Im curious to know why ebay is still very popular for everyday seller considering that they charge 10% fees plus paypal fees on top of that.
Gumtree in australia have pretty much the same reach as ebay and a lot of people do use it but ebay is still surprisingly popular for average user.
Because Gumtree doesn't have the same features as eBay.
Selling tools
analytics
rich text formatting
high resolution pictures
auctions
payment methods
feedback system
dispute resolution
I do agree that eBay has gone downhill for sellers in the past half decade.
At first when eBay started, they were very pro-seller because they needed a lot of sellers to get off the ground. They had to create the image that eBay was a safe and friendly and profitable method of selling. The fees were reasonable back then, too.
Now that they have a large number of sellers, they no longer have to side with them and are now pro-buyer i.e. ebay will favour buyers when it comes to arbitration and disputes.
They increased the fees bit by bit to milk as much revenue from it's sellers.
The majority of those features that you've mentioned are not really relevant to an average seller. Dispute is conducted through paypal rather than ebay?
Do remember that Paypal and ebay were the same entity, back then. Not anymore though, but the inclusion of Paypal was some kind of safety net to the seller. It made things a little easier knowing that you get the money instantly once the auction ended.
Now it's all gone to crap and buyers can scam you, too, even if you are an honest seller.
Generally you can dispute from eBay for item not as described and non receiving item. You dispute via PayPal for unauthorized payment.
Because you can often get greater than 10% more on eBay than Gumtree. I listed a MacBook Air on Gumtree for 950 and get offers of only like 500 and 600. List it on eBay and sell it for $900 straight away.
yes but on ebay you might end up with nothing because its easy for buyers to scam you. if someone is out to scam you they are happy to pay a higher amount.
Gumtree does attract some low ballers but if you're patience you will get the appropriate price. I sell on gumtree a lot, and I always get the price I'm after but I live in Sydney so I get a lot of potential buyers so that might help.
Hardly anyone is willing to post on Gumtree also.
ebay hits a wider market but sucks for fees.
gumtree can be annoying with buyers. I'm selling an item at the moment and this buyer (who says he lives 1km away) has made 3 times to come and pick it up. still hasn't . He texted me about 30 minutes ago asking if he could come around tonight - dude, it's late.
Supply and demand.
So why do people still use eBay? Buyers use it because they are looking for an item that eBay is selling. Sometimes only eBay is selling that item. Especially unique used items, or even unique parts for vehicles etc. Sellers use it because there is a demand for their unique items on eBay. Many of those unique used items wouldn't fetch anywhere near as much with a local sale on Gumtree. Especially if you live in a regional area.
Also there is a demand for new items from conventional retailers with eBay's 10-20% off promos.
However, I think Aliexpress will overtake eBay for cheap items from HK/China. Maybe it already has?
I have started to buys more items from Aliexpress, price is better in Aliexpress if products is from China or Hong Kong.
I am selling stuff all the time and i have to say that depending on the item you get better sales on gumtree than on ebay. Some items you can only sell on ebay for a half decent price but some are better of on gumtree.
Besides that, on Gumtree i don't have to think if the buyer is going to complain to PayPal within six months and request a return for no real reason. Cash for item, done deal!
eBay own gumtree and will use it to stop any other company growing to take on eBay. Similarly they will never make gumtree good enough to risk losing their customers from EBay else they lose their $$$$
Ebay works well for electronics - laptops/phones.
Gumtree works well for household crap that's difficult to ship.
These days I tend to list on both sites with a small price differential and note saying "also listed elsewhere". Buyers who are price sensitive know how to find the same item on gumtree … others are happy to pay the asking price on ebay.
My number one market is the United States - Gumtree can't help me there!
gumtree for local bulkier stuff, can be fantastic for tables, chairs etc
I use gumtree for most stuff, but will only deal locally with cash.
If I have something I'm not sure of the value of (collectible?), I will go for eBay auction and let the market decide. Mostly the stuff I list on eBay will be able to be posted easily too.
As mentioned above Ebay own Gumtree. Trading Post also looks VERY similar to Gumtree these days so I think they have a finger in that pie also. Has anyone noticed how slow gumtree and Trading post have become. I thinks its being done deliberately to make eBay look better.
I don't sell anything on ebay anymore since they started charging their % on postage as well. I just put the figure i want in gumtree and eventually someone buys it.
The issue with buying things from Gumtree over Ebay however is that you often get screwed over by the seller. You make an offer, the seller accepts and then you never hear from them again. That's happened to me a couple of times recently.
i get a minimum 15% more via ebay, after fees taken out still make more.. difference is notable when i sell 5-10K a month on Ebay
i try selling the same items on both platforms and Ebay always is in front.
Everyone I know that uses Gumtree use it to find deals locally. Not nationwide.