Thank God MovieArt does not depend on ebay for our living. We do
quite well with customers who want service, authenticity
and help. We don't expect this to be everyone, but we have some
great customer who appreciate what it is we offer.
I do think that at every turn ebay has made it harder for sellers,
made the feedback system dysfunctional, took the fun
out of seeing who is bidding on what, and simply at every turn shown
contempt for the sellers' process.
We put a few things on there and buy a few more. But we are not
hurting because of anything ebay has done or not done. If
they were to disappear tomorrow, I wouldn't give a damn. Bruce's new
auction site is just as good in terms of process as ebay.
I prefer the beat the clock system, but I can live without it.
Ebay appears to be more interested in selling washing machines than
collectibles.
Kirby McDaniel
www.movieart.net
On Jun 9, 2008, at 8:58 PM, Bruce Hershenson wrote:
Claude
I think you read more into my post than I intended. eBay WAS
wonderful to most of us, and of course, it was especially so to me,
both as a buyer and a seller. But my point was that the eBay of NOW
is a far cry from the eBay in terms of selection.
You certainly are a very atypical collector, not only in that you
can afford whatever you want, but also in that you have almost
everything you want. Many collectors still have lots and lots they
would like to buy, and many have limited budgets, and the beauty of
eBay was that it let them constantly look at many thousands of
interesting items, many of which were within even the most limited
budget.
I don't find that true of the eBay of now, and I don't blame the
sellers, I fully blame eBay for their poor policy decisions that
have both run off some sellers completely, and have made it
unprofitable for many sellers who used to love selling inexpensive
items to start those items low.
In my auctions, I try to bring the fun back to movie poster
collecting. Fully one-third of the 330,000 items I auctioned on
eBay sold for less than $9.99 each, and while only a tiny number of
them are of interest to advanced collectors like yourself, there
are tens of thousands of collectors who DO find lots to interest
them, and they like the many bargains they regularly get on lesser
items.
As to the time-extended feature, I find it interesting that a few
of the more affluent collectors such as yourself say you won't use
it because you don't have time for it, or don't want to get chipped
away, and a few of the less affluent collectors say they won't use
it because they are constantly outbid by more affluent collectors!
If the time-extended feature is bad, then the results will go lower
and lower, as more and more people refuse to bid in these auctions.
But as the results go lower and lower, doesn't that mean there will
be lots of great buys, which will attract more and more bidders?
Let's just see what happens!
As to my buying on eBay, I did not quit BUYING cold turkey, I quit
SEARCHING cold turkey, because it no longer was worth the 5 to 10
hours a week I spent on it. But I still buy pretty regularly, often
after learning about the items from MoPo posts.
Bruce
On Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 3:48 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Bruce
The picture you paint has some interesting details but it is not as
dark as you paint it. Life changes and you have to go with it.
Before I get into eBay, let's talk posters in general. When I
began poster collecting you were selling at Christies and also
auctions in which you sent out flyers and we had to call in to buy
items. Most of the time I was told that what I wanted was sold.
These were dark days and there weren't many places to get posters.
Movie Collectors World would arrive by overnight mail to my home
and I would spend an hour or more with a magnifying glass and then
frantically call to find out that what I wanted was sold. We
really had no clue as to what was rare and valuable and what was
fairly common. Ebay changed all of that. The auctions allowed me
to really add to my collection. I am fortunate in that I can
afford to buy pretty much what I want and I saw a lot that I
wanted. As time passed more and more people arrived on the scene
and we found out what really was scarce and what was fairly
common. The cream has risen to the top. You applauded ebay and
established yourself very well. All of us went into buying
frenzies at the beginning because we thought we were obtaining rare
items. In many cases we did, and many times we did not. I bought
many only to find out they are plentiful in supply. I bought many
posters on ebay and most are worth much more today but many will
never reach what I paid for them. (I am thankful for the ones that
turned out well as they outnumber the others) Basically, ebay's
arrival was tremendous and I will always be thankful it arrived.
Packing was a problem and still is especially because I buy plaster
fragile plaster statues. However, I have overcome this problem
(and with everything I buy including posters). I email the seller
and discuss packing before I pay. I never pay until I obtain a
reply from a seller that I have no experience with. When the item
is fragile and valuable I ask them to take it to a UPS store where
it will be packed by professionals and I pay a little more. It is
well worth it and I have been fully satisfied ever since. Every
seller has listened to my suggestions for packing and I have not
had a damaged item (due to packing) in quite a while.
Ebay does not enforce categories and I just recently complained on
mopo about Ricksmovie who is flooding the US originals 1940's
category with 70"s posters. However, this does not mean I will
stop looking. I have noticed a pattern to Ricks listings so I
quickly pass it by. We just have to learn to ignore these things so
they don't get the better of us. There is no question that ebay
does not care but it is still a very important venue to obtain
items for my collection.
Now for today: I used to spend approximately $30-75,000 per year
on ebay and auctions. This has dwindled down to approximately
$15-20,000. This is not because ebay has become bad. It is
because I have bought almost every poster that I ever wanted. As
the years have come and gone I have filled the roster with my
wants. Just as Michael always publishes his want list on mopo, I
have a want list also. However, it has gotten very small and no
matter how bad ebay has gotten, I will be there if I find one I am
seeking. For example, a few weeks ago I picked up a one sheet of
Rose of Washington Square. I have been trying to get this poster
for many, many years. There have been no Chans for auction (that I
do not own) for a long time. My sci-fi collection wants are
approximately 5 posters and I recently was outbid on one I was
waiting for. However, there will be another one, one of these days.
My point is that we have all been collecting a long time and our
collections are pretty full. I have over 300 posters framed in my
home and in my office with virtually no wall space left for
posters. (My wife only allows me to hang them in our finished
lower level and not in the main part of the house). My office is
saturated and that is where I hang the three sheets). I search
ebay 15 minutes each morning and 15 minutes each night. I do this
even when away, as I did this weekend when I was in Missouri. (Had
I more time I would have called on you Bruce, but I was only there
2 days.)
I have a huge collection of plaster big head statues of mainly
movie stars. My collection which is over 300 was accumulated over
the last 11 years on ebay. However, I rarely buy one these days
and it is not because I do not want to do so. There are very few
out there that I do not own. So-------finding rare ones takes much
more time and I spend less money.
I also do not want to buy any poster over $2,000 unless I want to
display it. It makes no sense to throw it in a drawer. Therefore,
unless I love it and am willing to take a poster down (which I also
love) then there is no sense in buying more.
Summing up, there is no question that I detest ebay's attitude,
their inane changes, just for the sake of change, and their
constant attempt to milk more money out of sellers. However, I
have no intentions of "Packing it in and quit buying on ebay cold
turkey" to use your language. That would be cutting off my nose to
spite my face.
Hope this answers your question Bruce and hope you quit your time
extended auctions also. Allow sniping and you shall prosper.
Claude
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