[Milsurplus] Scarce Items and the Coming Demise of Ebay "Hobby" Selling.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 9:04 AM, Don Merz <n3rht at yahoo.com> wrote:
> This gets more to the point. We sellers have become so addicted to getting exhorbitant sums for our gear through eBay that now we think "shipping costs" are the problem. Not exactly. Shipping costs are half the problem. The other half is that we sellers sneer at hamfest pricing. Well, thanks to shipping cost increases, hamfest pricing is back.
>
> To the buyer, it's a zero-sum game. He pays the same high total cost as he ever paid on ePay. The difference is that half of what he pays now goes for shipping. That chunk used to be 10-20%. So the seller realizes 30-40% less on his items. This is bad news for people who bought gear at high prices during the bubble and now need to sell.
>
> If the economy ever gets back to where it was, none of this will make any difference and buyers will be willing to pay eBay prices PLUS the additional shipping cost.

Good to hear from you again, Don -

You make some excellent points. While I don't see a problem with
shipping costs so much (I never feel compelled to buy something
regardless), IMO Ebay has been their own worst enemy in this with
their complex fee structure as well as the need to control everything
the seller does and somehow charge a fee for it. But even before that
- the hassles of shipping existed. Along with the money grubbers who
want to charge $25 to ship a 3 ounce part, you have the buyers who
will spend a lot for something, then piss and moan about using a new
box, good materials, etc to properly protect it. Instead they expect
you to use free packing peanuts from recycling, a used box and
whatever else. So, there is stupidity and 'greed' in one form or
another on both sides.

'Hamfest' pricing in the true sense of the word has always represented
to me the fact that no shipping is required, but the audience is also
considerably smaller, hence what many consider more realistic pricing.
Even that has changed due to the ebay effect, with the sellers who
claim "I can easily get that on ebay" for their $2000 75A-4. My
question is always 'then why are you here?'.

Even when/if the economy gets back to something like it once was, I
doubt you'll see the prices experienced in the past decade. There just
isn't the demand now that existed then. We're not bringing in enough
new blood, and those that are joining don't have the nostalgia for the
old gear that many here carried from their early days. Though there
will always be a market for some of the more esoteric or
low-production/NIB items, the more common stuff like FRC-93/KWM-2As
and such have been on their way down for a while, now. The vast
majority have 'gotten theirs' by now thanks to ebay and the 'net in
general.

Considering how tiny the sliver of the population is interested in
radio, then old radio, then old military or ham radio, well....anyone
foolish enough to think they were going to retire off their
'investments' might want to look into a second job. Just selling off
the excess projects here has been a chore in recent years.


~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4