A $25 US coupon just showed up in my email as a thanks for being an early eBay user (~1999).

I thought there was a catch, but it was valid for any purchase of $25.01 or higher.

I ended up ordering a BD and only paying $0.60.

Yep

https://forum.dvdtalk.com/blu-ray-ba...-accounts.html

Guess that would've been a good place to look!

As I mentioned in the other thread, I didn’t get the coupon even though I’ve also been an eBay member since ‘99. I don’t know why that is, but I have to admit that I feel a bit slighted.

Interestingly this was also discussed in the more recent posts in this thread.

https://forum.dvdtalk.com/hot-deals/...-%2475%5D.html

Started in 98 but no coupon.

We got one. Also had a $50 gift card I hadn’t used so I just splurged on some stuff today.

I didn't originally but used the code and it worked. Shortly after I received the message with the code. I admit I tried it a second time and, of course, was informed I'd already used it.

Some people with multiple accounts got it to work twice.

Is there anyone for whom the code worked that has never sold an item?

It didn't work for a friend of mine, although he joined in 2001, so it could be the year, but he has never sold anything.

I just wondered since someone posted in the other thread that they joined in '98, but it didn't work.

I've only sold 1 or two items, and that was probably 10-15 years ago.

We've sold tons of items over the years, it's how we keep extra cash flow going. Right now we're thinning down the DVD collection and using eBay to do it.

So, yeah, the coupon might be based on activity.

I actually got one -- ebay member since '98 but sold only a couple of items almost two decade ago. Stopped really using Ebay more than a decade ago, when it became a scalper's den and cash cow for everyone *but* the sellers, based upon ebay's nefarious habit of increasing their fees every year. And it outgrew its original intent and has become a mecca of Chinese junk, profiteering, and scams. The days when it was average joes clearing out their garages were the golden days.

So, finally a "free" lunch, after 22 years? Finally recouped some of the fees I paid you over a decade ago! Thanks ebay... for throwing a bone. I got a 480 GB SSD for about $5, after coupon. Even if it is garbage and lasts only a few months, it's worth $5.

I got a code and have never sold anything on the account.

The idea that eBay would evolve into a mecca for profiteering and Chinese junk wasn't exactly a surprise. Anywhere there's a buck to be made it gets exploited very quickly. At least with eBay it is a somewhat controlled environment with some rules and regulations.

I don't find eBay/Paypal fees out of line. If you sell something for $100 you net about $86 after eBay/Paypal fees (minus whatever your shipping/handling expenses may be). What does an alternative means cost? Before eBay you had to sell by a classified ad or a consignment store, which would usually take 40%-50%. Neither of these pre-internet options gave you a potential audience of millions of people.

A small Ma-&-Pa store has to pay 5%-7% every time they accept a major credit card and then add all of the other expenses of running a store on top of that.