bidsbids
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posted on January 18, 2002 07:40:10 PM new
The fee increass are actually very minor. The increase that would affect most people that list at sites like Carnaby is only a penny on the FVF of a low priced item and the nickel Buy It Now charge, if they use it at all. No one is probably going to migrate to a very low traffic site like Carnaby for a lousy penny, but if they do after a month or two they will return to eBay with their tail between their legs because their items will simply sit there .... without views, bids, or sales. Sad but very true.
Sellers #*!@ about eBay but it is the only auction site with enough buyers for them to make money consistently. Amen.
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JWPC
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posted on January 19, 2002 11:15:29 PM new
palaco
Among other things the restriction of web site links is enough for me to avoid the site - this is one of the only reasons some would bother to post on these small sites, would be for a little extra web exposure - 99% of the smaller sites allow such, but not Carnaby - even eBay and Yahoo did till last year -
I am sorry, but if such a small, little producing site, starts off with endless rules, just imagine what they would be like if they became very successful - eBay would be liberal by comparison.
Look at it this way, why patronize a site that is so limited, so restricted, with so few buyers? There are tons of these small auctions, at least some are reasonable with their restrictions, and give the seller more than one reason to post on their site.
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palaco
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posted on January 20, 2002 02:08:34 AM new
JWPC,
Thank you for coming back to answer. I'm still a little confused though (nothing new  )
These are the only restrictions I could find in Carnaby's User Agreement
Do not state that buyers may purchase the item(s) outside of the auction(s). This defeats the purpose of having the auction. Users repeatedly using such tactics are subject to the deactivation of their account and could result in legal actions by the parties involved.
Ok - they don't want to encourage off-site sales of additional items. I don't read it as a prohibition of links to your website but more of a prohibition of speils like "I have 4 more of these available. Please contact me if you wish to purchase others"
I imagine the provision is there for when the site eventually start charging. The rule is there from the start to prevent (future) fee evasion - pure and simple. Makes sense to me.
You also may not link to an item that:
-Is a Prohibited Item.
Ok - if it's prohibited under law, then that restriction is a given.
-Is identical to other items you have up for auction but are priced lower than your current item's reserve or minimum bid price.
It hardly makes sense to allow a link to your website if you are selling the same item cheaper there, does it? Why would any company, regardless of their size, allow link that would potentially encourage Users to make that purchase elsewhere?
-Is listed for auction at the same time with a web site other than Carnaby.com.
If the same item is being listed at 2 or more sites, obviously the listing is going to get cancelled if it sells somewhere else first. Again, makes no business sense to allow this (let's not even get into the ethics of such behavior).
You do not have the right to link to or have a right to include.
Again, I imagine this provision would be a legal necessity.
I couldn't find anything that prohibited links to your website except for the example above. Did I miss something fairly obvious?
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amazon2000
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posted on January 20, 2002 10:31:51 AM new
I must agree with palaco...
I don't see anything like that either! Am I missing something? (It won't be the first time  )
And has anyone looked at the Pro Seller Program? It seems to offer more than eBay's does for big sellers. Any eBayers who have reached this status care to comment?
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bidsbids
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posted on January 20, 2002 12:22:32 PM new
It's all academic. Carnaby has almost zero traffic. It could be ( and might be ) the best auction site in the Universe but it is all academic since it has no traffic. Why bother.
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robnzak
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posted on January 20, 2002 10:19:57 PM new
Hiya Bidsbids...
You ask, "why bother"
I bother because it behooves me to do so.
ebaY is champ and probably always will be, but that doesn't mean there can't be other viable auction venues in which folks like me can expand their customer base and work towards future growth.
I earn a very decent living at ebay, and I'm grateful, but I also take advantage of several sites and combined, those sites add about $500 a month to my bottom line. Small potatos to some folks, but for me, that's something not to complain about, so I believe I would be foolish not to invest time in other sites.
There's a certain mindset folks have about the smaller sites, and it's a near impossible task to change their thinking, but think of what could be if only a handful of large sellers focused on making a commitment to an alternative site, one can't help but wonder what rewards could be reaped.
respectfully, Rob
[ edited by robnzak on Jan 20, 2002 10:22 PM ]
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bidsbids
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posted on January 20, 2002 11:48:31 PM new
I bother because it behooves me to do so.
You have a Carnaby Store and that is why it behooves you. ( I always thought behooves had something to do with horse shoes and such )
It is in your best interest to defend and promote Carnaby. You're also a special seller there that gets special perks. That adds up to a lot of behooving. ( I'm going to start calling you Smitty soon.)
[ edited by bidsbids on Jan 20, 2002 11:49 PM ]
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robnzak
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posted on January 21, 2002 05:51:11 AM new
morning Bids, happy MLKjr day.
I don't think I was defending or promoting Carnaby so much as I was trying to make a point that there are other options to ebay...if folks are willing to put a little effort into making them a success. My comments could just as easily been made on a thread about SYI, and in the not so distant past, about bidville.
I also do not think of myself as a "special seller" on Carnaby. I simply took advantage of the incentive program, which is (was?) available to sellers wanting to work with the site to help insure success for all.
enjoy the day, Rob
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bidsbids
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posted on January 21, 2002 10:36:37 AM new
Carnaby has everything except traffic, save for a few that can funnel their past/current buyers to their store.
Very few should expect the success that a very tiny minority have enjoyed on that site. People may ask "How did that seller get such a high feedback rating on such a low traffic site?" Usually there's an answer that those high feedback sellers do not readily reveal. Seems a little deceptive to me.
Actually it's a very good idea with the high price of Auction storefronts for sellers that use several auction sites. It doesn't matter if the place is devoid of traffic as long as your storefront is there and you can direct your buyers to it. I'm going to check out the Carnaby store aspect and report back.
Thanks Rob for the tip.
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stavecards
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posted on January 21, 2002 10:57:31 AM new
I've got to agree with Rob on his use of small sites. I do much the same thing. My primary site is Yahoo (for my main type of items, the sell-through and price realized are as good or better than Ebay with much lower fees). Currently I also sell on Bidville and Carnaby (and plan to add SYI to the mix). I use the other sites to attract new buyers (most buyers have a tendency to stick to one or two sites) and supplement my sales on Yahoo. Also I can use these sites to sell slow or duplicate items without having to pay listing fees. Also it allows me to do some rotation of items between the sites to maintain some variety of listings on each site.
Bidsbids,
We have all seen some sellers do well on small sites with minimal traffic. This is not always due to special advantages. Sometimes it is luck - there happens to be buyers for your type of items, but none for many other categories. Also the lack of overall sales allows the successful sellers to really stand out from the crowd. Since few sellers will have significant feedbacks, those that do will probably receive a higher % of the sales. Another reason is that the seller may just work harder to attract sales. Rather than crying in their beer about the lack of sales, they increase their personal efforts to attract buyers.
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bidsbids
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posted on January 21, 2002 12:51:05 PM new
Some sellers offer very high quality items at a $1 start bid with no reserve and they get a LOT of bids/sales/feedback ( HapNStance/JimHow comes to mind ).
Opening a store on Carnby or at any other small auction site does not make sense as long as these sites offer free listings and no FVFs. As soon as Carnaby or any other small site try to install a listing fee or FVF they are dead. That's why Carnaby and several other sites have constanly pushed back the date that they will start to charge fees.
A seller can place a few items at several auctions and use those auctions as "sign posts" to drive the buyers to their entire inventory warehoused on a site like BV or Carnaby. I believe the management at BV saw this situation loud and clear and decided to milk the warehousers for a few bucks to maintain the site. The next "price tweak" should be to limit the images or listing totals more and more unless they pay for at least a Premium menbership at $5/month. The next tweak would be raising that fee to $7.50/month, etc.
I checked into Carnaby's store structure. The lesser of the 2 store setups is an :
--------------------------
Store Setup Fee FREE! Monthly Store Maintenance Fee $7.95 Store Item Listing Fee (up to 30 days) 5 cents per listing
CLOSING FEES
Closing Fees are the same for Auctions and Fixed Price items. Closing fees will be calculated and charged based on the final sale price of each item:
Special . . . Free Trial Period!
We are offering a free trial period until February 1, 2002. During this period, you will not be charged any store monthly maintenance fees or the .05 cents listing fee for your store fixed price items.
--------------------------------
Why pay a nickel a listing when the auction listings are free? Why pay $7.95/month when the auction listings are free? The day Carnaby or SellYourItem or any other site tries to charge even a nickel a listing then they are dead in the water. Heck, Yahoo is only a nickel a listing for 10 days with a full rebate if the item sells on the second listing in 30 days.
Sellers are using the small sites as inventory showcases or warehouses as it is a VERY inexpensive method of maintaining a web site or store.
At least BV has the sense to charge for this service. All of the minor auction sites are stuck in a quagmire as to how to raise revenues when the other sites are free or almost free. ePier charges a FVF and if ALL of the other sites followed suit it would at least be a source of revenue. Of course sellers could simply tell the buyers they send to their inventory warehouses not to actually bid on the item to save the seller the fees and they can conduct the transaction and the seller can close the listing.
Whew ....
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robnzak
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posted on January 21, 2002 04:17:17 PM new
"...Usually there's an answer that those high feedback sellers do not readily reveal. Seems a little deceptive to me..."
I had a long response to this statement, then I read Steve's post and he said it better..."...Another reason is that the seller may just work harder to attract sales..."
Rob
(Hi Steve, THANKS for the referral last week)
[ edited by robnzak on Jan 21, 2002 04:18 PM ]
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tomwiii
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posted on January 21, 2002 07:36:16 PM new
Speaking of CARNABY...
I've been out of the loop since my move from MA to FL last OCT. Anyhoo...my PC was "lost" by the movers  and I had to get a new one which has XP!
QUESTION: I want to re-start on Carnaby, but does anybody know if MAX is compatable with XP?
BTW: Carnaby should ell MAX as a program for listing to any auction site! IT'S THE GREATEST!
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bidsbids
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posted on January 22, 2002 12:52:53 AM new
Rob ...
How much do you pay for your Carnaby Store?
Nothing? Because you were a beta tester.
It reminds me of Amway. It behooves those in the Amway Pyramid to get more users to join. The earlier in the Pyramid you are seeded the better your results.
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RB
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posted on January 22, 2002 06:29:55 AM new
bidsbids ... You're looking a little green from where I sit
I think most of us know that Rob has worked very hard to get his auction stuff moving. He is getting out of it what he puts into it ... I don't think this is simply a case of being in the right place at the right time.
Perhaps if you spent a little more time and effort you could catch Rob
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robnzak
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posted on January 22, 2002 06:50:16 AM new
Bids,
I'm still waiting for the coffee to perk, so forgive me if while in a pre-caffaine state of mind, I don't understand how my having a Carnaby store compares to an Amway pyramid scheme?
If Carnaby were like Amway, it would behoove me to sign up users because then I would receive a percentage of their sales, but that is not the case here.
I did indeed participate in the store's beta-testing. I worked on a team of 5 other seller's for two weeks tweaking the stores and as a reward, received a 180 day waiver of any fees. The only advantage I might have over anyone is that I looked at this as another tool to use, another opportunity to become a leader in my category and hopefully gain name recognition while the site is still in it's infancy, my hope is that the efforts put forth today will pay off in the future, yet the tone of typing in your last post seems to be that my working hard to earn a living is somehow a bad thing.
rspectfully, Rob
1st Editions and more
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bidsbids
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posted on January 22, 2002 10:53:28 AM new
Okay, okay, I got out on a tangent there. I'll assume you pay about $84/yr for the Carnaby store and you feel that is worth the costs.
Feb 1st is fast approaching and FVF's are coming to Carnaby. ( unless there is yet another Gegy-like postponment ). This should be a non-event because EPier has a FVF in place already and only a few items sell on Carnaby ( and it's stores where the FVF is also to be assessed ) anyway.
The token banner ad campaign has done little to generate traffic. What chance has Carnaby to survive yet alone excell in the crowded third tier auction world?
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robnzak
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posted on January 22, 2002 11:21:53 AM new
What chance has Carnaby to survive yet alone excell in the crowded third tier auction world?
Can't answer that, cause nobody really knows, but the internet is like an ocean, and if I happen to catch a little Carnaby wave it will be a fun ride, if not...I still have my floaty toy to play with.
Rob
(hi Rob otn
1st Editions and more
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tomwiii
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posted on January 22, 2002 01:32:35 PM new
Rob: Yours floats? 
BTW: did ya get a chance to look at my question? Puleeeeze?
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robnzak
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posted on January 22, 2002 01:52:13 PM new
Hi Tom...beats me, I did send the question on to support, I'll let you know when I know.
<
Rob
edited to clarify: "beats me" referrs to the MaxLoader question, not the floaty toy
1st Editions and more
[ edited by robnzak on Jan 22, 2002 01:53 PM ]
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carnaby
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posted on January 22, 2002 02:13:10 PM new
We received reports of problems between the MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components) and our Auction Ticker, but not with the Max Loader.
We are currently testing all of the Max Loader functionality on XP and will have a definitive answer by tomorrow afternoon (EST).
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carnaby
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posted on January 23, 2002 09:44:21 AM new
We have finished testing the Max Loader under Windows XP. We tested the application on a machine with a Pentium II processor and 256 MB or RAM with an installation of both Windows and Office XP.
We are glad to report that both the Max Loader and the Maxime applications performed just as well under Windows XP than it did under Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 on the same machine.
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bidsbids
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posted on January 23, 2002 10:38:38 AM new
Carnaby definitely has outstanding Tech Support. The site has very little traffic but it does have outstanding Tech Support.
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tomwiii
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posted on January 24, 2002 05:52:40 AM new
Carnaby: Thank You!
Rob: Every boy needs a hobby, right?
[ edited by tomwiii on Jan 24, 2002 05:53 AM ]
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robnzak
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posted on January 24, 2002 06:52:55 AM new
LOL@Tom...
Once I e-mailed Carnaby with your question, didn't take support long to get an answer. They posted here before I even had a chance put down the floaty toy and respond here.
Rob
1st Editions and more
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amazon2000
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posted on January 30, 2002 12:01:43 PM new
Well, it looks like their listings are going up. I wonder if that has anything to do with the imminent price increases going on at eBay and the "turbulence" going on at some of the other smaller sites?
Either way, it looks as if they're benefitting from both!
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MTAKAMI2
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posted on February 1, 2002 06:19:37 PM new
As a seller looking to dump the Ebay dictatorship I was eager to give this site a chance. However I found it so labor intensive and frusterating to post auctions that I just gave up. If there is a easy way to give this place a chance i'd sure like to be educated by you folks. I am impressed with the good looks of the place yet have a very diffacult time posting auctions with them. I am not a newcomer to auctions but don't have a huge amount of time for trial & error. I am your eager student regarding this site... I would like ie to suceed.
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robnzak
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posted on February 1, 2002 09:41:32 PM new
hi MTAKAMI2...What kind of problems did you have trying to launch your auctions? Were you listing singlely on site? If you haven't downloaded Maxloader yet, your in for a treat. It's one of the best listers I've ever seen-complete with photo editor, built in custom templates, and with Maxime, you can import your auctions from Ebay, Yahoo or bidville.
If you have specific questions, post em, maybe we can help with the learning curve.
Rob
robnzak - 1st editions
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MTAKAMI2
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posted on February 1, 2002 09:45:06 PM new
AMAZON I WAS TESTING SINGULARLY. IT WAS A NIGHT MARE. I GOT ON TONIGHT AND IMPORTED MY EBAY LISTINGS. I WAS WONDERING WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ITEM SELLS ON EBAY? DO I HAVE TO WATCH REAL CLOSE AND DELETE THE CARNABY AUCTION?
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oxford
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posted on February 2, 2002 01:23:02 AM new
MTAKAMI2,
Virtually every auction site has in the Terms of Use that one may not have concurrent auctions running at different sites for the same item. If you are going to be running it on eBay, you should not have the same item at Carnaby at the same time (unless, of course, you have more than 1 of the item).
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