I understand some users do this for a living, so of course they gotta make a profit, but coming across some of the prices, esp $60.00 for a commander series figure, that was available no less than a year or so ago, is kinda pushing it in my opinion. Am I just cheap or do others share this view?.

 

I agree, but its not just on Ebay I find it on Amazon. I try to get a Generations figure like Drift or Jazz and I can't find them cheaper then double the price. Heck I thought Ebay would be my saving grace for Sky Lynx but no people are asking triple.

Its just people trying to make a profit and taking advantage of desperate folks.

 

Well, yeah, because all the reasonably priced stuff gets sold.   But non-jokingly, I find good priced TFs here and there, but yeah most you find is jacked up and not worth it.

 

Ok, ok...I get it. We all hate scalpers.
Your statement is a bit extreme, don't you think?

If this was some product critical to survival like food, water, handguns, hand guns, toilet paper, etc...you might have a point.

Guys, we vote with out wallets. If the price is too high, don't buy it.




(yes, I'm kidding about the handguns)

 

Quite a few actually, namely anything Masterpiece.

 

As already posted, if you don't like the price don't pay it. It's mostly about supply and demand obviously. If it's plentiful it's cheap. If they're aren't many, you're going to pay more for the convenience of buying it on ebay since you didn't find it on the shelf at the store.

 

My personal eBay favorite ad I've mentioned before is when a used figure sells for a higher price then you can order a brand spanking new one online, from say bbts for example.

Yesterday I watched a used Apollyon go for ten bucks more then bbts sells him new.

 

Indeed. In fact if I'm not mistaken, I think even my most recent acquisition of Wei Jiang's OS Prime retails for merely 47 USD in its mainland, but is about 90 USD when imported to the U.S.

I guess Ebay is also more or less the place where desire comes before rationality   People nowadays bid very high on items in order to secure their chances of getting it, as I've witnessed in many followed listings.

 

Yeah and most of them sit on ebay just getting relisted over and over. Really though the aftermarket on certain figures/series is just ridiculous. Be patient enough though and deals can be found. Just have to be quick on the draw when they do pop up.

Found a Gen Eclipse for $9 and change. A tad much for a little targetmaster, but the other alternative was shelling out $20+ for a Gears and Eclipse set, I'm happy to have him in my collection now. You just never know what you'll find on ebay sometimes. My wallet that last 4 months can attest to that.  

 

Mostly, yes.

Especially now so many formerly good buying options in China have gone rogue and are no longer options.

 

I think the two major problems with eBay is that the shipping charges continue to rise and the fees that eBay and Paypal charge.

Say you want to sell a random carded figure on eBay and you just wanted to make your money back, say $15, you would still have to sell that figure for about $25.

$25-$4.75(fees)-$3.45(shipping)=$16.80

The higher you go in price the worse it gets. Say you bought a MP Starscream a year ago at $59.99 plus tax and wanted to sell it for double the price. ($120) You would actually need to sell it for over $160.

$160-$30.40(fees)-$12(shipping)-$64.75(item price)=$52.84 in profit

This is why I don't really buy the scalper theory so much. It's pretty hard to make any kind of living doing this. For the most part, eBay is the one making all the money. While I will agree there are a few people that will list an item for an unbelievable price on Ebay but i think it is because eBay gives you 50 free listings a month and there are some people that will just list an item over and over again just to see if there is someone dumb enough to buy it.

 

you're totally right, some people just price themselves out of getting the sale. My friend and I both sell custom Justice League figures. He's a lot better than I am and obviously should charge more, but he is charging 50 bucks when I am SELLING figures at 15-25. He has stuff on ebay for 9-12 months. yesterday, on ebay I saw a Prime Wheeljack going for 250.00. I emailed the seller asking if he meant that to be the price (Maybe meant to sell it at 25) and he said yes, its a very rare piece. I saw someone listing a G1 headmaster for 2500 bucks in the last month. people think their shit is better than anything so will list it way too high.

On the other side, there are people that do want to sell their stuff. This one guy was listing a Cybertron Optimus Prime that was in amazing condition and complete. he listed it as buyitnow and after 2 cycles it didn't sell. So he listed it with a make an offer, I made a low offer and he knew he couldn't really get more than what I was offering and I have a Cybertron Optimus PRime.

 

Yeah, this is a huge issue.

Several times, I've considered selling on eBay, and then I start doing the math, and I know it is a losing proposition.

I know buyers are like me (because I am a buyer) - they want the figure for retail or less. If I paid retail, that won't happen. And, adding the fees and shipping... suddenly, even if I'm just trying to recoup my funds, it looks like I'm sticking it to the buyer.

 

Hey, I am starting an eBay and amazon toy store. Do you have any ideas on which toys I should sell and how much I should price them for?

 

If I'm hoping to make even $5 on a legends class figure, forget it.
I'd have to price it at $10 to make up for shipping and fees. Unless it's a hard to find one, nobody wants to pay double.

When I first started selling, the fees were like 6%, and there were no fees on the shipping costs. Ebay is become less and less of a viable option to sell figures without losing money on them. Sure, it reaches a larger audience than, say, Craigslist, but as the years have gone on, I've had to relist more and more figures. I've had far more luck on the forums here.

I certainly wouldn't rely on an ebay or Amazon store to turn a major profit.

 

Nope, just like with anything else you need to shop around. Obviously supply and demand dictates prices, if its particularly hard to get a hold of or super popular people will try and get away with charging more.

 

There's also a problem (or solution) of people having no idea what they're selling.

Some people will list something rare as "Transformers robot figure blue" for super cheap, and others will list "Rare original G1 Optimus Prime" that's really a movie verse voyager missing an arm and a smokestack and they're asking a hundred bucks.

 

I only buy deals that I consider good, which is basically within 5 bucks of the original retail price. I've gotten a whole bunch of great figures I was missing for cheap off of eBay. You've just gotta know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em.
Know when to walk away.


I don't know a lot about poker.

 

Is eBay overpriced, or are buyers really cheap? (hey man, I'm also the type to see if he can get something for $1 + Free Shipping)

Really though, the buyer is just seeing 'retail price' while the seller's dealing with eBay fees, shipping, packaging, tape and bubblewrap, maybe tracking/insurance, shipping fees, purchase cost, competitor's prices, going rates, Paypal fees....
Doesn't explain the people who put far too many 0s on the price tag, but there's a lot more going on than "scalping".

 

The Masterpieces and 3rd Parties are annoyingly expensive and the shipping is high on everything.