Price Comparisons

[Tallshrew]

I think we need to keep focus on the price discrepancies here. There is such a huge difference that it does/will affect eBid's reputation.

I have made a commitment to check here first for Christmas shopping stuff. Now my first two checks yielded huge differences in price.

Camera Battery eBid over £17, eBay less than £5
Book eBid over £120, Amazon just over £20.

Yes, but if we agree that price undercutting is worthwhile on many (though not all) items are we looking at undercutting the average price which is fair and realistic but may be like trying to sell a Christmas Tree in a Fir forest or do we undercut the lowest price which is flat-spin-economics and actually often impossible margin-wise unless you're one of those who like paying folk to take your stuff away (they do exist). Therefore, it seems reasonable that those of us wishing to get a fair price should be aiming at using our fees advantage to slightly undercut the average price and hope that it's enough to get us noticed.

Re your examples, speculative pricing is OK - it's all fishing - you can cast worms in a pond you know is full of roach or you can spin for a big pike that may not even be there - it's all fine.

[kreativebargains]

This issue is not exclusive to eBid so I think that as long as there are people selling at a fair price it should not cause any problems. All sites have people asking ridiculous prices.

For example I have a set of 30 postcards entitled 'greetings from a bad girl', When I got them I checked prices to see what I could reasonably charge and was astounded at the difference. I have just checked again and found:

eBay: $9.17, $16.14, $41.50, $62.18 and $82.21

Amazon: £6.46 (used) £13.44 (used), £18.93 and £23.80 (used)

They are listed by me on eBid at £2.99

As you can see the price range is amazing, but there is virtually no chance of some of these sellers getting a sale. All we can do is price our own items competitively and try to get others on eBid to do the same, the more who do the better for us all. But at the end of the day a seller can ask whatever price they like.

[gyronny]

As far as books go, there are several points that can make the difference between a high and low price.
Is it a hardback or paperback?
Is it a first edition or a reprint? Is it UK or USA printing?
There are many other points to take into consideration, condition, signed, etc.
The same book can vary hugely in price because of these points.
i.e a first edition hardback of The Cuckoo's Calling is quite rare and is selling at around £700.00+. A reprint of the same book is pretty much worthless
Another example is A Game of Thrones, 1st UK edition hardback about £800, 1st American edition about £250.
Looking only at the title of a book and the price tells nothing, the details need to be read , they are the most important thing in determining the value.
I do agree with the original post, I've looked for several different things on here lately and have ended up buying in the High Street or Amazon
Like it or not, Amazon pretty much dictates what we smaller fry can sell at. A simple price check before listing your item should give you a guide to price your item at.

[kreativebargains]

It appears there are some on eBay at least who think a race to the bottom is worthwhile. Checking price for a listing last night and found the item on eBay. Most sellers were priced at what I expected, but one was listed at virtually no profit after eBay fees. In this case I know how much he is paying as I checked his other listings and he gets his stock from one of my suppliers. He is getting sales, but is putting an awful lot of work in for hardly any profit. Luckily the lower fees here meant that I could still undercut him slightly and make a profit that makes it worthwhile, though I do like a price bigger difference that is more likely to get the buyers to eBid. At least mine will still be top of the searches on lowest first.

[cdsmith15]

Some very good points. I wasn't suggesting a race to the bottom. Perhaps, rather naively, I was thinking more due to eBid's fee structure that people are initially posting competitively priced listings but are not checking back regularly enough to make sure they are still competitive.

Of course people can decide their own pricing. And as someone already said (sorry forgot to check back before posting) a few pence difference or reasonable postage then I would also buy here.

[kreativebargains]

In an ideal world sellers on eBid would list at a competitive price in the first place then check that their price is still competitive, that is what I try to do. If I have an item that is not moving I might also add a discount for a while.

[squern]

I was looking at books yesterday.
I found one, but didn't buy because of the cost of postage:

£36.00 from the US to the UK.

A standard hardback book.
Postal cost probably less than £10.

All the seller's books were priced the same way.

[zaranvalesasterix]

In general, what I see on ebid is more expensive than the prices on bay. I think on auctions on bay people have been able to start low as normally they can expect it to finish much higher whereas, with the lack of traffic on ebid, the gamble would not pay off. Recently on the sort of things that I look at there has been no rhyme or reason to it, there are some things that get no bids at all and others that seem to fetch a much higher price than they are worth, so I think it has become more of a gamble on the bay of late.
I have a couple of things listed on here, one is much cheaper than can be bought anywhere other than Hong Kong but they are selling regularly on the bay for between £3 and £10 higher than mine. The other one I have listed on bay for £2.50 (inc. postage) more than it is here, it has been listed here for 4 or 5 weeks and on the bay for just the last week and has a dozen watching it. A similar item sold a few weeks ago for £5 more than I have listed it on the bay

[raindropsies]

I sell a wide range of items.

It always stuns me on how certain things are for sale on ebay / amazon / & other sites are much higher than I would think an item is worth simply because it's for a disabled person.

I listed an item on here on Tuesday, (for £18.00 delivered) and the best price I could find elsewhere was £36.50

Yes I sell to make a profit, but it really annoys me when so places simply charge a big 'premium' for disabled items.

[zaranvalesasterix]

I sell a wide range of items.

It always stuns me on how certain things are for sale on ebay / amazon / & other sites are much higher than I would think an item is worth simply because it's for a disabled person.

I listed an item on here on Tuesday, (for £18.00 delivered) and the best price I could find elsewhere was £36.50

Yes I sell to make a profit, but it really annoys me when so places simply charge a big 'premium' for disabled items.

Ah, I was having a discussion with my sister this week on those lines. She used to work for Social Services and arranged to have various things in the office that the carers could take with them to certain people, the one thing that we were talking about was a hairdressing 'sink' type thing that was portable and could be put on the bed so the carer's could wash someones hair. She has recently seen one and I cant remember how much she said it was but it was very expensive.
I said it is similar to vet's bills, now a lot of people have insurance, the vets charge even more for the treatments