The eBay Effect

I like eBay. I buy on eBay. I sell on eBay. Their current slogans are "Win Victoriously" and "It's Better When You Win It!" I agree although I'll say it's better when you win it from me!

eBay doesn't seem to follow the written laws of supply and demand. I find it interesting and perplexing as to why when something is available to the general public, at nationwide stores, i.e., easily obtained, that product can still sell on eBay for two or three times what it's selling for in a store. Case in point:

Last spring McDonald's included in their Happy Meal eight inch dolls made by Madame Alexander in the image of Wizard of Oz characters. Now, I'm not a doll collector but I am an eBayer and have an eye for what might be the next hot item. So, I checked eBay and of course they were selling like hotcakes! Not only selling but making people money! On eBay they were selling for over $3 a piece and some (like Dorothy and Glenda) were selling up around the $7 mark! Now remember, these dolls were still available at your neighborhood McDonalds with a Happy Meal (which is roughly $2.75) or you could purchase them seperately for $1.77.

Another example are the Shrek glasses that came out when the movie was released over the summer. You could buy these for $1.99 a piece at McDonalds and sell them on eBay for almost $15.00!!!

Here's the strange part. A soon as the promotion was over the prices on eBay for the Madame Alexander dolls and Shrek glasses plumeted. I mean, literally bottomed out. What kind of sense is that? You can't get them at McDonalds anymore so they become rare but now they're not worth anything because you can't get them anywhere else but private sellers? Last time I checked the law of supply and demand if the supply is down, prices are up and vice-versa. I'm not a business expert but I do remmber that much of economics 101. Can someone explain it to me? My husband swears that McDonalds was buying all the inventory on eBay and reselling in the stores...yes, he said this with much grinning and winking.

Anyway, it's just another exciting phenomena in the world of eBay. And just to be clear...it is better when you win it! Give it a try!