posted on November 20, 2000 11:12:53 AM new
I thought that maybe these credits for featuring auctions would bring about more sales. I never featured before, I used Yahoo, and paid Ebay...know what I mean??
Well, I thought, heck, it is same as free, let me see what all the hub-bub is about featuring. A lot of people swear by it. So I tried. But so far I have not sold a single featured auction. Wait, I take that back, I sold one, but that was from a repeat customer who would have bought it anyway. (She did a seller search, she said, looking specifically for my stuff.)
I do get a lot more page hits, but no sales.
Now, it isn't because it is just slow. I have *sold* items over the last week, BUT, they were not featured.
So, I am back to square one, I don't know if
featuring really helps or not. So far it hasn't helped me.
What about anyone else??
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."---Mark Twain
posted on November 20, 2000 01:50:45 PM new
Yahoo is as it has been for me over two years of selling here really up or really down!
Three years on E-Greed has always been relitively constant with normally only relisting items once instead of several times!
Mostly since I only have been specializing for the last couple years! One category! I have not tried anything else on Yahoo, but will soon!
Last week with the close auction early feature enabled, I had 14 auctions that I closed and moved to the win column, since it was one of my repeat customers using Bidpay!
Parcel in the mail tomorrow!
Also one Buy price sale via Paydirect!
At present on Yahoo I have 45 items with no bids!
Last night on E-bay 14 out of 16 sold and some with competitive bidding!
Presently 21 out of remqaining 25 auction on E-Bay with bids and some competively and they close on Turkey day!
I always liked Yahoos features and hope they listen more to us sellers!
I will keep doing Yahhooie as long as sales come in even if a little slower!
posted on November 20, 2000 09:01:57 PM new
Wow! You've got all those auctions bid on ebay and Yahoo is slow for you? I'm just the opposite. I just had a set of auctions (9, I think) close on eBay with not one bid. I can't figure it out. Things that don't sell on eBay, are selling great on Yahoo. Oh well, when I saw that you were doing well on eBay, I just had to comment. It's almost as if I developed the plague or something - just (0) unbelievable!
posted on November 21, 2000 05:37:10 AM new
FEATURED AUCTIONS on Yahoo - for us have done nothing , and I am not even going to mess with them anymore.
FEATURED AUCTIONS on eBay work well for us, but I only use them on very high end items.
As far as sales, we have had very active buying on both eBay, Yahoo, and our Web site since sometime last week. Right now I'm in a bit of a panic that my packer can't keep up with the orders, looks like I'll have to take a day and go in and assist her as we are swamped with orders. PTL!
posted on November 21, 2000 10:10:49 AM new
jwpc- congrats on your windfall!! Lovely!
As for me, featuring does help, since right now my sell through percent is less than dazzling, my feedback is under 100, and I sell in extremely cluttered categories. "Dolls- Other" for example. I don't think anyone browsing that category would even browse any farther than the featured list, and some bidders might not even make it through the entire featured list.
Could it be that your sell through is high, your feedback is high, and you sell in uncluttered categories? Featuring only really makes a difference if your item wouldn't get seen in any other way. This is the case for me, but might not be for you. (I am jealous! )
posted on November 21, 2000 03:49:46 PM new
I finally jumped the next hoop and got my free feature tokens from ebay-- last week. I had 210 f/back and guess what-- whoever is in charge of that table-- transposes the # and gives me 120!!
Who (and if it makes any difference) would I write to about this?? I just read "last chance" in the Yahoo News to convert f/back. THAT picnic is over~
Yahoo FEEturing - is a hoax-- it does absolutely nothing but take MORE of very precious listing time.....You have to go into a "secure" site, come back out - check your balance------etc -- NO increase in sales --and this is free-- imagine when it isn't and it malfunctions?? Yike!!
Who (and if it makes any difference) would I write to about this?? I just read "last chance" in the Yahoo News to convert f/back. THAT picnic is over~
Each day here gets worse--Between Paypal price gauging, feeling forced to use Yahoo pay Direct --- and feature fees, rotation of viewing, zero sales--- MY HEAD is spinning Yahoo has developed the same Kami Kazi approach as ebay -- only difference is at least on ebay---you could sell something 4 out of 10 listings.... even if it was an "accidental" purchase!!
How much are they paying at Taco Bell these days?? Or do I have to have a Taco Bell CC to get a job there??
posted on November 21, 2000 08:58:59 PM new
Sales are slow, but I do find FEATURE does help. Now I don't feature everything, just certain items in different catagories.
I find it helps to get the persons to see some of my other things even if they don't want that item..
When ever I'm browsing, I will save time and just go in and look at all that persons items.
So figure featuring will help maybe others do the same.
I sell in the OTHER Lost Land of Dolls too, and it's a pain trying to get anybody to see all the items.
Oh for the days of time left showing, would sure make life better.
For those that are grumbling about it all and saying no sales, then gee go and Pay for no sales at Ebay..
I will wait, cause I find what goes around comes around and items may not sell just like that but they DO SELL...
I'm bidding my time, wasn't that an old song.
Well now that's the ol bitties opinion again.
Joan
posted on November 23, 2000 04:40:34 PM new
Don't you have to pay to feature an auction? I'm new to Yahoo. Ebay was eating my alive as I'm selling low ticket items. Or I should say not selling them. I'm open for suggestions.
posted on November 23, 2000 05:14:35 PM new
Yes you do pay to use featured auctions.
but I'm still using my ebay fb $$ on features...
But even with that, heck .10 for featured is cheap and I don't use it for a full 10 days, maybe a 4 or 5 days...
It does get attention and does get sales.
It beats the frustration of spending lots of dollars and not see a sale on ebay.
posted on November 23, 2000 05:25:17 PM new
I hear you there. Isn't there a place that you can look up and see if you have any credits to use. I never transfered my Ebay fb and don't think I can do it now. I thought I was suppose to get some points when I signed up for Yahoo wallet.
posted on November 23, 2000 05:41:05 PM new
Darn that's a shame you didn't use your fb points for feature $.
Go to your options and look under billing summary, it will tell you if you have a balance to use or owe a balance...
Keep checking yahoo auctions at start each day, you never know what Yahoo will be giving away.
posted on November 24, 2000 05:40:43 AM new
Before I was using FEATURE, I sold almost NOTHING on Yahoo! Now that I'm FEATURING all, I'm selling like there's no tomorrow! Had 3 winners on Yahoo last night! That's a first for me! AND NO FEES is NICE!
posted on November 24, 2000 06:16:12 AM new
Okay Okay - I'll try the "FEATURE" again - perhaps I was using it for the wrong items...let you know how it works when I change the items I'm featuring.
Hope everyone has recovered from the over eating at Thanksgiving and is ready to tackle the Christmas rush.
posted on November 24, 2000 09:49:37 AM new
Best deal since sliced bread. I can't keep up. Those buy nows are just incredible. And it is SO peaceful there. I will feature when I run out of feedbacks. I'd rather pay where I have a chance of succeeding than over-pay for no service or accountability
posted on November 24, 2000 04:23:29 PM new
I find that featuring on YaHOOOOOO is the only way to make any sales. We've sold more this month then ever before on YaHOOOOOO but our auctions are still burried 20 pages deep. The only reason we are making any sales is because of featuring our auctions. We'll stick with Ebay for the majority of our business until the YaHOOOOOOS get their act together.
posted on November 24, 2000 05:22:31 PM new
Sad to say but as sellers realize that in
order to sell they must feature . We will
find thet yahoo will become more expensive
than ebay.
posted on November 24, 2000 05:41:08 PM new
Well, I'm glad it is working for someone. It just isn't working for me. I guess when my free credits run out, unless something changes in my sales, I won't pay to feature. If I am not selling, why pay for it?
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."---Mark Twain
posted on November 24, 2000 07:31:59 PM new
millicent_roberts--"I'd rather pay where I have a chance of succeeding than over-pay for no service or accountability "
Couldn't have said it better, great answer, says it allllll.
posted on November 24, 2000 08:19:20 PM newI'd rather pay where I have a chance of succeeding than over-pay for no service or accountability
Hmmmm. I feature my auctions on Yahoo for 5 days at say $.15 per day to get a decent position and sell 1 out of 5. I pay Ebay $.25 to $.50 per item to list and sell 3 out of 4. It doesn't take a genious to figure out which is the better deal....
When my auctions are burried 20-25 pages deep out of say 85 pages of auctions. I don't think much of Yahoo's service either...
[ edited by outoftheblue on Nov 24, 2000 08:26 PM ]
posted on November 27, 2000 09:16:20 PM new
On Yahoo auctions, it makes no difference if
most people feature their auctions or not,
there are almost no buyers. I sell 95% of what I list on Ebay for way over my starting bid. On Yahoo, it is about the exact opposite, I sell 5% of what I list! Who cares if it is free? I would pay 3 times the Ebay
fees for the sales I receive there! Almost a total waste of time for me anyway.
posted on November 28, 2000 01:34:02 AM new
brente you are DEAD WRONG. There are TONS AND TONS AND TONS of buyers. Lots of international customers too. Yahoo has a HUGE customer base. Perhaps you sell in a category that is unappealing to Yahoos in general- those categories do exist. But more likely you are having problems selling your stuff because it is difficult for someone who hasn't sold a lot on Yahoo to get their items visible unless they feature.
posted on November 28, 2000 12:46:00 PM new
Featured auctions and no sales? Hmmm wonder what you're trying to sell there?
I'll repeat myself. I get better service, it is more peaceful and I am selling everything I can get my hands on and it still isn't enough.
I have paid the other site hundreds-+ a month and I won't support deadbeats over there anymore. If I don't like someone's feedback at Yahoo, guess what, I can remove the bid and blacklist that bidder. Instead of making the higher-ups believe that I was never paid.
When you have had enough of this, try Yahoo's approach. Because I can't ever spend that kind of money if I run out of feedback tomorrow.
Yes. I do Yahoo and will continue until something whacks that site up too. That's all I am worried about right now, also getting more stuff in to sell.
Oh, an afterthought. I have gotten more international bidders over there than I ever got anywhere else.
[ edited by millicent_roberts on Nov 28, 2000 12:48 PM ]
posted on November 28, 2000 02:19:10 PM new
I'm happy for you and a little jealous. It's not a question of what we are selling it's a question of what you are selling! I to am featuring and as alot of you know came from Ebay as I felt there where to many charges. Pay to list, Pay for Gallery, Pay when sold Pay for Paypal or Billpoint or whatever, did I leave anything out? Now here's the punch line no sales here either and I think and have been told I have some nice things for sale.
posted on November 28, 2000 05:35:25 PM new
Well, I've had one sale in a month. Some auctions were featured, some were not. The one sale I got was not a featured item. I did some checking the other day and in the category I sell in (horseback riding) there were 765 auctions and only 28 of them had bids. I'm thinking there is something really really wrong at Yahoo. I used to have consistent and active sales prior to the new feature system and the new feedback/seller performance mumbo jumbo. I only have three auctions listed now. Items sell on Ebay so Ebay gets my auctions. Free listing isn't free if it costs me money by ending up with no sales. Yahoo doesn't seem to comprehend this.
posted on November 29, 2000 03:59:05 AM new
gk4495, you have two listings on Yahoo, and neither has a thumbnail photo for the "show only photos" gallery viewing. You can't launch from AuctionWatch onto Yahoo Auction if you want thumbnails---you have to submit the listings directly onto Yahoo and upload your photos when you submit the listing.
Featured or not, there's something wrong when a hundred or more people view an auction listing and no one bids (and I KNOW my price isn't too high).
I've been watching the ebay sales of a couple of long-time powersellers I know over there (who do this for a living), and with occasional exceptions of well-bid items, their sales are ABSOLUTELY ROCK-BOTTOM TERRIBLE.
I'm afraid that either the novelty of online auctions is over for all but the "newbies", or people have been burned by less-than-represented merchandise so many times they've quit buying on the auctions, or both.
I watched my mall sales decline with the growth of ebay, then I watched my online sales gradually decline for the last 18 months. There are still sales to be made....on new/common items if your price can't be beat elsewhere, or if you offer rare/unusual/one-of-a-kind/highly desirable/hard-to-find items. Nowdays there's so much pure JUNK being offered on the auctions, it's a CUMBERSOME CHORE to sift through it to find the good stuff. No longer will common junk sell to someone who buys it just for "fun".
The glory days are definitely over.
Our local retailers had record-breaking sales the day after Thanksgiving, but what the news reports failed to mention is that the stores now offer never-to-be-seen-again sale prices ONLY the weekend after Thanksgiving (usually only the first few hours of Friday morning---look at the flyers in Thanksgiving Day's newspaper), and shoppers have learned to frantically buy it then or pay more later. Most of the rest of Christmas shopping will be done the last week, as everyone else (too busy to shop) procrastinates....and procrastinators won't be shopping online auctions for last-minute gifts to buy, since everything has to be shipped.
Let's hope things pick up after the election is settled and the stock market rebounds (IF it rebounds). Otherwise, it's going to be a looooong cold winter.
Yahoo has developed the same Kami Kazi approach as ebay -- only difference is at least on ebay---you could sell something 4 out of 10 listings.... even if it was an "accidental" purchase!!
the one and only toomanycomics on AW!