twinsoft
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:22:03 PM
Formula for successful selling on eBay:
1) Sprinkle fairy dust in the air
2) Think happy thoughts
3) Jump out window
One big fat-cat corporate site is as bad as another. Sellers need to stop wandering around in circles from one site to another like Moses looking for the Promised Land.
The only way we'll get a fair shake is to come up with our own CO-OP site, with profit-sharing and administrative salaries. Ten million sellers don't need eBay to maintain a site (which they barely do anyway).
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quickdraw29
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:22:15 PM
What is a ten day auction going to cost?
It's good timing. Raise the rates when everyone else is and people will just accept it.
They say they don't want to raise the FVF because it penalizes successful auctions. Why not just get rid of FVF then because successful auctions are now being penalized! 
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aramatha
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:25:46 PM
loosecannon! SPAM JOB???!!!! Then you must consider more than half of the posts at AW spam right now cause that is where I got the names of the sites! Sat here for days, writing down the names of all the sites mentioned so I could check them out. Being WebTv, I am limited in finding compatible sites. And although I am a retired antiques dealer, at this time I am just scrambling to supplement my social security. I am not a big tech person nor do I have a computer like a lot of you do.
And I want to thank all of the sellers that mentioned so many sites. It was a great help to me in finding something that could work for me. I considered all the posts mentioning alternative sites HELP, not spam. Perhaps you don't need help and I am happy for you if that is the case...but a lot of the rest of us do. Now, please let's not use the boards to attack others, but to help others.
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dave_michmerhuizen
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:25:55 PM
you think *you* have it bad, most of my items are in the $3-$4 range. People won't buy the average postcard for much more (just the rare ones, assuming you can figure out which ones those are in advance).
It has the effect of forcing prices up across the board, and forcing less expensive items off the site.
What makes this *really* bite is that ebay traffic has been down since the first of the year. It's as if people took a new years eve pledge to stop squandering their money on eaby, at least on my stuff. Multiply more items not attracting bids by a higher fee and this just isn't worth it anymore.
ebay: [email protected]
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Damariscotta
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:26:04 PM
Darn! Just as I was getting ready to do my winter listing thing.
I think all the sites are re-evaluating their listing fees. With the downturn in the dot-com sector, I think some are adding fees before they have a track record to justify them, but they are doing it as a last-ditch effort to keep alive (and most of these sites shouldn't waste too much time deciding where to have this year's office Christmas party). One site, ehammer, has restructured their fees to make it more painful financially for sellers of low-end merchandise. They hope to become the site for high end antiques.
I think eBay would be happy to dump the low value or no-sale listings. Even in the real world auctions, the bigger guys won't deal with stuff under $100, since the overhead is too high. You use the same resources for a $1.00 item as for a $500 item, so why clog the pipe with loads of low end stuff.
Usual disclaimer: I only report based on my observation in the antiques area.
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cix
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:26:13 PM
4 - 10 day $9.99 auctions used to cost $1.00
4 - 10 day $9.99 auctions will now cost $1.60
[ edited by cix on Jan 16, 2001 12:29 PM ]
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twinsoft
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:26:48 PM
kellyb1, a large chunk of my auctions are $4.98 and I run them three times a day. If anyone's getting slammed here, it's yours truly.
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loosecannon
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:30:18 PM
OK amaratha
Looks like I misunderstood then. Sorry.
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pickersangel
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:35:35 PM
We all saw this coming.  Added incentive for all of us to make some of the free alternative sites wildly successful. Ebay could have been a bit less obvious about taking advantage of Yahoo!'s stupidity. ("Yeah, let's kick them while they're down....that's the ticket!!!) 
always pickersangel everywhere 
http://homepage.netspaceonline.com/~twobar/pickers.htm
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Shoshanah
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:38:21 PM
L.C.....You're darned right...and I don't even drive a truck..
But I remember the very high expenses connected with doing shows across country! (hey! I guess I bdid drive a truck after all )
So, we may not like it, but if it makes us money, then so be it...I don't like it because I DO use (non-outrageous) reserves, and it will now cost me 4.30 plus .25c Gallery, so 4.55 per reserve 200.00 and up...But that is still very inexpensive.
********
Gosh Shosh!
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/rifkah/
http://www.oldandsold.com/index.htm
Type rifkah in "GO" box, checkmark the "user" circle, hit GO...
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loosecannon
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:40:03 PM
The trouble with taking advantage of some of the "free" sites is the buyers don't necessarily follow us over there. I need to sell, not just list auctions.
Go ahead and try all of the other sites to your heart's content. See y'all back here in a couple of weeks when you figure out there isn't that many buyers over there.
Good luck!
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smw
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:45:08 PM
Does anyone think ebay is looking for quicker turnover ? Ebay must monitor the fact that a lot of auctions don't get bids until the last day. The way things are now Ebay gets to have millions of auction sit on it's servers for 7 to 10 days with most of the bids coming in the last day.
Maybe this could be good for sellers if bidders get used to 3 day auctions and bid right away instead of waiting.
If more sellers go for 3 days auctions at the current fees ebay could make even more $$ from the turnover, *and* more $$ from the higher fees from sellers who want longer auctions. It looks like a win-win for eBay.
Maybe too, it is another step for eBay into the fixed price listings.....
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Pocono
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:48:29 PM
I'm with Mr. Softy on this one...
I'm gonna get hammered high AND low.
But pocono has something in the works that will take a bit of time, but in the end, we will ALL benefit 
~ I have the right to #*!@, cause I work to change what I #*!@ about! ~
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aramatha
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:48:53 PM
thanks, loosecannon. It means a lot to me cause I am scared. Just a little old lady here trying to take care of myself and my cats. In reading the posts, it looks like there are more like me. Seems like quite a few were working darn hard to make a few extra dollars before all this hit us. And so many need help right now in finding answers. For now, I am finding hope on the boards. And AW needs us to not give up, too. I am most grateful to AW and their boards and all that are posting.
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pickersangel
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:51:04 PM
[I]"The trouble with taking advantage of some of the "free" sites is the buyers don't necessarily follow us over there. I need to sell, not just list auctions."[I]
No one said it would be effortless. Those of us moving all our stuff off Yahoo! are already advertising that fact to our buyers, and the buyers are following. If we could take even a portion of our Ebay bidders to these sites too, it would definitely make the freebies worthwhile.
I think the comment about "quick turnover" has merit--especially if you consider additional facts like implementing "Buy It Now"....and whose fault is it that stuff doesn't get bids till the last day? How about the person(s) responsible for giving us the "watch" feature?
always pickersangel everywhere
http://homepage.netspaceonline.com/~twobar/pickers.htm
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quickdraw29
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:54:01 PM
A company that raises rates without any apparant reason, is hurting financially. Something to keep in mind when planning your future with ebay.
A just sold a few things on Yahoo that took 7 tries to sell, plus two attempts on ebay. Free sites have less audience, but you can't beat the listing price! These free sites can fill a niche of obscure items that don't sell elswhere, if they promote that feature more instead of trying to be king of the auction hill.
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bjshoda
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:54:55 PM
Im looking for a site that I can afford to list my toys that I sell. average selling price is between $10 & $20. Any ideas. With ebays pricing. Not much left for me now that so many sellers are out there.
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twinsoft
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:56:25 PM
Maybe this could be good for sellers if bidders get used to 3 day auctions and bid right away...
I run three day auctions because I target last-day bidders. Problem is, the items don't show up in SEARCH until day two.
Maybe eBay will cut us some slack and keep BIN free. I really like it, it helps sales overall, but it's not worth an extra quarter, which would double my listing fees.
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Shoshanah
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:57:06 PM
I have thought about 3-day auctions for a long time. The problem was that until more recently, it would often take "Search" up to 16 hours to harvest new listings. At that rate, auctions were then more like 2-day auctions...and then the down-times....we are now at 1-day auctions...
********
Gosh Shosh!
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/rifkah/
http://www.oldandsold.com/index.htm
Type rifkah in "GO" box, checkmark the "user" circle, hit GO...
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outoftheblue
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:58:39 PM
I would rather pay for innovation and performance then pay more for what I already am doing.
To me more, reasonably priced, features would be attractive. I already use the gallery and double category listings quite a bit. Ebay makes more, in the long run, off of my auctions on these features than they would on higher listing fees. Oh well, I'm relieved that the increase is less than I thought it would be.
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Shoshanah
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posted on January 16, 2001 12:59:22 PM
Sorry Twin....we were "talking" at the same time to say the same thing...
********
Gosh Shosh!
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/rifkah/
http://www.oldandsold.com/index.htm
Type rifkah in "GO" box, checkmark the "user" circle, hit GO...
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loosecannon
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:00:46 PM
aramatha
There is a lot of gloom and doom on these boards. I don't automatically buy into all of it and if you wan't my advise, you shouldn't automatically buy into it all either. Of course, there are a lot of knowledgable people here that give excellent advise as well.
Most everyone tends to worry too much.
I list perhaps 1000 auctions a year and make a fairly decent living at it. Notice I said a "living". I ain't getting rich but I'm doing better than I ever have in the past working for "the man".
You're an antique dealer. You know "quality" and "unusual" sells. You have years of experience in the business. Rely on your experience to guide you and you'll do fine. Learning the "computer" parts (listing, selling, editing photos, html) it the toughest part, IMO, but not too tough. If I can be of any help to you, I will do whatever I am able.
[ edited by loosecannon on Jan 16, 2001 01:06 PM ]
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twinsoft
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:00:54 PM
Shosh, great minds think alike.
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Damariscotta
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:09:40 PM
>>A company that raises rates without any apparant reason, is hurting financially. Something to keep in mind when planning your future with ebay. >>
I think the case here is that eBay raises its rates because it CAN. They will lose some marginal sellers, but will also have less of a drain on their resources. If you consign an item to a real-live auctioneer and want to sell with a reserve, you will pay the fee whether or not it sells - you pay for the overhead you consume, and keeps his buy-in rate low. Ebay also wants to get a higher sales to listing ratio (resulting in more income).
I don't think any of these auction sites are charities. Free listing sites do not charge for one reason: they wouldn't get any listings otherwise. As for these second and third tier sites adding listing fees - be prepared to wave bye-bye as these sites continue to fold.
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packer
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:20:49 PM
For those that say bidders only bid on the last day....I say HOG WASH!
I list for 10 days, with 38 auctions I currently have on now, ranging from 2 to 6 days left for bidding.
Here is the current stats:
38 auctions = 121 BIDS
I get bids every single day that they are on.
Last night 20 went off, here are the stats before they went off:
58 auctions = 207 BIDS
3 day auctions are WAY to risky, they take forever to get indexed (gallery couldn't even be an option for 3 day). Factor in all the glitches and downtimes. No, I just don't see it unless maybe if you featured it.
Like I said they are going to make it impossable for us "$1.00 starts" to run a REAL auction.
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smw
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:24:25 PM
Hmmmm I forgot about the lag time for ebay to index the auctions in search.
Good point. Actually 16 hours is generous. I find it to be more like 24 to 28 hours.
Well... it would be good idea if bidders actually had access to the auctions for 3 days.
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mrpotatoheadd
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:30:31 PM
Well... it would be good idea if bidders actually had access to the auctions for 3 days.
Depending on how they search, they do. Several of the people who have bought from me have told me that they have bookmarked a search on "Current auctions by...", which returns all my auctions as soon as they are listed.
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spuddy98
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:30:31 PM
I'm with loose cannon on this. Ebay is part time for me. I try to sell things I can make $10 or more with. It is a bargain at twice the price. Before this what did we have??? Our own catalogs or print. Anyone have a garage sale lately? Our 'smalltown' paper charges about $25 for a listing. That is usually about 12% of what my wife makes on her garage sales. How 'bout ebay goes to a straight percentage, say, 10%. Those that use Andale show that they are willing to part with at least %5 of the sale. Remember this is an online auction site. Certainly my butt is still sore from the postal rate increase. I always wondered how they were going to pay for those 100 boxes I have in my basement.
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twinsoft
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:30:33 PM
I seem to recall around the time of the "it's only a dollar" fiasco that eBay promised to give us 30-days notice of any fee increases. Wow, they just couldn't wait with this one!
Packer, your results are not typical. What's your secret?
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eagerbeader
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posted on January 16, 2001 01:31:27 PM
Well..gotta put in my 2cents (before Ebay wants it)
A nickel isn't much by itself..but take that and multiply by 10,000 auctions up a day and you have a lot of money ($500 day or $182,500 a year). So don't say a nickel isn't much. Ebay will make a nice piece of pocket change from this. And yes, if they upgrade their servers and service, it will be worth it. But do you really think they will do that???
Also, when they start charging for BIN (and they will)..there is another fee tacked on top of everything else. You would think there would be an incentive for using BIN (gets stuff off of their servers faster).
So..it is crappy that they are doing this. Especially since the high priced items (autos, real estate, etc.) fees aren't increasing. Tells you where they are thinking.
Just my opinion.
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