Why Ebay overseas offer more bikes

[bironi]

I have not been active at all on Ebay since the last US economy downturn (or dump). Why is it that I see overseas buyers and sellers outnumbering domestic buyers and sellers now?
Thanks in advance for you insights.
Byron

[matyasdm12]

I agree. Always a bit nervous when I see the seller is overseas.

[bironi]

Well,
I have a sale to an active seller in Poland currently stuck at customs in Warsaw. I must say the guy has been great to deal with. I just hope he gets his delivery soon. It looks to me that he buys and resells for profit. I did not realize this first off, but looking at his profile he sells quite a bit of Mavic components. It also appears that Ebay is taking a bigger slice now days.
Byron

[ceolwulf]

I'm surprised at how cheap the shipping is sometimes.

There's an outfit in Israel that is selling a BMC that I've had my eye on for a while. They ship to Canada for about $125. I can't send a bike within the country for that. And even to the US would likely be three times as much at least.

But then there's the guys in Italy that have to charge around $700.

[dawgie]

My presumption is that overseas sellers feel that they can get better prices selling to the US or a world market. US buyers, as well, can often get better prices dealing with overseas sellers.

[jet sanchez]

Check any of the classifieds sections in Europe, the supply of used bikes is massive, selling to the U.S. means an extra few hundred bucks.

[rallizes]

Re: Italian shipping

I bought a beautiful frameset from an Italian seller.

Shipping was $40 to NYC.

I'd do it again in a second.

[ultraman6970]

Imagine a market where you have all the brands from here plus the european brands, stuff will depreciate quicker IMO. Europeans dont like to fix stuff too much either, once is broken goes to the trash (belgium) or the shed and then is sold for nothing to flippers. The other thing is that looks like sellers are more conscious of what the stuff really worth than sellers from here that pretty much are only trying to get their money back or hit the jackpot for x or y brands in horrible condition sometimes, all of that sum you end up with really good prices in europe.

The only thing is that some sellers have super good eye and luck to find good stuff for the right price obviously.

IMO. We need a list of european ebay sellers to check in a sticky.

[alterergo]

It might sound a bit strange, but I think there is more competition in international shipping and logistics. For instance, for air travel NY-London is further in distance than NY-LA or NY-SF, but generally cheaper.

As the result, international shipping costs are usually quite low (of course, it depends). Of course, one would always be better selling to a larger market, assuming everything works out as well as domestically. eBay put a lot of effort in that area recently.

[tuscanyswe]

International ship is very expensive from here. Heart of europe is however cheap cause of the large amount of carriers transporting goods passing through this "hub".

Shipped wheels to us the other day from sweden 120$. Expensive anyway you look at it imo .) Bought wheels from germany not long ago, shipping was 23 euro or similar.

[adub]

Many European countries have laws against MSRP pricing (price fixing). Because of this many (most) new items sell for less , and re-sell for much less.

Just look at Campy stuff, you can buy it for 50% less in Europe, this discount quickly accelerates when you buy a used item. This is what creates the opportunity for Europeans to sell internationally at a greater return.

[tuscanyswe]

Originally Posted by adub

Many European countries have laws against MSRP pricing (price fixing). Because of this many (most) new items sell for less , and re-sell for much less.

Just look at Campy stuff, you can buy it for 50% less in Europe, this discount quickly accelerates when you buy a used item. This is what creates the opportunity for Europeans to sell internationally at a greater return.

Actually campy is a lot cheaper for americans than it is for eu residents (when bought in / from eu). About 20-25% (vat) on all new items. So i find the used markets for campy is about the same. Perhaps even less in us. There are however much more really old campy here so that stuff may be cheaper in general but I wouldn't really know for sure.

[Hindmost]

Strong dollar.

[djdj]

I've found that many of the ebay listings of "new" frames for sale from Ukraine, etc. at low (but not unbelievable) prices often are offered with no warranty. That suggests they may be fakes, stolen or otherwise have shady origins. Buyer beware.

[jambee]

Let me chime in as the European here.

- Looking at eBay here I find that the selection is poor and outdated.

- I have bought all my frames in recent years in the U.S.

- Prices for Campy here are not that different than the U.S. We pay 19% VAT in Germany which often means that for new stuff the prices are comparable.

- in German forums, you never ever find deals as amazing as here. Folks tend to knock off 20% off the new price to make a second hand sell whereas here, we early sell things off for 50% of retail (I blame mentality for this).

I think that a lot of the excitement about buying from Europe is based on the age of the market. You can get here all your 70s, 80s, 90s, early 2000s frames whereas these are simply not available in the U.S.

Try to get a second hand Moots here...pffff....sellers will look for 3500-4000 Euro for a second hand frame. Look at some of the examples here on the form and my point will be made.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence :-)