I wonder if the Ctard uses this company to deliver his goods....could explain the disappearing items maybe!  

http://www.cougar-couriers.co.uk/

Bad move, sending to the US address. Paypal would not cover it, since the payment was from the UK.

Dave's business model is to make cash from handling fees.

On the lot here, he paid $50 for what - 30 books, all in poor shape. He'll pay media mail shipping to his mate, and M-bag it over to the UK (I'm betting the M-bags from his mate never go missing). Factor in another $50 for shipping total, but it would probably be less.

Those 30 items will all get listed at 99p, and described as being in VGC. They'll sell for somewhere between one to five quid each, say an average of 2.50 - thats 75 pounds in, so he's already showing a profit over his outlay (what's the pound/dollar conversion rate like atm?).

Then he charges shipping on each item, which is where he pays his mortgage(s). I've never bought from Dave so I'm shooting blind, but from what I've read I'll be conservative and estimate he charges triple whatever the PO charges him - so 2 pounds postage equals 6 pounds passed on to the buyer. As Natalie found out, not much in the way of combined shipping available. I'm guessing he'll make AT LEAST 100 pounds profit from posting the items out.

Factor in some returns from disgruntled buyers when they receive items that are torn, water stained, highlight-heavy and/or missing maps etc - returns that are less handling charges, less paypal fees, less ebay fees.... and he'll make at least 150 pounds profit over and above his original $100 USD outlay.

That's the business model he uses.... I can understand people getting suckered with the 99p opening bids and the VGC description... but why anybody buys from him twice is beyond me.

Regards

Mike

mdr003 wrote:Dave's business model is to make cash from handling fees.

On the lot here, he paid $50 for what - 30 books, all in poor shape. He'll pay media mail shipping to his mate, and M-bag it over to the UK (I'm betting the M-bags from his mate never go missing). Factor in another $50 for shipping total, but it would probably be less.

Those 30 items will all get listed at 99p, and described as being in VGC. They'll sell for somewhere between one to five quid each, say an average of 2.50 - thats 75 pounds in, so he's already showing a profit over his outlay (what's the pound/dollar conversion rate like atm?).

Then he charges shipping on each item, which is where he pays his mortgage(s). I've never bought from Dave so I'm shooting blind, but from what I've read I'll be conservative and estimate he charges triple whatever the PO charges him - so 2 pounds postage equals 6 pounds passed on to the buyer. As Natalie found out, not much in the way of combined shipping available. I'm guessing he'll make AT LEAST 100 pounds profit from posting the items out.

Factor in some returns from disgruntled buyers when they receive items that are torn, water stained, highlight-heavy and/or missing maps etc - returns that are less handling charges, less paypal fees, less ebay fees.... and he'll make at least 150 pounds profit over and above his original $100 USD outlay.

That's the business model he uses.... I can understand people getting suckered with the 99p opening bids and the VGC description... but why anybody buys from him twice is beyond me.

Regards

Mike

Maybe that is what Dave is laughing about when he writes (paraphrasing slightly):   "I laff CUZ if U don no WHAT I m Doing an U caNt figur IT out."

Maybe he's laughing because he knows that he is not actually selling game materials at all...he's selling postage.  (Which makes his alleged stamp sale schemes  a double irony.)

But then...nowadays Ebay RPG sellers are not really making money on the auctions anyway.  It costs $1.99 for the auction and $7.95 (if the buyer is lucky) to ship a single module.  The $1.99 pays the Ebay listing fees and the profit is obviously in the shipping.

So, Dave is just an early example of what is now the basic Ebay scam.

Not that it really matters, since a lot of this is pure speculation, but I think you give Diamond Dave a little too much credit here.

For instance:

mdr003 wrote:They'll sell for somewhere between one to five quid each, say an average of 2.50

Considering how many .99 sales Cougie ends up with, I'd say his average figure would scale much closer to 1.00 than it would 2.00. He does have the occasional nice sale, of course, but just poke through a page of his completed listings and you'll see long strings of items that sold for .99 or 1.04.

Also, DM Dave ends up with quite a few no-sales. Those should be factored into any equation concerning his eBay activities. And, as we all know, anything that scores two straight no-sales means that no refund will be forthcoming for any listing fees. Those sorts of penalties can add up quickly.

Dave is a terrible businessman. Just awful. But as you and others have mentioned, he appears to be able to just barely scrape by because he is selling the shipping. Why anyone would ever pay him for that "service" is just beyond my ability to process.

ashmire13 wrote:CTard certainly reads the pages. Having posted questions on here recently asking if anyone has a few unusual items for sale, which haven't shown up on eBay (hardly ever) then suddenly the same said item appears..... courtesy of the Ctard.

Surely even he can't be so deluded in his belief that having seen his item for sale that ANYONE on here is going to buy it. It's almost comical...  

In that case DAVE....I would really like a dog eared copy of B2 in VGC for 99p....postage £7.55! (NOT!)

Look what Coug's bidding on now!  



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=013

FormCritic wrote:
It is a nice lot....the price seems a bit high to me.

I agree, but it's not high if you end up getting all your money back!

Ahhh, TURD you fiend , has anyone advised the seller of TURDS expected MBAG of Tricks .

The Fringe Dweller smells trouble on the wind, confirmed by the growing glow of fire on the horizon.