more like e-boring

[cjefferys]

I haven't lucked out on a good deal in months. Gotta start looking harder I guess.

[mikeMc5]

agreed, ebay is dull nowadays. December to february is good, rest of the year is a crapshoot. Out of boredom/curiousity I slummed around craigslist typing in faraway cities looking for mego for sale...

[vulcan2074]

I haven't lucked out on a good deal in months. Gotta start looking harder I guess.

Same here. All we can do is try.
Sammy

[Adam West]

I haven't seen anything wonderful show up on Ebay and I'm not even talking about hidden auctions. I have found a few items that I have been looking for at other auction houses, but more of the exception than the rule.

[The Megomaniac]

I've found it boring in a way the last few years.
Seems to me that when I started doing eBay about 7-8 years ago, there was more personality in the auctions. People weren't afraid to use humor, or be informative, or tell a story about the items they're selling.

you could tell the item was being sold by "just a guy/girl" selling stuff at home for extra cash. Now it seems like every auction is just "here it is", seems too much like everybody does it as a business and it doesn't have that fun feeling of people connecting through the passing of a loved item to somebody else who's going to appreciate it.

having said that, I'm just as guilty as anybody else for being boring these days. "Here's the t-shirt, Here's the measurements, here's the description" blah. I used to make decent money on my old raggedy punk tee's because I'd actually talk up the fact that it had a hole in the arm pit, bleach spots etc, because "hell its a punk tee!" not some mall store bought perfect condition tee.

Or maybe I'm a little drunk and Ive completely misunderstood this thread and should get off the internet tonight.

Ah yes, the "good old" days. Ebay was a real treasure hunt in the last half of the `90s. People had really just started the process of emptying out their closets and attics on a national scale. Ebay was fun for selling, not a means of stay-at-home income. And on the buying side, we had dial-up internet and there was no such thing as a sniper program for bidding. I remember setting my alarm clock so I could wake up and try to bid at the end of an auction closing at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. You had to log on with plenty of time before it closed just in case the phone connection failed and you had to restart the computer. Then you had to refresh the screen a dozen times and get ready to bid with at least half a minute left, just to see your bid hit in the last few seconds. I remember losing out on a gorgeous window boxed Frankenstein because I waited until 20 seconds remained in the auction and my bid never registered. Those were the days. Did I mention we had to walk ten miles to the post office in heavy snow...

[4NDR01D]

And on the buying side, we had dial-up internet. I remember setting my alarm clock so I could wake up and try to bid at the end of an auction closing at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. You had to log on with plenty of time before it closed just in case the phone connection failed and you had to restart the computer. Then you had to refresh the screen a dozen times and get ready to bid with at least half a minute left, just to see your bid hit in the last few seconds.

I've only had high speed internet for the last 4 years. Good Grief, was dial up a total pain in the rear. But yeah, actually seemed more exciting then. I think way more sellers/buyers prefer the BIN's these days also, which means the prices are set higher and it's "if you want it, pay what I'm asking or I'll just relist it until somebody finally just gives in".

[Funkyterrance]

The last two posts sound like the way it should be. The people who wanted the items more and went the extra mile were the ones who got the good finds. Now ebay is more or less a store than a marketplace. With sniping and auto correcting searches anyone with a wad of credit can just swoop in and take what they want, anytime they want. Lets imagine a real life scenario where lottery winners send little electronic boxes to all the live auction events in the country they were interested in and a timer automatically bid their absolute ceiling offer just at the moment the auctioneer says : "going three times!". The kicker is that no one else can counter at this point. The auction has been won by an absentee bidder who is floating on a Budweiser pool float somewhere while the actual attendees to the auction curse the whole establishment. Sounds like fun?
Sniping has taken all the class out of game. E-Boring!

[Adam West]

Sniping can be corrected if Ebay wanted to fix it; they just choose not to fix it. Some of the other auction sites I have bid on have extended bidding. The rules are different for each one but one that I remember distinctly is that an initial bid (during regular bidding) had to be placed to participate in extended bidding. Once the extended bidding began; you have 20 minutes to enter another bid. The clock restarts for an additional 20 minutes each time someone places a bid until no additional bids come in. If no one bids again during extended bidding, high bidder at the end of the regular auction wins.

[toys2cool]

yea I remember those old days on ebay, I was such an idiot...I used it more for selling and didn't use it as much for investment...I should've been more into the vintage stuff

best thing to ever happen to ebay though has been High speed internet and the Buy it now option

[palitoy]

It's not just you, we monitor the clicks to ebay and wow, this month has been one of decline.

I blame a number of factors:
1) I'm broke, that's a personal one but i'm probably not alone.
2) The "Traderbynature" BS really makes me apathetic.
3) Keyword spam- Jeezy Petes it's getting out of hand, I'm not talking the guy that lists an AHI figure and includes "Tomland, Mego, Lincoln" I don't have a problem with that. I'm talking about the guy who puts a sideshow figure up and includes "Tomland, Lincoln, Mego", no correlation, not even the same era.
4) Lack of "wow factor" items. I go to ebay not only to shop but to window shop things I'll never own but like looking at. There just hasn't been anything too exciting right now, it's just the endless parade of the same (IMO overpriced) items by "landlcollectibles" and the like.

Hopefully things pick up, I keep looking for interesting items and deals but wow, things are dry.