not the fair almost break even auctions, those are okay.
Are you saying that the only sellers that aren't "misguided" or "idiots" are the ones that "almost break even"? What incentive do sellers have to list if that is the case? Sorry, my time is worth more to me than that.
posted on January 9, 2001 12:02:36 AM new
The only reason Yahoo is adding fees is because they need the money. Anything else they say is a feeble attempt to obfuscate. Take a look at the various articles on their loss of revenue -
http://www.cnetinvestor.com/newsitem-fd-bloomberg.asp?symbol=114350643
-Rosalinda
posted on January 9, 2001 05:17:42 AM new
whereistheprohpet I'll address your claims one by one
1.A seller has the right to market their items on any site they like. Each auction site has a different aura to it. Some sites has groups of buyers who gravitate to one site for specific categories. Some sellers tried to sell that merchandise on the wrong site not knowing the buyers of that category were hot on a different site than ebay. Yahoo does have some categories that are busier and hotter activity than ebay believe it or not. The category that comes to mind is 90's baseball cards with prices of $.10 With listing fees that category will be the first one to be abandoned unless you had a hot card worth a lot more than $.10
2. Listing 20,30 of the same listing has been deeply cut back on with the new seller maximum listing policy and you can't list the same item with the same title on 2 categories. I'll admit I do carry a few items I list in 3 categories. But I have valid reasons as those items have 2-3 clearly different markets of people.
For example I have a honeymooners kit. It has different flavored massage oils and potions etc etc all in a cute gift box and makes a great gift. It is listed in the bath/body massage oils section, the wedding accessories section and the adult category. 3 clearly valid places for me to list that single item. Would I list it in 20 categories like the "spy software" no. Would I list it every day of the week so it will be seen on every page of that categories list, no.
3. Hell yes I'll post a link to my website.
And every regular seller with a website does too. Every ebayer with a website lists a link to it as well. We are online sellers, our business is to sell products online. I do not list every single item I sell off the website at the auctions neither do most sellers. Instead of spamming the auction site with your entire inventory a link to that sellers website is a lot more reasonable if you like what they sell at the auctions.
4. If I am going to post that link then yes it will be listed in every auction add I place. It is harmless and if you don't want to go to the site than don't click the link, simple enough.
5. Unrealistic prices......again each seller is his own business and they have the right to list an item at any price they think they can sell it for. Auctions are even more competitive than retail stores. If you want to compare prices for a pair of pants at the mall that could take you all day to do it. At the auction site a simple search will show you all of the competition in a single list.
6. A store front.........of course it is. The overwhelming magority of sellers are not the sell one item and be done type folks. Some of us sell regular inventories. I'll have the same items for sale that I had last summer and i'll have those same items this summer. How do you know there is no interest?? I sell the same items because they sell........simple enough. I am an online retailer. When I sell an item I call my wholesalers and order another to sell again.
7. Soon after yahoo listed a new policy of only 1000 items.......they also had an even newer policy.......each seller has to have a "Yahoo Wallet" and a yahoo Paydirect account and a valid email address and a unique credit card for each yahoo ID they want to sell with. So your little friends that thought they had beat the system.........have you talked to them lately??? lol
8. Again how can you speak for every seller??? Do you sit there any monitor every seller and every single listing on all 3 major auction sites. I do sell the same items on ebay that I sell on yahoo. I personally dont sell on amazon. The majority of my items are in the adult category and they dont have a place on amazon. Once in a while when I have some extra time I'll list on Amazon some of my lotions and potions. Buyers do not hunt all day on all sites looking for items to buy. They have their favorite one or 2 sites and spend all of their auction bidding time in the same site.
So I tip my hat to any seller with the time to list their stuff on all the major sites and manage all of the emails and transactions coming from different venues. Especially since they PAY to have listed on Amazon and Ebay and soon to be paying on Yahoo.
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posted on January 9, 2001 05:42:33 AM new
quote: by
outoftheblue
posted on January 8, 2001 11:29:19 PM new
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gem10a1
not the fair almost break even auctions, those are okay.
Are you saying that the only sellers that aren't "misguided" or "idiots" are the ones that "almost break even"? What incentive do sellers have to list if that is the case? Sorry, my time is worth more to me than that.
People who do not understand what I had written most likely do not belong to be auction sellers.
I was and am talking about the Opening bid..
You are putting my words into your answer and the way you did it is totally out of
context. I had written about the overpriced opening bid auction seller V the seller who does not want to loose money.
You no doubt have noticed over and over again on these boards that most auctions on Yahoo end at the opening bid. Period! I've attempted several ways of listing on Yahoo including starting auctions at $1. Every time I start auctions at a loss, I lose money. When I start them at break even, I break even. When I start them at a reasonable profit, I make a profit.
Ya know Gem, I must know a little bit about what works on Yahoo. I was near the top of the listing order in several categories. I've been selling on Yahoo and Ebay both for about 1 1/2 years and have learned by experience that you can get away with low opening bids on Ebay. Not on Yahoo!
So my question to you was not quite as stupid as you think, in that context.
The same thing could apply to you. If you want low opening bids, you probably don't belong on Yahoo. Go to Ebay and you will find what you want.
[ edited by outoftheblue on Jan 9, 2001 10:38 AM ]
posted on January 9, 2001 11:26:16 AM new
gem10a1 wrote - "You are putting my words into your answer and the way you did it is totally out of
context. I had written about the overpriced opening bid auction seller V the seller who does not want to loose money."
-----------
I'm afraid that is the only way some of these folks can defend their positions.
Great point about the templates that never change! I missed that one despite my "hours of research"
------------
To all of you who said "Hey it's MY business! I'll do what I please!" - or some variation thereof, my reply:
posted on January 9, 2001 11:54:39 AM new
Ya whereistheprophet
I know, it's indefensible. I list a new item with a $100 - $150 price tag attached for an opening bid of say $10 - $18 which is a profit for me. Shame on me for being so greedy! Shame on me for charging a $.50 handling fee and shame on me for not updating my template in time to reflect the new postal rates so I didn't eat about $15-$20 last time I went to the Post Office.
For shame. I think I will go crawl back under my rock now.
posted on January 9, 2001 01:12:30 PM new
outoftheblue-
You are just making my point. I never brought up handling fees - where did that come from? You didn't change your templates, and ended up eating postage costs? That is unfortunate, but the decision was yours.
As for pricing your items -
If you actually read my post, I was commenting on items that are STARTED for higher prices than they ENDED for elsewhere.
But that's OK. Just use whatever generic arguments you have canned for these occasions.
[ edited by whereistheprophet on Jan 9, 2001 01:17 PM ]
posted on January 10, 2001 02:38:01 AM new
There's a reason to be slow about changing inventory. Some things sell in cycles. Unfortunately, the best way to find the cycle of your items is to let them run a while.
Believe it or not, I did freshen up my inventory every month. But I didn't remove something jsut because it didn't sell the first month. Or the second.
When you deal in collectibles, such as comics, coins, stamps, etc, you can't follow the monthly guides and say, "ok, this is hot in this magazine, so NOW I'll post it." By the time the guide comes out, the item can be cold again, and local merchants OFF LINE have lowered their prices because of it.
Granted, I have seen merchants auction things like tube socks at their site, but when they do this, it's because they want to promote their sites or off line stores. Not because they're looking to "swamp" the auctions with their goods.
And as far as the eBay bit, some of us didn't like eBay. I started at Yahoo first, and avoided eBay for over a year. I hated eBay. Posting AND closing fees? Rediculous. And that guy they had to sue to get rid of, because he kept re-registering? Not to mention the community watch.
And have we forgotten eBays painting fiasco of last October? Someone posted a painting for $2. Then when the price got too high, eBay paniced and closed the auction on the guy. i bet they didn't refund his posting fee either. I know they didn't for me, when I was selling legal products there.
I've had that problem at Amazon, too. Someone complained about a Batman comic book because of the title. The Killing Joke. The title was too graphic, and offened some kid's mother. So it was booted. Sure, the fee was only a dime, but they should have at least given me a chance to defend myself first.
So don't come off as Amazon and eBay are these awe inspiring sites, and that Yahoo sellers are complaining needlessly. It's the BS at these sites taht we're complaining about. Read some of the posts. Most people wouldn't mind fees of some sort (I would have stayed for a closing fee IF they got rid of scam bidders) IF they thought Yahoo wasn't going the way of eBay and Amazon.
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