posted on January 19, 2005 09:20:02 AM new
If you don't already subscribe to TAGnotes, you may want to (The Auction Guild.com). Today they sent a long message about all the eBay changes (and they too say that the eBay gallery is a waste of money; proven, they say). Here are some of the alternative sites, and I know several of them have been mentioned in this forum already.
GENERAL MERCHANDISE –
Amazon Marketplace – Though Amazon also has auctions and Z-Shops,
they are a mere adjunct to their Merchant Marketplace, and much
marginalized by Amazon. The Amazon Marketplace is very dynamic
and provides sellers an ever expanding way to sell fixed price
merchandise. When a buyer searches Amazon for an item, the retail
item comes up, but links also come up to Merchant Marketplace items
new and used. Listing in the Marketplace is free. Final Value Fees
are 99 cents plus 6-15% depending on the item. Amazon has chat
boards and a toll free customer service number, though their CS
can be a frustrating experience for sellers.
Selling on Amazon - http://snipurl.com/c45c
Marketplace Overview - http://snipurl.com/c44r
Marketplace - http://snipurl.com/c44o
Marketplace fees and explanation - http://snipurl.com/c44w
Pro Merchant accounts $39.99 per month, includes free Z Shop, Free
Auction listings. 99 cent Marketplace fee waived and more -
http://snipurl.com/c453
Bidville.Com – auction site has approx 3 million listings (though
it is more like 2 million real listings, since over a million
listings are sports cards and records listed by 2 or 3 sellers)
There are no listing fees, final value fees are reasonable and
can be found at http://www.bidville.com/help/newfsf.html
Bidville also has stores with a basic store fee at $5. a month and
final value fees for sold items. Other store fees and options are at
http://www.bidville.com/storefront/fees.html
Sellers can import their ebaY feedback number from their Bidville
Trackpal page, but there is no auction import tool that we could
find. Random spot check shows a sell through rate of approx 23%
The search engine leaves much to be desired in that it is slow, only
returns a max of 2,000 items, and often does not complete the
search but gives a "timed out" message. Customer service is
believed to be responsive, and has good community boards.
http://www.bidville.com
ePier.Com - auction site has approx 145,000 listings. Full
feature stores (more like a mini website) have email and image
hosting, for $12.95/mo or $99. per year plus a final value
fee on sold items - http://www.epier.com/AdvancedStores/default.asp
There are no listing fees, final value fees are reasonable and can be
found at http://www.epier.com/pricing.asp
The search engine works fairly well as to speed, but we could not
get past auctions to show up, nor get the listings to sort. We were
not able to determine a sell through rate. ePier has a bulk upload
tool, but no import tool to move items from ebaY to ePier. In the
past customer service has been variable, as have the community
boards. http://www.epier.com/
iOffer.Com - negotiation site with approx 377,000 listing and
extensive wanted item section. Has good search engine, feedback
and auction import tool called Mr Grabber. Does not have
completed item information so no way to determine sell
through rate. Listing is free, stores are free, and the final value
fees are reasonable -
http://www.ioffer.com/help/feesNCreditPolicy.jsp?showTopBottom=false
Customer service is believed to be responsive, and has good community
boards. http://www.ioffer.com
Overstock Auctions - The newest site on the scene, this is a
general merchandise auction site, has approx 30,000 listings. With a
wide customer base for their Overstock merchandise, this company
is also doing the most advertising of their auctions. Overstock
has listing and final value fees that may be viewed at -
http://snipurl.com/c3gl
There is no completed item search but anecdotally sellers report an
approx 7% sell through rate. Customer service is good with a toll
free number to call for help. Chat boards appear friendly, with
Overstock personnel stopping by to help users.
http://auctions.overstock.com/
SellYourItem.Com - auction site, has approx 58,000 listings. Sell
through is at around 5%. Listing is currently free, and final value
fees are reasonable -
http://www.sellyouritem.com/SellersFAQ.html#cost
SellYourItem does not have stores, but does have an auction import
tool. Both customer service and the community boards are rated
very highly. The boards also include a board where users can post
items and get help from other users to identify what it is. The
search engine works well.
http://www.sellyouritem.com/index.html
Yahoo Auctions - auction site, has approx 200,000 listings. Sell
through is at around 10%. Yahoo Auctions has chat boards that
are ok. Their customer service is as bad as ebaY's, and that is
saying much. Their site generally runs very well, and has good
tools and features. http://auctions.yahoo.com/
___________________________________
Is it true that the only difference between a yard sale and a trash pickup is how close to the road the stuff is placed?
posted on January 19, 2005 06:14:06 PM new
Toy, Yup, We sellers can run all over the internet. Listing here and listing there. Tried it MANY times, what happens? Nuthin'. no bids. What I have listed on these Other sites sells over and over and over on e bay. The other ones, not, nuthin' nadda. Tells me sumpthin'. Buyers don't go to those places..Well,,,no buyers BUT L@@KERS have looked at my auctions on BID-IT.com....Amazing, I have TRIED every one of those sites...Well,,,,if I can remember my sign in stuff maybe I Autta give them one more shot....???? I dunno, to early to tell, what will be ,will be...
