this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
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Mildly Infuriating

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Why are so many things on Ebay even more expensive then what the item would be brand new from the store?

I was searching for a Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto which is $80 brand new in a store, but on Ebay they are anywhere from $100 to $200. Even if it is pre-owned. It seems impossible that anyone is ever going to buy this so what is the purpose of these listings?

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[–] mholiv@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Probably listing bots that scrape eBay to decide what price to set. It can lead to some pretty interesting results.

See the $23,698,655.93 book on Amazon. https://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358

[–] dingus@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Lmao I used to "collect" listings like this a while back. When pricing bots go out of control, shit gets wild lol

[–] FederatedSaint@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The MA1 is not worth the trouble. It is soooo finicky. I've had to factory reset and re-setup on multiple occasions from things as simple as walking out of range.

After me and my daughter spent a full hour trying to get any of our phones to reconnect to the damn thing, I had had it and sent the thing back to Amazon and got my $100 back. Much happier just using a cable again.

[–] macrocephalic@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I have the AAWireless one and it's not perfect but it almost always works. If it doesn't work then you can just unplug it and plug the cable into your phone. Worth it.

[–] ChronosWing@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

Never had an issue with mine. Seems to be car radio dependant honestly. Had a cheaper wireless android auto in my previous car that worked great but refused to work in my new VW, grabbed the Motorola and it hasn't given me a problem.

[–] Hazdaz@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is that device out of production? They might be counting on limited availability to jack up prices.

Is that product not available in all markets? They might be counting on someone in Sweden, who might not be able to buy that device is willing to pay a premium.

Was there a recent price drop? Maybe this is listed in the product's old peice amd they are slow to drop it.

I wonder if it it just straight up money laundering.

[–] jetsetdorito@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Not sure if it's out of production, but you can buy them for $90 at a Target

[–] wander1236@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There was a while when Motorola couldn't keep up with demand, so they were out of stock in most retailers. These are probably leftover price-gouging listings from then.

Unfortunately, it's pretty well proven that people will still buy something at a ridiculous markup if it isn't available otherwise.

[–] Izzy@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I think you are right with old listings and then maybe new people looking at old listings to make new listings without verifying.

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Part of me wonders if eBay is doing some price fixing.

They suggest prices, they offer AI generated descriptions for your products, they handle the shipping fees and process all of the money from buyer to seller and take their cut in the process.

But if they are suggesting prices and causing the price of everything to increase so that they can increase their cut of the proceeds then it seems like that might be if not illegal then at least concerning and possibly legally actionable.

[–] Squander@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How do you get ebay to suggest a price?

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

List something for sale.

[–] JohnEdwa@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because why not, maybe someone will buy it from you as they don't know better, and you cash in the profit. It doesn't cost anything to post something on eBay after all.
Some of them don't even have the thing in the first place, if someone buys the listing they go get one from Amazon or a local shop and send it.

If you actually want to know what people are willing to pay for something though, look at the completed auctions.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Even beyond the realm of automated retail arbitrage, I am continuously shocked at the literal junk people will pay money for on eBay. I work in the durable goods industry and I have random odds and ends... extra components, parts, boards, etc. that just accumulate here so sometimes and I don't know what to do with. So I slap them on eBay and without exception some punter buys them. Probably under the expectation that they'll be able to flip it for a profit. But I have to figure that most consumers have no idea what the random handles or control boards or what have you would even fit. But someone wants to pay me to take my trash out of here, so... I guess I'm not complaining.

And then I see the retro nerd youtubers paying big bucks for hilariously out of date PC components. One of these days I should dredge that old milk crate full of ISA and AGP cards out of the basement and post them all.

[–] Transcriptionist@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Image Transcription:

Four eBay listings for Motorola MA1 Wireless Auto Car Adapters.

The first listing is for a pre-owned Motorola MA1 Wireless Car Adapter for Android Auto by seller garyinok11. The image shows the adapter partially resting atop its manual. The listing is priced at $95, +$12.25 shipping.

The second listing is for a brand new Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto Car Adapter NEWSEALEDSHIPS TODAY by seller jotam-25. The image appears to be a stock photo of the adapter. The listing is priced at $189 or best offer, with free shipping.

The third listing is for a brand new NEW Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto Car Adapter USB Bluetooth FAST SHIPPING by seller beautysupplyoutlet88. The image shows the box for the adapter. The listing is priced at $189.95, with free shipping.

The last listing is for a brand new Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto Car Adapter Dongle - FREE Shipping ! NEW by seller ausgoods1. The image is the same stock image as the second listing. The listing is priced at $127 with free shipping from Australia.

[I am a human, if I’ve made a mistake please let me know. Please consider providing alt-text for ease of use. Thank you. 💜]

[–] Album@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

The MA1 specifically was out of stock for a while which lead to high prices on secondary markets. Like most secondary markets when the primary market supply goes up there's a bit of a lag before the prices fall down again.

[–] eek2121@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Because people do pay the money.

If an item is hard to find they will pay it.

People that only buy stuff on eBay will pay for it.

If someone randomly sees the item they need they will buy it.

Example: I paid $2,200 on eBay for an RTX 4090 FE because they were sold out everywhere. The extra few hundred bucks for me was worth it to get the FE card over 3rd party cards since it is the smallest and quietist of the bunch. None of the other 4090s fit in my case.

[–] Squander@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Ebay is like a free market in itself. If someone post a product and it sells for an extravagant amount then other sellers will increase their prices... because capitalism and all that.

[–] isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

Huh? Get the AAWireless, it's better.

[–] ParanoidPizzas@aussie.zone 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Get the AAWireless instead 😉

[–] cosmosparda@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have the M1 and love it. Why the AA wireless?

[–] ParanoidPizzas@aussie.zone 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  • removable cable
  • configuration app to deal with difficult Android Auto interfaces
  • latest beta firmware includes Android Auto over CarPlay
[–] cosmosparda@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Damn that's pretty cool. What kinds of things can you configure? Sucks I'm stuck with the MA1 now. The last bullet would mean portrait AA on my portrait system. Be nice to use my full screen.

[–] ParanoidPizzas@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago

Screenshots of the config screen attached. I'm not connected to the unit right now, hence the error message.

1000027169

1000027170

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Since you have one of these, I have to ask if it's easier to switch users than the stock.

My SO and I just got a 2019 Honda with Android auto and it seems to require both bt and USB to work, the bt has to be connected first, then plug in the phone by usb and then auto becomes available; the problems start with both of us having our phones connected to the car over bt... So the bt on the car will pick up one of our phones, and the other will be driving, plug in their phone for Android auto and the whole thing jams up on itself.

This leads to a fun dance of unplugging the USB, going into the stereos bt and forcing it to the correct phone, which may take several minutes to even show the phones to pick one, once the bt is sorted, plug in the USB again and finally things start working, usually takes 2-3 minutes to figure out.

If we can eliminate that song and dance when switching between us, that would be ideal.

Do you have any insight into how the aawireless unit handles this?

[–] ParanoidPizzas@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I haven't tried the multiple phone song and dance on the unit. It lives in my old 4x4 which my wife refuses to drive.

We do have a similar issue with our other car however '05 Subaru Forester (non Android Auto). It randomly connects phones - as in I can be sitting in the car, start up to go somewhere and the car connects to my wife's phone while she and it are in the house. The only reliable option I've found (only practical if we're both in the car) is to quickly tap Bluetooth off on one phone before starting the car. If your Honda is starting with a Bluetooth connection, then I'm guessing the same solution should work.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I do that for her when we're both in the car before she powers on the radio. I'll just bump mine off if she's driving, then after she's all connected, push it back on so my smartwatch can reconnect to my phone. It usually works, but sometimes it glitches out anyways.

I'm going to look into getting the aawireless unit. I looked at some information about it and it looks like the phone connects to that and not the car, which should solve the problem, since only one thing will be taking to the car itself at any time. The unit itself was built to be used with multiple phones, and you can set one as primary so if multiple are present it will prefer the primary over all others.

Seems perfect. I am going to curb my enthusiasm since something that's perfect on paper, rarely is when you use it. But for the cost, even just having Android auto available wirelessly will be a guaranteed agreement from her. Simply, she was less than impressed when she found out she has to plug in her phone each time she gets into the car, for Android auto to work.... So as long as it doesn't do any worse than the car does with a wire, this will get a big thumbs up from her. If the other stuff works, so much the better.

My current problem is that the unit only seems to be available through Amazon, and only via the UK and US versions of the store. I'm in Canada.... I can order from Amazon US and they will ship to Canada, but it's going to be extra for that. At the end of the day it will likely cost around $100 USD to get it. Even at that price, it's worth it for us.

Thanks for the tip on this, I appreciate it.

[–] ParanoidPizzas@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No stress, glad I pointed you down a hopefully workable path. Good luck mate 😉 And yes the US tax. Purchased mine from Amazon US, I'm down in Australia. Even with the higher cost it has been an absolute joy even with my single-phone use case.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I saw some reviews that say the audio skips every 10-15 minutes. My partner is also concerned about audio fidelity. Can you make any comments that may satisfy her concerns?

[–] ParanoidPizzas@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Never had any issues with the unit. As mentioned I have an old 4x4 with an aftermarket head unit (Sony XAV-AX5000) and have never experienced any audio issues. This car is our family "adventure vehicle" so we use it for long road trips and camping adventures - in short when it gets driven it's often for a longer multi-hour journey, with music playing the whole way

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

Thank you very much! Have a good day.