posted on September 25, 2001 07:50:19 PM new
Why not just use eBay? Time is money and with all of the time that a lot you spend putting together sell through ratios and item counts, wouldn't it just be easier to pay a little more and sell a lot more at eBay?
Let me try and comment on your answers before you even type them:
1. eBay is evil. They are a monopoly out to take over the world.
No, eBay is not evil. They are not out to take over the world and they are not a monopoly! They are a publicly traded company that any one of you can own a piece of. They have the widest user base of any online auction because they were the ones that were able to establish themselves the best. They did it out of pure ol' American inginuity.
2. But all of my friends are at somesmallauctionsite.com!
If you are at that site because your friends are there, then you are not in this for money and therefor, what are you complaining about?
3. I am loyal to somesmallsite.com and I will stay there to support them.
That is just plain stupid. Would the teenage owner of your auction site put his Algebra homework on hold to make sure that your life goes ok?
That's all I can think of now. My point is: Why waste your precious time when you know you can make money on eBay.
Please don't take this as a "disruption" to the board. It will only be that if those that respond make it such.
posted on September 25, 2001 08:48:20 PM new
Hey auctionguard,
I hate to say it but you are right! After months of supporting ePier,the epitomy of LIARS, to end up being "banned" because I criticized their LIES and DECEIT?.........I was virtually dragging my customers there..for what? a single bid? (which I could have sold privately anyway?) and sold at less than I would normally list at ebay, where I know the price would go higher? I don't think so!
I have tried all the other Fee Free Sites (for now, but maybe they will then ZAP you with Fees later, with NO bidders to speak of? ..suck you in like ePier did!).....yeppers I guess I will just stick with the deadly Giant where at least I know I can get funds to pay my Bills!!
Such a shame really! Maybe if all these wanna be sites got together instead of trying to be seperate they may have a chance to beat the ebay Giant! (THAT excludes ePier as they are Liars and Cheats!!)...
posted on September 25, 2001 09:05:01 PM new
Why just use ebay? I like to spread things out a bit. Sure I do the bulk of my business on ebay, but I like to try out the other sites. And I have items that need the right person to see them and do well with those items on a site that doesn't charge listing fees. The most important thing is to put the items on a site that does best for you on those items. I list on three different sites regularly and have decent success on all of them.
Oh, and though I appreciate the people who calculate stats and post them here... overall, I don't pay much attention to stats. The overall numbers work & I make money, so that's what I pay attention to.
posted on September 25, 2001 09:29:09 PM new
Hey crankyoldhag!
Love that name....yes I have items at Carnaby, BidBay, and other sites..NOT ePIER as they are Liars and CHEATS!!! The other sites (can never remember my name or password...lol!)that propose to be Fee Free or at least only charge you a FVF when you sell...BUT I realy do not hold my breath on them (unless I have someone who wants my items that basically I am giving away!!).........I guess it depends on what you sell!!
For instance if you have an item that you absolutely know is worth $150.00, and you paid $50 for it, (conservatively)....where would you list? ebay for $50 (where you KNOW that someone will bid it up)...BV for $50 or what? Just curious!!!!
posted on September 25, 2001 10:09:21 PM new
eBay isn't evil, per sei, but their policies are downright oppressive and their enforcement is hypocritical.
During the past 7 months I've bought a handful of items off of eBay only because I couldn't find them anywhere else. This evening I was looking for something else. Again, I can't find it at any auction site other than eBay.
As a buyer this really aggravates me. So much of the time the type of things I'm looking for just aren't on the other sites. I would dearly love for more sellers to take on the policy of spreading their wares around. Goodness knows if I would think to go to BidVille and do a search for a certain something, someone else would be doing the same thing. I know I'm not unique and don't have any unique thoughts.
BTW, I hope no one takes that too personally. I get really aggravated when I have to drive 50 miles to get something from a store because I can't find it at WalMart, too.
-----------------------------------
posted on September 25, 2001 11:17:37 PM new
Hello Wallypog,
You are right in what you say. EXCEPT that with ebay one can type in their Search what one is looking for with (title) and (words containing, meaning in the description) and get a specific result or many results, which can then be zeroed down......unfortunately with the sub auction sites you have to virtually type EXACTLY what you are looking for right down to the wording...or you get zero results or pages upon pages of superflous stuff!!
Believe me I have done it..you know me.
I have Beeswax Candles. I have listed at these other sites (most do NOT even have a Category for Beeswax Candles, or any Candles), so I list under HOME & GARDEN, OTHER!!! (that stinks in itself!), and found zero results! Or I have found a zillion candle holders lumped in with chemical candles......and if I wanted Beeswax Candles I would be out of there (this is just a comparison for someone searching for something specific).
Even though I have several listed! So I am not surprised that you do not find what you are looking for.
Unless you type the exact phrase that one lists under..you will not find it! THAT is a big problem with smaller sites. You have to type the exact words to try and find the item!......I guess smaller sites can not do that as they do not have the capability!!! I for one do NOT go through Categories when I am looking to buy something. I just want to type in what I want and "expect it to show up"...been ebay spoiled I guess!!!
posted on September 26, 2001 07:59:25 AM new
Hey beecandles,
I list stuff that I know will get bid up on ebay there. I don't list on other sites unless I can work a decent profit into my starting bid as I know that I most likely will only get one bid.
In your example, if I knew it was worth $150 and knew it was going well on ebay, it would go there with a starting bid that has some profit worked in (at least $75 if I had $50 in it). If I was going to list it on a free site, it would be listed at no less than $100.
Of course, at most free sites, its the less expensive stuff that sells, so I put less expensive stuff up. I do well with sewing patterns. I can often get uncut ones for very cheap, and put them up for $2.00 or so. I don't put them on a site where I have to pay listing as they often sit for a while before the right person sees them. Of course, even with those, I have to put them where I will get the best benefit. I put some vintage patterns on Yahoo when it was free and was amazed to get multiple bids and was happy with the results. When I really researched on ebay, I could have realized at least three times as much as I got on Yahoo for the patterns. So any vintage stuff I pick up now goes directly to ebay.
As far as my other items (mostly clothing), if it doesn't sell after a time or two on ebay, I'm not going to put more money into listing and will drop it on one of the other sites. Sometimes it sells, other times I bring it back to ebay after a while at a really low price and get surprised. Each site has a certain type of clothing that sells well on that site.
And my user name and password is the same on all the other sites I use so that I can remember it. Its the way that works best for me.
posted on September 26, 2001 10:35:41 AM new
I DO use ebay, but not exclusively. Perhaps, you can give me a reason NOT to use smaller sites to "supplement" my ebay income?
posted on September 26, 2001 10:43:58 AM new
I tried using eBay and did really well with it- over 2000+ transactions. But with the recent events. I lost MONEY!!!! on list fees and non-sale.
I relisted the 11 items else where. One sold on Monday ($5.00) and another sold this morning (10.00) combined total made $15.00. Amount paid for listing $.40 I still have 9 items left to sell.
So using other sites can be desirable....
And sometimes it makes me wonder why I bother with eBay!
Not that KrazyKeri
No sale on ebay until the 100 days of "Misery" are over!
posted on September 26, 2001 10:59:03 AM new
I sell on ebay and sellyouritem.com. and do well on both sites. My higher priced items do better on ebay and the low end items do better on sellyouritem. I've listed higher priced items on syi and a few have sold but usually for the opening bid. Because there isn't a listing fee on syi and their FVF are less, I can afford to put my $1.00 to $10.00 items there and it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg...and a large percentage of them sell, often to the same person, so I only have to mail one package.
And they don't have an additional fee for reserves.
Ebay isn't evil but it is a little frustrating and difficult at times...it's hard to keep up with all the new rules and changes.
Sellyouritem is easier to use, takes me a fraction of the time to list there as it does on ebay and I like the "saved" auctions, free auto-relist, and "import auctions" features. I always feel like I'm gearing up for battle when I list on ebay and it's a breese on sellyouritem. And I like their feedback system better too, it's nice that every feedback counts in the total and negative feedback can be removed if differences are resolved. The folks who designed the site did an excellent job, it has a lot of quality features and I, for one, hope it succeeds.
As to friendship and loyality, I've always thought they were admirable qualities. I've never considered spending time with friends a waste. Money is nice but it ain't everything.
posted on September 26, 2001 01:06:41 PM new
While almost no one would argue that Ebay has the best “overall” sell-through rate and most activity, this does not universally apply to types of products. Due to this, selling on other sites is more profitable to asignificant number of people. This is why many sellers list on other sites beside Ebay, not just because they don’t want to pay fees. I will use my own selling activities as an example. I am a seller that looks at the bottom line profit and am not adverse to paying fees to a site in return for a higher profit margin.
I sell sports cards, primarily individual inserts with $5-$25 book value and bulk lots. The buyers of these cards are generally collector’s, not other dealers. I have good success selling, but I would not consider my cards to be “hot” products. I have sold on Ebay in the past, but now I only list an occasional card there. I found that “hot” cards do well on Ebay with much bidding activity and usually higher prices than you can get on any other site. However I found that cards which are not “hot” do not sell any better on Ebay unless you want to “give them away”. Generally this means selling them for 10% of book or less. This opinion is reinforced by the fact that you see buying posts consistently on message boards saying that they only buy at “Ebay” prices. By this, the person means that they will not pay more than 10% for the cards. This is due to the fact that dealers (or wanabee dealers) dominate the buying activity on Ebay in sports cards. As a result, I do most of my selling on Yahoo and Bidville. The cards that I would have trouble selling on Ebay for 10% of book sell well for me on Yahoo. I usually sell the cards for 40-50% of book with an approximate sell-through rate of 50%. The fees are also lower. I attribute this to my opinion that the primary buyer on Yahoo is a collector who is willing to pay a reasonable price when they find the cards that they want and are not looking to resell the card. The fact that they found the card many times is more important than the price to these buyers. Therefore it is more profitable for me to sell on Yahoo than Ebay due to my usual type of product. Also I find buyers to be more loyal on Yahoo to dealers who provide good service.
I also list on Bidville (and am trying out some other no listing fee sites) because I also sell many other cards that typically would not be profitable to sell on either Yahoo or Ebay. These are not common cards, but cards of the less popular teams or lower demand players. These are cards that have regional interest, but little national interest. Therefore it takes, on the average, several listings to sell these cards. If I had to pay listing fees on these cards, overall they would not be profitable to sell.
In summary, I am saying that it is not a guarantee that all products will sell on Ebay, particularly at a reasonable profit level. Many sellers do better on other sites due to the type of product and characteristics of the typical buyer on the site for their product. Just like everyone does not shop at Walmart in the real world, not every auction buyer exclusively uses Ebay.
posted on September 26, 2001 01:16:52 PM new
As a mom and pop seller, to continually rely on eBaY for sales, is financial suicide.
eBaY is systematically squeezing out the mom and pop seller by continuing to form partnerships with corporate entities.
eBaY is slowly but surely evolving into a giant mall from the flea market it once was.
Not necessarily a bad thing, but not good for many.
As e-commerce continues to evolve, so must sellers to survive.
To those of you who are looking for alternative sites and depend on auction sales to meet your bills, I suggest the following:
DO NOT list exclusively on secondary sites.
DO NOT expect the same level of sales as eBaY overnight.
DO realize it will take time to build YOUR customer base and do everything you can to let YOUR customers know where you sell.
If you have listed an item on eBaY and it doesn't sell, rotate it to another site. Doesn't sell there? Rotate it again. Sometimes it takes the item being in the same place at the same time as a bidder to get that item sold.
If you have duplicate items, spread them out over several sites. Not only will you be helping out the secondary sites, you will be gaining additional exposure for yourself.
Promote YOURSELF via free online classified ads. Make use of a site's personal page and cache your personal page via Google, (making sure your personal pages contain keywords to items you sell for maximum exposure).
If you list auctions on several sites, place links to them in your EOA notices and any email correspondence you send out.
The list is endless as to what YOU can do to promote YOUR listings.
posted on September 26, 2001 01:21:12 PM new
I just joined SYI but I don't think I'll be selling there. If I'm going to pay a listing fee I'll go to eBay where my stuff will sell better. For the items that sell for a set $ usually and the cheaper stuff, I'll stay with bidville. I am very leery of pay sites other than eBay because they don't usually have very good security and I think the NPB's will hurt more.
posted on September 26, 2001 01:43:09 PM new
redjinx,
Currently no listing fees at SYI per the front page. They have stated on numerous occasions that they will give us at least 30 days notice before implementing any fees.
posted on September 26, 2001 03:03:53 PM new
Because supporting ebay's competition: A)gives us an alternative when ebay disrupts our business, as they have done in the past; B)brings innovation; C)reaches new markets; D)Challenges ebay to be held accountable for their actions; E)Provides a lower cost alternative for slow to sell items; F)So we don't have to settle with one choice; G)If the new site takes off, we can gain market share.
posted on September 26, 2001 04:14:29 PM new
eBay is does not really work for me. I am a casual seller, we do not need or depend on any of my money. It is fun money and I want it all!
I hate giving eBay any money, I would rather give it to someone else. I hate Wal-Mart, too!
My items, when listed on eBay, do not get multiple bids because there are hundreds of like items on eBay. Some sell for less than what I paid! Too much competition.
eBay is not friendly to their sellers. They are always coming up with more and more restrictions. UGH!
posted on September 28, 2001 06:44:02 AM new
Right now my sales are running about 50-60% on ebay, the rest on Amazon, with occasional supporting sales on Yahoo and half.com.
I sell books for the most part. I like diversifying, it's an intellectual challenge to figure out what to put where. Also, I often experience a good sale on one site when the same item languished on another. Last, I often list on Yahoo or Amazon when the book in hand is "glutted" on ebay, and often make the sale before I get around to putting it on ebay later.
posted on September 28, 2001 09:29:07 AM new
I use any site that has sell-through including eBay. No allegiance to any. I've gotten sales from 10 different venues in September --- eBay, Half.com, BargainandHaggle, Amazon Marketplace, Yahoo, Carnaby, Bidville, ePier, eDeal, and Onlineauction.com. eBay and BargainandHaggle carry the motherload, but the handful(s) I get from each of the others combine into one large revenue stream. It seems buyers on other sites don't check eBay or they wouldn't pay the higher prices I open items at on 2nd-tier sites (same items are listed for lower prices on eBay). Thanks to the unexpected demand for patriotic items September has been my best month ever in terms of profit and revenue, and the patriotic items have been selling on any venue you place them on. Non-patriotic items have died down to a trickle since the first 10 days of the month which has me worried, but the profit from patriotic items has been unbelievable! Luckily I had sat on a bunch of patriotic items that I couldn't even give away before 9/11 and then all hell broke loose! Boxes and boxes of patriotic junk. Makes you wonder where were all these people before September 11th?
When you create a listing for eBay, it takes virtually no time to cut and paste it into another auction site. It's great to have a ton of diverse venues where you can try to move junk when eBay becomes oversaturated. Works great for those of us who have hundreds of the same piece of junk we need to unload!
I'd like to try sellyouritem.com, but I guess I'm too lazy to try another venue right now. However, it wouldn't take much effort to try it out.
[ edited by eSeller004 on Sep 28, 2001 09:31 AM ]
posted on September 28, 2001 11:34:17 AM new
>>>>>>>That is just plain stupid. Would the teenage owner of your auction site put his Algebra homework on hold to make sure that your life goes ok? <<<<<<<<<
LOL, conjures up images of Ebay execs staying up nights worrying about the welfare of the auction listers.
I think many people do not care for Ebay's aggressively oppressive policies. I will have nothing to do with them because of that. They are obviously strictly greed motivated, and no I do not do this soley for profit,(good thing too).
posted on September 28, 2001 08:38:02 PM new
Hello crankyoldhag..
Geesh I love that name. Yep you hit it right! But who has time to keep track of your items at all the "freebie" sites.....and the username and Id's and passwords for what a buck or two? NEVER ePIER though, I would not trust them as far as I could throw them!!. I will list some things at Bidville, Carnaby and probably forget about them...and be very surprised if I get a bid (and NO I do not sell junk by anyone's description).....but when it gets close to Christmas, I will list on ebay and make money....sad but true!!!
If all these "freebie" sites could join together (NO ePier though) perhaps they could fight the Giant...but as long as these sites fight each other to try and fight ebay separately ....forget it!!!!!
posted on September 28, 2001 08:39:30 PM new
Simple answer. Ebay took money from my checking account when I had a zero balnce 3 times while I was emailing them on paying by check for $3, $6, $2, and put me $250 in the whole from overdrafts. Thats why not.
Each site has a certain type of clothing that sells well on that site.