My favorite is "$125 UPS ground shipping" when I know perfectly well that if I shipped that it would cost about $40.

Right? If you sell on eBay, you get an idea for shipping rates and know when you're getting scammed. If someone only has Priority Shipping as an option for a book and it arrives as Media Mail, I always call them in it and ask for a refund on the difference.

On the plus side, I'll usually message someone if an item could be shipped as Media Mail and it's not listed as such. Sellers will often correct this, because they just didn't know. I think everything defaults to USPS Ground Advantage in the USA, even if it's being sold in the book category.

Why in your country use ebay? you dont have a local alternative?

Not for rare and obscure parts.

There can be a variety of reasons for pricing on Ebay. Some of it may be automated, especially shipping costs. Plus, shipping costs can vary significant by region. I'm in Canada where shipping is notoriously expensive. I've had people complain to be me about that when I've sold stuff on Ebay, but there isn't anything I can do about it. I can't magically make shipping costs cheaper.

As for pricing of items, this again can vary significantly by location and what sellers think they can get for items. If people are willing to buy something for $200 a pop, what we think it's worth doesn't really matter. Things are worth exactly as much as people are willing to pay for them. If others are willing to spend more than we are, then those are items are worth more than we think they are.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-02-12, 19:30:

I'm in Canada where shipping is notoriously expensive.

Really? Have you seen the prices in the US? Getting ANY package shipped to one of the nordic countries is 28 USD minimum. From Canada I just paid 12 CAD.

No one is going to buy these for $200 though. There's just no way. $200 + $20 shipping+ tax, it's almost $250 at that point. For a piece of mediocre retro kit. To give an example (this isn't the item I was referring to by the way), imagine seeing an ESS Solo-1 for this price. It's a good card and is becoming more uncommon now, but it's not worth $250.

I can see where these things are shipping from; it's in the United States. There's no way that these prices are right.

I did some more searching and found that the same seller has the same listing for the same item at $133 + +20 shipping, but with a slightly different title. It just seems arbitrary.

vetz wrote on 2025-02-12, 19:43:

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-02-12, 19:30:

I'm in Canada where shipping is notoriously expensive.

Really? Have you seen the prices in the US? Getting ANY package shipped to one of the nordic countries is 28 USD minimum. From Canada I just paid 12 CAD.

I think what he means is that shipping *to* Canada is expensive. I buy things from Canada all the time and it's not that bad. In the USA, I believe the USPS subsidizes packages from certain countries, such as Canada and China. That's why I can buy junk shipped from China for cheaper than it takes to mail myself a padded envelope. It's interesting that it's so cheap to a Nordic country. Maybe there is a trade agreement or subsidy for you as well.

I can say that shipping from Europe to the USA is really expensive though.

I understand you. In the beginning I also felt annoyed by this kind of behavior. But later I just relaxed and decided to simply do not care if some item is being priced too high. I simply move along and buy something else from my wishlist if its price fits my expectations.

vetz wrote on 2025-02-12, 19:43:

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-02-12, 19:30:

I'm in Canada where shipping is notoriously expensive.

Really? Have you seen the prices in the US? Getting ANY package shipped to one of the nordic countries is 28 USD minimum. From Canada I just paid 12 CAD.

There are certain shipping rates for the U.S. which are discounted. There are cases where it's cheaper for me to ship the same package to the U.S. versus shipping it in Canada.

Similarly I can get stuff from China for dirt cheap shipping, versus the same things from Europe which may have 10x the shipping cost.

Kahenraz wrote on 2025-02-12, 19:45:

No one is going to buy these for $200 though. There's just no way. $200 + $20 shipping+ tax, it's almost $250 at that point. For a piece of mediocre retro kit. To give an example (this isn't the item I was referring to by the way), imagine seeing an ESS Solo-1 for this price. It's a good card and is becoming more uncommon now, but it's not worth $250.

This is where supply and demand forces ultimately dictate what something is worth. An ESS Solo-1 might seem ludicrous to command $250 right now. But if supplies dry up and demand continues or increases, who knows?

This is how all hardware prices rise. If you comb through posts from 1o, 15, or 20 years ago, people were balking at some of the prices for (now) retro hardware that is far less than some of the prices things go for these days.

There have even been recent cases where supplies of certain hardware have dried up and all that remains is the occasional listing that commands a premium price. The Asrock 775i65G motherboard is a perfect example of this, having doubled in price in the last couple years.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-02-12, 20:56:

This is where supply and demand forces ultimately dictate what something is worth. An ESS Solo-1 might seem ludicrous to command […]
Show full quote

Kahenraz wrote on 2025-02-12, 19:45:

No one is going to buy these for $200 though. There's just no way. $200 + $20 shipping+ tax, it's almost $250 at that point. For a piece of mediocre retro kit. To give an example (this isn't the item I was referring to by the way), imagine seeing an ESS Solo-1 for this price. It's a good card and is becoming more uncommon now, but it's not worth $250.

This is where supply and demand forces ultimately dictate what something is worth. An ESS Solo-1 might seem ludicrous to command $250 right now. But if supplies dry up and demand continues or increases, who knows?

After all, this is how all hardware prices rise. If you comb through posts from 1o, 15, or 20 years ago, people were balking at some of the prices for (now) retro hardware that is far less than some of the prices things go for these days.

There have even been recent cases where supplies of certain hardware have dried up and all that remains is the occasional listing that commands a premium price. The Asrock 775i65G motherboard is a perfect example of this.

Well, eBay actually works more like an Oligopoly than a classic Free Market. So one day everybody sell item A for $10 and tomorrow suddenly everybody start selling it for $100 without ant obvious reason for that. And it doesn't matter how many items are available, 2, 10 or 100.

I too buy from US to ship to Canada. I noticed shipping costs on eBay vary a lot even if the sellers are using the International Shipping Program, which means they all ship within the US to eBay's warehouse. Yet, the amount eBay charges me for the same item still varies from seller to seller.
My only explanation to this is the seller must have inflated the package weight/dimensions. I've spoken to some sellers about this, and some of them indeed readjust the package info to be accurate... and some tell me it's already accurate but eBay is charging me too high still, and they offer shipping using USPS directly without the ISP, resulting in significantly cheaper costs.

I don't know, but since eBay moved from the Global Shipping Program to the more recent International Shipping Program, its shipping prices went through the roof. I used to pay 15USD for shipping a PC game, now 32USD is the norm... bleh!

I have noticed the same shenanigans going on with international shipping costs, some sellers inflate the cost to the point the shipping is twice the cost of the item they are shipping.

I have no idea why they do this as all it does is make me ignore any further items that seller may have and not bother to buy said item I was looking at.

Its a similar issue to how they jack the BIN price as soon as they get a bite of interest in the item.

Its stupid.

The reasons for inflated shipping prices are twofold: (1) you keep any money that you don't spend on the shipping and (2) sellers are so lazy that they won't actually measure and weigh the items to get an accurate figure, they'll just use templates, ie. a DVD case goes in a pre-paid international 1kg 50x30 satchel that costs $60 USD to ship to Australia.

It's just a bunch of bullshit. If the seller does not want to negotiate, walk away and know you've dodged a bullet.

Personally, I limit all my searches to US only. I hate paying international shipping and I don't trust many of the listings (mainly for old PC parts) coming from places like China, Ukraine, etc. I do sometimes limit it to North America if I notice some good deals from our northern neighbors in Canada.

I also pay close attention to shipping. So many people list an item lower than everyone else, but inflate the shipping to make that back up. I really hate that.

When I list stuff on eBay, I always undersell what I see at the time of the listing, and I always measure and weigh the package for accurate shipping. I also clearly show the hardware, it's condition, and operational status with photos. I make it clear if it's as-is or not. Sometimes I sell perfectly good hardware as-is just because it's so old. Either way, I find open and honest means they sell much faster and with less headache.

StriderTR wrote on 2025-02-13, 06:13:

Personally, I limit all my searches to US only. I hate paying international shipping and I don't trust many of the listings (mainly for old PC parts) coming from places like China, Ukraine, etc. I do sometimes limit it to North America if I notice some good deals from our northern neighbors in Canada.

I also pay close attention to shipping. So many people list an item lower than everyone else, but inflate the shipping to make that back up. I really hate that.

When I list stuff on eBay, I always undersell what I see at the time of the listing, and I always measure and weigh the package for accurate shipping. I also clearly show the hardware, it's condition, and operational status with photos. I make it clear if it's as-is or not. Sometimes I sell perfectly good hardware as-is just because it's so old. Either way, I find open and honest means they sell much faster and with less headache.

I can vouch for stuff from Ukraine, have bought many parts from there and they have all been legit items and honestly you can find stuff from there that is not available else where or if it is its priced stupidly. There are quite a few sellers based in Kyiv that sell good parts, one seller has a lot of older parts from the 386/486/AGP era and he is great to buy from.

Same for stuff from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic ...have bought a lot of parts from these countries and have not been burnt yet.

China is ok so long as you dont go for the too good to be true items and stuff that looks sketch, I dont usually buy big parts from there though and stick to consumable stuff like fans, heat sinks and thermal paste. Some really good cheap thermal paste has come out of China but there is some really shit stuff too so you have to use your best judgement and stick tot he highly rated sellers who have a lower "scam" chance.

And yes I have seen that low buy price but the shipping is astronomical .. its a shitty thing to do and I wish eBay had a blacklist so I could block sellers doing that. ..Would be useful for blacklisting the shitty drop sellers who flood the market with shit and list it as retro or vintage.

StriderTR wrote on 2025-02-13, 06:13:

Personally, I limit all my searches to US only. I hate paying international shipping and I don't trust many of the listings (mainly for old PC parts) coming from places like China, Ukraine, etc. I do sometimes limit it to North America if I notice some good deals from our northern neighbors in Canada.

I also pay close attention to shipping. So many people list an item lower than everyone else, but inflate the shipping to make that back up. I really hate that.

When I list stuff on eBay, I always undersell what I see at the time of the listing, and I always measure and weigh the package for accurate shipping. I also clearly show the hardware, it's condition, and operational status with photos. I make it clear if it's as-is or not. Sometimes I sell perfectly good hardware as-is just because it's so old. Either way, I find open and honest means they sell much faster and with less headache.

I'm not sure what's up with eBay shipping and American items ,but for whatever reasons , speaking as an Australian your shipping prices are out of whack , I've basically stopped buying any American items from ebay because the shipping is too damn much and the global shipping program service is terrible especially for what you pay, it gets stuck and held in mail storage in Erlanger for eons before they deliver and in total it takes a month + to arrive and when it reaches Australia they pick the cheapest garbage tier couriers like DAI.

I'd rather take my chances with a Ukrainan or Chinese mail tbh , stuff tends to arrive much quicker and more cheaply.

AppleSauce wrote on 2025-02-13, 07:26:

StriderTR wrote on 2025-02-13, 06:13:

Personally, I limit all my searches to US only. I hate paying international shipping and I don't trust many of the listings (mainly for old PC parts) coming from places like China, Ukraine, etc. I do sometimes limit it to North America if I notice some good deals from our northern neighbors in Canada.

I also pay close attention to shipping. So many people list an item lower than everyone else, but inflate the shipping to make that back up. I really hate that.

When I list stuff on eBay, I always undersell what I see at the time of the listing, and I always measure and weigh the package for accurate shipping. I also clearly show the hardware, it's condition, and operational status with photos. I make it clear if it's as-is or not. Sometimes I sell perfectly good hardware as-is just because it's so old. Either way, I find open and honest means they sell much faster and with less headache.

I'm not sure what's up with eBay shipping and American items ,but for whatever reasons , speaking as an Australian your shipping prices are out of whack , I've basically stopped buying any American items from ebay because the shipping is too damn much and the global shipping program service is terrible especially for what you pay, it gets stuck and held in mail storage in Erlanger for eons before they deliver and in total it takes a month + to arrive and when it reaches Australia they pick the cheapest garbage tier couriers like DAI.

I'd rather take my chances with a Ukrainian or Chinese mail tbh , stuff tends to arrive much quicker and more cheaply.

Aussie here and yup Chinese stuff can get here in as little as two days if they use the air speed pack service, but if they use DAI .. its a week or two. Ukraine has a lead time of 4 weeks but stuff usually only takes a week or so and is pretty reliable.