Why are so many things on Ebay even more expensive then what the item would be brand new from the store?
I was searching for a Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto which is $80 brand new in a store, but on Ebay they are anywhere from $100 to $200. Even if it is pre-owned. It seems impossible that anyone is ever going to buy this so what is the purpose of these listings?
Because why not, maybe someone will buy it from you as they don’t know better, and you cash in the profit. It doesn’t cost anything to post something on eBay after all.
Some of them don’t even have the thing in the first place, if someone buys the listing they go get one from Amazon or a local shop and send it.If you actually want to know what people are willing to pay for something though, look at the completed auctions.
People still use eBay?
People still use eBay?
Do you have a better alternative to find old parts and vintage items worldwide?
The MA1 specifically was out of stock for a while which lead to high prices on secondary markets. Like most secondary markets when the primary market supply goes up there’s a bit of a lag before the prices fall down again.
Ebay is like a free market in itself. If someone post a product and it sells for an extravagant amount then other sellers will increase their prices… because capitalism and all that.
There was a while when Motorola couldn’t keep up with demand, so they were out of stock in most retailers. These are probably leftover price-gouging listings from then.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty well proven that people will still buy something at a ridiculous markup if it isn’t available otherwise.
Part of me wonders if eBay is doing some price fixing.
They suggest prices, they offer AI generated descriptions for your products, they handle the shipping fees and process all of the money from buyer to seller and take their cut in the process.
But if they are suggesting prices and causing the price of everything to increase so that they can increase their cut of the proceeds then it seems like that might be if not illegal then at least concerning and possibly legally actionable.
Is that device out of production? They might be counting on limited availability to jack up prices.
Is that product not available in all markets? They might be counting on someone in Sweden, who might not be able to buy that device is willing to pay a premium.
Was there a recent price drop? Maybe this is listed in the product’s old peice amd they are slow to drop it.
I wonder if it it just straight up money laundering.
