mandalaymoon wrote:Anyone see the new Conan the Barbarian flick?  Comparison with the Arnold versions?

The new movie makes more references to the books than the first movie did. Jason Momoa did fine. The Bulgarian topless women did fine.

Ron Perlman as Conan's father was awesome.

2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Comic book collectors, do you remember a comic book from the late 80s or early 90s called Khadaffy Duck? I vaguely remember something like that comic, but even I did not want to buy it.

lucyjoyce wrote:
Have been dreaming of the fantasy football game this year.  Pick Orton again, Mike. Tebow will rule this year!!!!

Oh dear. Here's hoping you draft 'Bow this season!!!  

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=m ... cks_082311

Mike B.

Sad but so true:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/08/24/ ... k3%7C89552

Mike B.

Kingofpain89 wrote:I would have expected it to be the opposite.

Because Ebay is trying to become Amazon II, most American customers are just shopping at Amazon instead.  Foreign customers get screwed with shipping on Amazon, so they have stayed with Ebay so far.

Mike B.

Here in the UK, outside of the collectables markets, eBay is dominated in almost all secors by cheap crap, fake goods and directs sales from the far east. The overwhelming majority of large wholesalers, even those ostansible fronted as UK resellers, are owned by far eastern dealers.

eBay is just one huge big Chinese owned pound store. Three years ago, if I wanted something I'd buy on eBay, because it would be cheaper and provided straight from stock. Today, I pay the extra and buy from a UK online reseller over the phone, or from the highstreet. That way I know I'm buying a legitimate product.

My perception is that close on 50% of branded goods sold on eBay are fake. This is where eBay make their money. I don't ware designer clothes, and when it comes to electronics, I'd prefer to pay for the genuine article.

FormCritic wrote:

I don't buy it.  From a customer point of view, Ebay is quite strong at the moment.  Online sales are headed up and Ebay has a nice chunk of that growing market.  We're talking market share, not profitability.

Ebay has a lot of problems now.  I buy less from there than I have anytime the last 13 years, and I'd be surprised if there was anyone on this forum that spends more money on there now than, say, 4 years ago.  And if you look at the numbers, it's only been going down for Ebay the last few years.  The fact is they have lost their niche....auction site where you could win something for less than retail!....to Amazon, Craigslist and many other sites that pop up daily.  You hear buyers and sellers bemoaning the loss of the garage sale atmosphere.  I totally buy it, but I'm even more pessimistic:  Ebay won't be around in it's present form very much longer.   Craigslist and Amazon have outpaced the site, and Ebay can't seem to get their mojo back. Paypal has been keeping them alive and profitable for a decade now...if you spin off the Ebay numbers from Paypal, it's doing awful and has been in a downward slide for quite awhile.

Shipping costs are a problem with online sales, but the price of gasoline must also be factored in.  Often, the cost of driving to and from even local sellers is equal or higher than the cost of shipping. (That's why the American Eagles closeout sale was a no-go for me.  The cost of driving over there was much higher than the savings of the in-store prices compared with just shopping on Ebay.)

The push has been towards free shipping for awhile now, and I think in the not too distant future we'll see free shipping only as an option on ebay. That will be the nail in the coffin for many small businesses and sellers on ebay. But don't worry, the giant catalog sellers and the sellers who have vapor inventory will keep pumping out listings.

I do feel the loss of the old auction system, where auction items far out numbered Buy-It-Now listings.  That has to be attractive for sellers dealing in common items.  Prices have gone up as a result of the market move.

We'll also see the disappearance of the old auction system too.  People prefer the Buy It Now system.  

As a customer, I love PayPal:  Seller doesn't come across?  No problem -  automatic refund.  My credit card company might answer the telephone...maybe...if I call a half dozen times during regular business hours. Scam artists and lazy sellers lose automatically on PayPal and I love it.

The problem is that your choices have diminished as the result of paypal giving automatic refunds, because a lot of sellers won't work under those conditions.  I won't put certain items on ebay anymore, and I limit my sales per buyer, particularly overseas. I just can't afford to take the hit if a cougar-like buyer grabs 20 modules from me and then decides not to pay.  

I can understand why sellers hate the loss of feedback extortion as a tool to discipline, or even silence, buyers.  It waters down the feedback system, but it also puts power in the hands of the customer, rather than guys like cougarinnard.  

Conversly, this has limited the ability of legitimate sellers to warn others of illegal buyer practices, such as non-payment (still a large problem, I had three items just last month that were never paid for) and theft.  We've seen enough reports just on this forum to know they still occur.  As presently constructed the feedback system is practically useless....sellers can only leave positives or nothing, while buyers either leave glowing 5 star feedback or risk getting blocked by sellers if they leave less (yes, despite what ebay says, you can discern ratings left by buyers if you pull up your transaction report daily). All I know is I see as many bad sellers on Ebay as ever...something the revamped feedback system was supposed to correct.

One difference I have noticed on Amazon:  Sellers are more likely to cave in immediately and just give a refund on errors and damaged items.  Apparently, Amazon is apt to punish sellers with poor ratings...where Ebay lets them come back and scam again and again.

One thing that ebay does do better is just slightly protect the seller. On Amazon, the buyer is always right, and you must refund no matter what the circumstances, even in cases of outright theft.  I will never sell on Amazon as a result.  Ask guys like JohnGaunt how it works out when a buyer lies....you lose the item, and the cost of the item, and might even get funds frozen.



Ebay is starting to remind me of Obama care....I keep hearing how great it's doing, yet everything costs more, there is less choice, and providers are dropping out right and left.

Mike B.

Kingofpain89 wrote:I dont even bother looking for video games on Ebay anymore because so many of the BIN's for common garbage are so ridiculous.

Video games?  Funny you should mention that, King . . .



I picked up a Pioneer CLD-A100 Laserdisc player with the Sega module.  Sega CD games play, but cartridge games do not work.



I fear that the capacitors have gone bad.  Some corrosion is visible on the bottom of the Laserdisc case and the back of the Sega module.  The Sega module smells like fish; according to this eBay guide, that means that some of the capacitors are blown:



. . . http://reviews.ebay.com/Thinking-of-get ... 0016837892



Does anyone know how expensive this is to repair?  Can an electronics shop fix this simply, or is it too expensive to attempt?

dbartman wrote:Generally, if capacitors are all that have gone bad, they can usually be replaced at a reasonable price.  Problem is that if the capacitors leaked onto any other components, their could be further corrosion and damage.  If you can't do the repair yourself, the challenge will be to find a shop or person that will do the replacement.  There was a time when repair shops were fairly common, not any more.

I've gotten a guesstimate of $150 for a non-guaranteed repair job, and that is still less than a replacement PAC.  Ah, well.