To Ebay or Not to Ebay that's the question.

[2RCO]

This is gun related.

As many of you know 2RCo makes and sells parts and grips for 1911's and has suppliers lined up for a few other products. I started out selling Polymer grips on Ebay as a hobby and it bloomed a bit into something closer to a profitable business. I got aggravated at Ebay when the whole AntiGun agenda was put forth so I dropped the site and focused wholly on WWW.2RCo.Com. Well lately I've been looking at the junk being pushed off on Ebay especially in the grip department. Here is an actual quote from a major grip seller.

Some sanding and fitting will be necessary to mate these grips to your individual firearm's frame.

The average time you will spend fitting will depend on your skill level, but is about one half hour total

--note these are not grips that should ever need individual fitting.

Also this Gent has a 20day minimum turnaround time.

So should I hop back on Ebay for the good of the consumers. Or should I forget the site for banning a few firearms parts.

Tell me THR!

 

[Claude Clay]

..............follow the money

economy sucks now and if you have a nitch that makes a little--go for it. e-bay & paypal are not what i want to be involved in but sometimes need can trump want

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Take a note from the way the nation has changed. It is now acceptable in our society for one to circumvent ones beliefs in exchange for profit. Worship at the alter of the almighty dollar and sell your product wherever you can.

 

[2RCO]

Throttle --That was what I needed to hear. I really don't want to be associated with EGreed but I know I am losing sales from it and Ebayers are getting crap.

I just needed a little THR to confirm my feeling that it isn't worth the extra bucks to compromise.

PS I have been using Paypal for years with no problems on my merchandise but offer Secure Credit Card processing through a division of Chase. FWIW 80% of buyers on my site choose to use paypal.

If I drop paypal I might as well fold up shop. So is it better to do one and not the other or am I sellout for using Paypal?

 

[Duke of Doubt]

There's a scene in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead where Howard Roark, incredulous at being accused of artistic "selflessness" (which he despises) by a group of men who do not share his ideas of integrity, clutches a rolled architectural sketch to his side in refusal of a valuable commission which greatly would have benefitted his practice, shakes his head, and announces, "Gentlemen, THAT is the most selfish thing you will ever see a man do." Great scene. Great book.

 

[Oyeboten]

There's nothing wrong with 'PayPal'...it is a great help for buyers and sellers, international sales, especially.


I've had an Account for eight years, and it has been a very good thing from the get-go for buying and selling, both on e-bay, and otherwise.

 

[Oro]

There's nothing wrong with 'PayPal'...it is a great help for buyers and sellers, international sales, especially.

Well, there are Lots of things wrong with "Paypal"

1) It's anti-gun, too

2) It's owned by paypal

3) It is very expensive

4) There is no customer service whatsoever

5) It is anti-seller and easy to defraud sellers

Case - I sold an expensive pair of Harley shocks on Ebay about two/three years ago. The buyer recv'd them, removed the specialized, machined forging fitment hardware to adapt them to the bike. Then he mailed the shock bodies back to me and claimed to Paypal that it was not what I sold him. Since he had proof he mailed back a box weighing what I shipped, They took $200 out of my checking account to re-imburse him - completely ignoring my side of the story or even PHOTOS I had of what I shipped and what came back showing the missing pieces.

Paypal is in no way "safe" to use, it is expensive, and it is a sellers nightmare if you have a person on the other end committed to ripping you off.

Also, Ebay now does not let you pay for anything on the site except through Paypal, so you are not only stuck with their seller fees, but you have to pay another 4% to get your money from your auction.

There is a reason there is "junk" on Ebay now - most ethical sellers have just left and use Craigslist or their own websites. Ebay got too greedy and is really a shell of what it was as recently as two years ago.

 

[ants]

2RCO-

Gunbroker is where I go for serious commerce.

I check ebay regularly to see if I can snatch a true bargain on used vintage reloading equipment from a fool who doesn't know what he's got, but GB is serious commerce.

AuctionArms is also a possible outlet. So is THR.

 

[2RCO]

On my original lash out at Ebay I listed on GB and sold a few pairs of grips but it seriously was a PITA. I use it to buy but to sell it takes too long to get a listing together.

 

[Impureclient]

Yup paypal tried to screw me also. I'm done with both Ebay and Paypal. Ebay owns Paypal and they play too many games.
I sold a camera and waited til the money was verified, transferred from Paypal to my checking then I sent the camera.
Then as soon as I sent the camera suddenly hours later Paypal says the buyer had used a stolen credit card. Then Paypal
said because I sent it to a different address, at buyer's request, than what was on the scam buyers Paypal account they can't help me.
Come to find out the scam buyers verified address is not even their house. I found the guy who owned the house and he
didn't know anything about it. I waited til Paypal said the money was legit and in my account then I sent the item so I feel
they were the ones who should have known better. They make it too easy for scammers and in the end they want me to
pay the money back into my Paypal negative account. I still have my money and they arent getting it back. Maybe if it was
$50 I would have ate it but not $300, sorry.

Bye bye Paypal......As far as I'm concerned they were the ones who were scammed not me. Because they are the million dollar
company they think they can bully me? Once they verified the funds it became their problem not mine.

 

[moooose102]

i really hate the anti-gun tactics @ ebay! but, you have to make a living also. one way to look at it is anything you can put on there that is gun related gives them a little needleing. so go for it!

 

[3pairs12]

Not to hi jack this thread, but I currently work in the ACH field and we are getting ready to start processing for a gun friendly E wallet called Gun Payments.com. They are working hard to be a payment solution for places like Gunbroker and E-bay. You may want to check that out so you won't have to use discreet paypal.

 

[308win]

If you are a seller you need to set up some procedures to protect yourself from PayPal and PayPal is pricey. We sell on eBay because that is where the buyers are. Still, doing business with eBay is aggravating and they are the largest fence in business.

 

[DHJenkins]

Selling on ebay will do more good than harm, both for you and the consumer.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Take a note from the way the nation has changed. It is now acceptable in our society for one to circumvent ones beliefs in exchange for profit. Worship at the alter of the almighty dollar and sell your product wherever you can.

OH please? Do you think that's anything new?

Bone up on some 19th and early 20th century history sometime.

Well, there are Lots of things wrong with "Paypal"

1) It's anti-gun, too

2) It's owned by paypal

3) It is very expensive

4) There is no customer service whatsoever

5) It is anti-seller and easy to defraud sellers

More selective outrage, As a company McDonalds gets 3 out of those 5 yet I doubt many gunnies will be giving up on quarter pounders anytime soon.


If you can make a profit on e-bay then sell on e-bay, you won't be doing yourself or anyone else a favor by going under to serve some holier than thou principal only a very very small part of the population cares about.

As for gunbroker it's a Joke compared to e-bay, my items didn't get one tenth of the exposure on GB that e-bay got. And You want to talk about non existent CS, Pay-pal and e-bay's customer service is lightyears ahead of Gunbrokers nonexistent CS department. Gheck out this "We don't care" statmet from gunbrokers problem with seller console

Please keep in mind that GunBroker.com is only a listing service - much like the classified ads in a newspaper. We are in no way affiliated with the sellers that list items here. We are not a court or a law enforcement agency and we cannot force the seller to issue you a refund.

If you cannot get your item from the seller, your next best avenue is your credit card company (if you used a credit card). If you feel you have been defrauded and sent payment via US Mail, you can file a claim with the US Post Office for mail fraud. And you always have the option of filing suit in small claims court.

 

[NCsmitty]

I know you feel like you are compromising your values by using Ebay, but you're true calling is to provide for yourself and your family. With Ebay's huge exposure, you would be foolish not to take advantage of it, and you can provide a good product to those seeking such items. Your customers will thank you for doing that.
Those people selling junk have no problem with it, so don't let those feelings get in the way of being an honest seller. Good things will come to you.

NCsmitty

 

[mp510]

Ebay and paypal aren't anti-gun; just anti-liability and pro-PR.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with selling your wares there if that's what you think will make you some $$$. Go with gunbroker too- the more venues, the better!

 

[logical]

Kroger has no 22-250 ammo, in fact they have no ammo at all....they are clearly anti-gun. And don't get me started on Pep Boys...those anti-bananna clowns will never get my business.

 

[blkbrd666]

I would go ahead and do it...push as much "gun related" stuff through the anti-gun establishment as possible.

 

[CoRoMo]

Go make your money. You'll do several things at the same time.

1. Get your quality product into the hands of desirous customers
2. Improve the competition by raising the bar with your quality
3. Aggravate the anti crown at ebay and paypal
4. Illustrate to these antis that firearms related items is a lucrative business
5. Put good money in your pocket in this economy

 

[Landor]

I do not sell my products on ebay anymore. Ebay is to costly. In my online store I do except paypal just because a lot of people do not have credit cards. 99 percent of my orders are credit card though. I do not like to support anti gun businesses but like stated above. We have to make a living.

 

[runrabbitrun]

If you go back to eBay and use PayFraud
Be ready for 21 day holds on your money.
It seems PP is now acting as an escrow agent.
Also be advised the scammers are there more now that 5 years ago
and with the aid of PayFraud can and will steal your products.

Also be prepared to have the few nasty competitors
who may be still left there, get an ID to buy your products, with no intention to pay.
All they want to do is ding your DSR stars and put you out of business on eBay.

Hope you don't mind 5 directly competing off site ads on every search page either.
Taking potential customers OFF eBay to make their purchases.
Hope you like the new and improved search too.
It buries most listings on back pages, unless you are
one of eBay's new 'Diamond Sellers'.

eBay has become the joke of the world and is indeed scam central. IMO
Go to their community forums, particularly the PP forum for an eye opener.
Better yet, go out on the net and see what people are saying about
both PP and eBay.

Oh and what you will see on eBay's own boards is only part of it.
They delete/censor most of the stuff that exposes them for what they really are.

We use to use PP for our website, never had a problem.
But I will no longer support an unethical company
that is anti gun, uses anti competitive, monopolistic practices
and runs a wanna be bank, skirting laws and regulations to make a buck.

Only you can decide.
We all have to make a buck.
Just be forewarned.
The place is a cesspool now. IMHO

 

[oldFred]

PLEASE MAKE ME SOME Taurus PT1911 Ambi GRIPS in Pearl!

 

[2RCO]

OldFred the Ambi I can do on all Polymer grips and they'll fit the PT1911 quite nicely. I don't have a supplier for a pearl polymer though. It took quite a bit of research(screwing up until I got it right) to come up with the formula I currently use. I've tried formulating my own pearl mixture but I haven't failed enough to find success with it yet.