Shponglefan wrote on 2025-02-13, 17:41:

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.

Speaking a Canadian, I've found it's faster to ship stuff from overseas (including China and Ukraine) than it is to ship stuff in from the U.S.

I once had a video card take 2 months to ship from Los Angeles to Canada via USPS.

That's crazy. The few things I got from Canada via eBay arrived within 5-7 days. I live in the northern US. It cost a little more, but the transit time didn't seem all that bad.

It can get really confusing on how shipping prices and times vary so much from place to place, and even the direction of travel. Even more so when it's outside your country. Most of us know how it works where we live, not so much everywhere else.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-02-13, 17:35:

There's additional factors that I don't think people who don't sell on Ebay don't realize. […]
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alphaTECH wrote on 2025-02-13, 05:09:

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.

There's additional factors that I don't think people who don't sell on Ebay don't realize.

Ebay's fee structure is such that they take a percentage of total costs including shipping. What this is means is that if a seller charges $20 for shipping and Ebay is taking 20% of that, the seller only gets $16. If shipping costs are only $16, to the buyer it looks the seller has pocketed the difference when in fact it's Ebay pocketing that amount.

Another factor is materials cost of shipping supplies. I've purchased things like boxes, labels, etc for shipping. It doesn't add a huge cost to each package, but it's still an incremental cost to shipping goods.

That's not what I mean. eBay does keep a percentage of the total but you should be taking that into account with the item price (ie. if you want to make $30, you better list it for $40).

My point was that if you set a shipping option on the listing, say, Australia Post Parcel Post for a DVD which will realistically fit into an envelope 25x21x3 and weighs 150g, but the default configuration of the Parcel Post option is set to 50x30x10 1kg on the listing, your buyer will pay $20-30 for the shipping. Then when you go to post it, you will correctly measure the size and weigh it and print your label with those measurements and it turns out to only cost you $10. The other $10-20 that the buyer paid goes into your pocket and they're none the wiser.

So it's both laziness and knowing that your laziness will pay off in the end.

Yes, this is a clever way that some sellers try to get more money. I have called out sellers that list Priority USPS but ship Media Mail (it's printed on the label) and asked for an invoice and a refund of the difference. If I'm paying for Priority then it had better ship Priority.

There is a particular recycler that lists everything at $20 flat shipping. I've messaged him before and he refuses to change his listings. So, I guess I just won't give him any money.

Kahenraz wrote on 2025-02-28, 06:42:

So, I guess I just won't give him any money.

in the end, this is the only option that has any chance of making a difference

unless someone else does, in which case the seller was "right" in pricing

Here's my solution to the expensive shipping problem:
1) Go on Ebay
2) search for item I want
3) Price + Shipping: Lowest First
4) ????
5) profit. 😀

momaka wrote on 2025-03-02, 17:57:

Here's my solution to the expensive shipping problem: 1) Go on Ebay 2) search for item I want 3) Price + Shipping: Lowest First […]
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Here's my solution to the expensive shipping problem:
1) Go on Ebay
2) search for item I want
3) Price + Shipping: Lowest First
4) ????
5) profit. 😀

This is pretty much what I do.

I also save specific searches when I'm looking for an item I'm not exactly in a hurry to get. That way, I can get notified if something happens to pop up that meets my specific criteria. Such a handy little feature.

StriderTR wrote on 2025-03-02, 20:47:

I also save specific searches when I'm looking for an item I'm not exactly in a hurry to get.

Patience is a virtue - something a hell of a lot of people would do well to remember these days.

Big Pink wrote on 2025-03-03, 00:10:

Patience is a virtue - something a hell of a lot of people would do well to remember these days.

Agreed.

And this could often be answered with the simple question: do I need this, or do I just want it?
If it's not a need, it can wait. Oh wait, what does it mean to wait? 🤣

momaka wrote on 2025-03-04, 10:23:

Agreed. […]
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Big Pink wrote on 2025-03-03, 00:10:

Patience is a virtue - something a hell of a lot of people would do well to remember these days.

Agreed.

And this could often be answered with the simple question: do I need this, or do I just want it?
If it's not a need, it can wait. Oh wait, what does it mean to wait? 🤣

Well no one actually needs old junk so really its all a want.

That said I feel waiting is doing a disservice here as the longer you wait the less old hardware there will be. So at some point you have to weigh up if its worth waiting over just grabbing the item since if it doesn't sell the seller may just scrap it instead.

I feel this is happening a lot more than we think so I prefer to live in the moment and if its an item that isn't exactly common Ill just grab it.

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-03-04, 10:36:

Well no one actually needs old junk so really its all a want.

Depends.

It doesn't happen often, but there are still many old systems "out in the wild" (industrial world, to be exact) that run on very old hardware (P4 and older)... so when these break, the choice is always to get the hardware up and running ASAP. If that means buying some old hardware from eBay and over-night shipping it, then that's the chosen path.
But as I said, these are rare cases.

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-03-04, 10:36:

That said I feel waiting is doing a disservice here as the longer you wait the less old hardware there will be. So at some point you have to weigh up if its worth waiting over just grabbing the item since if it doesn't sell the seller may just scrap it instead.

I feel this is happening a lot more than we think so I prefer to live in the moment and if its an item that isn't exactly common Ill just grab it.

That is true.
And that's one reason I've started regularly going to my local flea market, because a lot of the systems that are there will end up at the metal recycler right afterwards if I don't buy it.

However, I *refuse* to buy from sellers that have hyper-inflated prices and the logic of: I'm either going to make a pile of money from this or I'll trash it and make absolutely nothing.
Me: Nope, if you think you can rip me off, go ahead and trash it. Make nothing. Do that a few times... and learn your lesson the hard way.

momaka wrote on 2025-03-04, 10:57:

Depends. […]
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Trashbytes wrote on 2025-03-04, 10:36:

Well no one actually needs old junk so really its all a want.

Depends.

It doesn't happen often, but there are still many old systems "out in the wild" (industrial world, to be exact) that run on very old hardware (P4 and older)... so when these break, the choice is always to get the hardware up and running ASAP. If that means buying some old hardware from eBay and over-night shipping it, then that's the chosen path.
But as I said, these are rare cases.

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-03-04, 10:36:

That said I feel waiting is doing a disservice here as the longer you wait the less old hardware there will be. So at some point you have to weigh up if its worth waiting over just grabbing the item since if it doesn't sell the seller may just scrap it instead.

I feel this is happening a lot more than we think so I prefer to live in the moment and if its an item that isn't exactly common Ill just grab it.

That is true.
And that's one reason I've started regularly going to my local flea market, because a lot of the systems that are there will end up at the metal recycler right afterwards if I don't buy it.

However, I *refuse* to buy from sellers that have hyper-inflated prices and the logic of: I'm either going to make a pile of money from this or I'll trash it and make absolutely nothing.
Me: Nope, if you think you can rip me off, go ahead and trash it. Make nothing. Do that a few times... and learn your lesson the hard way.

I think i may know of a seller you allude to here 🤣, there is one in particular on Evilbay that has stupid prices for their retro gear both BIN and postage and they refuse to budge on their pricing.

I have only ever bought one item from them and its was a hard to get VLB video card, I didnt feel great buying from him but I didnt want to see that card get scrapped either. Its not often you see 2Mb VLB video cards in working condition.

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-03-04, 11:02:

I think i may know of a seller you allude to here 🤣, there is one in particular on Evilbay that has stupid prices for their retro gear both BIN and postage and they refuse to budge on their pricing.

Nah, I haven't shopped on the bay for more than a year now (ever since moving abroad) and I never really shopped from any "retro/vintage PC" sellers before. Most of my parts are random auctions that were either deemed as scrap or similar.

eBay seller here. I've sold a ton of things on eBay and here is how it works... The sellers jacking up shipping prices are either jerks or they are charging for packaging materials and/or shipping without the eBay shipping discounts.

1. You can choose multiple different shipping options. I usually put the cheapest as the default and always have 3-4 options available. Depending on where the buyer is, the default one I chose may not be the cheapest even though it showed it as the cheapest when I set up the listing.

2. Packages over 12 ounces cannot be shipped USPS first class in the USA. If shipping it outside of the USA, the max first class weight goes up to 4 pounds.

3. There is an option for the seller to add an addition nap charge above whatever the eBay shipping is. I do this sometimes, especially if it is a heavier or larger item as eBay has a stupid policy of taking their cut from the total amount, including shipping. If this is not done, then the seller is losing money on shipping.

4. There was a time when eBay did not take their cut from the shipping charge, so some sellers would price their items super cheap and then charge the rest on shipping. Those people ruined it for everybody else.

5. eBay has changed their rates in some categories. Last I looked, the lower rate for eBay stores listing in the computer categories had been removed. This really, really sucks for both sellers and buyers as it means the sellers must list the items at higher prices to be able to make the same amount as before.

Note: I am not the seller being alluded to above.

Edit: Speaking as a seller, it would be dumb if me to list items for way lower than previous sales of the same item.

If somebody is willing to pay a stupid amount for something, it would be financially dumb of me to list the same thing at a much lower price.

If said item does not sell at that price, then the price will be lowered accordingly.

That is how it works and should work.

People getting worked up about "high" listing prices for sure don't complain when they are able to purchase something for way under market value. Why are these same people, instead of "taking advantage of the seller", not notifying the seller that they could easily sell said item for a much higher price?

cyclone3d wrote on 2025-03-05, 16:45:

5. eBay has changed their rates in some categories. Last I looked, the lower rate for eBay stores listing in the computer categories had been removed. This really, really sucks for both sellers and buyers as it means the sellers must list the items at higher prices to be able to make the same amount as before.

It's worse than that. The final value fee is applied after taxes, which is paid by the seller and not you. So, you're paying a percentage of what the seller paid and not what you're actually getting.

Or it was something like that, last time I checked.

This entire thread pretty much sums up why I don't sell on eBay nearly as much as I used to. These days I mostly only list items that won't sell well in my local area.

eBay isn't totally bad, and I buy far more than I sell, but it's gotten a lot worse as time went on. It's gotten more and more "complicated" to be an active seller, and buyers are always on the lookout for shenanigans. Probably one of my biggest gripes are listings with little to no information on the item, or ones that use stock photos for a single item. I understand some people just don't know much what they're selling, but it still sucks as a buyer.

cyclone3d wrote on 2025-03-05, 16:45:

eBay seller here. I've sold a ton of things on eBay and here is how it works... The sellers jacking up shipping prices are eithe […]
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eBay seller here. I've sold a ton of things on eBay and here is how it works... The sellers jacking up shipping prices are either jerks or they are charging for packaging materials and/or shipping without the eBay shipping discounts.

1. You can choose multiple different shipping options. I usually put the cheapest as the default and always have 3-4 options available. Depending on where the buyer is, the default one I chose may not be the cheapest even though it showed it as the cheapest when I set up the listing.

2. Packages over 12 ounces cannot be shipped USPS first class in the USA. If shipping it outside of the USA, the max first class weight goes up to 4 pounds.

3. There is an option for the seller to add an addition nap charge above whatever the eBay shipping is. I do this sometimes, especially if it is a heavier or larger item as eBay has a stupid policy of taking their cut from the total amount, including shipping. If this is not done, then the seller is losing money on shipping.

4. There was a time when eBay did not take their cut from the shipping charge, so some sellers would price their items super cheap and then charge the rest on shipping. Those people ruined it for everybody else.

5. eBay has changed their rates in some categories. Last I looked, the lower rate for eBay stores listing in the computer categories had been removed. This really, really sucks for both sellers and buyers as it means the sellers must list the items at higher prices to be able to make the same amount as before.

Note: I am not the seller being alluded to above.

Edit: Speaking as a seller, it would be dumb if me to list items for way lower than previous sales of the same item.

If somebody is willing to pay a stupid amount for something, it would be financially dumb of me to list the same thing at a much lower price.

If said item does not sell at that price, then the price will be lowered accordingly.

That is how it works and should work.

People getting worked up about "high" listing prices for sure don't complain when they are able to purchase something for way under market value. Why are these same people, instead of "taking advantage of the seller", not notifying the seller that they could easily sell said item for a much higher price?

100% agreed on these points.

One correction though, USPS increased the First Class weight to 16oz (1lb) back in 2016. And as of about a year and a half ago they have actually completely replaced the USPS First Class Package service with USPS Ground Advantage. I honestly love using Ground Advantage because the price is about the same as First Class for light packages but it doesn't have the 16oz limit AND I am able to schedule home pickups for GA items, where as I could not schedule pickups for first class items unless I also had something going Priority.

Also, I just want to add that even though there is all this griping about prices of luxury items (that's what collectibles are), the people who actually spend their money on well tested (and priced accordingly) retro computing gear have been absolutely fantastic to work with in my experience. I've been buying and selling this stuff for almost ten years now and I have never had a bad customer with regard to vintage gear. As soon as you start getting into modern stuff the risk of having a bad experience skyrockets. The retro PC community just seems to be, overall, filled with reasonable people who aren't looking to cause a problem.

I've also never had a single return or been asked to give a refund, ever, because I take the time to make sure the items work and are accurately described. I spend a fair amount of time, energy and money to be able to do this properly, because I have a passion for it and it works for my living situation. In turn, people who don't have the time, equipment, space or knowledge to scour the internet for, refurbish and test piles of vintage gear to find that ONE thing they want (in actual working condition) can just buy it from me. I probably sell about 1% of what I actually have in my collection, but I sell 98% of what I list for very close to the price I originally list it for and so far everyone has been happy.

I try (and often fail) to stay out of conversations about stuff like this usually, because I know that the increased demand and increased prices make some people mad, but it's all a matter of perspective. As for the sellers that jack up shipping prices alone... yeah, it's really stupid. It's usually either a lack of experience or understanding of how ebay works, poor business sense or old habits from 15 years ago when ebay didn't charge a fee on shipping. Either way it's extremely annoying to buyers, so I make sure to try to be as close as possible with shipping weight\size and let ebay do the calculating for the customer.

Kahenraz wrote on 2025-03-05, 17:59:

cyclone3d wrote on 2025-03-05, 16:45:

5. eBay has changed their rates in some categories. Last I looked, the lower rate for eBay stores listing in the computer categories had been removed. This really, really sucks for both sellers and buyers as it means the sellers must list the items at higher prices to be able to make the same amount as before.

It's worse than that. The final value fee is applied after taxes, which is paid by the seller and not you. So, you're paying a percentage of what the seller paid and not what you're actually getting.

Or it was something like that, last time I checked.

Yes, this is correct. Once ebay became the payment processor when they separated from Paypal, then the final value fee effectively became the payment processing fee, which comes out of the total, including tax.

Thankfully, international shipping charges made through ebay's international shipping program (which are, sadly, really high) happen in a separate transaction so sellers aren't also paying a 13.5% fee on $150 shipping charges just because the buyer happened to be from another continent.

On that note, as much flak as ebay international shipping gets, it has become (it wasn't always) a pretty decent program for sellers in the US. Basically, I pay to ship it to ebay, and once it's there, my part of the transaction is done. Any refunds come from ebay, not from me. I had ebay lose a couple of packages and they just refunded the buyer directly with no impact on me, so that was nice. Still, I wish they would NOT lose packages in the first place, but at least it feels like all those fees we pay are going into something that makes the selling experience a little better for sellers.

We (UK at least) now have private sellers not paying fees, but ebay add a "buyer protection" charge to the price the buyer pays. This helps counter those "private sellers" who have been avoiding fees in the past (yet always have 500 items for sale). So the (private) seller puts their item up for say £200, but the buyer will see £208.51 or some such. A business seller will still pay fees from their sales.

Just another part of the mess ebay seems to be.

Kahenraz wrote on 2025-02-12, 19:14:

Not for rare and obscure parts.

Have you considered starting one yourself? (Assuming you'd be in the position to do so.)

It's a niche business, but I'm sure there's quite a few retro enthusiasts in your country that would love to have such an alternative as much as you would. Maybe you can make a profitable business out of it. 🙂

I do not sell on ebay much, but I feel like this thread is very US centric. I do not know about shipping costs in America, maybe it is cheaper. But here in Europe, something like 20-30 euro for shipping is not completely unreasonable. The absolute cheapest international postage, up to 1 kg, is an easy 18 euro. Add the materials, and my own time to package things properly so that you actually get the thing you paid for in one peace, is not free either. This is especially important on ebay, where buyers are protected (and that is a good thing).

It is absolutely true that some sellers jack up the shipping costs to the extreme. Often it is a sign that the seller is either misinformed, unwilling to ship or a weirdo. In case of the two former, a simple message may solve the problem. Can't do much about the third one, so it is all about finding a different seller.

Shinatama wrote on 2025-03-06, 16:01:

I do not sell on ebay much, but I feel like this thread is very US centric. I do not know about shipping costs in America, maybe it is cheaper. But here in Europe, something like 20-30 euro for shipping is not completely unreasonable. The absolute cheapest international postage, up to 1 kg, is an easy 18 euro. Add the materials, and my own time to package things properly so that you actually get the thing you paid for in one peace, is not free either. This is especially important on ebay, where buyers are protected (and that is a good thing).

It is absolutely true that some sellers jack up the shipping costs to the extreme. Often it is a sign that the seller is either misinformed, unwilling to ship or a weirdo. In case of the two former, a simple message may solve the problem. Can't do much about the third one, so it is all about finding a different seller.

Yes, I think the shipping prices are quite a bit different in the US. Despite the massive cost of living increase in recent years, I can still ship a single medium sized card in a box with proper packaging from the eastern US with a cost of $5-$7 to any buyer in the country using Ground Advantage. Ebay gives sellers a shipping discount so it usually costs me around $4-$6. That includes package tracking, free pickup with your local mail delivery (if you choose to use it) and free insurance up to $100 (even with Ground Advantage).

It isn't all good though... It is a little slower now than it used to be, and some USPS facilities are apparently massively understaffed so if your packages pass through those places they could be held up for a long time.