How can we compete

[littlemiddy]

Hi

How do we compete with a seller who sells at a loss, I purchased a pair of earrings to see how they package/post them, cost $1.99 aud, when the earrings arrived, the postage was $2.20 aud add ebay fees onto that your looking at maybe $2.50 aud so they losing $0.50 per sale, there is no way I can compete, and they have over 10,000 listings on ebay with 195k items sold, i checked their feedback history and most people buying the $1.99 earrings and not the more expensive to even out the so called sales. Ebay stated that they have other accounts with more expensive items to even out the sales......again how is this fair to the rest of us??

They litterly have a monopoly so why should I sell on ebay and is this happening with other items??

How can we compete with this????

[gutterpunkz05]

From the OP.

I have not personally checked, as I hit the correct seller before  OP provided a listing number.  So did not look any deeper.

[gutterpunkz05]

Snooped....... They also have very significant  activity on other major platforms.  Plenty of higher priced items also.

[etb321]

To buy a  $2.5 necklace/pair of earings as a gift for anyone here would not be well received.  No need to turn on the aircon, the room temperature would drop to well below freezing for months.  

[*sons_n_daughters*]

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@littlemiddy wrote:

i have 5 different stamps here, including ones i purchased from AP and others on mail I recieved, and the paper quality is definitely different between those and the "suspect ones"

this is a interesting read

https://www.glenstephens.com/snfebruary21.html

“Creating an unfair playing field”

“We will allege this man was forging stamps to create a financial advantage for himself,”  AFP Detective Superintendent David Berston said. “He was able to entice customers to his business and away from his competitors because the free postage made his products cheaper, creating an unfair playing field” he continued. “We also allege this conduct put his customers at risk of not receiving the goods they purchased in good faith, with Australia Post needing to intercept and hold hundreds of mail items that had counterfeit stamps. This crime also siphons money away from Australian taxpayers, because Australia Post is owned by the Commonwealth Government.”  Berston concluded. Approximately 680 mail items bearing these alleged fake stamps, valued at approximately $2,300 face value, were detected by the Australia Post mail Centre operations, but it is unknown how many items with forged stamps had been sent out in the past by Mr. Balcombe.  The crooks do not realise the genuine AP stamps have ‘’tagging’’ that is detected in the high-tech mail sorting equipment these days!

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Ahhhhh, there's that "unfair playing field".......

[littlemiddy]

So some simple calculations:

they have 10,000 current listings all with multiple quantities, the bulk $1.99 each, pretty sure at the minimum it costs them 41 cents ($2.40 total postage) per sale just on postage, so thats 10000x0.41 = $4,100 not to mention the 195000 sales they have already done which equals $79,950,  so thats approximately a $84,000 loss. And just remember they have around 10(minimum) of each item, so that would be 10 x $4,100 an additional $41,000

can someone explain how that works please

[paper-jack]

Why on earth do you bother asking. A seller is selling rubbish at a loss. Perhaps they are mad. People who buy their rubbish are definitely mad. But why bother thinking about and going on and on about it. You'd be better off looking at other venues for selling hand make items.

People who are attracted by cheap stuff don't appreciate quality hand made items anyway.

Just let it go.

[sugar249]

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@paper-jack wrote:

Why on earth do you bother asking. A seller is selling rubbish at a loss. Perhaps they are mad. People who buy their rubbish are definitely mad. But why bother thinking about and going on and on about it. You'd be better off looking at other venues for selling hand make items.

People who are attracted by cheap stuff don't appreciate quality hand made items anyway.

Just let it go.

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Exactly,  they would be better of looking at their own business model, rather than worrying about others.

[domino-710]

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@littlemiddy wrote:

So some simple calculations:

they have 10,000 current listings all with multiple quantities, the bulk $1.99 each, pretty sure at the minimum it costs them 41 cents ($2.40 total postage) per sale just on postage, so thats 10000x0.41 = $4,100 not to mention the 195000 sales they have already done which equals $79,950,  so thats approximately a $84,000 loss. And just remember they have around 10(minimum) of each item, so that would be 10 x $4,100 an additional $41,000

can someone explain how that works please

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Yep - probably - simply a tax write off - given the number of outlets they are working on.

Their profits are worth the losses - as a company.

[gutterpunkz05]

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@littlemiddy wrote:

So some simple calculations:

they have 10,000 current listings all with multiple quantities, the bulk $1.99 each, pretty sure at the minimum it costs them 41 cents ($2.40 total postage) per sale just on postage, so thats 10000x0.41 = $4,100 not to mention the 195000 sales they have already done which equals $79,950,  so thats approximately a $84,000 loss. And just remember they have around 10(minimum) of each item, so that would be 10 x $4,100 an additional $41,000

can someone explain how that works please

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You are assuming that all shipments consist of 1  x  $1.99  item only.

They are operating numerous accounts on multiple platforms, and there is no indication that they are about to go broke, so their business model appears to be operating profitably.

[gutterpunkz05]

Looks like a high percentage of buyers, take advantage of the 10% off on additional items.  One recent buyer, bought  from 7 individual listings  for approx $16.   Plenty of buyers with 2, 3 & 4 items.

So your calculations are flawed.