a seller, this is just another nail in the coffin before I finally close up shop and move to another site. I don't get many Money Orders, but I do get a few. Sometimes offering the option of a Money Order has made the difference between a sale and the card sitting there for months.

Of course, my sales are already dramatically effected by February's pricing structure change. Some months I don't even make enough in sales to cover my eBay costs. How is this helping my sales? It's clearly not. I have spoken to eBay many times about this, but they are always unwilling to make an exception for trading card pricing reform.

Since all the eBay payments will now go through electronically, it goes through mostly PayPal, which is an eBay company. PayPal takes its share and so does eBay for each transaction. Does that sound like a Scrooge McDuck move to you?

Weird Al's eBay

There seems to be a lot of Weird Al going around this week. So, inspired by dayf's posting of "Living With A Hernia" and Tatiana's recent eBay loss (and my own eBay losses), I'll post this video which isn't really Weird Al's, but features his song "eBay". Maybe it will bring a smile to everyone who has experienced loss, felt slighted, or feared for jinxes this week. Enjoy!



Or for the ones who don't care for the newer stuff, here's a classic!

Tips For Would-Be eBay Sellers

Be careful. The watchful eye of Albert Belle sees all. He sees some interesting things going on at eBay. This time from the sellers. Beware, the ides of Albert "Joey" Belle.

I look for cards and deals on eBay, just like the next person. Sometimes I wish there was a watchful eye, like Albert's, looking after things. It would make life a lot simpler. But there's not. One can dream though. Quality control: Albert Belle style. Sounds like a bad reality show.

What can a seller do to make their product more desirable than the other similar products out there? Everyone's a critic and there's no pleasing everyone. There are things the seller can do to make the most out of what they have to sell.

1. If the card is listed as an auction, start with a low bid price.
More people are likely to at least watch your card, if they think they can grab it at a steal. Some will get into bidding wars because of that.

2. If your card is listed as a fixed price or an inventory item, check out what other people are selling it for.
It's a very simple thing to do and takes no time at all. This way, your card has a better chance of selling. If there is no other examples of your card, check a price guide and don't go over high value.

3. Make sure what you are describing is what you are selling.
I've seen more incorrect years for cards on recent eBay listings than ever before. Get your information correct. A confused customer does not buy.

4. Use a picture.
It's free for the first picture. Take advantage of that.

5. Have a picture of the actual card that you are selling, not just an example.
I can't tell anything about the card that you're selling from an example of another card from the same set. This is lazy.

6. Cut the stories.
I don't care about your ex-husband or your dying mother. I just want the card without the usual line of bull. Save the creative stuff for your novel.

7. Have sensible shipping rates.
Nothing turns me off of a sale faster than a shipping rate over $4.00 for a single card. Even $3.00 is pushing it sometimes. The higher the shipping rate is, the more likely the card will come with the least amount of protection, in my experiences.

8. Have discount shipping rates for multiple purchases.
I'm not paying $20.00 shipping on 10 cards. It's not gonna happen. You've just lost a lot of business.

These are just the basics. I'm sure there are more things that I'm missing. Have respect for the customer. Most of them are not idiots. If you want repeat business, take pride in your listings. A little work now, will save a lot of questions later.

Customers can be just as clueless as sellers can be. Here are a few tips for them.

1. Do your research.
Mistakes in listings happen. If you know what you're looking for, then half the battle is over already. You can spot simple mistakes and save yourself aggravation.

2. Read the listing carefully.
You can find out a lot if you read more and spend less time looking at the pretty pictures.

3. Look for shipping discounts.
It can save you a lot of money. Less on shipping, more on cards.

4. When all else fails, ask.
Don't be afraid to ask a stupid question. If the answer is not on the page, ask about it. Most sellers are friendly and responsive.

I'm not trying to pick on anyone. I just see a lot of these things happen. These pitfalls can be avoided with very little effort. Be knowledgeable. Be courteous. Be patient. Sellers want to sell and buyers want to buy. I'm a seller and a buyer. Hmm, I think I just picked on myself in two different ways.

Some eBay Sellers Are On Crack

I ran across this auction on eBay of a 2008 eTopps Allen & Ginter card of Barack Obama. The opening bid is $2,008.00. Does this seller expect anyone to bid on this? If someone purchases this card from this seller, they must have eaten paint chips as a kid, then had a frontal lobotomy.

I get the cuteness in offering it for $2,008 dollars. Ha ha. A more practical opening bid would have been $20.08. If someone is stupid enough to purchase a potato chip in the shape of Jay Leno, then someone is stupid enough to pay over $2,000 for this card.

What a shock, the last feeback as a seller is negative. This is the only thing that the eBayer is selling. It's stuff like this that makes me not like Topps. I want to like Topps, but they shoot themselves in the foot all the time.

These cards go to the sellers, not the purchasers. Every eTopps card that I've bought, a total of 3, I've bought off eBay. I have never puchased a card directly from Topps. This makes me suspicious, but that's just me. As a public service, please avoid sellers like this like the plague. I'll gladly take this card off the seller for 1 cent. It would serve the seller right.

My eBay Experience With Darren Clarke

Being an eBay seller, I run into all kinds of people. I run into the overly-informed and the under-informed. I generally run into nice people. Sometimes, I run into a kook. It just goes with the territory.

I've had the chance to converse with, through e-mail, many relatives of ballplayers. If I see that the last name matches or they come from the same city listed on the back of the card, I'll usually include a little note asking if they are that player's relative. I also say that if they are, to tell them good luck with their career. I especially do that if it's a rookie. They need all the encouragement they can get at that stage and I really do wish them well.

Tonight I had a strange e-mail from an eBay member who just signed up today. They included an e-mail address at the end of the message, but I won't include that here.

Why are you selling my cards with fake autographs on them? Trying to make a buck off that crap? You should have just sent one to me maybe if your lucky I would have signed it. Get a life. You can e-mail me if you have the balls.

That kind of took me by surprise. Nowhere in my description did it say autograph, but I e-mailed back.

Is this a joke? I never claimed there was a real autograph on the card. The card is printed that way by Topps. Look at any picture of a 2007 Topps 52 card of "yours" and you will see the exact same thing. If you are who you say you are, you should know that. But I doubt it.

I got a response back from "Darren".

Yea you should look at the topps 52 cards that are signed in blue. That s my autograph. I ve never signed anything like that let alone use my middle name to sign.

That sounded like he at least calmed down. I responded back in a friendly manner.

They usually use the signature from a contract. If they can't get that on the card, I would imagine they fake it for the base cards so they look like the 1952 cards. I've found some interesting base card reproduced signatures that look nothing like their actual autograph counterpart.

I should have left it alone, but I got a very immature response back.

You think topps fakes our autograph on our cards? I have my topps contract from when I first signed in 2001 and I have my contract from this year for the three thousand cards. Have fun with your terrible looking autographs.

Again, this shows how uninformed some people are. If this is actually Darren Clarke, then I feel sad for him. He, again, completely misses the point of my e-mails back. Don't blame me for that, "Darren", blame Topps for pre-printing such crappy autographs on their cards. If that's not your autograph, then someone at the company faked it. It's as simple as that. I had one last response that I sent to "Darren".

Topps uses a facsimile autograph on the Topps 52 line to make it look like their 1952 set. Sometimes the facsimile that they use is taken from a copy of a contract that you have signed with them. Wherever it is taken from, it is a pre-printed autograph. Your real autograph signed by your hand looks much better than the pre-printed ones.

I haven't gotten another response back from "Darren" yet. I don't believe that I will. If this is the real Darren's attitude, I don't think he'll make it unless he has electric stuff everytime. Somehow, I don't think he can do that. Everybody gets hit sometime. I don't care who you are.

He's kind of funny, in retrospect. I think I'll call him Larry, since he doesn't sign that way.

Where Will Esteban Beltre Be Sold, eBay?

I’m sure most of you who have eBay stores have heard about the new pricing. When I first heard the news, I was rejoicing about it too. Lower selling fees and more exposure seemed too good to be true. Then, I read further into the new pricing structure.

I have a lot of baseball cards in store inventory. Over 1,000 cards. Fixed pricing was too high of a cost, so I went with store inventory which has the added benefit of automatic renewal every 30 days. With a gallery feature, it cost a grand total of 6 cents per card, per 30 days. Some cards I make money on, some I don’t. It all depends on how long the card is in the store. If it sits there for months, I’m probably going to lose money in the long run. That’s OK though. I usually even things out on other items.

I enjoy putting commons in my eBay store. Especially older commons. You don’t see a common card from 1992 up on eBay too often. I like to think that if someone is looking for a common to complete their older set, they might be able to find it in my store. The way I set things up, you can find a common as much as you can find a star. I think it’s a pretty good mix. Some cards you just can’t get in a trade. Some cards are too much baggage to haul to a show.

Then on Monday, I found this notice on eBay that goes into effect on February 20, 2008.

Insertion Fees for Store Inventory listings

Price fee.............. before fee............ now (effective 02/20/08)
$0.01 - $0.99 -------$0.05 ---------N/A
$1.00 - $24.99 ------$0.05 ---------$0.03 Lower fee!
$25.00 - $199.99 ---$0.10 ----------$0.05 Lower fee!
Above $200.00 -----$0.10 ----------$0.10

Starting Price: Fixed Price, Store Inventory, and Buy It Now
The "N/A" in the charts above reflects a new minimum start price for Fixed Price listings, Store Inventory listings and the Buy It Now feature. Store Inventory and Fixed Price listings must have a starting price of at least $1.00. The Buy It Now feature, which can be added to Auction-style listings, must also have a minimum Buy It Now price of at least $1.00.

I couldn’t believe what I read. So, I e-mailed eBay right away with my concerns. This morning, I got a reply back.

Dear eBay member,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to our new pricing structure. Based on the new pricing structure, you will not be able to list Store Inventory items for less than $1.00. You can still list Auction and Fixed Price items for under $1.00. All new fees will become effective as of 00:00 PST (midnight) on February 20, 2008. Listings that begin on and after midnight on February 20, 2008, will be charged the new fees, regardless of when they were created (e.g. through a listing tool or through the Sell Your Item form using the listing scheduler feature).

We encourage you to also provide your feedback on February 1 during our webinar. The webinar will be at 10 am PST and can be accessed by visiting www.ebay.com/sellerwebinar

If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reply to this email and let us know.

Sincerely, Alexis Va.
eBay Customer Support

This contradicts what the original memo says about fixed pricing, but it still doesn’t change store inventory. I don’t have the time to reactivate over 1,000 items a month, do you? I liked the way that you could set up the store inventory to renew automatically every 30 days.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t justify charging $1.00 for a card that’s worth a quarter or lower. This is more than likely a way to stop the sellers who charge 1 cent for the card and $5.00 for the shipping. I can understand that. What about the honest sellers out there, who charge a reasonable price for their cards and charge a fair shipping price? They are left out in the cold with a limited inventory and consumers with limited selection.

I want my commons back! This decision will hurt card sellers on eBay. It will cut into sales and result in consumer anger and seller anguish. Sure, we’re getting free gallery features, but at what price?

Plus, despite what eBay claims. Prices are going up across the board.

Does this sound like savings to you? I didn’t think so.

Bunny Brief

I ran across this card on eBay. The seller wanted $9.95 plus shipping for it. The most I'd be willing to pay for this parallel card would be $0.50. I think it's black bordered base card is worth only a dime. So, why would anyone sell this for ten bucks? Pure greed coupled with a public that doesn't know too much about the Conlon cards that came out in the early 90's. Ignorance and greed are a dangerous mix. Don't get caught in it. Study what you are looking at before you buy.

Seeing this name on a card stopped me in my tracks. I had never heard the name before. You tend to remember a name like that. It turns out that Bunny was Anthony Vincent Brief. Although, he was born Anthony John Grzeszkowski. I can't find any information on why his nickname was Bunny. I can't find any info on why his last name changed to Brief.

What I did find out shocked me a little. His major league career was certainly brief. He only played parts of four years in the majors, and only 1915 was spent with the White Sox. He also played for the St. Louis Browns in 1912 and 1913 and he played with the Pirates in 1917.

Bunny played 48 games with the White Sox in 1915 playing first base. He hit .214 that year. His major league career was spotty at best. His career average was only .223. Not even that great in that era. What really surprised me was his minor league career.

Bunny holds the all-time record for home runs in the American Association with 256. A form of that league still exists today, in it's fourth incarnation. He holds 8 home run titles! He also holds 5 RBI titles! Bunny led the league in runs 5 times, triples twice, doubles once and hits twice!

You'd think that with those kind of credentials, Bunny's name would be better known, especially with a name like that. Bunny Brief just rolls off the tongue. I guess Bunny is what you would call a 4A player. He's great at the Triple A level, but it never translates to major league success.

In 1921, Bunny had his best season playing for the Kansas City Blues. He hit 42 home runs, 191 RBIs, and had 166 runs scored. If only minor league success could have tranfered over to the majors, Bunny's name may be more recognizable today. At least Bunny got his chance a few different times in the majors. Some great minor league players never get that shot.

Tales Of eBay

Some people on eBay are strange. This card on the left is one that I picked up with at least 6 other Frank Thomas cards, that totaled $1.75 all together, that cost me over $13.00 in shipping. This shipping charge was not anywhere on any of the card pages. The seller also claimed to combine shipping. His version of "combining" meant that he knocked off the shipping cost for one card, but charged full shipping price for each card. I hate to deal with sellers like this. I swallowed everything and moved on. Another lesson learned, but I take notes and know which sellers manipulate like this.

Beware of sellers with a lot of items at a Buy It Now price of 1-25 cents. If the card is really worth that, that's one thing. But if it's too good to be true, it probably is. The cards I did get were the only examples I had seen for sale, so it wasn't all bad. I'm definitely not purchasing from that seller again. No, I'm not naming names, but I've given you enough information to figure it out if you really wanted to know. This is why I have one of the lowest shipping costs on eBay and combine shipping. People still bitch, but I suppose you can't please everyone.

Another type of person I love is the one who tries to keep getting a better deal out of you. Yes folks, that was sarcasm. I have no problem cutting deals when it's possible. I'll throw in freebies when I can. One woman e-mailed me about some Marlins cards asking me if I could sell her what was in my store for no more than 20 cents a card. I wrote back that it was fine for the commons.

She wrote back that these were for her son. I forget the age, but it was under 10. He really liked 3 star players on the Marlins. He was collecting some type of card but she couldn't recall what it was. He liked all the Marlins cards in my store. She again offered a maximum of 20 cents a card. Most of the cards that "her son" liked were between $2 and $5. Some were less, some were more.

I scanned through my back stock and took out players that "her son" specified and other Marlins cards. I countered with, "for every dollar you spend in my store, I will throw in 8 additional cards of your son's favorite players and other Marlins cards". I sent her a list of specific cards that would really wow any kid who's a fan of these stars and a fan of the team. They were everything from 2007 Topps commons to one of those Predictor cards from Upper Deck this year. They were all cards that I was too lazy to individually scan and sell or ones that I thought would sit there for an eternity if I put them up. Never heard back from her.

You can bend over backwards for people and some will never be satisfied. This still doesn't sour me on being helpful or being open to suggestions. I just don't let these people get to me. They aren't worth it. Plus, for every one like that, there are at least 10 who are wonderful to do business with.

I've sold cards to Joe Bisenius' father, Matt Stairs' cousin and one of Carlos Quentin's relatives to name a few. Joe Bisenius' father is a wonderful man. He's very approachable and wrote back a few times with information about his son. I even suggested that his son consider the White Sox as an alternative to the Phillies, if he should ever find himself on the outs.

Everyone else has been nice too. Some volunteer the information and some I inquire about if they have the same last name or live in the same small town or both. They are always pleasant about it. The good people on eBay tend to not stand out as much as the bad ones and that's a shame.

Card Spotlight 11-16-07

Eddie Robinson's best years were with the White Sox. As of this posting, this is the oldest card I own. A 1952 Red Man in mint condition with the tab still in place.

Eddie's best season was in 1951. He hit .282 with 29 home runs and 117 RBI. All for the Chicago White Sox. Eddie also played for 7 of the original 8 teams in the American League. The only one he didn't play for was the Boston Red Sox, but he was a scout for them later on.

His career included stops with the Indians, the Senators, the White Sox, the Athletics (in Philadelphia and Kansas City), the Yankees, the Tigers and the Orioles. Too bad he didn't play for the Browns too, which were the Orioles before they moved from St. Louis. But that bit of information is a bit of an open secret in baseball. The Orioles rarely acknowledge that fact.

This card is great! It has beautiful, vibrant colors. It's over sized, square, and just a wonder to look at. Red Mans can still be picked up relatively cheap. I picked this one up in an auction on eBay for slightly over a dollar, if I'm remembering correctly. If I'm not, it wasn't much over that. In most cases, you can pick up the common players for less than a new pack of cards.

Eddie looks confident and focused, ready to smack one of those 29 home runs when he gets up to the plate. I saw this card and instantly fell in love with the design. They don't make cards like this one anymore and that's a shame.