Now you have found out one of my ebay secrets. I purposely check out the "I sold it on EBAY" listings for all of the reasons you suggest. They photograph the wrong side of the bike, don't know what they are doing and can't answer questions. I really detest their standard $80 shipping and handling fee.
However, I have purchased a "Cannondale Bide" from them with what ended up being Campy Chorus derailers, ergo shifters, Chorus cranks, nice wheels, 3 jerseys, 2 pair of shoes and 2 helmets. To avoid the $80 I drove to their store and picked it up. I also have a few other items I have purchased from them because their listings were so bizarre that no one in their right mind would have bid on them unless they were truly skilled in the art.
After selling the shoes, jerseys and helmets, the bide cost me about $150.00
The problem is, more and more people have figured out that the "I sold it " stores are clueless and people systematically troll their listings looking for jems.
The one item where the "I sold it" stores come in handy is for a charity auction. They will put a box in your church, whatever, where you can drop off dear old departed Aunt Sally's candlestick holders or some such thing. They will ebay all of the separate items in the box, give the money to your church or whatever, and send you a charitable receipt for your donation.
My wife and I looked at buying one of their franchises for about 12 hours. Their business model can be duplicated by any moron and they have no strategic advantage. I really liked the idea that "I sold it"'s corporate headquarters handles the transactions and pays the franchisee after they take their corporate cut.
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Ken Bensinger Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 11:23 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]RE: eBay searches for vintage bicycles
In re the post about proper ways to list on eBay, just a very brief commentary: if you know what you're doing with eBay, it's hard to see why you'd sell an item using one of those eBay store services. That's like throwing away money. EBay already charges listing fees and healthy commissions on items sold be individuals. Why would you want to tack on the commission charged by a store that probably just snaps a picture you could take, packs it in a box you could get, overcharges for shipping (just like you could!) and, in a big departure from what you could do, has no clue how to correctly describe/price the item.
Seriously, look at the bikes and parts up for sale from sellers using those I Sold it On EBay type services. Horrible mispellings. Incorrect descriptions. Photos of only one side of the bike. Misclassification (oops, I didn't know track bikes weren't vintage motorcycles), etc. Remember that those businesses sell everything from exotic Keirin frames to broken haloge n floor lamps. They have a pretty low discrimination bar and they make money by moving product fast, not by putting up links to sites that explain exactly why the 1974 lugs are a brand apart from the 1975 lugs on a frame.
It strikes me that those services are great for people with things to sell about which they know nothing except that they don't have the time nor interest to worry about what it is or how much it's really worth. But if yo u like bikes and know bikes, do yourself, and everyone else, a favor, and sel l yourself.
Ken Bensinger
Brooklyn, NY