wonwinglo

The Auction Guild (TAG) predicted that ebaY would announce an increase US store fees in July,well, our prediction was a month too early.Effective 22 Aug,ebaY is increasing store listings insertion fees drastically, and jumping final value fees. In light of the increase in ebaY store fees in Australia, including doubling the final value fee, adding a fee schedule more like the auction insertion schedule (10 to 50 cents) and adding other fees, sellers should note that ebaY frequently uses the AU and other non US sites as a testing ground for what ebaY is planning to next implement in the US, so this US fee increase might just be the first taste.
ebaY stock has taken a heavy hit since their last stock split. An undiluted (taking out all the splits) share of ebaY stock (if you bought one share at IPO or before the first split, you would now have 24 shares of ebaY stock) is worth $622.32, heading back down to where it was in 2003. Needless to say, ebaY needs to do something to convince potential stock buyers that their stock still has the potential to increase in price (ebaY has never paid a dividend, so buying low and selling high is the only way stockholders can make money on their stock) .They also need to keep institutional sellers from dumping their stock, which could send ebaY's stock into a tailspin.Other than selling stock, ebaY only has one way to generate revenue, and that is out of the seller's pockets, particularly in the US and Germany. ebaY's listings have been flat for several years, so raising prices on auction and fixed price listings would probably be self defeating. Stores fee increases are the only option at this time.
It appears that ebaY's attempts in Asia have been a failure. Yahoo defeated ebay in Japan, and Alibaba's Taobao auction site (partnered with Yahoo), has the edge in China, and between them they have probably put the final nail in ebaY's very expensive Asian expansion moves. Things must not be going well in ebaY UK, evidenced by the almost constant promotions to attract listings, with ebaY Canada
showing a similar pattern. ebaY India appears to be the biggest online auction site in India, but it is still a small site, with about 2% of the listings as compared to the US. Add an overpriced purchase of Skype,ebaY's near perfect record of losing all the value out of almost every company they have purchased or partnered with, and where ebaY is heading, becomes very questionable.
Fraud remains a big issue, real or perceived, limiting the numbers of buyers ebaY can attract. Buyers receive second chance offers on items for which they did not have the winning bid, that turn out to be scams, with ebaY's non existent security allowing the scammers access to bidders email addresses. ebaY and PayPal's so called insurance programs take forever to provide restitution to buyers, when the
fine print does not catch the buyer, preventing them from receiving anything. The information on the site that would help users to avoid fraud remains so well hidden, only a pro can find it.
Sellers are endlessly disillusioned by ebaY's lack of customer support, unfair unjust and unequal policies regarding policing their site for ebaY illegal items, and ebaY's failure to remove scam listings. After all these years, ebaY still has no procedure for dealing with suspended sellers, just slams the door in the seller's face, informs all the seller's buyers and bidders that deals should not be completed, and makes the seller look like a scammer. In cases where ebaY has made a mistake, and restores the seller, nothing is done as restitution to the seller, nor to restore their listings or inform their bidders that ebaY had made a mistake.Now ebaY wants sellers to provide phone contact support through Skype, to potential buyers, but ebaY wont do the same for their customers,the seller.
Rumors of ebaY looking for a buyer are appearing more frequently, and Meg Whitman has stated that she feels she has fulfilled all her commitments to ebaY, so we will soon hear of her moving on. Some of the rats have already abandoned the ship, Jeff Jordan comes to mind, and Rajiv Dutta (remember Rajiv? He is the one who thinks sellers are trash who "clutter up" the site) has been assigned to replace
him. None of this adds up to anything good.
So what should sellers do? What we have been suggesting they do for years.
Develop your own website.Use that website as the hub for all your online selling.
Remember that search engines are the name of the game, and if you just think of ebaY as another search engine, another way of advertising your site, you can use it to expand your customer base. You have to remain within the lines of ebaY's written and unwritten rules, but a smart seller can do that and still use ebaY to grow their own site.List on other sites.Most are free or only charge a final value fee
when something sells. Get indexed on Froogle.The more you appear on the net, the more frequently you will turn up in search engines.Do not use ebaY as your primary method of selling.They are an unreliable and capricious partner,who does not care if someone sells on their site or not,and if they destroy a seller's business,care even less.
Already other sites are starting to appear offering the small seller a chance to sell their goods proportionate to what it costs to sell them,for example Ibootsale offers free listings,a free pitch for a few months and they are gathering new sellers and buyers daily,there are alternatives,so why not use them ?

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

wonwinglo

'Some make models in things like wood,
Some make models in things like plastic,
Well you would make in wood if you could,
Whilst others build in plastic because it is fantastic !
Then we have models built in humble card,
Which currently are appearing by the yard.
No matter what you build from,whether it be paper,wood or flotsom,
I bet that someone here as got some !
Cut,carve,whittle or shape,
The fun is in the mess that we make,
Dust,shavings and all of that sprue,
Just may not be the thing for you ?
So why not foam,wire or metal,
Surely they are easier to fettle ?
We even have constructors supreme,
Who build from Lego,Meccano to make models from a boyhood dream,
Whatever is your thing to do,
Enjoy them always through and through,
Finally remember models are what they are,from balsa airplane to metal car'.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

Seaspray

Hi Barry
Do you have any auctoin site addresses to hand
cheers

Martin

wonwinglo

***Take a look at this one Martin which is fast gaining momentum-
http://www.ibootsale.co.uk/main/index.php
It is free,you can sign up and have your own pitch of 25 items,then apply for an extension to 50 at no extra cost.
The idea eventually when it is established is to say charge £12 per year for your pitch,as you sell items you just replace them with others at no extra cost,also there are no final value fees etc to worry about,the biggest problem with E-bay is that advertising small items is no longer viable and cost effective,the online car boot is the way forward.
E-bay have already got wind of it and banned links to the site and removed the members who did it,petty lot.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

wonwinglo

IDENTIFICATION.
Thank you for all of your messages and pm's about the ship models that I posted yesterday,in view of the interest I have decided to make a small feature of them as Bunkerbarge has suggested with two main views,so here is the first picture,they will appear as and when time permits,so can you put a name to this one please ? dont forget these are old and a bit rough around the edges but that all adds to the charm I think you will agree ?
Thank you.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

wonwinglo

#2 Any ideas on this little group ?



Dinky Toy Cunard White Star Queen Mary.



Brass rollers mounted onto a tinplate insert,note the splayed rivets which hold the deck in place.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

Bunkerbarge

Couldn't you pick any easy ones to start with!!

I have checked the first one against a few silouettes and I can't match it up. It looks more like a Nelson/Rodney configuration but they didn't have the aft turret.

I wonder if these may be a mix of accurate ship recognition models and toys with a certain degree of poetic licence thrown in!

I have searched and searched the web but cannot find any pages of ship recognition silouettes (if anyone knows of any please let me have the link) so I think it may be worth getting hold of a ship recognition book, of which there seems to be an abundance.

You have certainly got me going with this Barry so I will be getting hold of some sort of ship recognition book, maybe even over here.

Now where is my Amazon link?

wonwinglo

Richard no problems,I just knew that you would enjoy sorting these out,I do suspect that there has been some artists licence with some of them,the models came my way over the years in my search for Dinky Aeroplanes,when I used to purchase complete collections to get say one aeroplane,although the cars were sold off to defray the costs I rather liked the ship subjects and just put them together in the shirt box,someone has already offered me a lot of money for them since placing the original picture here,but I have declined because they mean more to me as a collection and have sentimental value.
It is going to be fun trying to identify them,really appreciated.
Do you remember the 'Eaglewall' waterline ship series ? I think that some were taken over by Airfix and sold two in a box.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

wonwinglo

Richard,what about 'Janes Fighting Ships' WW2 edition,I have all of the aircraft editions but not the ship one ? just a thought.
Just wait until we get to see the tiny submarines.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

Bunkerbarge

Barry, we are there at the same time, as usual!! I decided after quite some time that Janes Fighting ships, WWII would be the best book to get to grips with these models so I will be having a look on Amazon soon for a copy.

The three cruisers are also interesting as they look very similar but they are obviously three different vessels. I even spent some time reasearching Basset Lowke but they proved to be dissapointingly sparse on past models.