posted on July 6, 2014 10:36:12 AM new
I have seen an uptick in sales on Etsy, most notable last month where Etsy has seriously closed the gap on eBay sales.
Most shocking isn't that it is nearly 50/50, but that I average 150 items listed per day on eBay while Etsy is about 20 items.
posted on July 6, 2014 11:14:47 AM new
Not surprising considering eBay items do not come up on new Google search and etsy's do. The only way people will find you on eBay is to use the site's search engine which could be hiding you anyway. Sigh.
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posted on July 6, 2014 12:51:49 PM new
I'm surprised Google hasn't done an online e-commerce site. They have their hands in so much and have the ability to drive traffic to it easily.
My biggest issue is tracking inventory if I'm selling on multiple sites. I don't sell enough to justify paying $75 per month to Stitchlabs or another site for this and most webhosting sites only provide cross-channel inventory tracking with eBay and Amazon. I'd like to use 4 channels - website, ebay, etsy, and squaremarket. Each provides its own opportunities. Etsy would limit our items because we do sell some new products.
posted on July 7, 2014 07:00:23 AM new
I used to use a feature on Google which will take your item listings from Ebay and other sites and list them on Google,then it becomes more and more technical and I just cant do it anymore,
I dont know if the feature is still available.
MSFT has done a feasibility study on ecommerce,they dont find it rewarding.
Allowing anyone everyone to list things around the house is just not a rewarding project for these companies,with the exception of AMZN.
posted on July 7, 2014 07:04:41 AM new
what I do to keep track of my inventory listed on multiple sites is that when I receive an order on one site,I will go and reduce the quantity on other sites,I do this manually.
I sell books on AMZN,HALF and Barnes and Noble,so if one book is sold on AMZN,I will have to manually remove or reduce the quantity on the other sites.
posted on July 9, 2014 07:56:32 AM new
At this point, most of my items are vintage - one of a kind, however, this is changing for me some. I would like to get it to 60-75% new and 25-40% vintage. The issue is time and expenses.
Vintage items require that I spend time looking for these items. The benefits in this can be quite rewarding. Profit margins can be huge. For example, I bought 4 vintage Star Wars action figures at a garage sale 2 weeks ago for $20. I sold 2 already for $120. I still have 2 left that will get me another $150-200.
The problem is that it takes a lot of time to find these things and some days may net absolutely nothing. When I do find things, I have to spend time cleaning, prepping, and photographing each thing for one sale. Driving an 8 cylinder cargo van isn't cheap to keep maintained and gas at $4 a gallon. I find that I have to leave the metropolitan area to find more goods, so that can eat up $50-75 in gas.
New inventoried products require one time photographing for multiple sales. The profit margin is significantly less though. One company I order from has no clue how to ship their products. They send it to me in multiple small boxes. So, I get 4-5 (1 to 1.5 cubic ft) sized boxes shipped and I am charged about $100 from California. If they packed it in larger boxes, my shipping cost would be cut in half. Who am I to tell them how to operate? I wouldn't want someone telling me how to ship their item.
The other issue is that I can't sell most of my new products on Etsy. It would be much easier for me to have an inventory manager that can handle up to 4 venues - my website, eBay, Etsy, and Square Market or 11 Main or Amazon. This would allow me to maintain inventory on multiple sites and allocate the right product for the proper site. Stitchlabs provides this, but it is very expensive. $75 is too expensive at this point with my limited product lines. If I increase my lines and start selling $3000 a month, then perhaps I will look at it. I hope prices drop.
posted on July 9, 2014 03:20:07 PM new
Haven't listed anything.
I don't expect there will be many sales yet either unless you happen to have another seller find you. 11main isn't open to the public. If you go to their site you can't see anything unless you have an account, so anyone who goes there will see a front page that requires them to register. Then they receive a notification that they will receive an invitation soon.
Seriously, if I'm a buyer, I am looking at this quite skeptically as a way for a company to get my email address to spam with junk. I wouldn't register if I wasn't absolutely 100% positive there was something good out of registering.
It is being operated like a buying club. Not thrilled about it.
posted on July 10, 2014 09:35:33 AM new
I am not impressed with their layout,also hard to navigate.
I like the format of YAHOO and Etsy,someone walk into your store and see your items,not all those stupid messages like report this item,report this seller,report this buyer.
The latest scam on Ebay is for the buyer to claim he received a bag of dirt,an empty box or envlope and get his money back and keep the item.
But then there are also buyers who receive a piece of plastic or feces or picture of the item.
Ebay is sinking lower and lower.
posted on July 11, 2014 07:20:41 AM new
eBay is the Walmart of online shopping, attracting the worst kind of people. This is why Walmart has some of the most stringent return policies of the big box stores. They have a huge rate of scam artists who take advantage of it.
On the other hand, you go to Nordstrom's, Bed Bath & Beyond or other places who don't sell all the low end junk and they have excellent return policies because they don't get the same customer as Walmart.
eBay makes the process even easier because you never have to interact with the person face to face, or even by email because they can file a claim and get instant satisfaction for refunds if they claim they were the one scammed.
I remember many years ago I bought a Sony DVD player at Target when I moved to Portland. I opened the box and an old broken Toshiba DVD player was in the box. When I returned it I was questioned by their security officer. Upon closer examination of the box, it was obvious someone opened it and retaped it. I remember this every time I walk into a Target store, which is very rare.
posted on July 12, 2014 12:50:56 PM new
funny it happens at Target,because Target has security and video cameras watching what customers are doing all the time.
I just came back from Kroger,I piked up a carton of Starbuck Lite coffee,4 in a paper carton.
When I am ready to check out,I realised there are only 3 bottles in the carton,where did the 4th one go??
posted on July 12, 2014 12:53:50 PM new
I dont shop at Walmart,there are folks who go to Walmart three times a day,some of them know more about certain aisles and merchandise on those shelves better than Walmart employee.
Have you heard Walmart,Family Dollars,Container store,Gap are all lamenting where are all their customers?
Discount stores will be selling beer and wine to attract more buyers.Nordstrom return policy is that they dont refund shipping.
posted on July 13, 2014 09:58:10 AM new
A multi-channel inventory mgr would be nice. There are niche sites that work will with my old ads. I have tried the manual removal mpcomp suggested. Wasn't a fan but I may have to re-visit it now that I'm not being over run with ebay sales.
Shag I'm sure you have already ran this one through the thought grinder but what about selling new on ebay/amazon and the vin on etsy?
posted on July 13, 2014 03:06:05 PM new
The problem with the manual removal is that when you sell different types of things on different sites you end up missing something you thought wasn't on a site. Additionally, I subscribe to an eBay store - for just over 100 products, but it provides many things that make my life easier. I would have to do the same with Amazon to be able to list my own new products that nobody else sells and offering free shipping which I find ridiculous. Amazon has been a disappointment for me as a seller.
I'm currently trying an e-commerce builder site called StorEnvy. It is set up a bit different than other site builders in that it is free to set up your website, but they charge for the add-ons like $5 a month to have your own domain name, $5 per month to offer coupons and other promotional things. $20 (one time fee) to use a system that will automatically import your Etsy listings and CSV files from other sites. Additonally, it has its own marketplace that you can put your products on to sell with the other StorEnvy users.
[ edited by shagmidmod on Jul 13, 2014 03:06 PM ]
posted on July 14, 2014 06:41:35 PM new
So, after playing with StorEnvy for a day or so, I think I may go elsewhere. #1 Reason is that they only accept Paypal. At least Etsy offers their own service. Square Market offers payment through Square. I wish they would offer online payment processing through other sites too. Hopefully soon.
In fact, my revenue for July from 31 items sold is: 76% Etsy, 24% Ebay.
Most of my payments are also coming through Etsy Direct Pay instead of Paypal. Though having to wait a few days to be paid isn't ideal, I am not paying Etsy nearly as much as I am eBay.
posted on July 16, 2014 02:30:24 PM new
I NEVER go to eBay search first. Ever. I Google first and then since most links go to Amazon, go there and buy. EBay results never appear in the Google searches I perform lately.
I can't believe that eBay is still deluded enough to think that their convoluted search engine is in any way relevant to the way online shopping has evolved. Seriously, if they would have put half the money they wasted reinventing the wheel into optimizing the site for search engines and found an effective way to weed out bad sellers, eBay too could be at the top of its game like Amazon.
More than any other rotten decision eBay has made in the past several years, the failure of ebay's items to appear in a Google search has virtually killed any hope that eBay could ever even come close to leading the market.
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posted on July 18, 2014 05:27:13 AM new
I don't buy much online but when I do, I try Amazon 1st as well. Prices are better most of the time and you get your item very fast.
Shag - good to hear you are having some success with Esty.
I think we are about to see the total collapse of eBay and they have no one to blame but themselves.
posted on July 18, 2014 06:59:23 AM new
Shag,
Etsy does not advertise on TV,but there are articles about Etsy in arts and craft magazines.
Dont know if they paid for someone to write these articles.
posted on July 18, 2014 03:33:32 PM new
I sold an item last week on Ebay.
The buyer said it is not vintage,it is not a period (antique)piece,it is not handcarved and the design is stamped.
I have a 14 days return policy with a 7 1/2% restocking fee.
I never said it is antique,handcarved and hand decorated,if it were a period piece of natural material and hand decorated,it would be turned over to Christie Intl and it will fetch much more than $42.
So I asked her to return the item.
But to avoid the restocking fee and paying for return shipping,she opened a case.
I responded by asking her to return the item and I will refund her item plus original shipping.
So when she returned the item,I will lose money on shipping and probably get a neg for not reimbursing her for return shipping.
What should I do?
I will lose money on shipping,but do I have to reimburse her for return shipping?
It seems that it happens only on large sites,AMZN and EBAY.
posted on July 19, 2014 05:26:00 AM new
You made the customer an excellent offer. Of course I would never impose a restocking fee granted it prevents some returns,In this case it may have worked against you and the customer opened a complaint. The chances are eBay will refund customer under the buyer protection plan. In that case I guess they keep the item and get their money??
posted on July 19, 2014 12:09:04 PM new
The case is now open by me,I said I will refund in full(item plus original shipping) after she return the item.
I was fed up with engaging a dialogue to nowhere with her,she was asking me to refund her so I can move on cheating other customers/No mention she will return my item.
Ebay is sinking lower and lower.
You are right,charging a restocking fee just encourage the scammer to go the route of Item significantly not as described.
I am fed up with Ebay,I am liquidating my inventory as fast as I can so I can close my shop.
I got a neg with my other seller ID,I sold 4 dresses,buyer said one is missing a button and she threw away the box.
She wants money for gas and time and a pack of buttons- to drive to store,find the buttons and sew them on.
I refused,so she negged me.
posted on July 20, 2014 03:11:45 PM new
Charging a restocking fee has little to do with this situation.
The buyer complained that the item was not vintage, not handmade, etc. and you claim you never stated it was any of those to begin with.
Unfortunately, none of us know who is correct without seeing the actual listing... but someone at eBay can do so. Often a pair of eyes at eBay is better than none at all. They may agree with you or the buyer, depending on the policy that is in question.
If the buyers initial complaint is that the item was not vintage or handmade, but you never once suggested it was, it shouldn't be too difficult for an eBay rep to review it and see that the buyer is making an INAD claim in order to circumvent their policies. If you are wrong, they will tell you.
The biggest problem with eBay in the past was that CSRs had no way to make judgement calls. Now they do. You may have to call a few times to get it in front of the right person if your claim is accurate.
