I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

Thanks

TMT

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
...
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?



RE eBay, their attempts at expansion put the auctions on the back seat.
There is also the problems with shipping tools, particularly big stationary
tools. Craig's List seems to be getting a big share of the tools around this
part of the country.

The three Craig's Lists I frequent are full of tools.... and some amazing
deals. On the 24th a "slightly used Unisaw with 52" Beismyer (sic) fence
system, mobile base, and out feed table" showed up for a couple hours...
$300! About a month and a half ago I picked up a Delta 14" bandsaw with
mobile base and fence in near new condition for $450 for my club (NWA)--half
of what Amazon gets for the same saw. A couple weeks ago I picked up 36"
Crescent bandsaw for myself. There's another 36" on there now (older and not
in as good shape as mine) as well as big shapers, molding machines, lathes,
table saws, mortisers, etc. Sad to say, the economy is bad enough that you
could equip a shop with very nice stationary tools for a couple grand if you
watch CL throughout the day and can move fast with cash.

John

On Jun 27, 9:27*pm, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:
"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message

...

I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

RE eBay, their attempts at expansion put the auctions on the back seat.
There is also the problems with shipping tools, particularly big stationary
tools. Craig's List seems to be getting a big share of the tools around this
part of the country.

The three Craig's Lists I frequent are full of tools.... and some amazing
deals. On the 24th a "slightly used Unisaw with 52" Beismyer (sic) fence
system, mobile base, and out feed table" showed up for a couple hours...
$300! *About a month and a half ago I picked up a Delta 14" bandsaw with
mobile base and fence in near new condition for $450 for my club (NWA)--half
of what Amazon gets for the same saw. A couple weeks ago I picked up 36"
Crescent bandsaw for myself. There's another 36" on there now (older and not
in as good shape as mine) as well as big shapers, molding machines, lathes,
table saws, mortisers, etc. Sad to say, the economy is bad enough that you
could equip a shop with very nice stationary tools for a couple grand if you
watch CL throughout the day and can move fast with cash.

John

Impressive buys!

I assume those Craigslist locations are local heavy industrial areas.

Which leaves those who live in the sticks out in the cold.

It would explain the absence of any significant number of tools on
Ebay.

TMT

On Jun 27, 7:00*pm, Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

Thanks

TMT

Are you planning to provide any specifics in regards to what you think
has happened to E-bay?

Jon Banquer
San Diego, CA

On Jun 27, 7:00*pm, Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

Very smart people who earn lots of money redesigned it. It's now the
perfect place for crooks to operate and dangerous as all get out for
new users.

John,
I'm sure craigslist has attributes, but for ease of use and world-wide
coverage, nothing beats eBay. I hate the limitation of locality in the
craigslist construct.
Steve

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in message
m...

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
...
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?



RE eBay, their attempts at expansion put the auctions on the back seat.
There is also the problems with shipping tools, particularly big
stationary tools. Craig's List seems to be getting a big share of the
tools around this part of the country.

The three Craig's Lists I frequent are full of tools.... and some amazing
deals. On the 24th a "slightly used Unisaw with 52" Beismyer (sic) fence
system, mobile base, and out feed table" showed up for a couple hours...
$300! About a month and a half ago I picked up a Delta 14" bandsaw with
mobile base and fence in near new condition for $450 for my club
(NWA)--half of what Amazon gets for the same saw. A couple weeks ago I
picked up 36" Crescent bandsaw for myself. There's another 36" on there
now (older and not in as good shape as mine) as well as big shapers,
molding machines, lathes, table saws, mortisers, etc. Sad to say, the
economy is bad enough that you could equip a shop with very nice
stationary tools for a couple grand if you watch CL throughout the day and
can move fast with cash.

John

I too hate the limitations of the Craiglist search engine so I get
around it by using Google to search craigslist, enter Craigslist into
the google search box and follow with the name or descriptive term for
what you are searching for and you will be searching craigslist
nationwide. Not perfect but it helps a lot.

YMMV

Steve Lusardi wrote:
John,
I'm sure craigslist has attributes, but for ease of use and world-wide
coverage, nothing beats eBay. I hate the limitation of locality in the
craigslist construct.
Steve

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in message
m...
"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
...
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?


RE eBay, their attempts at expansion put the auctions on the back seat.
There is also the problems with shipping tools, particularly big
stationary tools. Craig's List seems to be getting a big share of the
tools around this part of the country.

The three Craig's Lists I frequent are full of tools.... and some amazing
deals. On the 24th a "slightly used Unisaw with 52" Beismyer (sic) fence
system, mobile base, and out feed table" showed up for a couple hours...
$300! About a month and a half ago I picked up a Delta 14" bandsaw with
mobile base and fence in near new condition for $450 for my club
(NWA)--half of what Amazon gets for the same saw. A couple weeks ago I
picked up 36" Crescent bandsaw for myself. There's another 36" on there
now (older and not in as good shape as mine) as well as big shapers,
molding machines, lathes, table saws, mortisers, etc. Sad to say, the
economy is bad enough that you could equip a shop with very nice
stationary tools for a couple grand if you watch CL throughout the day and
can move fast with cash.

John

On Jun 28, 5:42*am, "Steve Lusardi" wrote:
John,
I'm sure craigslist has attributes, but for ease of use and world-wide
coverage, nothing beats eBay. I hate the limitation of locality in the
craigslist construct.
Steve

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in message

m...



"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
...
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

RE eBay, their attempts at expansion put the auctions on the back seat.
There is also the problems with shipping tools, particularly big
stationary tools. Craig's List seems to be getting a big share of the
tools around this part of the country.

The three Craig's Lists I frequent are full of tools.... and some amazing
deals. On the 24th a "slightly used Unisaw with 52" Beismyer (sic) fence
system, mobile base, and out feed table" showed up for a couple hours....
$300! *About a month and a half ago I picked up a Delta 14" bandsaw with
mobile base and fence in near new condition for $450 for my club
(NWA)--half of what Amazon gets for the same saw. A couple weeks ago I
picked up 36" Crescent bandsaw for myself. There's another 36" on there
now (older and not in as good shape as mine) as well as big shapers,
molding machines, lathes, table saws, mortisers, etc. Sad to say, the
economy is bad enough that you could equip a shop with very nice
stationary tools for a couple grand if you watch CL throughout the day and
can move fast with cash.

John

Add to that the response from scammers. I've got a car up on the
Roanoke, VA CL; I've so far had about a dozen nitwits who want to help
me get through the recession because I'm selling an old car I don't
need. I've had only one bite on the car, a tire kicker, what a friend
used to call a "beeback," as in, "I gotta talk to my wife about the
money. I'll be back tomorrow." That's the last you see or hear of the
guy.

As far as I can tell, for heavier stuff, the local papers are still
king. When I'm flipping through camera lenses and such, I use eBay.
Same with old tools, though it does look as if I'll hold on to my two
bit extra braces forever.

As for NMorrison, I'm really curious as to what makes eBay dangerous
for newcomers, say more so than buying at Amazon or some similar
place? I haven't been a newcomer in a long time, so I may be missing
something.

Any place you buy today sets you up for a rip-off, assuming you're not
local and paying cash. Electronic purchasing involves giving sensitive
info to people you don't know, no matter who you're buying from. We're
happy to by from Lee Valley, Rockler's, similar places, because over
the years they've developed excellent reputations, and we can be
fairly certain they're not going to deal sloppily with our IDs. The
same goes for B&H Photo, Adorama Photos, and a few others, but, in
general, we know next to nothing about people from whom we buy on-
line, through the mail or over the phone. All of it puts us at risk.

Today, it's essential to pay attention to the seller's reputation,
even more so than in the past.

So why is eBay any more dangerous, and why, specifically, for
newcomers?

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:42:11 +0200, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

I hate the limitation of locality in the
craigslist construct.

I am not familiar with Craigslist, so I can't compare, but Ebay also
has considerable locality issues.
--
RoRo

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

Thanks

TMT

I generally search ebay within 500 miles of home (Orlando, Fl) for big
tools and the supply has varied up an down over the 10 years I have been
using ebay. The supply of big tools (lathes, mills, shapers, etc) is
pretty good right now. However, the 3 closest historically big ebay
machinery sellers are starting to post a lot of things on craigslist.
Prices are better now than since about 2004-5.

For smaller stuff (inserts, endmills) the supply is still there, but
prices seem pretty steep. A lot of the sellers are using ebay as their
online mail order catalog, no bargains. Exceptions exist, there is a
surplus guy about 15 miles from me who deals in electronic test
equipment. He gets occasional metalworking items, I just picked up 18
unused endmills from him for $33, 12 brubaker 1 1/2" roughing and 6
Hanita 1 1/2". I though that was a pretty good deal.

I have never been really ripped off on ebay, maybe I'm just lucky. A
couple of things were not as good as discribed, but I always assume that
anyway. Several times I got smoking deals and sellers refused to
deliver but I lost no money on the deals.

In the last 18 months I have bought a mill, a t&C grinder and a BIG
drill press off craigslist.

CarlBoyd

On 2009-06-28, Steve Lusardi wrote:
coverage, nothing beats eBay. I hate the limitation of locality in the
craigslist construct.

You obviously haven't had to ship something overseas, or even to Canada,
where insurance and/or confirmation of delivery --protection for the
seller-- cost twice as much or fail to exist altogether.

nb

On 2009-06-28, George wrote:
I too hate the limitations of the Craiglist search engine so I get
around it by using Google to search craigslist, enter Craigslist into
the google search box and follow with the name or descriptive term for
what you are searching for and you will be searching craigslist
nationwide. Not perfect but it helps a lot.

Quite true. I listed an item on craigslist for my local area, yet finally
sold it after responses from all over the country.

nb

"Steve Lusardi" wrote in message
...
John,
I'm sure craigslist has attributes, but for ease of use and world-wide
coverage, nothing beats eBay. I hate the limitation of locality in the
craigslist construct.
Steve


It clearly depends on what you are looking for or are trying to sell. I
actually see the locality thing as a benefit... but that's because the stuff
I buy is big and often heavy, not sendable by regular UPS or USPS. As such I
don't care a hoot about a bandsaw on the left coast but one in the upper
part of someone's empire state is of interest. ;~)

Of the things I've listed for sale, or free just to get rid of it, sometimes
the response is almost over whelming on CL. I also have no interest in
packaging or shipping anything... some an get it!

Cl is a better alternative to a yard sale in my view for several reasons. I
can get rid of one or two items at a time. I don't have to sit around all
day waiting for people and don't have to spend a day or more setting up and
taking down.

The local Freecycle list generates about 30-40 items per day. Some of the
stuff people are giving away is amazing but mostly household items,
appliances and clothing. Not many tools outside of lawn mowers, lawn
tractors and the occasional snow blower.

John

"Charlie Self" wrote in message
...
On Jun 28, 5:42 am, "Steve Lusardi" wrote:
John,
I'm sure craigslist has attributes, but for ease of use and world-wide
coverage, nothing beats eBay. I hate the limitation of locality in the
craigslist construct.
Steve

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in message

m...



"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
...
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

RE eBay, their attempts at expansion put the auctions on the back seat.
There is also the problems with shipping tools, particularly big
stationary tools. Craig's List seems to be getting a big share of the
tools around this part of the country.

The three Craig's Lists I frequent are full of tools.... and some
amazing
deals. On the 24th a "slightly used Unisaw with 52" Beismyer (sic) fence
system, mobile base, and out feed table" showed up for a couple hours...
$300! About a month and a half ago I picked up a Delta 14" bandsaw with
mobile base and fence in near new condition for $450 for my club
(NWA)--half of what Amazon gets for the same saw. A couple weeks ago I
picked up 36" Crescent bandsaw for myself. There's another 36" on there
now (older and not in as good shape as mine) as well as big shapers,
molding machines, lathes, table saws, mortisers, etc. Sad to say, the
economy is bad enough that you could equip a shop with very nice
stationary tools for a couple grand if you watch CL throughout the day
and
can move fast with cash.

John

-Add to that the response from scammers. I've got a car up on the
-Roanoke, VA CL; I've so far had about a dozen nitwits who want to help
-me get through the recession because I'm selling an old car I don't
-need. I've had only one bite on the car, a tire kicker, what a friend
-used to call a "beeback," as in, "I gotta talk to my wife about the
-money. I'll be back tomorrow." That's the last you see or hear of the
-guy.

I'm afraid that nitwits goes with any kinds of sales... even in person in
retail stores with fixed prices and new products. ;~)

Same thing with scammers.... doesn't matter if it's at a yard sale, news
paper ad, Pennysaver ad, CL, eBay, e-mail solicitations, or whatever. Be
aware and using your brains to assess the situation is all you can do...
Most of the scams I see and hear smell funny. Maybe we needs a Snopes for
ads! LOL


-As far as I can tell, for heavier stuff, the local papers are still
-king. When I'm flipping through camera lenses and such, I use eBay.
-Same with old tools, though it does look as if I'll hold on to my two
-bit extra braces forever.

The classified ads in the local paper are expensive and a waste of time.
We've also lost a lot of the smaller papers in the area in the past year or
so the alternatives are slim pickings. I suppose this too is a locality
thing...

John

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
...
"On Jun 27, 9:27 pm, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:
"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message


I assume those Craigslist locations are local heavy industrial areas.

Which leaves those who live in the sticks out in the cold.

It would explain the absence of any significant number of tools on
Ebay.

CL has local lists all over the world now... For example, if you go to any
one of the local sites there is a list of countries and cities on the right
side of the page: Look at http://albany.craigslist.org/ for an example.

I have a self imposed limit of how far I'll travel to pick up big items and
generally don't bother with small or cheap stuff--my preference and clearly
not anyone else's! As such I watch lists that are within "my zone" and don't
bother with the rest. For someone like you, who apparently lives in the
sticks ;~), Googling CL as suggested by another RECer would be an option. I
noticed that recently CL is pulling in items from other lists near the ones
I'm searching if only a few items appear on the one I'm searching.

I think the bottom line is you have to figure out what works for you. In my
case eBay hasn't met my needs. I do occassionally enjoy looking at some of
the huge old industrial machines that show up on eBay... ones where after
viewing it for a while you notice an ant-sized guy standing somewhere in the
photo. ;~)

John

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
...
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

Thanks

TMT

Evolution?

On Jun 28, 3:00*am, Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

Thanks

TMT

I think a lot of people found that selling on Ebay is not the road to
riches that they thought it would be.

Craigslist has taken a lot of the business from Ebay, especially in
the " local pick up only " catagory It is hard to tell how much gets
sold via Craiglist because once someone buys something the listing
gets removed. Or at least it is suppose to be removed. So if you are
looking for bargains, you need to check craigslist often.

If you search on Craigslist for something like say a lathe, and there
are not many or any for sale is the Craigslist you are searching on,
Craigslist will show lathes in nearby Craigslist.

Ebay is best for obscure or rare things that are easily shipped. So
if you are looking for something like a reamer for taper pins, Ebay is
the place to look.

Ebay is also not bad for relatively rare things that are heavy.
Instead of searching by ending soonest, or by Ebay's best match,
search on "least distance". I often search in the Industrial area of
Ebay without anything in the search for box. So I see everything in
the Business and Industrial category starting with the things that are
closest starting with the used dental equipment that my neighbor
sells.

Dan

"Charlie Self" wrote


As for NMorrison, I'm really curious as to what makes eBay dangerous
for newcomers, say more so than buying at Amazon or some similar
place? I haven't been a newcomer in a long time, so I may be missing
something.

Any place you buy today sets you up for a rip-off, assuming you're not
local and paying cash.

Today, it's essential to pay attention to the seller's reputation,
even more so than in the past.

I feel obligated to defend Amazon. G

If you're referring to purchases made from a 3rd party but through Amazon, I
suppose there might be a bit more risk than purchases made directly from
Amazon but I have spent thousands of dollars on purchases from Amazon and
have never had a problem.
I've also made numerous 3rd party purchases without any problems.
Amazon is usually my first choice for shopping.
I can't speak to the reputation of eBay since I've never purchased through
them.

I agree completely with your last statement.

Max

wrote:
....
Ebay is also not bad for relatively rare things that are heavy.
Instead of searching by ending soonest, or by Ebay's best match,
search on "least distance". I often search in the Industrial area of
Ebay without anything in the search for box. So I see everything in
the Business and Industrial category starting with the things that are
closest starting with the used dental equipment that my neighbor
sells.
....

If I'm actually looking for something on eBay, after the first browsing
session I use the auto-notify feature on a search. It works reasonably
well but isn't, of course, particularly useful for items wanted
immediately if one isn't found.

It is somewhat irritating that much of the actual content is now
professional retailers as opposed to the actual individual or occasional
bunch of stuff being sold for whatever reason, but it's not so
overwhelming if once get through the initial search; new items aren't so
prevalent.

As for the safety/danger; it's all in how one uses it and how well one
researches the record of the seller. I've never had a problem but I
only deal w/ either individuals (and it's pretty easy to spot the actual
one-of-a-kind type poster) or through those who have sizable responses
that have _very_ high ratings and low (in absolute numbers) of
complaints. I've bought stuff from the 25-cent curio and replacement
parts for the vintage lightning rods off the barn to a $multi-K 40-ft
JLG boomlift (sitting outside Chicago thru a broker in FL and shipped to
KS).

CL is useless here as well for the problem of being in the sticks unless
one is prepared to drive several hundred miles on a wild goose chase;
there's simply nowhere close enough with sufficient population to have
any stuff of interest listed to be practical.

--

Any place you buy today sets you up for a rip-off, assuming you're not
local and paying cash. Electronic purchasing involves giving sensitive
info to people you don't know, no matter who you're buying from.
We're
happy to by from Lee Valley, Rockler's, similar places, because over
the years they've developed excellent reputations, and we can be
fairly certain they're not going to deal sloppily with our IDs. The
same goes for B&H Photo, Adorama Photos, and a few others, but, in
general, we know next to nothing about people from whom we buy on-
line, through the mail or over the phone. All of it puts us at risk.

Today, it's essential to pay attention to the seller's reputation,
even more so than in the past.

One of the most effective tools to check a seller's reputation, is by
visiting reselleratings.com.

If a seller is not listed, if the rating is less than 9/10, or
customer feedback indicates possible problems, better to avoid that
merchant and head for somewhere more reliable.

Sincerely

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador


www.adorama.com

"notbob" wrote:

You obviously haven't had to ship something overseas, or even to
Canada,
where insurance and/or confirmation of delivery --protection for the
seller-- cost twice as much or fail to exist altogether.

I've had dealings with Steve.

Trust me, international shipping is involved.

Lew

John Grossbohlin wrote:

It clearly depends on what you are looking for or are trying to sell. I
actually see the locality thing as a benefit... but that's because the stuff
I buy is big and often heavy, not sendable by regular UPS or USPS. As such I
don't care a hoot about a bandsaw on the left coast but one in the upper
part of someone's empire state is of interest. ;~)

Of the things I've listed for sale, or free just to get rid of it, sometimes
the response is almost over whelming on CL. I also have no interest in
packaging or shipping anything... some an get it!

CL is a better alternative to a yard sale in my view for several reasons. I
can get rid of one or two items at a time. I don't have to sit around all
day waiting for people and don't have to spend a day or more setting up and
taking down.

The local Freecycle list generates about 30-40 items per day. Some of the
stuff people are giving away is amazing but mostly household items,
appliances and clothing. Not many tools outside of lawn mowers, lawn
tractors and the occasional snow blower.


I see a few tools. lawn moowers and tillers on the local freecycle
group.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

wrote:

If you search on Craigslist for something like say a lathe, and there
are not many or any for sale is the Craigslist you are searching on,
Craigslist will show lathes in nearby Craigslist.

http://www.searchtempest.com/

Jon

On Jun 28, 9:41*am, notbob wrote:
On 2009-06-28, Steve Lusardi wrote:

coverage, nothing beats eBay. I hate the limitation of locality in the
craigslist construct.

You obviously haven't had to ship something overseas, or even to Canada,
where insurance and/or confirmation of delivery --protection for the
seller-- cost twice as much or fail to exist altogether.

nb

If the seller in the US is instructed clearly how to ship, insurance
and tracking are all available.

On 6/28/2009 4:17 AM George spake thus:

I too hate the limitations of the Craiglist search engine so I get
around it by using Google to search craigslist, enter Craigslist into
the google search box and follow with the name or descriptive term for
what you are searching for and you will be searching craigslist
nationwide. Not perfect but it helps a lot.

If you want to be a really smart Google/Craigslist user, target the
specific Craigslist site with Google's "site:" parameter:

site:XXX.craigslist.org [other search terms here]

where "XXX" is the local part of the domain name (like "sfbay" for the
San Francisco Bay area).

That way you won't be searching Craigslist sites out of your area.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

"N Morrison" wrote in message
...
On Jun 27, 7:00 pm, Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I recently spent some time looking over Ebay for some
tools...wow..what has happened to Ebay?

Could someone discuss what happened to turn the place to go to the
wasteland it is today?

Very smart people who earn lots of money redesigned it. It's now the
perfect place for crooks to operate and dangerous as all get out for
new users.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please explain.

Charlie Self writes:

Electronic purchasing involves giving sensitive
info to people you don't know, no matter who you're buying from.

People did buy and sell without face-to-face cash transactions in the past,
you know. Trusted intermediaries acted as transaction agents, known as
"banks".

I've sold $100,000s over the Web and no one gives me any "sensitive info",
except the occasional guy who insists on ordering with a credit card over
the phone.

On 2009-06-29, dpb wrote:

There's no way an exchange from afar can be completely equal--either one
or the other or both have to make a step or there's an impasse.

That's what the buyer/seller rating system was all about. Real feedback
from real sellers and buyers. There's always a risk, but at least both
sides had a say and buyers/sellers could make their own decision about who
to trust. Ebay killed that some time ago when they decided a buyer could
leave negative feedback, but not the seller. There goes the level playing
field. Fact is, as a seller, I got jerked around by buyers 3 out of my first
5 auctions, yet the first time the rules are changed, it's against me, the
seller. It's been going against the small seller ever since. Screw it.
Despite a perfect 100% rating as a seller, I've had enough.

nb

On 6/29/2009 11:00 AM notbob spake thus:

Despite a perfect 100% rating as a seller, I've had enough.

Same here. I have (or had, before eBay queered the feedback rules) a
100% rating as both seller and buyer. But the deck is clearly stacked
against sellers (at least small, non-corporate, non-"store" sellers).

**** it.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

On Jun 28, 4:17*am, George wrote:
I too hate the limitations of the Craiglist search engine so I get
around it by using Google to search craigslist, enter Craigslist into
the google search box and follow with the name or descriptive term for
what you are searching for and you will be searching craigslist
nationwide. Not perfect but it helps a lot.

Try

site:craigslist.com whatever

for better results. Be aware this also returns expired listings.

On Jun 28, 4:18*am, Charlie Self wrote:

So why is eBay any more dangerous, and why, specifically, for
newcomers?

Example: If you see someone selling say, a (useless) list of wholesale
suppliers of some highly desirable item and it's clear that newbies
think they are getting the item, not an email list, you can't warn
them.

It used to be that if you were ripped off by a seller you could
contact other buyers and get together to get something done. Now
eBay's attitude is, tough luck.

They even blocked Toolhaus for a while.

On Jun 28, 10:37*am, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

http://www.searchtempest.com/

Jon

Interesting!

On 2009-06-30, Richard J Kinch wrote:

So you're better than every merchant back to the Phoenecians?

Screw a buncha Phoenicians.

I don't know where you live, but in my world, if I order something from a
catalog or over the internet, it doesn't get shipped till they have my
money. Ain't no 3rd party holding the money in bogus floats.


nb

On 6/30/2009 6:33 AM notbob spake thus:

On 2009-06-30, Richard J Kinch wrote:

So you're better than every merchant back to the Phoenecians?

Screw a buncha Phoenicians.

I don't know where you live, but in my world, if I order something from a
catalog or over the internet, it doesn't get shipped till they have my
money. Ain't no 3rd party holding the money in bogus floats.

Yes, but that's because you're dealing with a single vendor in this
case. Duh.

In the case of eBay, they're acting as an intermediary for hundreds of
thousands of (mostly small) vendors who have no way of authenticating or
validating transactions like "something from a catalog or over the
internet", so some kind of 3rd party intervention is needed.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Jon Danniken wrote:
wrote:
If you search on Craigslist for something like say a lathe, and there
are not many or any for sale is the Craigslist you are searching on,
Craigslist will show lathes in nearby Craigslist.

http://www.searchtempest.com/

Jon


or
http://crazedlist.org/index.cgi

As a seller, I no longer "like" eBay due to unfair policies that it
promotes in a misguided desperation for "growth". They have all been
mentioned here. As a buyer, I find a lot less to buy, for the same
reason.

However, Craigslist, which I like a lot, has perhaps 1/100th of
potential buyers compared to ebay. It does not offer many attractive
bargains either. Too many losers advertising overpriced crap for
months. Here we have a guy who hawks his overpriced junk (he wants new
prices for very used things), and says "moving, must sell". He's been
selling those things for over a year!

i

David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 6/29/2009 11:00 AM notbob spake thus:

Despite a perfect 100% rating as a seller, I've had enough.

Same here. I have (or had, before eBay queered the feedback rules) a
100% rating as both seller and buyer. But the deck is clearly stacked
against sellers (at least small, non-corporate, non-"store" sellers).

**** it.

Exactly. I used to be a regular seller on eBay and their rules made it
far too difficult to bother with, buyers got to screw the sellers, the
sellers had virtually no help if anyone ever complained. I had a 100%
positive rating, but I didn't want to deal with the nonsense anymore.

Of course, once I stopped selling on eBay, I stopped buying there too.
They lost a crapload of money by ****ing dedicated sellers off over the
last couple of years.

On Jun 30, 8:45*pm, Brian Henderson
wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 6/29/2009 11:00 AM notbob spake thus:

Despite a perfect 100% rating as a seller, I've had enough. *

Same here. I have (or had, before eBay queered the feedback rules) a
100% rating as both seller and buyer. But the deck is clearly stacked
against sellers (at least small, non-corporate, non-"store" sellers).

**** it.

Exactly. *I used to be a regular seller on eBay and their rules made it
far too difficult to bother with, buyers got to screw the sellers, the
sellers had virtually no help if anyone ever complained. *I had a 100%
positive rating, but I didn't want to deal with the nonsense anymore.

Of course, once I stopped selling on eBay, I stopped buying there too.
They lost a crapload of money by ****ing dedicated sellers off over the
last couple of years.

Try this on for size...

If I would substitute the word "buy" for "sell" in your comments, it
would reflect what Ebay was before the recent changes.

And sellers took advantage of that situation.

Buyers left...in droves...to Amazon.

Ebay responded by changing the rules to favor buyers.

Sellers then left...in droves....to Amazon.

The ones that did not are still looking for another
market....Craigslist seems to be the favored spot for the moment.

The 'junk" that we all favor does not favor the Amazon model....so it
has been left out in the cold...and sellers/buyers who deal in it.

It will be interesting to see where this goes since we now know that
there is a market for it.

TMT

On 2009-06-30, David Nebenzahl wrote:

In the case of eBay, they're acting as an intermediary for hundreds of
thousands of (mostly small) vendors who have no way of authenticating or
validating transactions like "something from a catalog or over the
internet", so some kind of 3rd party intervention is needed.

They are inserting themselves like banks. They have changed the rules so
they have control of your money for a period of time, whether you like it or
not. As for "3rd party intervention is needed", craigslist pretty much
proves that premise to be a load of crap.

nb

On Jun 30, 11:21*pm, notbob wrote:
On 2009-06-30, David Nebenzahl wrote:

In the case of eBay, they're acting as an intermediary for hundreds of
thousands of (mostly small) vendors who have no way of authenticating or
validating transactions like "something from a catalog or over the
internet", so some kind of 3rd party intervention is needed.

They are inserting themselves like banks. *They have changed the rules so
they have control of your money for a period of time, whether you like it or
not. *As for "3rd party intervention is needed", craigslist pretty much
proves that premise to be a load of crap.

nb

Craigslist transactions are overwhelmingly face to face transactions.

When you do faceless transactions, having a 3rd party is needed.

The one time I did not have the 3rd party in place, I got ripped off
by a seller....never ever again.

That one bad transaction has made me very cautious and sellers can
scream all they want...as a buyer it is a 3rd party in place or no
sale.

And since I hold the buyer, I can choose sellers that offer a 3rd
party option...and do.

The buyer is king...because without his money, nothing happens.

TMT