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  1. #1
    wannabescrapper started this thread.
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    Question Is it just me or is ebay awful now?

    Many years ago(10+), I used ebay quite a bit and did pretty well with it. I just sold a spectrum analyzer on it for $260 CAD last week and it cost me $41+ in fees. They charged me 12.9% on the sales tax the buyer paid as well. They charged me $1.19 extra because the buyer didn't live in Canada. After spending hours getting the thing ready to sell, they wouldn't allow me to just say the shipping is the actual cost plus $10 for packing materials. My options were whatever the shipping calculator chose or a flat rate but how can I give a flat rate when I don't know the address of who is buying it? Anyhow, in the end it was a huge hassle and yes, it was better than the scrap price but I never got to see what was inside of it and that's worth something.

    So is it just me? Is there an ebay alternative?


  2. #2
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    I buy off eBay, but I wouldn't be interested in selling on eBay as it is jumping through hoops and such. The truth of eBay is that it wants to be more like Amazon and such and have the BIG sellers selling their many of each Buy It Nows. And for the smaller sellers there is a class line between them and the BIG sellers.

    I see most small sellers believing that you have to spend/loose some money before you make any.

    I would greatly enjoy selling some of the things I want rid of on eBay, but I realize that selling on eBay is a FULL TIME job in that you get out what you put in. Some are very good at getting things that sell well at a price where they can make something that is worth the time and energy.

    With eBay it's a great place for buyers, but it's a class struggle with selling.

    There are many cheaper ways of postage and handling and deals that eBay gives their "special sellers".

    I tell most that ask me about selling on eBay that it's best that they don't if they are not ready for the TIME and effort required. And you need plenty of clean space dedicated for eBay things.

    Just my 2 Indian Head cents.

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  4. #3
    wannabescrapper started this thread.
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    Yeah, it's definitely an acquired taste as far as selling goes. My mom used to do well on it but quit about 7 years ago and then just sold on Facebook until she passed away. Our problem is that we live in a remote area and none of the locals want to buy 40 satellite receivers. lol

  5. #4
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    I have a 20+ years old account and I sold there, but I stopped years ago. I only go there to buy specific items in last resort and I only buy from Western Hemisphere (mostly North American only with some European exceptions) sellers. I totally fed up with the Chinese sellers. FeeBay always finds new way to get things worse and they don't care about salvaging their ship wreck. Amazon, their shipping cost chart is not good for smaller buys and it is not easy to screen good/bad sellers and to easily avoid the Chinese dropsellers. It seems that Facebook Marketplace is okay, but I am happy with the choice that I closed all my social medias. There's also some free classified sites such as Kijiji or Craigslist. Freecycle may also work well in BC, but it is not too popular here.
    NEW TO SCRAPPING? READ THIS: Build up your horde of magnetic and non-magnetic metals in two piles until you have a better understanding of the business. Magnetic material has low value and is mostly always steel / shred / short iron. Read old threads about non-magnetic metals and ewaste (and how to sort them), but don't forget that they generally have absolutely no tolerance for contamination (screw / iron / foreign material).

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  7. #5
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    Jun 15, 1998 for me and gave it up for good five years ago, just logged into my account and was greeted with this message. No way i would sign up fr that option.

    Was a power seller three times declining the fourth invite, too many emails rooting me on - a lot of hype.

    I have plenty more to say about my experience, I'll save it for the book I'm planning to write.

    Would not go back even if they offered me a $10,000.00 sign up bonus.





    '
    Last edited by alloy2; 04-19-2022 at 11:33 PM.

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  9. #6
    wannabescrapper started this thread.
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    Yeah I can't stand the social media game. I use Whaleshares and that is it except I have Facebook for my business to have a page. It is very weird that I say on there several times to not send messages on Facebook as I don't check it and to call or email but when I do log in there are often messages.

    I have an auto response that says I don't respond to Facebook messages but they still leave them and don't call or email. Seems crazy to me.

    Whaleshares is a bit harder to get used to but is uncensored and decentralised so nobody can kick you off if they don't like what you say. It's a blockchain ecosystem that rewards people with a tradeable cryptocurrency called WLS. It's not worth a lot though. I just really like it there.

  10. #7
    wannabescrapper started this thread.
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    Well I'm glad it isn't just me then. There's gotta be a better way, right? It seems like most people are not happy just doing well. They need to dominate everything.


  11. #8
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    there another platform that can sell gold scrap? (not only in ebay)
    thank you


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