Ebay marketeers - explain this one?

[Canadoz]

I recently bought a small compact camera that got rave reviews on the internet. The type of camera that professional photographers stick in their pocket on their day off. The online reviews about this camera were awesome.

So I went to Ebay and bought one. Nice camera but then a friend came along an gave me a 3 year old SLR for next to nothing which suited my purpose more than the compact one.

So for the first time ever I put a product (compact camera) up on Ebay auction. Set the price for 75% of its value. I was awaiting of flood of bids.

But not one. Any explain what happened here?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ShamanKing]

Your product isn't in demand hence why no one bids. Also sometimes auction isn't the best for certain items. Your starting bid may be to high. The whole point of an auction is to get buyers to trump each other's offer. Maybe try better images, lower starting bid, or just list it at a higher fixed price with best offer.

 

[Canadoz]

Thanks for those suggestions.

Would that fact that I'm a first time seller be the problem?

 

[DoTheWork]

Thanks for those suggestions.

Would that fact that I'm a first time seller be the problem?

Being a first time seller could have a slight effect, but I believe this would be better sold at a fixed price rather than an auction.
Also, check the "sold items" filter and look at how frequently they are selling. If it's any more than a couple days, it may take a while to sell. Also check the prices they are selling at to see what you can list yours for.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ShamanKing]

First time seller or not, if you have what the cat wants they will come. May I recommend that start your accounting, book keeping, & inventory early.

 

[minivanman]

Here is the problem..... your price is too low. I know a guy.... let's say his name is Enrique..... Enrique puts up a glass top Maytag with no agitator and electric dryer for $380..... 5 weeks later he still has not sold it. I put up the same type glass top Maytag with no agitator with electric dryer for $599..... 5 weeks later I've sold 7 of them. Back 10 years ago on Amazon, we looked up to see what the going prices were for this phone case we had.... $12. We put it up for $29 and sold it within 72 hours. Raise that price, figure in shipping to the price and then put it for a fixed price with FREE shipping. Here is another thing people don't realize about resellers..... we don't sell things within 5 days; especially if you are selling on a platform such as ebay. Resellers can sometimes keep their stuff for months before it sells.

 

[EVMaso]

Thanks for those suggestions.

Would that fact that I'm a first time seller be the problem?

For me this is huge.

A couple of years ago a friend asked me to sell a bunch of his product on Ebay simply because he didn't want to deal with it. Obviously I would get a cut of his sales.

But I had no feedback on Ebay. Especially on Ebay, feedback is huge. Maybe less so for junky little $1-5 items from China that no one cares about if it gets lost, but certainly for a camera that is worth a few hundred $, it is.

So what I did before selling his stuff is to build up my own account. I bought a few items to get buyer feedback, then I sold a few small items get some seller feedback. All perfect btw (seriously if you even get 1 neutral review just start over). From there I proceeded with our plan and was able to execute.

Perhaps you're selling too high? Even with the discount? Check the listings to see the prices that the same camera has sold for in the recent past and see if you're in the ballpark. Factor things in like shipping costs, condition of camera, etc. You might also check your local Craigslist listings and sites like Fred Miranda and DPReview buy and sell forums to see what prices people are selling your compact for. Ebay will be a bit cheaper than those sites because on private forums there is more of a trust factor there.

Another thing is the market for cameras. Photography is my hobby and I follow up with industry news daily.

The camera market is seeing a titanic shift happening over the course of a few years. Compacts are getting cannibalized by smartphone sales, since the current generation of high-end smartphones are doing some pretty crazy things with their photography capabilities, and it's only going to get better. It really might be the case that no one wants it unless it's for cheap.

If you give the exact make and model of your compact camera I could probably tell you more and give you a ballpark of what I think it should go for.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Canadoz]

For me this is huge.

A couple of years ago a friend asked me to sell a bunch of his product on Ebay simply because he didn't want to deal with it. Obviously I would get a cut of his sales.

But I had no feedback on Ebay. Especially on Ebay, feedback is huge. Maybe less so for junky little $1-5 items from China that no one cares about if it gets lost, but certainly for a camera that is worth a few hundred $, it is.

So what I did before selling his stuff is to build up my own account. I bought a few items to get buyer feedback, then I sold a few small items get some seller feedback. All perfect btw (seriously if you even get 1 neutral review just start over). From there I proceeded with our plan and was able to execute.

Perhaps you're selling too high? Even with the discount? Check the listings to see the prices that the same camera has sold for in the recent past and see if you're in the ballpark. Factor things in like shipping costs, condition of camera, etc. You might also check your local Craigslist listings and sites like Fred Miranda and DPReview buy and sell forums to see what prices people are selling your compact for. Ebay will be a bit cheaper than those sites because on private forums there is more of a trust factor there.

Another thing is the market for cameras. Photography is my hobby and I follow up with industry news daily.

The camera market is seeing a titanic shift happening over the course of a few years. Compacts are getting cannibalized by smartphone sales, since the current generation of high-end smartphones are doing some pretty crazy things with their photography capabilities, and it's only going to get better. It really might be the case that no one wants it unless it's for cheap.

If you give the exact make and model of your compact camera I could probably tell you more and give you a ballpark of what I think it should go for.

Thanks for that comprehensive answer...yeah maybe my Ebay ID has no cred...anyway its a Ricoh GRII

 

[EVMaso]

Thanks for that comprehensive answer...yeah maybe my Ebay ID has no cred...anyway its a Ricoh GRII

The Ricoh GR series is a very specialized camera for a very specific shooter (street shooter). It's not a camera that the average joe will want to take with him as an "every day" camera since it's quite limited for general purposes.

The GRIII was released quite recently. Most people who are looking for this specialized camera will probably be taking a long hard look at just getting the GRIII because it has a lot of new technology in it that is probably worth the extra money (image stabilization, more megapixels, more dynamic range, USB charging, touch screen, better autofocus etc.).

Furthermore, the type of photographer that would want this camera probably already have GRIIs (or their equivalent from competitors) and are looking to upgrade to the GRIII, and thus offloading their GRIIs, so there's probably a lot of them floating out there.

A quick look on Ebay, Amazon, Adorama, and B&H shows that new GRIIs still sell for $400-$500 USD. Used ones sell for $300-$400 on trusted sites, the latest ones on Ebay from randoms sold for $200-$300.

If I had a GRII and I wanted to offload it, I would try and sell it for somewhere between $200-$300 (depending on condition, I have no idea how used your GRII is) and just call it a day instead of worrying about trying to squeeze an extra $100 or so from it.

 

[Canadoz]

The Ricoh GR series is a very specialized camera for a very specific shooter (street shooter). It's not a camera that the average joe will want to take with him as an "every day" camera since it's quite limited for general purposes.

The GRIII was released quite recently. Most people who are looking for this specialized camera will probably be taking a long hard look at just getting the GRIII because it has a lot of new technology in it that is probably worth the extra money (image stabilization, more megapixels, more dynamic range, USB charging, touch screen, better autofocus etc.).

Furthermore, the type of photographer that would want this camera probably already have GRIIs (or their equivalent from competitors) and are looking to upgrade to the GRIII, and thus offloading their GRIIs, so there's probably a lot of them floating out there.

A quick look on Ebay, Amazon, Adorama, and B&H shows that new GRIIs still sell for $400-$500 USD. Used ones sell for $300-$400 on trusted sites, the latest ones on Ebay from randoms sold for $200-$300.

If I had a GRII and I wanted to offload it, I would try and sell it for somewhere between $200-$300 (depending on condition, I have no idea how used your GRII is) and just call it a day instead of worrying about trying to squeeze an extra $100 or so from it.

Yes, sound advice I was charging $430 which maybe was a bit too steep. And yeah maybe the newer GRIII might have caused a glut in the market for GRIIs!

But I'm also not forgetting what @minivanman said. I've heard similar stories also about price increases helping to sell a product!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[EVMaso]

Yes, sound advice I was charging $430 which maybe was a bit too steep. And yeah maybe the newer GRIII might have caused a glut in the market for GRIIs!

But I'm also not forgetting what @minivanman said. I've heard similar stories also about price increases helping to sell a product!

You can try and sell it for max price, but you might be holding on to it for a while. Meanwhile every day that passes its value drops further and further. After 1 year when new camera tech comes out it will be worth even less since the industry moves so damn fast these days.

Have you considered keeping it? It's quite different from the DSLR your friend gave you. Also street shooting is fun and if the hobby takes you can still get at least $200 personal value from it.

Either way, good luck!

 

[Canadoz]

Have you considered keeping it? It's quite different from the DSLR your friend gave you. Also street shooting is fun and if the hobby takes you can still get at least $200 personal value from it.

I actually have. Takes amazing shots but very quirky settings. It's the type of camera where if there was an amazing electrical storm in the sky by the time the settings would be applied and adjusted - the storm would be over!