ebay ?

[exeric]

A worn out topic, but curious if anyone has a system for viewing early motorcycles (of all makes) on ebay? I used to enjoy looking at motorcycles in general on ebay, but now I can only look at specific searches. I think ebay shot itself in the foot with their latest revision. Would appreciate some useful ebay search advice, or some amusing ebay put-downs.

[PaulCDF]

I agree ebay 'revisions' make searches more difficult.
When searching I use the year and model
When searching I will also use word "Antique"
Finally when I find a string of search words that is producing I will SAVE this search
Works for a while until it doesn't,
Addendum:
When you find a good sell Save them to your ebay list

[1939wl]

Hello Eric,
Yes, eBay has definitely shot themselves in the foot with their revisions of the Vehicle Areas in the past 10 years. Seems it gets harder every year to pinpoint searches. They used to have a section in eBay Motors under Motorcycles called Antique and Vintage. From that you could specify complete motorcycles, or "Parts and Accessories" and not have to look through 50 pages of cheap chinese repops and other junk. The old search category allowed you to go into Antique and Vintage and then further specify a range of years, i.e. 1900 - 1920, specify manufacturer, i.e. Excelsior, Henderson, Indian, etc. and again only see genuine machines or parts. It's a crap shoot now. We saw the national swap meets change as a result of the widespread use of the online format, 20 years ago, but eBay has continued to change much of their tools for the worse, as you have stated. A lot of savvy vendors have realized that the wording of their headers is key to people finding their goods. The fees charged to list items are insane as well unless you are a full-time dedicated vendor. Those just continue to climb and get more and more restrictive. My 2 cents.

[exeric]

Ebay had a good product that made perusing stuff, and impulse buying fun. I only use it now for specific items that I intend to buy.

[tomfiii]

If I find a good search I will create a list of new bike hop ons and block them

[marksg]

When I search E-bay, I filter the search. I search Harley Davidson - Motorcycles and then change the sort to oldest first. I usually quit by the time I get up to the 50's
Tried to add a screen shot but was unable.

[JoJo357]

EBAY in the last 5-6 years have been changing just for the sake of change~They fix what is not broke! It must spawn from some punk/geek/programer kid convincing EBAY he could one~up the previous geek, and it usually flops. Now, it has really went into a tail spin. Not long ago, you used to be able to search ALL motorcycles under 1969. Currently, you'll have to specify what make and even models. At first, I thought this to be a ploy just to view other millions of makes & models, but now I am absolutely convinced it goes deeper than that, it's called...insanity.

E=EGG B=BRAINS A=AT Y=YAW.

*M.A.D.*

*P.s. The UK was void of all of this, but in the last 6 months, it has adapted the USA format.

[T. Cotten]

I stopped playing the game,..

When Paypal rolled over on me.

Let them eat themselves.

...Cotten

[JTR249]

I have had mostly average experiences. No major funds lost or items missing in transit. However, once when I bought my 741 powerplant the seller did not like the fees they take on larger purchases. The larger the purchase the more they take. Well, he accepted the payment, then after a day or so sent a refund. So we had to do the sale through email. Everything worked out in the end, though I think that's the closest I have ever come to having a heart-attack.
Recently a weird thing happened. I was looking for 741 parts and a seller in a nearby state had posted wheel hubs, chain guard part, side rails and other parts, most of which were original. The parts sold in the allotted time and I was surprised the hubs went for over six bills. Time passed and about two weeks later the same parts popped up again on the seller's page. I wondered if the buyer could not meet the cost, which sometimes happens and items are often relisted and go through the same cycle or are sold to the last closest bidder. I sent the guy a message, though he was slow to respond. I posted my bids anyway because I didn't want to lose my chance. Turns out he sends me a message and says, 'Those parts all sold.' So I tell him, look, somehow they are relisted on your page and the bidding is active. No response. I file the usual report through customer service and get a general response and buried in language it says you might have to contact the seller to get them to remove the items. then, low and behold the bidding ended in mid-duration and three items magically appeared in my shopping cart, all at an extremely crazy discount. The guy still did not respond after another attempt and I had to cancel the items I bid on myself through ebay resources. As it turns out, that was much easier than waiting. About two one and a half days later they removed them from my shopping cart.
-JR

[41craig]

I have been buying and selling on Ebay since 2003. I start all of my auctions at 99 cents. I agree that Ebay has a lot of trouble with people searching for items. I have an auction ending today for some AMCA magazines and some Motorcycle Collector Magazines. It's at 99 cents with 1 watcher. If it sells for the minimum, then so be it. But I do think that the categories suck for people searching.

[exeric]

I've held off selling on ebay because of it's (now) poor search engine. The fun of ebay was impulse buys, and finding odd things for a good price. Too cumbersome now. I hope you do well with your auction, Craig.

[41craig]

I tried to put a JD intake on Ebay last year and couldn't find my auction! I always put Vintage Harley in my title and Knucklehead, Flathead and JD EL FL UL in it so that buyers will see it in the category that they search. It always works until it doesn't.

Update, the mags went for 99 cents. I'm cleaning out my closet and I haven't looked at these since I looked at them the day that the postman dropped them off. I also have a lot of old chopper mags from 1970 'til I quit buying them in the early '80's. Hey, maybe some young guys will buy them so they can get some ideas for their clothing I never got into the Wardrobe! I've ridden my bikes with tennis shoes and shorts at times.