posted on February 2, 2001 03:57:03 AM new
I have a huge stack of books I no longer want.
When half.com first pushed for members in October I signed up. At that time half.com had 4 million items. I was selling my books, CD's and VHS tapes like hotcakes. Wrapping more orders for than than my regular auction merchandise that month.
Since then half.com has grown to over 10 million items and my sales have trickled drastically.
I am not a dealer of books nor a hobbyist. I just have 100's of them I no longer want. I move quite often and when you pack and move literally 1 ton of books it gets old fast.
I have about 100 books left to sell and a bunch of CD's.
What I was thinking of doing is going to Amazon Marketplace to list all those same books. Basically 1 book would be seen on both sites. I know that it would take a lot of cross referencing and quick movements if one sold. I'd have to run to the other site and cancel the offer I have up there.
Do you think it would be worth the effort to play chicken with 2 different sites?
Does anyone else do this?
http://www.lovepotions.net
posted on February 2, 2001 04:15:06 AM new
Listing on both sites requires that you constantly monitor your email for sales. With only 100 books, I doubt that you would have a problem. The odds of two people buying "your" copy of the same book at the same time on two different sites has got to be higher than 100 to 1. I know you can cancel Half.com orders rather than filling them without a problem, I don't know about the process on Amazon.
We frequently play a similar game by leaving items on our website while they are on auction at Ebay. As soon as it gets a bid, we delete it from the site. If it sells on the site before it gets a bid, we close the auction early.
posted on February 2, 2001 04:22:45 AM new
lovepotions, I do it and have for months. Two orders for the same book happened once. I found the double ordered book at another source, in new condition, bought it and had it shipped to my 2nd buyer. I paid double for the 2nd book plus postage but figured its a small price to pay to have my books listed on 3 different venues.
Two things that I considered before doing this.
I'm on my computer all day and part of the evening. I am able to act pretty quickly once a sale is made.
I never triple list a HTF book or one that is rare. I research my books before listing them.
posted on February 2, 2001 06:36:42 AM new
I do it that way, but I am talking volume of dozens right now, not 100 yet. The only book that sold both places simultaneously was a new book by Susan Estrich.
Half.com gets snarky if you reply to their "can you ship" message with a "no." But Amazon will charge you.
It hasn't been a problem to cancel the book on one site when it sells on another.
