[meteorite-list] I thought of an idea on how to get around...

[Richard Kowalski]

Hi Michael,

Everyone here knows I'm no meteorite dealer, but I do have my own business. My web presence does cost me and as the volume or features on my site goes up, so do my costs. I'm sure ebay's costs to provide the same level of service for a larger and larger base of buyers and sellers is significantly larger than it was 10 years ago.

I'd suggest that this alone isn't providing "nothing".

Something just as significant, if not more so, is location. Like it or not, just as in real estate, the three most important things in online selling is location, location, location. Like it or not, eBay provides a central location, a easily remembered and reputable brand name and a huge base of buyers and sellers. Like them or not, their name and location alone provides value.

I'd venture to say that auctioning something at Christie's will bring in more buyers and a higher gavel price than my neighborhood auction house. Even if they both provide the exact level of service and product, I'd expect to pay a higher seller's fees for listing with Christie's because of their name, reputation and location. Wouldn't you?

--
Richard Kowalski
Full Moon Photography
IMCA #1081


--- On Mon, 3/29/10, Michael Blood <mlblood at cox.net> wrote:

> Hi Shawn and all,
>         Actually, I think that would be
> an excellent response to the greed
> Of eBay. If everyone in the meteorite community did that,
> it would get
> The message across to buyers. Of course, it would have to
> be a "sliding
> Scale" application, as the "shipping and handling" charges
> would be
> Perhaps only $5 above  actual shipping cost on some
> items but could
> Go up to hundreds on other items.
>         SCREW EBAY -These dudes are
> making BILLIONS on nothing
> But their automated system. Not one minute of additional
> work or
> Other overhead has been involved in their 8.75% of cost
> sellers premium.
> It isn't as though they have had to hire more help or pay
> higher rent
> Or deal with increased travel expenses or ONE THING - they
> just
> Arbitrarily decided, "hay, we got millions of sellers now
> depending on
> Us - we can start sucking them dry!" and, like the stinking
> credit card
> Banks jerk people around legally. SCREW EBAY.
>         I think this is a splendid
> partial solution.
>         Way to go Shawn.
>         Michael