Power Sellers Unite

sciencefare

Americans Unload Prized Belongings To Make Ends Meet

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

NEW YORK (AP) — The for-sale listings on the online hub Craigslist come with plaintive notices, like the one from the teenager in Georgia who said her mother lost her job and pleaded, "Please buy anything you can to help out."

Or the seller in Milwaukee who wrote in one post of needing to pay bills — and put a diamond engagement ring up for bids to do it.

Struggling with mounting debt and rising prices, faced with the toughest economic times since the early 1990s, Americans are selling prized possessions online and at flea markets at alarming rates.

To meet higher gas, food and prescription drug bills, they are selling off grandmother's dishes and their own belongings. Some of the household purging has been extremely painful — families forced to part with heirlooms.

"This is not about downsizing. It's about needing gas money," said Nancy Baughman, founder of eBizAuctions, an online auction service she runs out of her garage in Raleigh, N.C. One former affluent customer is now unemployed and had to unload Hermes leather jackets and Versace jeans and silk shirts.

At Craigslist, which has become a kind of online flea market for the world, the number of for-sale listings has soared 70 percent since last July. In March, the number of listings more than doubled to almost 15 million from the year-ago period.

Craigslist CEO Jeff Buckmaster acknowledged the increasing popularity of selling all sort of items on the Web, but said the rate of growth is "moving above the usual trend line." He said he was amazed at the desperate tone in some ads.

In Daleville, Ala., Ellona Bateman-Lee has turned to eBay and flea markets to empty her three-bedroom mobile home of DVDs, VCRs, stereos and televisions.

She said she needs the cash to help pay for soaring food and utility bills and mounting health care expenses since her husband, Bob, suffered an electric shock on the job as a dump truck driver in 2006 and is now disabled.

Among her most painful sales: her grandmother's teakettle. She sold it for $6 on eBay.

"My grandmother raised me, so it hurt," she said. "We've had bouts here and there, but we always got by. This time it's different."

Economists say it is difficult to compare the selling trend with other tough times because the Internet, only in wide use since the mid-1990s, has made it much easier to unload goods than, say, at pawn shops.

But clearly, cash-strapped people are selling their belongings at bargain prices, with a flood of listings for secondhand cars, clothing and furniture hitting the market in recent months, particularly since January.

Earlier this decade, people tapped their inflated home equity and credit cards to fuel a buying binge. Now, slumping home values and a credit crisis have sapped sources of cash.

Meanwhile, soaring gas and food prices haven't kept pace with meager wage growth. Gas prices have already hit $4 per gallon in some places, and that could become more widespread this summer. The weakening job market is another big worry.

Christine Hadley, a 53-year-old registered nurse from Reading, Pa., says she used to be "a clotheshorse," splurging on pricey Dooney & Bourke handbags. But her live-in boyfriend left last year, and she has had trouble finding a job.

Piles of unpaid bills forced her to sell more than 80 items, including the handbags, which went for more than $1,000 on a site called AuctionPal.com. Now, except for some artwork and threadbare furniture, her house is looking sparse.

"I need the money for essentials — to pay my bills and to eat," Hadley said.

At AuctionPal.com, which helps novices sell things online, for-sale listings rose 66 percent from February to March, much faster than the 25 percent to 30 percent average monthly pace since the company was formed in September, CEO Maureen Ellenberger said. She said she was surprised to see that most of her clients desperately needed to sell items to raise cash.

For LiveDeal.com, a classifieds and business directory site, for-sale listings for January through March rose 10 percent from the previous year.

"We can definitely detect economic stress on the part of the consumer," said John Raven, the site's chief operating officer.

On Craigslist, Buckmaster said, three of the four fastest-growing for-sale categories are tied to gas — recreational vehicles like campers and trailers, cars and trucks, and boats.

Raven noted more and more listings for furniture, particularly in areas around Miami and Las Vegas and other regions hardest hit by the housing crisis.

Baughman, who runs eBizAuctions, said that over the past four months she's been working with mostly desperate sellers instead of...

Read The Rest From: Associated Press

galateasheirlooms · Joined: 19 Jun 2007 Posts: 268

The problem I'm having is where do you list very high dollar value items? I have some very old plush toys like a steiff lamby and such that I found out are valuable in the bears forum of Ebay. Where do I go with these items since I need to sell them? Surely not ebay, as I'd actually be selling them for far less than value. So where do you go?

sciencefare

galateasheirlooms wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")The problem I'm having is where do you list very high dollar value items? Surely not ebay, as I'd actually be selling them for far less than value. So where do you go?

I don't have the answer, but I'm sure someone at PSU will know and offer a suggestion you'll be able to try.

You could do the eBay thing and not lose out by setting the starting price appropriately or using a reserve.

Lady*Belle · Joined: 07 Mar 2008 Posts: 934

Putting the higher end items on a site where you can sell internationally would work well. The dollar is cheaper then the euro... so they get more for their money over here.

purple_reading_giraffe · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 5485 Location: Indiana, USA

The article is most interesting to me in that it barely mention eBay, and highlights that there are a variety of alternatives.

Some thoughts on the valuable toy:

bid4assets.com styles itself as a high-end site. SpecialistAuctions.com has moderated categories and knowledgeable users. Delcampe.com is known for collectibles, but I'm not sure if they have a category for toys.

If it is a highly desirable collectible and you do have a good idea what it's worth, setting a price and listing it in a free store like eCrater, BluJay, or BuyItSellIt might work, as the collectors are likely to search high and low to find it, and Google will find it there. There are also the more high-end arts and antiques and collectibles store sites if you want to establish a business around such items - RubyLane, TIAS and it's sister sites.

Any of the larger all-in-one sites might be fine if you protect your price point.

galateasheirlooms · Joined: 19 Jun 2007 Posts: 268

I'm surprised when I actually looked at Delcampe. If you go into the other items area, there are definitely categories for toys and such. Interesting.

galateasheirlooms · Joined: 19 Jun 2007 Posts: 268

Delcampe also seems to have its on US section at the bottom of the main page. Anyone try them? They are free to list with reasonable fees.

purple_reading_giraffe · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 5485 Location: Indiana, USA

PSU Threads I have linked in my spreadsheet for Delcampe:
http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=12925
http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=16659
http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=16991

My closest approach to an "all items" search so far for Delcampe. An all categories page with number of listings for each:
http://www.delcampe.com/page/category/language,E,cat,0.html

They've been around since 2000, I believe. It's probable the site is better known among serious collectors, especially for coins, stamps, and paper ephemera.

Here are the quantcast reports for Delcampe. It is interesting to me that each one lists the other (.com and .net) as a competitor. Both .com and .net belong to Delcampe. (Makes researching more challenging). I find it hilarious that the audience for .com is (according to Quantcast) more male, and for .net is more female.

http://www.quantcast.com/search/delcampe.com
http://www.quantcast.com/search/delcampe.net

Daikon · Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 949

The for-sale listings on the online hub Craigslist come with plaintive notices, like the one from the teenager in Georgia who said her mother lost her job and pleaded, "Please buy anything you can to help out."

Or the seller in Milwaukee who wrote in one post of needing to pay bills — and put a diamond engagement ring up for bids to do it.

Struggling with mounting debt and rising prices, faced with the toughest economic times since the early 1990s, Americans are selling prized possessions online and at flea markets at alarming rates.

To meet higher gas, food and prescription drug bills, they are selling off grandmother's dishes and their own belongings. Some of the household purging has been extremely painful — families forced to part with heirlooms.

"This is not about downsizing. It's about needing gas money," said Nancy Baughman, founder of eBizAuctions, an online auction service she runs out of her garage in Raleigh, N.C. One former affluent customer is now unemployed and had to unload Hermes leather jackets and Versace jeans and silk shirts.

At Craigslist, which has become a kind of online flea market for the world, the number of for-sale listings has soared 70 percent since last July. In March, the number of listings more than doubled to almost 15 million from the year-ago period.

Craigslist CEO Jeff Buckmaster acknowledged the increasing popularity of selling all sort of items on the Web, but said the rate of growth is "moving above the usual trend line." He said he was amazed at the desperate tone in some ads.

In Daleville, Ala., Ellona Bateman-Lee has turned to eBay and flea markets to empty her three-bedroom mobile home of DVDs, VCRs, stereos and televisions.

more.. link to news article

luckyalive · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 589

I am wondering how many of these people are living beyond their means? I really don't see any difference between being adicted to materials items than to smoking, entertainment, taking drugs, or being a sex addict. Many seem to be trying to fill a bottomless pit in their sole with stuff. Having attended many estate auctions I guarantee its not going to do you any good in the end.

Some of these may be ripoff ads? Reminds me of a rummage sale I went to once - they had a sign on the garge that said "pre ebay sale". Out of the kindness of their heart they were willing to sell you those rusty old toys, even though they could make more money on ebay, so they could have their money now. Or could it be they speculated on some auction items, overpaid, and are now trying to dump them on some sucker.

And to make it worse ebay is taking advantage of legit people having a hard time and trying to sell items. Of course look at how they got a cut of the charity items. eBay is like a mafia figure who stands next to a girl scout selling cookies - who tells the cusomter "thanks", but that will be an extra $20.00 if you want to see the girl deliver the cookies alive.

things4u · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1328

luckyalive wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
I am wondering how many of these people are living beyond their means? I really don't see any difference between being adicted to materials items than to smoking, entertainment, taking drugs, or being a sex addict. Many seem to be trying to fill a bottomless pit in their sole with stuff. Having attended many estate auctions I guarantee its not going to do you any good in the end.

Some of these may be ripoff ads? Reminds me of a rummage sale I went to once - they had a sign on the garge that said "pre ebay sale". Out of the kindness of their heart they were willing to sell you those rusty old toys, even though they could make more money on ebay, so they could have their money now. Or could it be they speculated on some auction items, overpaid, and are now trying to dump them on some sucker.

And to make it worse ebay is taking advantage of legit people having a hard time and trying to sell items. Of course look at how they got a cut of the charity items. eBay is like a mafia figure who stands next to a girl scout selling cookies - who tells the cusomter "thanks", but that will be an extra $20.00 if you want to see the girl deliver the cookies alive.
how true it seems that everyone has to have everything now a days there is not much thought put in to some purchases and after the shine wares off they toss it in a cornner like a child s toy and on to the next just got to have it fix,then it is look what I have and you don't . PEOPLE have to learn to LIVE with in there means and not on get it now and pay later

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17229 Location: Texas

" I am wondering how many of these people are living beyond their means?"

Local news recently reported over 4400 homes were foreclosed in the Dallass & Ft. Worth area of N. Texas. As the poster above stated, some folks live waaay beyond there income and also get into trouble with non-fixed interest rates on their home's mortgages.
Cut up the CC cards and stop blowing $$ like it grows on trees and these homeowners might get through this OK, otherwise, they'll be moving back in with Mom & Dad which is happening a lot in N. Texas.

purple_reading_giraffe · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 5485 Location: Indiana, USA

I was personally outraged and appalled when I saw the ads on TV from Quicken Loans that were advertising the SmartLoans. I said to myself - how can ANYONE think it's SMART to pay so little on a mortgage that one is not even covering the INTEREST, let alone making no dent in the principal? How can it be smart to be accruing yet more interest charged for the interest you already didn't pay? How can these loans even be allowed? Now we see the results when stupid laws are enacted that selfish companies take advantage of to mislead the functionally illiterate (or the greedy and foolish).

Batman3777 · Joined: 10 Feb 2008 Posts: 835 Location: NJ

elgato wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
" I am wondering how many of these people are living beyond their means?"

Local news recently reported over 4400 homes were foreclosed in the Dallass & Ft. Worth area of N. Texas. As the poster above stated, some folks live waaay beyond there income and also get into trouble with non-fixed interest rates on their home's mortgages.
Cut up the CC cards and stop blowing $$ like it grows on trees and these homeowners might get through this OK, otherwise, they'll be moving back in with Mom & Dad which is happening a lot in N. Texas.

It's not always a matter of living beyond ones means. For example, in my township, property taxes have tripled within the past 10 years, doubling the mortgage payment. Add to that the arm thing and you have yourself a spiraling problem.

In the end, it would have been helpful is a certain pudgy southerner president with cigars hadn't convinced the country that EVERYONE and their dog could afford a home.

It also would be nice if salary could actually increase with cost of living.

So, yes, always good to ephasize the "SOME FOLKS" part of the equation.

Too many ipods and cell phones and things. People def. need to get back to basics. I for one would welcome the option to go live in a cabin in alaska, providing for myself, asking for nothing... but these damn student loans have to be paid.... and so does my car. :shock:

Batman3777 · Joined: 10 Feb 2008 Posts: 835 Location: NJ

purple_reading_giraffe wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
I was personally outraged and appalled when I saw the ads on TV from Quicken Loans that were advertising the SmartLoans. I said to myself - how can ANYONE think it's SMART to pay so little on a mortgage that one is not even covering the INTEREST, let alone making no dent in the principal? How can it be smart to be accruing yet more interest charged for the interest you already didn't pay? How can these loans even be allowed? Now we see the results when stupid laws are enacted that selfish companies take advantage of to mislead the functionally illiterate (or the greedy and foolish).

Amen. Of course, FINALLY, this did come back to bite these companies in the... rear.