Last night I was hanging out with my cousin and she had mentioned that Depop has been purchased by eBay. Then as I went through my emails I came across the message from Depop explaining the sale. I have to admit, I'm not super happy about this. Here's the letter explaining the sale, then I'll talk a little about why I'm not happy about it.
OK, Like every major merger, I'm sure there will be good things and bad things to come. I'll start with why I'm not happy about this.
I've been on eBay since 2002. Actually a little earlier than that, but I lost the password to my first account and just created a new one in 2002. Regardless, I used to love eBay. There was a time when you could literally sell anything on there. I once bet a friend that I'd sell a box of rocks, and won the bet, literally selling a small box of rocks for $15. I made the bet in the dollar store, where I purchase a small wooden box, and some quartz crystal stones. Then put them together, made it look nice, and sold the two items together for $15. Plus the ten dollar bet. Made the sale a total of $25 for an item I spent $2 on. Back then the fees were low, and probably paid less than .50 cents for the auction and final value fees.
I sold a lot of records, dNb, rave based music, some early disco. Then eventually started an importing business with a friend. You could literally sell just about anything on the platform, and actually get sales. I'd list 50 auctions and have at least a 70% to 100% sell through rate weekly. Those days seem long gone.
My problem with eBay is that they lost their way. Instead of focusing on the people that made them the success they are, they slowly started catering to big sellers. Then they started to try and compete with Amazon. Now, I frankly, don't think they really give two shits about small sellers. The fees are ridiculous. The feedback system has changed dramatically and favors the buyer with very little recourse for sellers. The platform is nothing like it was when it started. Same basic setup, but the policies have changed, and the fees are completely out of control.
Oh, I know, they have the traffic, they set the rules. I'm actually OK with that. Enter Depop.
I started on Depop last summer to get away from eBay. I'm disgusted by the amount of money they take from every sale on eBay. I don't mind giving someone a dollar or two for a quick sale. Again, they have the traffic and deserve the money. I do mind giving someone upwards of $15 or close to 30% to 40% of my sale. Between eBay fees and rising shipping prices, reselling is becoming a much harder game.
It got to the point where I started looking for new venues to sell at. Depop looked like the perfect fit for the clothes I was selling. Fee's were reasonable. They had decent traffic. The interface was super easy to use. It looked like a winner.
In the first 6 months, I sold roughly about 65 items. All items that were listed on eBay for over a year. I took them off eBay, and sold them on Depop. Out of those 65 items, I think I had 3 returns. The one thing, I don't like about Depop, is customer service or lack thereof sucks. That's the only thing I still like about eBay. I've had a few issues on eBay, and I've always found customer service to be fair to both the seller and the buyer. Depop seems to focus more on the buyer. At least, that has been my experience.
It took about 2 months to actually start getting sales and build the account. So a little over 6 months on Depop I finally started getting consistent sales. It didn't happen over night, but with a little hard work it paid off. Now eBay, the company I've been trying to get away from, buys them!
So to sum up my Depop experience. I love the platform. I wasn't getting enough sales to leave eBay, but I began to focus just as much time on Depop as I did eBay. The end goal was to slowly phase out eBay or just list high end stuff on eBay that generates big returns.
I also feel good about dealing with a company that sells mainly used stuff and works with small sellers. They offer reasonable fees. Keep clothes out of the landfill. They're environmentally conscious. I currently love Depop.
Capitalism Out of Control
We've all heard the statement, "If you're not happy leave." Well, that's what I was trying to do. Is it just me, or is capitalism completely out of control. For the record, I'm a staunch capitalist, but I'm starting to question our current version of capitalism.
These corporate entities are growing completely out of control. Big companies buy up smaller companies, Regulations favor the big companies, and pass laws that stifle smaller companies from competing. It's literally like they protect these massive corporate behemoths. Then when one of them fails, they say, "Oh, they're too big to fail, something must be done." and then they bail them out with our tax money.
I have no idea what this is, but it's not the version of capitalism I signed up for. Then to add insult to injury, I don't think a single company cares about their user base, the only thing they're concerned with is profits for the share holders. They'll get these profits by any means necessary whether that means, fines, fees, penalties, undermining users, selling their data, etc, etc.
The entire corporate space seems almost parasitic at this point. Then they force feed us things like AI that only add to more money they have to recoup from the consumers. Is it just me, or is this whole thing growing out of control.
Then when the general public figures out ways to bypass these mega-corporations by buying direct from the source, the government decides it's time to put tariffs on all items coming from those countries. Anyone notice cheap Chinese goods weren't an issue until AliExprss and Temu began growing. Suddenly even Amazon was at risk. Lets just forget about free market capitalism at this point. Something must be done to protect our corporations. This is shameful in my humble opinion, and an even bigger shame that nobody is calling them out on this! It's obvious to me and should be to you as well.
I'll get a little off topic here but everyone was screaming that we had to buy electric cars to save the environment. Most electric cars are currently out of range for the average buyer. In the US most new electric cars are above the $55K range. China produces $20K electric cars, and suddenly they don't want us to buy them. Then they pass laws that restrict them from coming here. Is there or is there not an environmental problem? If cheap Chinese cars fix the issue, in a free market, nothing should stop that. I guess, capitalist profits are more important than the environment. This is a theme we see in several different ways over and over again. You need to drive electric cars, but we'll decide which cars you can drive and what the price should be? Outrageous.
Corporations scream buy American while they purchase everything they can from foreign countries with cheap labor and close to zero environmental laws. The whole thing is disgusting at this point. Don't tell me to buy nationalistically and then turn around and do the exact thing you're telling me not to do.
I grew up in a time where everyone had small businesses. When you wanted electronics, you went to a small electronics store.There weren't many big box stores back then. There were clothing and shoe stores on every corner. Small restaurants and delis everywhere. Back then you either owned your own business or worked in a factory and got paid very well. Capitalism worked for most people.
Now the malls put the small businesses out of business. Then the big box specialty stores put all the smaller electronics and specialty stores out. Then Amazon came along and began shuttering the big box stores and any remaining smaller businesses. We're literally treating capitalism like a game of Monopoly. Guys like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates are buying up everything.
Big corporate entities that fail, get bailed out by the government with our hard earned tax money. This isn't the way capitalism was meant to work.
Summary
I guess my point to all this, is that there is no getting away from these corporations anymore. They're controlling everything and dictating the rules. We're literally being enslaved by these corporate entities. They'll throttle our sales, dictate the fees, and control the traffic. In many instances we've also seen them stifle free speech, and de-platform people that won't play along. If you leave and go somewhere else, they'll just buy the competition. There is no getting away. If you don't like it, you can starve or be silenced.
You can say, "If you don't like it, go build your own platform". Without several millions or maybe billions, you just can't. Unless you're Elon Musk. Regulatory frameworks protect the players currently in charge. I don't know what the answer is, but I feel we're witnessing a failure or a better term is a perversion of capitalism. We need to get back to protecting the little guy, or soon we'll be indentured to these corporations.
No, I'm not happy about Depop being sold to eBay. I don't think anything good will come from it. Like eBay, they'll figure out a way to push out small sellers, protect big sellers, and kill us slowly with a fee for everything. Will it be disastrous? Probably not, but I don't think it will change for the better either.
I don't know what's going on with capitalism at this point. What I do know is that it's not working out for a huge chunk of the population. We could pass laws to protect consumers and small businesses but we don't. Corporations now control congress and the government through lobbying and political donations. We're seeing more and more consolidation of wealth in fewer and fewer hands. Unfortunately, I feel we're playing a rigged game and the odds are stacked against us. That is all.
Would love to hear your thoughts on Capitalism. Is there a better way? Am I over-reacting or are these corporate entities out of control? Resell? How do you feel about the eBay Depop buy out?
Credits: AI image ChatGPT prompt "Capitalism out of control".