Tat on EBay

A proportion of UK eBay stuff is purchased by overseas eBayers (10% based on my own experience) as items are unobtainable for them locally and a lot of overseas eBayers find that compared to buying mail order from UK stockists who have minimum shippping charges or from overseas stockists local to them it is cheaper overall on eBay taking shipping into account. Many mail order suppliers won't ship overseas as if you are VAT registered it becomes a nightmare and if you export more than £2000 worth of goods (or whatever the figure is) it again becomes an admin nightmare.

And if you are overseas you can claim the VAT back from eBay sellers who are VAT registered so all is not as it seems. eBay of course don't give you a fee refund on the VAT element of the sale that is reclaimed but you can reclaim the VAT element of your eBay fees.

It is all a tangled web so it can be difficult to make the direct comparions. If you speak to traders they broadly are not happy eBay bunnies at the moment as overall margins are very tight.

You may be right and a high price may have been paid so the advice is to do research before bidding or buying on eBay but don't be surprised if something sells for a higher price than you are prepared to pay.

Happy modelling
Gary

QUOTE (Gary @ 6 Nov 2007, 08:10) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Many mail order suppliers won't ship overseas as if you are VAT registered it becomes a nightmare and if you export more than £2000 worth of goods (or whatever the figure is) it again becomes an admin nightmare.

And if you are overseas you can claim the VAT back from eBay sellers who are VAT registered so all is not as it seems. eBay of course don't give you a fee refund on the VAT element of the sale that is reclaimed but you can reclaim the VAT element of your eBay fees.

Not true at all Gary,

Firstly, it is no problem for a properly run business to export goods without VAT added - if you export to an EU country you do not charge/add VAT, provided you have a copy of the buyers VAT registration certificate any have verified that it is still valid. Exporting to none EU countries is a little more involved but its still not really a problem. For large amounts, if you use a decent shipping company they will handle most of the admin' for you. More a case of cannot be bothered for those mail order companies who do not export.

Overseas customers cannot generally claim VAT back, it's up to them to ensure that they are not charged VAT in the first place. The VAT content of eBay fees is just not worth bothering about unless you purchase a lot of goods from eBay.

As to the prices obtained by some sellers on eBay - so what ? - it's a free market place, & yes, some of the prices obtained are silly. To quote the example of joiners/fishplates - the buyer may not live near a model shop & finds sourcing these items easy on eBay, after all a few mouse clicks & via PayPal it could even be easier than mail order. I've sold goods that have made far more than their true value, but I'm not complaining. Neither do I complain when I "lose" something I wanted. If you don't like eBay then the answer is quite simple - don't use it.

Brian. What I said was that there are traders who cannot be bothered with the admin of exporting. That does not mean that every trader cannot be bothered! And by overseas exporting I did mean outside Europe just to clear things up although of course there are EEC residents who still find UK eBay attractive as they cannot source locally. Conversely there are UK residents who find German and American eBay attaractive!

So Germans and Americans probably wonder why we in the UK pay crazy prices when we bid on their respective eBay sites!

Happy modelling
Gary

QUOTE (Gary @ 6 Nov 2007, 09:34) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Brian. What I said was that there are traders who cannot be bothered with the admin of exporting. That does not mean that every trader cannot be bothered! And by overseas exporting I did mean outside Europe just to clear things up although of course there are EEC residents who still find UK eBay attractive as they cannot source locally. Conversely there are UK residents who find German and American eBay attaractive!

So Germans and Americans probably wonder why we in the UK pay crazy prices when we bid on their respective eBay sites!

Happy modelling
Gary

Gary - actually you said "Many mail order suppliers won't ship overseas" - maybe you wording was not too clear ?

I think dbclass50 has hit the nail on the head with his "if you don't like Ebay, don't use it".

I trade on ebay (also with a 100% rating), as a part-time business and mostly in raiway goods, both new and second hand.

The originator of this thread needs to reasses his attitude to ebay in general. I admit that there is some tat auctioned from time to time, but in nearly all cases the buyer is open about the fact.
What I have an issue with is a sweeping generalisation, quoting two examples, about an ebay category (trains, model railways) that this week has over 22,000 items on offer. Such comments are both unhelpful and childish, so I will not bother to give a specific reply to his spurious comments.
Lets make a few things clear, as both a seller and buyer on ebay:-
I put on whatever I have to sell, at whatever price I choose.
You make a choice as to wether or not you look at my entries. If you don't like what I have on offer, move on and leave me alone in peace.
If you don't like the concept of ebay, bu**er off and don't log on at all!
If someone else wants to give me more for my item than you think is reasonable, that's their concern, so butt out! (Incidentally, none of the items mentioned are mine).

Now if you want to complain about misleading descriptions or excessive postage charges or anything fraudalent on ebay, I'm your man. The one thing I dislike in any trading format is a rip off. But untill then leave me (and the auction format) alone.

Why reply with such mindless vitriol to what at the end of the day was a simple honest observation on the current state of some items being sold on EBay?

I did not criticise EBay or any individual and fail to see how any of my remarks can be regarded as unhelpful, childish and spurious or how they can have disturbed your peace in any way. I do not deny or question the right of anybody to sell whatever they wish within the rules of the organisation and the equal right of others to buy or not to buy at whatever price they wish.

I think that a reread of your posting and and a self appraisal of your obviously unhealthy attitude is definitely called for. I will continue to log onto this and any other forum that I wish and give an opinion on anything I wish within the rules of the forum. What I will not do is sink to the level of personal abuse and foul language simply because I do not agree with another persons opinion. Which incidentally as I understand it is against the rules of this forum.

I will reluctantly ask the moderators to close the thread at this point to avoid any further abuse.

Ehm, yes,

Hi to all,

Being a 100% eBay'er when it comes to trains i felt like i should add a line or two here.

First of all, from time to time you get really absurd prices or bids which is quite normal: everything is in the eyes of the beholder (i.e. my Class 18 might be more valuable for me than anybodyelse's, or my worthless crane car might mean worlds for somebody else), in general this holds true for "but-it-now" items too for reasons unknown to me (maybe because they are already "there" nobody cares to bid).

Secondly; i think eBay is so good of a resource that we model railroaders must not ignore - or still better, must exploit.

And finally, just like there are good and better sellers/shops in real life they are to be found on eBay too; some might do export/VAT/tax refund stuff and some gives a rats a... for foreign bidders - that's their concern.

I believe that no observation of any one person on this topic can/will/should is enough to change one's mind. So I think our dicussions on eBay should be less agressive.

But, hey that's just me, maybe i'm wrong

Regards,

Cem.