posted on January 31, 2001 03:15:35 AM new
http://www.edeal.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/static/demo_step6.d2w/report?wl=152
Am I reading this right? You can create your own auction site through edeal? Has anyone attempted this yet? please post your experiences/thoughts/ideas about this. I'd be really interested to hear about them.
posted on January 31, 2001 08:33:38 AM new
Edeal as a network doesnt have much traffic.
If you have a good repeat business go for it.
They have FVF but no listing fees
You decide which categories will go on your auction site. If you choose to use their categories on your site then your products are seen in the main marketplace. Added exposure never hurts. You can also creat your own categories but any items you list there won't bee seen by random surfers unless they go to your site specifically.
I recomend it if you have return biddders.....instead of bring them to Ebay invite them to a place that has no competition. They do have an in house credit card program similar to billpoint you can also use.
What you can do is create one. Then instead of a link to your website mke a link to your auction site. *shrugs* Maintain a store without complicated shopping carts etc etc.
http://www.lovepotions.net
posted on January 31, 2001 06:44:52 PM new
Hi CAgrrl: I have recently set up my own auction site at eDeal (not under the User ID wedgewood, however) and am still in the process of learning the ropes. But I like what I see very much!
For now, I intend to use eDeal for my fixed price items and for two categories of auction items that I deal in on a regular basis. In this way I can refer my existing customers to my eDeal listings quite easily as I test drive the site and see what develops.
There is not a lot of buyer traffic on that site yet - however, it is the cat's meow for the purpose I have in mind.
My feeling is that eDeal is still way ahead of its time as far as online auction sites go. It in no way resembles Ebay so if you go there with an Ebay mindset you will be disappointed. But given time to grow I think it will do very well. Also, it is such an extensive site that it will take time for people to feel comfortable using it, as most online buyers and sellers still only have Ebay to compare as a role model.
Try it. Enjoy the experiment. But don't put all your eggs in one basket until you see how things develop there.
Edited to add - when you create your own auction site on eDeal the name you choose will become something like (don't have he info in front of me so I'm trying to remember the exact syntax but its like:
"mychosenname.auctions.edeal.com" The name is your own so it's easy to remember and refer people to your site. You have to give them a credit card number that matches your registration in order to enable your site. So you can go through the whole process of creating a site without enabling it until you are ready to use it. It's a bit overwhelming at first, but so was learning to walk
posted on January 31, 2001 07:21:41 PM new
CAgrrl: I just set up my own site there early in the new year. The url is http://mizteek.at.edeal.com/ if you want to see how it looks. Its pretty plain and ugly as yet, as I still don't really know what I am doing. Next step is to learn how to customize the site with a logo and different look etc. and a link to my domain etc. I didn't use one of their templates, which probably would have made the site look a lot nicer, but I'm still in the experimental stage so will see what I can do on my own.
I really like this site a lot! But it is a bit confusing the first few times you try to get things working. I like the fact that I can create more than one seller site with different names, as I am want to get into a new line of products apart from the collectibles that I have been selling on eBay. I also like the fact that you can log onto your own command central and manage everything from one place. This is one fancy site for sure!
As Wedgewood says, the url is easy to remember. The actual format is: yourchosenname.at.edeal.com
posted on January 31, 2001 10:11:00 PM new
eDeal has some strange features on the personal auction sites. Sure you can create your own auction site but none of your own listings come up on it. Maybe they do if you only have your own special categories selected and not any of the general auction site ones. You get links to all the other auctions, not your own. Also, you have to list in the categories you have selected to have displayed on your own site, or else have all the category numbers memorized. Its also picky when you try to list stuff as you can't go in and make corrections afterwords, especially if you are using their server to host pictures. You have to get it right first time. On the whole, I find the site very frustrating to use. I tried a few things but gave up, as it seemed too complicated.
[ edited by bogalucy on Jan 31, 2001 10:12 PM ]
posted on January 31, 2001 10:39:27 PM new
Just like with any new auction site it will take a while to get your groove on. But once you post an auction and enable it its is quite simple.
Mine has some of their categories and some of my custom categories
I sell adult novelties.....
The glitter gels, massage lotions or other main stream items I have are going in the main stream categories I picked....those you can see in the main site and in their search.
Since Edeals doesnt have an adult category you'd have to go to my site to find them.
Don't go and custom create categories if it is a category they already have......that wont bring in new potential customers from edeals.
http://www.lovepotions.net
posted on February 2, 2001 02:20:22 AM new
Wedgewood- I was thinking that it looked like it had good potential for fixed-price sales. Anyway, scary to try true auctions if there really isn't much traffic...
WOW mizteek, ALL your items have bids, and most of them have multiple bids! That's great! And I think your page looks clean, which to me is more important than fancy.
lamps4u- I'm just curious as to why you say that...what do you know that I don't know? tell me please, I hate secrets!!!!
bogalucy- sounds confusing. I make my fair share of mistakes, so that is one strike against.
thanks everyone for posting, I've really enjoyed reading what you wrote, and I appreciate the advice & comments.
posted on February 2, 2001 02:54:06 AM new
Lesser traffic auction sites you need to make your stuff fixed price.
They all allow 14-30 day auctions and unless you check back daily to close an item early that bidder will completely forget about that bid 29 days later when you send them an email.
You need to remember about sites like this......it isnt Ebay. You can't afford to start low and expect it to be bid up.
It will be hard enough to get a first bid let alone someone to outbid the first lol.
If you have buy now auctions on these site these customers wont need to wait indefinately to hear from you.
http://www.lovepotions.net
posted on February 2, 2001 07:25:56 AM new
CAgrrl: The reason I gave that comparison is that eDeal is far and away a superior site to eBay, at least I think that it is so I am speaking for myself, here.
eBay is an old tired horse of a site. eBay doesn't have many features that make life easier for sellers. And I'm talking about things like an easy link to gallery listings (they charge extra to list in the gallery and give sellers nada in return for the investment) -like the ability to schedule auctions, -like the command central for managing and editing all your accounts in one place, ....etc. ect. etc.
eDeal has all of the above, and more. However, because it is such an extensive site it is still very intimidating to a lot of buyers and sellers.
When I started using it I was easily frustrated and confused by all the options. However, I decided to keep on trucking and just did a bit each day. Now that I am becoming more familiar with the ins and outs of the sites it is really hard to put up with some of the archaic features on eBay. Hence my comparison of eBay to a model T and eDeal to a new corvette. eDeal is a class act and I do hope the site will really catch on and take off in due time. If sellers were to move there en masse, I think eBay would be belly up in short order with the way they treat their sellers!
But you need to keep in mind that eDeal does not have the mass of buyers that eBay has, as yet. However, it seems to be a site that is there for the long haul, so time will tell. And one of the major pluses is that it appears to be staffed by real (and intelligent)people who take the time to answer your emails when you are having problems or questions that need answering. They even have a toll free number posted on the site plus a whole page devoted to customer service. (Much the same as the one on eBay NOT!
posted on February 2, 2001 08:14:35 AM new
Just noticed that goto.com auction manager now includes edeal as part of their auction services. It's easy to copy an ad written for ebay, etc. and now post on edeal. The fact that you can now post and manage all phases of your auctions thru goto.com, sure makes edeal look a lot more attractive. No listing fees and only a final value fee. It wouldn't take that much to drive some of your repeat customers to edeal. Perhaps use their regular auctions and then have special promotional or closeout auctions thru your own custom auction site when you've generated a bit of traffic. I posted on edeal quite some time ago. I think I sold about 2 or 3 items in about 50 listings. Nothing to write home about, but I do recall getting a decent amount of page views. I think this could be a decent alternative to Yahoo and look forward to giving them another shot.
posted on February 2, 2001 08:19:19 AM new
HI CAgrrl: Am sitting here with a cup of coffee trying to get myself going and decided to check the AW board to see what's happening today. I just want to clarify that all the listings you see on my personal auction paget eDeal are not mine. I still haven't figured out how to get just my own listings to show. Will have to wait until sometime next week to sort this out as I am leaving shortly for a weekend get-away. I also when in an edited the site so that it is how showing up with one of the templates from eDeal.
Hi lamps4u: I just want to mention that eDeal has a lot more options that just auctions and fixed price. I'm going to try to post this link to show the options for selling that I have selected - not sure if it will show up but here goes. Before I post the link I just want to say that for me, eDeal is removing the need to have a private webpage from which to sell my stuff. With all their options, one hardly needs to look elsewhere. I have a product that I manufacture myself, so I'm really looking forward to selling it through the Interactive Classifieds option.
There are other options as well, I just didn't select them.
As an afterthought....wouldn't it be wonderful if AW and eDeal got together and did something together! With AW storefronts and eDeals sales options - whoooaaa....could be something really great for the auction world!
posted on February 2, 2001 08:25:19 AM new
Celebrity8x10s - thanks for posting that information. I was hoping that one of the auction management sites would join forces with eDeal!
tell me please, I hate secrets!!!!
