There are some aspects where I totally agree with you, although I would not bag anyone just for having a different opinion.
The world is made up of people with different opinions, it is just the way things are, it's perfectly normal and nothing sinister.
I do agree ebay has changed a lot. My sister & i used to sell a fair bit back in the early to mid 2000s and it was fun, it was a challenge & we were in charge. Mind you, we were totally honest sellers.
Not all sellers were. I personally struck a couple back then who took the money and ran. Ignored messages, made no attempt to acknowledge any problems, let alone solve them.
Ebay had to do something to change with the times, to bring in more safeguards.
The fees have risen a lot-double what they were back in the day. My sister recently sold something privately and was shocked.
Then there is paypal & that extra layer of fees plus fees on postage.
So you're right-it is a lot dearer.
What it means in terms of selling is items probably need to be dearer to cover everything so the days of garage sale type prices are a bit numbered.
What has turned us off re-entering the selling arena on a more regular basis is the fact things have turned around from being a seller's world to a buyer's world and there seem to be a few scammers out there. There always were scammers, mind you, but I think in the past it was easy for sellers to be scammers and now it is the other way around.
But.. ebay still tends to get better prices for items (usually).
I also use gumtree. Some items never get much of a look. I've tried markets-people expect things almost for nothing.
But whatever works, I guess. People have to choose what they feel comfortable with, it is a personal decision but I agree a lot of 'little' sellers have probably found other outlets eg FB.
The internet world has grown, that's all.
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