posted on June 27, 2000 01:33:45 PM new
radh - I haven't. The only universal search I have ever tried was Rover and it turned up Yahoo FIRST at the time. I don't know anymore because as I have written on some thread somewhere, you lose the thumbnail (I think it is vital) if you upload anywhere but Yahoo so I beat feet.
Jeez, I am lazy.
Okay.
I just tried, and yes AW search picks up my listings.
[ edited by VeryModern on Jun 27, 2000 01:34 PM ]
posted on June 27, 2000 01:40:10 PM new
Having been active on Yahoo, Ebay, Amazon and others for over a year, I can tell you that there is a very different audience on Yahoo (both sellers and bidders) than on ebay.
Ebay requires some minimal verification in order to give you an account. Yahoo does not. You can create a phony ID in seconds. That is why there are so many deadbeats. Some even seem to have a contest to see how many negs they can get. Folks who want to be destructive but are too dumb to create a virus, go to Yahoo to "win" auctions so they can post terrible feedback on total strangers for fun. So you have to manage your auctions differently on Yahoo. After months of having my auctions "won" by deadbeats, I have found a winning formula which I will share freely with anyone who is curious.
Because it is quick and easy to create a Yahoo ID, I find that there is a significant number of fools on Yahoo. People who bid without reading the info and after they have won, start asking questions and decide they dont want it. Someone who "won" my 19" monitor that said "U.S. bidders only." and then expected me to ship it to Romania for the $25 shipping quoted. And he "won" three of my auctions, even after I blacklisted him he just came back under a new ID. People who just ask stupid questions. Item title: New 17" monitor with 3 year warranty. Question: Is this monitor new or refurbished and does it have a warranty?
Ebay charges fees for listings. This means that for the most part, sellers will not post unless the item has a realistic chance of being sold. Yahoo is free. So many sellers just look at the retail prices in a store and then list the items for more than that hoping to find a sucker. I have seen many items on Yahoo selling for list price. There are lots of spam auctions, where nothing is being sold but the title causes the bidder to click where he is shown a link to some other website or an ad for some get-rich-quick scheme.
The flip is without the fees, items can go cheaper on Yahoo. Before ebay changed their rules, I used to post a link to my yahoo auctions so bidders could check my feedback (which is much higher on Yahoo thanks to the free listings). I had the same items on Yahoo for less. A lot of my Yahoo items went to someone who told me he found me through the ebay link.
Because of ebay's disgusting new policy that I cant put links on my page but they sell links on my page to my competitors, I have stopped posting on ebay. But now that I have discovered my Yahoo formula, I am doing great and no fees.
))))
