[sdiy] OT : Ebay (wow ! very long)

[jbv]

rextanka at earthlink.net :

> Sure it is.  I'm not a US citizen (though I am a resident here) and I refuse
> to sell to people outside of the US.  It really has nothing to do with
> "where I'm from", doing business with people outside of the US is a pain in
> the behind.

Sorry, but I still think you're quite wrong on this, and I can prove it.

But at first I'd like to point out a couple of things :
1) I don't want to start another endless sterile thread about eBay, similar
to the usual & sterile "Mac vs PC" that clutters so many lists (although
IMO Mac is better than PC ! he he he... just teasing). If anyone gets
bothered by this discussion, I'll stop immediately.
2) there's absolutely NO anti-american feeling behind this discussion
3) I don't work for eBay, nor for Paypal, nor for Western Union, nor for
any other company mentioned below

Now the facts.

At least 5 or 6 times during the 90's I've bought myself some gear in L.A.
(at West L.A. Music actually, on Santa Monica Blvd), and not small one :
ADATs, speakers, Sound Designer boards & boxes... It took only 1 or 2
phone calls (and less than 20 min) with a local company (I still have the
invoices and could easily retrieve the name) to arrange a shipment to France.
And don't tell me this kind of service isn't available to individuals.
Satisfied by this company's service, I also used them to ship to France
some gear I bought 2nd hand from a friend with a home studio in L.A.

The problem with shipping has mostly to do with what you ship.
Fragile & odd-shaped items such as vintage analog synths are obvious
exceptions. But today, most electronic gear, when sold new, is packed in
sturdy cardboard boxes tailored for shipping. Just keep the box safely,
and use it when selling the gear later.
Anyway, my original remark dealt with electronic parts (ICs, trannies...).
As for electrical protection & packing, safety measures are identical if
you ship from NYC to Chicago, to L.A., to Monteral, to Paris, Tokyo
or Berlin. The only difference when shipping abroad (via postal service)
is the small customs sheet that you have to fill & stick on the parcel (which
takes about 30 sec).

As for payments, everywhere banks charge huge fees for money orders &
checks in a foreign currency and on a foreign bank. But there are workarounds.
For payments below $50 / $80, I ask buyers to send US $ cash well concealed
in a registerd letter. So far I've received about 450 such payments (about 70%
came from USA) and NEVER met any problem. Some buyers even send cash
in non-registerd Global Priority Airmail enveloppes, which seems to be slightly

cheaper & faster than regular registered mail.

Now for payments above $80 / $100 :
IMOs from Japan are very efficient : they reach France in less than 7 days.
According to my experience, SWIFT tranfer between banks (USA -> France
or France -> USA) takes no more than 48 hrs, and fees are lower than for
money orders / checks in US $.
Western Union is a very efficient service (at least here in France). In my
small
city, the local correspondent is the post office (300 m from where I live), and

it doesn't take more than 10 minutes to fill a form and get the money at their
counter. I usually pack & take the item with me, so that I can ship it at the
same
time as I get the $$$, and thus make only 1 trip to the P.O.
As for Paypal, it is true than they charge about 3% on incoming payments.
But what is 3% in regard to the incredible hassle-free service they offer to
buyers & sellers, and therefore the huge boost of sales it means for sellers ?
In other words : what are 3% charge, when the final auction price is increased
by 100% (or 200%, 300% or even 500% at times - these are actual figures
based on 2 years of eBay experience, and the result of 2 combined parameters :
selling worldwide & offering Paypal) ?

As for extra fees for buyers :
Some collectors are ready to pay a fortune for an item, and don't worry paying
additional fees for sending payment. So many times I got emails from winning
bidders from Japan, Korea, Canada... saying :"thank you so much for auctioning
that item : I've been looking for it for 12 years !"
But this represent only 10% of auction winners. When final price gets quite
high
(say above $100 for a vinyl LP), here's what I do (if bidder doesn't want to
use Paypal) : I ask payment to be sent via Western Union, and I offer the
difference between W.U. fees and fees for sending the same amount in a
regular registered letter. Of course, I loose $6 to $12. But here's what I gain
:
- I make another happy customer
- I get terrific positive feedback
- I get payment 12 hrs (average) after end of auction
- buyer gets his item only 7 days (average) after the end of auction
- and last but not least : I get a new satisfied customer that will keep
checking
my future auctions at least once a week, who will keep bidding on my
auctions, and sometimes will recommend me as a seller to his friends...

> The fact of the matter is that the US has a population of 250,000,000
> people, so it's likely that the 0.001% of those who'd be interested in the
> somewhat esoteric musical things I've sold on ebay will be inside the US.
> And it's easier for me to stipulate that I only want to sell within the
> country.

Sorry, but IMHO you couldn't be more wrong.An old friend of mine had an
impressive collection of obscure prog-rock LPs
from the early 70's, as well as minimal synth LPs & 7" from the 80's.
For the last 10 years, every sunday he was trying to get rid of them on local
records fairs (which means he had to wake up at 5:00 am, drive 200 km,
carry huge loads of vinyl, etc.). But even for a few bucks, no one would buy
them. Last year I put some of them on eBay, and final prices reached $100 to
$250 each. And buyers were from Japan, Korea, Brazil, Spain, Germany,
USA, Canada...
Please note that my example also concerns "esoteric musical things"...

>
>
> I think the bottom line is that most people use ebay to get rid of things
> that are surplus to requirements, they don't make a living from it, and they
> don't want hassle.  I think that more than anything explains why many
> sellers don't want to deal with international shipping, money, and the grief
> that goes along with it.

Sorry, but you're wrong again. According to recent interviews I've read
inmagazines & on the net (economists, eBay managers...) and some local
examples I know very well, online auctions aren't online yard sales anymore
(this was perhaps true in the early years 96-97). More & more ppl are quitting
their jobs and make a living from online auctions. Even more ppl make money
with eBay as a complement to their salary (with less than 1 hr of work daily).
In France only, I know about 5 records sellers who have completely shifted
their activity from shop + records fairs to eBay.

> I think writing Americans off because of this is
> kind of dumb.


I don't think so. I think there's a cultural thing about most Americans to
consider the outside world as a potential source of hassles (especially in
bizness), and nothing is done to facilitate bizness beyond borders.
IMHO that's why you meet so many difficulties with bank fees, shipment,
etc.
And also : if you forget the idea that online auctions are no more than a
hi-tech yard sale or trash collector, but a kind of online trade forum, full
of worldwide educated, honnest, efficient buyers & sellers, brand new
horizons will open in front of your delighted eyes...

And there's plenty more to say about online auctions, cultural differences,
etc. The above isn't exhaustive and only scratches the surface...

JB