John Austin wrote:
>From: Gary Schloss <schloss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>[snip]
>>My negative opinion on eBay auctions is well known.
>
>
>Hi Gary,
>
>You've obviously stated this before, but for us newbies, what is your
>negative opinion of eBay auctions and why? Thanks.
What?! Everyone will be bored to death if I keep repeating myself,
especially moi! Why do you think I gave up on my lucrative (yeah,
right...) teaching career? ;-)
Anyway, based on extensive observation (and very minor dabbling --
I bid on a few items once or twice), I find eBay an unattractive
place to conduct business, especially for a prospective buyer.
First, the (virtual) place is poorly equipped (slow servers, low net
bandwidth, no mirror sites), unadequately staffed (there is little
or no customer service), and the owners/managers hide behind a wall
of anonymity.
Second, the rules are obviously stacked to provide better protection
to the sellers -- not really a surprise, since sellers foot the bill
for the auction. Yet, an occasional buyer may easily be fooled into
a false(?) sense of security. Furthermore, there is no mechanism for
resolving conflicts, and no uniform grading system of gear condition.
eBay draws a large number of participants, hence the market seems
fairly efficient, i.e. there are very few bargains. In fact, I find
that some bidders are easily drawn into the competitive aspect of
the auction, thereby causing unwarranted price inflation.
Finally, the bidding itself can be time consuming, as many players
try to bid at the very last moment, severely straining eBay's already
stretched to the limit infrastructure. (To emphasize, the above is
strictly IMHO -- your mileage may vary.)
OTOH, I believe that eBay can be a very decent place to SELL gear,
although my impression is that top-quality but somewhat obscure stuff
like OM/Zuiko (it is sad, I know -- but we have to face the cruel
reality) can be easily overlooked, unless the seller does a really
good job promoting/marketing it.
I have yet to try selling anything myself on eBay, so fellow Zuiks
who are no longer "eBay virgins" are hereby encouraged to share their
carnal knowledge with the rest of us. Soooo, any "eBay tarts" out
there? :-)
Good luck to all -- bidders or sellers,
/Gary Schloss.
Studio City, CA
schloss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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