aa7bq writes The Ebay Factor Oh the things that find their way into the QRZ editor's mailbox. Some of them might amaze you, some maybe not. Lately, there's been a few complaints regarding policy on our very popular Online Swapmeet and ads for Ebay auctions. This article will address those complaints and shed some light on my own buying and selling philosophy. The basic question is this: Should sellers be allowed to post ads on the QRZ.COM swapmeet that point the user to an active online auction being held at the Ebay website? Some people really get peeved about these kinds of ads. They see it as an advertisement for a sale taking place somewhere else. I don't know why this bothers them because it doesn't bother me at all. Anyway, one irate reader wrote in to tell us that "It's as if [the seller] was saying Please be a sucker and come over to Ebay where you can help run up the price... These types of sellers should be banned...". Suckers??? Now hold on a minute! I've bought and sold a lot of stuff off of Ebay and I scarcely consider myself a sucker. Let's examine this idea. Suppose that a local ham, let's call him Joe, is looking for a Collins 312-B4 to complete his S-Line station. After several weeks of looking around and asking, he can't seem to find one. Then, as luck would have it, one pops up on the QRZ Online Swapmeet. As Joe reads the article he notices that the item is being offered at auction on Ebay. So, I wonder: does this make Joe mad?[/b] I don't think so. I'd have to bet that Joe was pleased to finally find what he was looking for. Next, Joe wonders, "How much should I bid for the unit?". After asking some friends, he's heard that they usually sell for between $300 and $400. The current bid is $225 and there's 6 hours left to go in the auction. Our complainant alleged that being on Ebay runs up prices. Do you agree with him? Why? On any given day there is a market price for anything. Whether you feel that the market price is high or low depends on your individual perspective. Generally, if it's more money than you have, then it's too high. Never mind that hundreds of units are sold every day at the same high price to hams all over the country. Within the United States, there are few regional or geographic differences anymore. In other words, it's fair to say that an average TS-440 sells for about $400 on the east coast, just as it does in Tennesses or on the west coast. We're in pretty much of a homogeneous economy in this respect. Back to the 312-B4. The Ebay seller, Mike, wants to off the the unit because he's got two of them and doesn't need them both. Mike bought them both at a government surplus auction for $125 apiece and suspects that they are probably worth a little bit more than that but he's not really sure. Not being an expert on Collins collecting, Mike really doesn't have a clue as to what the units might be worth. In order to maximize his opportunity (and profit), Mike has a couple of choices. He can spend some time on an exhaustive research of the price or, he can take it directly to the market where it will automatically float to the current market price. With any luck, Mike believes he might make a small profit. Choosing to go this route, Mike places the item up for auction on Ebay, with an opening bid of $100. By the time Joe gets there, the bid is up to $225 and Joe jumps on it with a $250 bid. Fortunately for Joe, he wins the auction with that bid and now he's extremely happy since in his mind, its "below market" based on what he heard from his friends. Needless to say, Mike is happy too because he just doubled his investment and effectively got one unit for free! Joe paid the fair market price and Mike received the same. No buyer or seller should expect more from a fair transaction. As a side note, the above story is a true except that the names were changed to protect the innocent. I will reveal, however, that the Mike character was me. I've been to a lot of hamfests, auctions, and garage sales and there's always a few hams who call me a "profiteer" with a look of disdain on their faces. I've never been able to decode the logic of these folks because it seems as if they're trying to tell me that I had some sort of moral obligation arising from my Ham Brotherhood to sell the speakerboxes for exactly what I'd paid for them, and not a penny more. What's wrong with these people? Many of the same folks couldn't get their wallets out fast enough if I had offered them up at $50 apiece. Of course, each and every one of them would try and haggle me down on the price before they begrudgingly paid the 50 bucks and then walk away quickly with the box under their arm. A lot of people in the hobby don't like to use the P-word. -PROFIT- Okay, so I've said it. There's a large group of people who think that our hobby is somehow sacrosanct and that profiteering is some sort of slimy filth that must be avoided at all costs, lest it eat away at the very fabric of our honorable and devoted hobby. And yes, to be sure, our hobby does have it's share of the unwashed and non-devout who only hang around for the money. They don't bother me. Do profiteers help or hurt the hobby? Arguments that I've heard (first hand, I might add), usually center around their effect on raising prices and therefore raising the bar for newcomers. In other words, this suggests that increased profiteering will generally raise prices overall and in doing so will make it difficult for people with little or no money get into the hobby. Call me jaded if you like but offhand I can't think of any decent hobby these days that doesn't cost lots of money. Actually, profiteering is a sign of a healthy market. A healthy market means that there will be increased competition which inevitably leads to lower prices. Lower prices mean that there is more gear in the market and it guarantees that lower priced gear will be available to those who need it the most. Trust me, a TS-820S is a fine radio. Even a $100 HW-101 will get you QSL cards from around the world. I was once accused of being a P-man. This led to my being singled out and denied a tailgate space at a small hamfest. Never mind that my activities were non-commercial and that I was a licensed ham. For some, being witness to my activities was just too much to bear. It was said that I had often been seen buying and selling at the same swapmeet. People had seen me arrive at daybreak and snap up all the early-bird deals from other sellers. They also judged that it was somehow apparent that I had no need for the gear I was buying. Well then, what was I doing with all this stuff? Not that I'm obligated to defend myself but, I was playing with it. This was my favorite part of the hobby. Some like to chase DX, others do moonbounce, and I liked to play with the equipment. I like to tinker and I like to fix things. I'd buy one radio, fiddle around with it a while, and then sell it. Then I'd buy another. Over and over. This activity reached a pinnacle when I bought a used IC-765. I loved that radio. I finally sold it when I realized that it was a shame to watch it sitting on the other side of the room as I worked at the QRZ.COM console. Today, I have a TS-440 that I inherited from my Dad. It gathers dust too, but, it has sentimental value. I've been out of the hamfest and junk trading cycle for a couple of years now, and I do more QRZ administration than hamming. I really get a kick out of Ebay. In a way, to me, Ebay is no different than a hamfest except that it's perhaps a bit more diverse and has far better attendance. Most of the same buying and selling rules apply, and most of the same complainers and hagglers are there. Just as in the non-virtual world, there are sellers who always seem to think that their gear is unusually pristine and exceptionally well cared for followed by the buyers who want to pay half the true market value. There is nothing unusual about this, it's just human behavior. The auction is a great way to bridge the expectation gap between buyers and sellers. At the auction you can always rest assured that the true fair market value is always lurking nearby. Sure, there will always be folks who will bid too much, but, like Darwin's theory of evolution, these people tend to weed themselves out over time. If you're patient, you will eventually find and get what you want at a price that you'd expect to pay. You'll also learn to reset your expectations when the need arises. Some of you might wonder why I would praise Ebay when doing so would draw traffic away from QRZ's swapmeet. Why? It's a fair question and one which I believe has multiple answers. For starters, Ebay only deals with cash. On Ebay, you can't put something up "for sale or trade" because all deals are for cash, and Ebay gets their percentage of it. Ebay doesn't have "Wanted" listings either. Adding to that, some people prefer to haggle directly with sellers in the hopes of getting that coveted below-market deal. Some sellers can't come to grips with how their once new equipment has now depreciated and so they seek to hide it from the current prices. This way they can at least hope to find an unsuspecting fish who will be ignorant of the current market and help them out of their bind. Still others just like the informality of a QRZ listing and enjoy dealing with people one-on-one. Finally, QRZ always beats Ebay in on respect: its FREE. It doesn't cost a penny to list your item on QRZ whereas on Ebay, sellers must pay up front - whether the unit sells or not. Isn't it funny how some folks will sit on an FT-1000MP before they will pay $30 in commission fees to sell it? Now that I've made this the longest QRZ article ever, I hope that I've made myself clear. We're not going to change a thing on the QRZ Online Swapmeet. Let the market decide. 73 and happy buying/selling, -fred"