Is it me, or does stuff sells less well on ebay?

[Turanil]

I believe that everything (not just games) sell much less well on ebay than before. It's depressing. Is it the economy that is down, and thus people being poorer buy much less?? Anyway, I have a rare book on a renown French singer; I thought it would sell well. But I got a look at the section concerning this singer: 197 various offers, and maybe just a dozen that have got a bid, with only a couple with 3 or 4 bids! The few stuff that got a bid will sell at 2 or 3 euros. What a shame. It's a really good time to buy, but not to sell. (I fear that I won't sell my 3.0 stuff)

 

[Bront]

E-bay has hurt the collectors market because items that would have normaly been considered rare are more accessable because location is no longer a boundry, or at least much less of one. However, it has opened the market for some collectables that would not have existed otherwise.

I've never had a big problem selling stuff, and usually get a fairly good price, but I start my auctions for $1 and let bidding go from there.

 

[MonsterMash]

I think that its a mixture of market saturation with D&D stuff - the overall market is only growing slowly and there is a lot of 1e, 2e, 3.0 stuff out there without much interest in it.

Turanil, you may also be affected by the size of the domestic market in France and the economy there, do you sell internationally as well as to France? I do sell stuff internationally on e-bay and find that the postal costs can be a deterrent outside europe.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

I'm amazed that a 1E Fiend Folio actually sold for $100 even two years ago (heck even 5 or 6 years ago I could find them on eBay for less than $20). Books really don't perform well on eBay IME. I gave up selling any about 3 years ago when shipping costs just got out of hand (it cost $20 to ship a single soft cover RPG book to the UK from Canada). I stick to miniatures and the occasional specialty item. 3.0 D&D books are probably the worst thing to sell on eBay right now. I would try to find a used book store still willing to buy them off you - you'll probably get more for them and it'll be less of a hassle.

 

[loki44]

I think it also depends on what new products are coming out too. A year or two ago old Warhammer and Judges Guild products were fetching a pretty penny (ok, some still do), but ever since WFRP 2e came out, and Necromancer started rereleasing some Judges Guild products, I've noticed a general fall in the level of winning bids on ebay. Of course that could be attributed to some of the other factors people have mentioned here but I think it plays a part as well.

 

[caudor]

I'm amazed that a 1E Fiend Folio actually sold for $100 even two years ago (heck even 5 or 6 years ago I could find them on eBay for less than $20). Books really don't perform well on eBay IME. I gave up selling any about 3 years ago when shipping costs just got out of hand (it cost $20 to ship a single soft cover RPG book to the UK from Canada). I stick to miniatures and the occasional specialty item. 3.0 D&D books are probably the worst thing to sell on eBay right now. I would try to find a used book store still willing to buy them off you - you'll probably get more for them and it'll be less of a hassle.

Yep, buyers market now days for old D&D stuff. In the glory days, I sold an Iuz the Evil for $105, and a 2E Draconomicon (that I bought at Half Price books for half retail) for $75. Sadly, those days are gone for now.