Am I a bad man ?

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cpt127
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Am I a bad man ?

Post by cpt127 »

Ok, here goes

I recently advertised a watch in the sales corner (C9 Harrison Automatic); I also put it on eBay.
I had no intention of selling it on eBay I was merely using eBay to advertise it. However I have received a lot of criticism for this. So I thought I would open it up for debate, below is my reasoning:

My primary intention is to get the highest price possible for the watch without paying the very high eBay and PayPal fees. I do pay eBay what I consider to be a fair price for using their site to advertise the watch (the insertion fee) however I hope to arrange to sell the watch privately with someone who has contacted me via eBay. Obviously I end the auction and any bids placed are cancelled.

So no one gets hurt and I don’t steal any money. Yes someone may get disappointed if they have bid on the item but no more than if they were out bid by someone. I don’t let the auction finish and then not complete because it hasn’t reached a high enough amount, as has happened in the past. I also do not get friends to bid on an item to increase and bump up the price and if you don’t think people do that then you are very mistaken.
You could argue that eBay get hurt and lose profits, however I would point out that they give you the option to end your auction early and one of the reasons is “the item is no longer for sale” so all I do is use this facility but still pay for the advertising.

Anyway that’s how I see it;
I am sure you will all tell me what a bad man I am and explain the error of my ways to me :(

So it’s over to you

P.S The watch is still available if you want it :D
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Mr Rick
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by Mr Rick »

Ebay allows you to list a "buy it now" price as well as the auction. Why not do that?
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downer
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by downer »

I am sure there are plenty of people doing what you do on ebay. As you say, there are also loads of people shill-bidding and ending items early because they are not satisfied with the price. On top of that there are tons of people trying to sell fake items and some others selling something that does not even exist. Finally, there are those that seek to sell stolen goods.

All-in-all, ebay is a place where buyers have to take care, although the protections offered by paypal have gone some way to provide some comfort.

Personally, I would not do what you do, as it seems to be against the spirit of ebay, and it doesn't sit comfortably with me.

On the other hand, I will not pass moral judgement on you for doing it. :)
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scooter
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by scooter »

Thanks downer

Just what I wanted.

A response to which I can happily type:

Plus One.

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gwells
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by gwells »

i will just say this is one of the reasons why i rarely use ebay any more. i don't like participating in any transaction that isn't fully transparent and above board at every step of the way.
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cpt127
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by cpt127 »

I know there is buy it now but the point is to avoid the high costs
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Clach77
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by Clach77 »

I'm with Downer and Scooter on this one.
Trying not to buy any more watches...
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village
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by village »

Clach77 wrote:I'm with Downer and Scooter on this one.

Me too.

What you do is called fee avoidance and against Ebay's rules. Ending the auction using 'item no longer available for sale' isn't an arguement because the item is for sale.
I've bid on several items over the years that have been withdrawn 'item no longer available for sale' only to miraculously reappear for sale again. It's bloody annoying.
Still,at least you don't schill bid.
If you can read this you are too close to your computer screen....
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Mr Rick
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by Mr Rick »

cpt127 wrote:I know there is buy it now but the point is to avoid the high costs
But in doing so you circumvent the protections provided to the buyer by the eBay/Paypal system. For that reason alone I never make, or accept, offers of 'off line' "buy it now" situations. You may not try to scam me, but the next person might do so. For me it is not worth the risk
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CW C8 Pilot MK I and II, 2011 and 13 FLEs, C5 B of B and Malvern Aviator MK II, C11 MSL MK I, C70 DBR1, C60 and C60 GMT, C9 Harrison, C9 Chrono, C10 Aviator
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My Name Is Pete
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by My Name Is Pete »

Personally speaking, if I was bidding for something on eBay, won the auction and then the seller asks me to pay outside of eBay's system, I would walk away from the deal.

A couple of reasons:-

1) I need to know I'm paying who I think I am (i.e. not someone who's discovered someone's ebay login and password and then sent you their own paypal address).

2) You only have paypal protection (as far as I know) if you conduct your dealings through eBay. If something goes wrong and you don't get your goods, I wouldn't count on getting any of my money back.

I'd rather be safe and scam free than gamble for the sake of a few quid.

But that's just me.
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ianblyth
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by ianblyth »

On here and other watch forums people buy through trust as they don't have eBay/PayPal''s protection and those still work. By doing this you have eroded trust in this forum.

I can understand not wanting to pay PayPals fees but that is the service they pay. Not sure about this. The only thing that comes to mind is some quote from a guy 2,000 years ago.
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by castle »

For my tuppence worth (which I didn't offer on your sales post, but will do here as you have asked), the fact that you have opened about what you are doing and are interested in at least what others think of your actions, perhaps even to the point of working out the morality of your position, it seems unlikely that you are a bad person. That said, personally I wouldn't do what you are doing and would be reluctant to enter into an arrangement with an ebayer who was doing likewise.

A possible useful guide to many moral decisions is to consider how would this go if all parties knew what was going on? This often forces us to look beyond what suits us personally (and let's face it for most of us this is as far as our moral compass guides us) to how others involved view our actions. That's not always to say that they are right and we are wrong, or even that society is the best judge of morality but it does force us to consider things more widely than we would naturally do.
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by poppydoodlesdad »

cpt127 wrote: I recently advertised a watch in the sales corner (C9 Harrison Automatic); I also put it on eBay.
I had no intention of selling it on eBay I was merely using eBay to advertise it. However I have received a lot of criticism for this.
What was the criticism for? Putting on eBay while trying to sell through SC or using eBay only as an advertising tool?

While eBay are obviously not short of a bob or two it does seem to go against the spirit of things and for reasons others have expounded I would not enter into an outside deal. I'd be a bit more concerned of the potential harm the practice might have on the way SC works. Having said that, if people don't want to buy they don't have to.
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mikeodwyer
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by mikeodwyer »

Sorry to be a bit dim here.
Can we put it in context?
What are the fees that ebay and paypal charge?
Thanks
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downer
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Re: Am I a bad man ?

Post by downer »

mikeodwyer wrote:Sorry to be a bit dim here.
Can we put it in context?
What are the fees that ebay and paypal charge?
Thanks
Ebay charge a listing fee based on the starting price. Items over £100 are £1.30

Then they charge a percentage of the final selling price. It is 10% up to a max of £40.

Paypal take a cut of 3.4% (on transactions up to £1,500).

So, selling a £300 watch on ebay will cost in the region of £41.50.....
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