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What Happened to eBay???

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What Happened to eBay???

erikr

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Hey DPF,

Is it just me or do others feel like people don't list really rare, grail status, pins on eBay anymore? I know what I'm asking is subjective, but for at least what I collect and used to try to bid on and by you just don't really see it on eBay anymore. It's now always the same stuff.

I have not bought a pin on eBay in probably 5 or 6 months whereas I used to get stuff quit regularly.

Please let me know if you disagree or feel the same way.

-Erik
 
In general, old grail pins are really hard to find now, not just on eBay Which is quite sad, because while it's fun to hunt for them, all that seems to be getting any attention recently is new pins (not to say new pins are ugly, but people under appreciate a really nicely designed DA LE 100)

But yes, I totally agree
 
As more and more older low LE pins disappear into permanent collections, the grail pool available up for grabs is shrinking. Hence, it gets harder and harder to come across older and low LE pins.
 
several things I think that are affecting it besides what has been mentioned.

1. ebay lost a lot of business since they got hacked and everyone had to change their passwords - business was down 30% or so.
2. there has been a big change in people switching to facebook groups to sell items - no fees, but less protection as well.
3. ebay continues to make changes that increase risk and or cost for sellers.

you may also be going through the natural progression of a collection that gets harder and harder to add to as you get the 'easy' wants/grails.




 
Funny about this topic. I think it's the opposite - that people aren't buying older pins. I've been (admittedly VERY slowly) listing pins on eBay recently, many of them older DA and DA P.I.N.S pins of Stitch, Maleficent, Evil Queen and more and I've barely been getting people to even look at the auctions. I don't really participate much in the hobby anymore other than to keep my Marquees up to date so I've been getting rid of a lot of pins I've had for piling up for the last 14 years.

I think it's because most people only want the new stuff. In addition, they seem to be buying more from social media sites and from the same group of sellers. Pin collectors nowadays are a distrustful lot, thinking every pin has been scrapped or counterfeited, so if they don't know and trust you, they won't buy from you, even if you have great pins for sale. And of course, a lot of it depends on your view of Grail pins too.
 
What everyone else has said re: permanent collections, different pin priorities, and:

ebay is a pain - between ebay/PayPal fees and bad bidders, I haven't sold anything on ebay in close to a decade. I'm ready to clear out almost all of my traders since I'm just not trading anymore (what I'm looking for no one has for trade anyway) - my traders include rare DA Auction pins, really low edition pins, a Designer princess, Art of Ariel, Artist Proofs and prototype pins, etc. and I couldn't get the interest here for them, so I'm certainly not going to bother with trying to sell them on ebay. I'll be looking to find one person to take the lot of them at this point rather than try selling them individually.
 
I'd have to disagree with you a little, Jeff. While there definitely is an interest in the new crazes (and of course Frozen people would only be interested in new pins, since it's a new movie), I'm not sure that explains the absence. I'v been waiting for a handful of old DA LE 100s to go up for YEARS. I've definitely noticed the time between seeing certain pins grows and grows.

I think, as others have said, it's that they're going into long-term collections. Or people are hording them, waiting for the prices to REALLY spike high. With all the weird things pins have been doing lately, I think that's very likely the case. I know there are some Tinker Bell sellers who are holding onto their pins because she's going for so low now that they want to wait it out to see if she'll go high again. >.<

It's very frustrating...
 
I agree with derrickb. eBay also forces you to use PayPal, because they own it and then double-dip from the fees (eBay charges 10% off the final value but you don't get the final value in your PP account because they take about 4% in their own fees first), which makes it difficult for people who don't like PayPal. But I digress from the original topic. I don't think there are many pin "old timers" left around selling the grail type pins. Some of these old timers remember back in the day when trading was more "fun" and less shark-like and shy away from online (not in person) transactions in general. If they are not "in the know" with current pricing, they're apprehensive and probably don't want to undersell or be taken advantage.
 
My thoughts are all of the above. Plus, I think the pool of potential buyers is smaller and highly fragmented. And it's a cycle of feast or famine. People with money are causing a little feasting in a few select areas, while everything else is starving. People don't want to sell for less than what they put into a particular pin, or what they THINK its worth, which may not be indicative of current value. So they don't offer it up.
 

Josh, Kilian, or Diana
 
Sellers seem to be trying harder to sell directly through facebook/instagram in order to bypass the 10% ebay fees. I have seen more high end or hard to get pins on facebook than I see on ebay and it will surely get worse as word spreads to older collectors.
 
Kind of stinks for me, because I don't use Facebook or Instagram myself. Don't ask me why, I've just never been really supportive of Facebook and how it's taking over everything (and I don't really know much about Instagram).

I have noticed the drop in "interesting" pins being put up for auction on eBay. Although I don't bid very often, I do check the site frequently for anything that I might be interested in, which lately, has been a rarity. Hopefully this is just a lull and things will pick up again in the future! I rely on the internet for most of my pin needs!
 
Yours and everyone elses Giselle grails. Those haven't been seen in the several years I've been looking.
 
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