posted on September 9, 2004 02:38:33 PM new
After five years of selling on eBay, I have let my auctions run out and just closed my store. The constant raising of fees, new fees for this and new fees for that, changing this and changing that, and the lack of buyers has brought me to this decision. If you are selling low priced items, there is no way to make a profit. I have seen my sales go down to the point where I have had two sales in the last month, and some items in my store have been listed for three weeks and have had NO lookers, although I have links to my store in my ME page and eMails. I have done well on eBay in the past, but those days are gone and eBay is in a downward spiral that I don't believe they can come out of. I'm off to greener pastures where I'm having lots of buyers, especially repeat buyers.
eBay, you looked a gift horse in the mouth, and kicked it's teeth out!
posted on September 9, 2004 07:40:36 PM new
Sorry to see you go. I also don't blame you. I do have to wonder though, is this the right time to leave. The best time during the year is only days away. Personally, I would have done it in February. I guess it depends upon what kind of customer base that you have built over the years. If you did a good job building one, then you won't miss ebay one bit.
posted on September 9, 2004 08:29:26 PM new
Thanks all. Roadsmith, I don't mind telling you at all where the greener pastures are. I have a dealer's site at Playle.com. This auction site is primarily for ephemera, postcards, etc. But they also have a large, untapped number of categories for collectibles, (pottery, jewelry, just about anything). I have been selling there for a couple of years and have built a pretty good following. It is only $30.00/month to become a dealer with a small seller's fee and unlimited image hosting. Re-listing is free. I have begun to put some other items on such as belt buckles, etc. The owner Ron Playle is great. I have been very pleased with this site, and I don't see any reason why it couldn't be a competitor to eBay. It's just not very well known except to paper collectible buyers. Check it out.
posted on September 9, 2004 08:55:52 PM new
I found LiveDeal.com today, listed a few things.....there ARE other options. and then,click on my signature below.
then again, e bay may just gobble them up as fast as we mention them here like they did Craigslist.org.
I mean they have all that money and NO idea what to do with it. GoBBle, GoBBle....
http://pomonaswapmeet.com Click vendor info. click arial view. HUGE. I hang around the ONLY tree. Stop by for a Beer.
posted on September 9, 2004 10:41:26 PM new
I did a quick search of 1 state on Playles.
23 pages of postcards for the state of Texas. Highest opening bid price $4.75. 2 bids on the first page and 0-2 on all the others.
All items with bids were under $2.
Real Photo's were getting decent bids as were a few with 5 or more postcards, but not singles.
The sell through rate looked worse than Ebay and the final price was much lower. I start mine at $5.95 and with a 20 to 30% sell through I can make much more on Ebay than I could over there even after fees.
But, good luck to you and your future sales I would love to see some real competition crop up for Ebay someday.
posted on September 10, 2004 04:51:05 AM new
Ebay is now a fully entrenched, mainstream selling venue, and overall, you can't expect it to do better or worse than the overall selling arena. As it changes, you will need to look more closely as to whether your merchandise is appropriate for selling there.
FWIW, all the real-world antique dealers I have spoken with have had nothing good to report about overall sales this year.
posted on September 10, 2004 05:57:15 AM new
All well and good, lindajean. I live in Texas and I sell very few Texas cards. Did you see the one dealer who has over 29,000 cards for auction and has closed over $600 in the past week, and usually sells more than that. If fact, he was featured in an article last year as an ex-eBayer, who has gone completely to Playle. Did you see one of my buyers who has bought over 18,000 cards from dealers, and whom I bill monthly. Granted a lot of them sell for $1.00. You start the cards at whatever price you want and they go down $0.25 per month if they do not sell and you re-list. Therefore a lot of them sell at $1.00. Also a lot of them sell for over $4.00. At any time you can change your price. But, I am very happy with Playle. Stay with eBay, if you are doing well there.
posted on September 10, 2004 06:11:28 AM new
Yes I can remember when I sold 95% of what I listed. Those were the days when ebay was fun and very profitable. I quit selling on ebay 2-3 years ago, I now only sell on free listings days, which is the only way to make any kind of profitable income. I beleive the high fees also are the main source of contention, they have caused people to leave. The downward spiral will continue unless ebay wakes up. People that listes now do it out of hope--hope against hope. I use to have many friend who list on ebay but they have all gone now.
posted on September 10, 2004 06:20:26 AM new
Good luck to you Bill. I don't know why eBay didn't work for you. These last days of summer have been slow, that's for sure! Selling cards for $1 hardly seems worth the effort though. Like Lindajean, I am staying with ebay. Come back and visit the Vendio boards
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Sig files are too much trouble! http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
posted on September 10, 2004 10:00:04 AM new
Another useless eBay change or goof. Are you aware that, as of right now, no matter what instructions you put in as where you will ship to, when you are listing, the results show up in your ads as "will ship to the US only".
I was just warned of this by my auction management program admisistrator.
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"eBay rolling out changes to "Ship To Location
« on: Today at 11:52am » Quote | Modify
"I am aware of this issue. eBay is rolling out this change as I type this. It is intermittent at this time. As it now items posted will say you ship to USA only now matter what option you have selected."
posted on September 10, 2004 10:08:39 AM new
Not so - I just checked my newest listings and they all say "ships worldwide". WHo is you auciton management program adminstrator? Perhaps the glitch is on their end.
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Sig files are too much trouble! http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
posted on September 10, 2004 10:10:59 AM new
neglus: the note says that is is happening right now intermittently, and that it is a change that eBay is making. That is all that I know.
posted on September 10, 2004 10:15:55 AM new
I can see why some sellers are leaving. If you are sellinhg in the $1. to $5.00 range the fees will eat up the profits. Most of my sales are over $20.00, although I will sell for $4.95 to clear out the deadwood. I have made a decent profit on my china sales & as long as can buy quality goods, it will sell.
Life Is Too Short To Drink Bad Wine
posted on September 10, 2004 10:28:01 AM new
dbest - good luck to you too....do what you want, the rest of us will keep plugging away.
FYI I had 156 sales in the last 7 days..I used the 1/2 price listing sale to relist my unsold items. Out of the 156 sales, 43 were store items (listing cost 2 cents/month). You can wait for FLD if want, I will take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.
One thing I learned in ebay selling 101 - IF YOU DON'T LIST - YOU DON'T SELL.
Wednesday was probably the worst night in sales I have had in a long time, we had the Labor Holiday to contend with, and my store sales were not as strong as they have been..but a review of the 7 days shows that I am doing more than "hoping against hope". Perhaps it's a good thing that I didn't know ebay back in the "good old days"!
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Sig files are too much trouble! http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
posted on September 10, 2004 01:27:23 PM new
Neglus: further word on the ship to problem situation. Just received word that eBay today has changed the info on the ship to page to a "java script click-on" making it so that any listings made on AS will be listed as "ship to the US only". They are working on the problem.
Another example of eBay's biggest problem. Changes for the sake of making changes. Why don't they fix the problems that need fixing, instead of making more problems. Oh well, it won't be my problem anymore, at least for a long time.
posted on September 10, 2004 01:40:57 PM new
Thanks for the heads up Bill ..oh swell! hope Vendio is working on it too! I am not listing any foreign cards today so hopefully should be ok.
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Sig files are too much trouble! http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
posted on September 10, 2004 02:58:46 PM new
etexbill, I am guessing, but part of the problem may be that Meg comes from a marketing background. The comic strip Dilbert does a good job on documenting marketing's inability to interface with the real world of engineering.
posted on September 10, 2004 03:10:34 PM new
I'm with NEGLUS; if I don't list, I don't sell. I've only been doing ebay for 2 years and I think that when I started the demand was almost as high as it is now. Yes, I've learned that I have to sell higher priced items in order to make a profit and I'm really working on building up my store sales so I don't have to keep paying relisting fees. I focus on one particular type of item, though, and I've found that in my field there are a lot of searchers and demand that seems to grow and grow.
Good luck to you. My parents have run their own business since I was a child and I never like to hear about people having to downsize or even get out of the "game". I sympathize with you and wish you the best; there are days of panic and disillusionment when I wonder just what the hell I'm doing, but then I get a run of big sales on items that cost me one tenth of what they sold for and I get estatic. I'm just plugging away, listing in spite of any hard days and hoping to see my business grow steadily.
posted on September 10, 2004 04:58:23 PM new
I use to run 200-300 auctions a month and now I list about 20 a month. I sell used, collectible, and antique items. I have found I can get more for my items at the local flea markets than on eBay. eBay for me now is a place to sell if the weather is bad or for those few odd pieces that still bring good money.
posted on September 10, 2004 06:47:52 PM new
Quote: "I think the trick is going to involve moving the majority of my items into the feeBay store & then listing just enough items to drive folks there".
Tom, that is exactly what I finally tried to do, and I couldn't even get buyers to look at my feeBay store. I put links in my Me page, in my eMails to buyers on feeBay and Playle.com and in my feeBay ads.
The highest number of lookers on one item I had in two months was 21 and no-one bought that item. I sold only two items on the store. I had a positive feedback of 100% in over 1500 transactions, nice, simple ads, and at the last I was practically giving items away. Not to mention, the first month of the store was to be a free trial according to feeBay, and then they charged me for it. Try to get that back! Results of all this work, practically zilch, nada, nothing. At that point, it was time for me to give up.
posted on September 10, 2004 06:48:17 PM new
In 2000 you could sell Ekimoes air conditioners,I know, cause I,,,,,did! now,,,,,I can't even sell one on a 100 degrees day to a guy in NEW YORK!
e bay better do some REAL enhancements, like can all the carp they've done and get back to sending me an old fashioned no graphics e mail with UncleSam just WON your auction.
Did someone say even the BIG boys left e bay? too many NPB's and such?
http://pomonaswapmeet.com Click vendor info. click arial view. HUGE. I hang around the ONLY tree. Stop by for a Beer.
posted on September 10, 2004 06:58:10 PM new
OMG,,,,,,,,Many know I have my benchmark of one particular Company on e bay. SEARS! They have a TOTAL of Running auctions of how many? They HAD pages and pages and pages.....LOOK now. Does that say SOMETHING or WHAT!
http://pomonaswapmeet.com Click vendor info. click arial view. HUGE. I hang around the ONLY tree. Stop by for a Beer.
posted on September 10, 2004 08:52:57 PM newall the real-world antique dealers I have spoken with have had nothing good to report about overall sales this year
That is because most of the real world antique dealers simply haven't accepted that ebay is the new standard when it comes to antiques. Their once very rare find isn't as rare as it once was with the whole world now becoming the purchasing area.
posted on September 10, 2004 09:14:34 PM new
Stone...Amen. The collectors with the money to spend have discovered they don't have to pay $75.00 for a piece of Franciscan in a shop when they can get the same item on Ebay for $35.00. The priceing guides for collectibles are now being listed in the Antiques category.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on September 10, 2004 09:37:20 PM new
Yes, stone. But it isnt good for collectables at all. As much as b/m dealers are too overpriced, ebay and its buyers are making everything way, way, underpriced. (There is so much listed, ....great for buyers...but a killer for a seller of anything remotely different from what you could get at a target or something!)
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~~ Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues(forces)of life..Proverbs 4:23~~
posted on September 10, 2004 09:51:38 PM new
MOST,,,,,,,,,not ALL of the Really HARD to find,,,,one of a kind,,,,,highly collectable,,stuff was sold on e bay in the ,,,,,,well 2000,,,,and up for 2,3 years,,now all the attics are empty,,,,Now, were dealing with NEW stuff From China........
http://pomonaswapmeet.com Click vendor info. click arial view. HUGE. I hang around the ONLY tree. Stop by for a Beer.
I would love to see some real competition crop up for Ebay someday.
