posted on October 19, 2000 11:30:48 AM new
I've been actively listing and selling on Amazon for almost a year.
I have always done quite well but in the past few months sales have clearly increased.
I have to think that those who are not doing well are making mistakes of their own, such as:
- Wrong products for the site
- Wrong listing categories
- Bad products nobody wants
- Overpriced items
- Poor or insufficient product descriptions
- Poor presentation
- Bad or no pictures
- Lack of flexibility in selling and payment terms
- Lack of confidence building elements
- etc
I know that the above flaws are very real because I periodically shop on Amazon Auctions and Zshops and I see a ton of listings which fail to meet my requirements as a Buyer.
posted on October 19, 2000 07:19:03 PM new
I'm still doing well there too, better than Yahoo and a lot easier to use, in my opinion. I dont know why the Yahoo! Board is so hopping with enthusiastic folks, but Amazon board is dead, I do better on Amazon, very easy (no Ebay, but who is?).........Joe
posted on October 23, 2000 07:42:52 AM new
Well, since only 1 out of every 1250 items on Amazon auctions actually sells I would think that your growth is a direct result of all of the other sellers who have fled Amazon. Your oh-so-informative analysis of how everyone is stupid and you are brilliant was very humorus.
The fact is that anyone who chose to could make some serious money selling what I used to sell over there. Why? NO ONE ELSE IS SELLING ANY OF THAT OVER THERE. All of us, every single one, who used to sell that type of merchandise have stopped selling there. Amazon Auctions used to support about 20 of us selling those items. Now there are none. So even a total idiot could sell those items there, for the time being.
Glad you're doing well, but my sales dropped from $1000 a month to $10 a month on Amazon. It had nothing to do with my listings, products, or any other little thing you mentioned. My sales dropped because of the changes Amazon made.
Good grief, just look at the message you posted over on the Sellers Board on Amazon (almost word for word what you've said here). There are only 2 responses to it(including one that I posted)! Only 3 months ago there would have been 15 replies by now. But there are so few sellers left over there that no one is there to post a reply to your condescending comments.
Amazon Auctions has very little time left to live. I hope that Amazon pulls its head out and saves the place, as I miss the money I used to make over there, but I doubt that.
Hope you keep making good money over there, but I hope you have a backup plan.
posted on October 23, 2000 12:29:05 PM new
donalgram
1) I don't know where your statistic comes from that only 1 out of every 1250 listings sells on Amazon.
I don't have that many listings and I sell several items every single day.
Others have posted here that they also sell far more than 1/1250th of their listings.
2) Your statement that 3 months ago a post on Amazon's chat board would have received 15 answers is factually totally incorrect.
Of the 199 different threads started on Amazon's Board since the end of March, only about 30 have received 15 answers or more.
For the period June 24 to July 24 (3 Months ago) there is not a single active thread with even 15 answers.
The most active posting Month on record, by far, is September, with more threads showing over 15 answers than in any other Month.
So, if one wants to go by replies to threads, there is more activity recently than ever before.
3) It may well be that Auctions are not the best suited format for Amazon and that fixed-prices and instant purchases are the way to go.
I do just as well or better on Zshops and 90 percent of my Auction Customers go with the take-it price anyway.
So, yes, I could see Amazon going 100% with fixed-prices at some point.
Not a problem, right now all my new listings go in Zshops anyway. I may discontinue listing under Auctions myself, since my Customers seem to prefer to buy-it-now, get-it-now and be done with it.
4) I realize that no one likes to read "maybe YOU are doing something wrong". Nevertheless, I was shopping again this week end and I kept finding items I was interested in, but time and again there were some serious listing flaws which turned me off. I ended up placing only 3 bids when in fact I would gladly have placed 15.
So, I think I can say that it is not a figment of my imagination, that many Sellers are doing a poor or bad job.
5) Maybe AW could assign a couple of sharp contributors, to take apart 200 listings taken at random, and give us a critical analysis of how the average Shopper is likely to feel when looking at them?
posted on October 23, 2000 12:53:48 PM new
donalgram,
A requirement of the AuctionWatch Community Guidelines is that you discuss the subject of the thread, not the individual. Please cease personal comments.
I suggest you familiarize yourself with the Community Guidelines before you continue to post.
posted on October 23, 2000 02:48:43 PM new
canvid13:
Here is what I try to do:
1) List on the site which I feel is the best for a particular type of item. For instance I list totally different items on Amazon and Ebay and I also use Product-Specific sites, such as ABE for books.
2) Try to list in the very best Category. I ask myself, where is a Customer most likely to look who might be interested in this item?
3) More and more I am eliminating items which are low quality, in bad condition, too common, ordinary, available everywhere. I now put things in the trash or give away, which I would have listed 2 years ago.
4) Before pricing an item, I look for it on Auctions and other sites, depending on what it is, and check the prices. I then try to be quite competitive in my minimum or asking price.
5) When it comes to product description I try to be very thorough. To take the simple example of illustrations in a book, I won't just say that it is illustrated, I'll look up, or count, how many illustrations, what kind, if they are full page or not, in the text or hors texte, and how many are color vs B&W.
When it comes to description of condition, I generally underrate and accentuate flaws.
Frequent feedbacks I receive are "Better than described" and "Exactly as described". I can't say the same of many things I bought.
6) My description text is in fairly large size type face, black on white for good contrast, in a popular font. It is boxed and separate from my shipping and payment info, so that one can at a glance read what specifically refers to the product, and read it very easily.
7) I bought the best scanner, digital camera and image processing software I could find. I try to post good sharp, clear pictures and have posted as many as 16 to show an item. I discard bad pictures and take new ones as needed.
8) I try to make it convenient for Customers to pay and accept most payment methods and services, including international. About 10% of my sales are to foreign Customers.
9) My address, phone, 800 toll free phone, fax, and a click-here link to my email are posted with all my listings.
All my listings read: Satisfaction guarantee: Return for 100% refund if you are not fully satisfied. (I've had 3 returns in 2 years out of 9000 listings. 2 from the same Customer...)
If the authenticity of an item is a consideration, the end of my description reads "Guaranteed authentic and as described". That is in addition to the "Satisfaction guarantee".
posted on October 24, 2000 07:03:01 AM new
Oh, and by the way, in the interests of fair, balanced, and honest reporting Mr. Marwin (what a concept), here are MY eBay numbers from the comparable period of closed auctions in which you say you were doing "GREAT" on Amazon, and saw fit to lecture everyone who ISN'T on what they must be doing wrong...
Gee, that's SIX TIMES what your total is on Amazon with a little more than 1/2 the items listed, so I have to assume if you're doing GREAT, I'm the best that ever did it, huh?
posted on October 24, 2000 07:46:16 AM new
And not that I want to beat this clearly deceased equestrian animal, Mr. Marwin- here's a segment of your first post on this thread, a post which you see fit to post periodically (and almost identically) on different boards...
<<<I have always done quite well but in the past few months sales have clearly increased.>>>
If your numbers above represent a QUOTE "clear(ly) increase(d)," UNQUOTE, I wonder how "GREAT" in comparison to the &$#$&#& numbers I posted above you were doing BEFORE.
And by the way, the Amazon closing auction numbers I used for you represent a 2-month period, while eBay's represent a month, soooooo....
I sold 6 times as much as you did with half the listings in half the time frame... NOW, I'd begin to believe I'm Lord Auction if I accepted the absurd premise that you're doing "GREAT." Fortunately, my grip on reality is not as tenuous as others' grips might be.
posted on October 24, 2000 08:01:28 AM new
tentwentytwo,
I have deleted one of your posts because it contained personally identifying information about an AW member, which is a violation of the Community Guidelines. I am issuing you an informal warning. Continuing to post in that manner could jepordize your posting priviledges.
posted on October 24, 2000 08:06:53 AM new
You mean that a person's auction ID which is readily available from their AW userid is unallowable "personal information?" THAT makes sense. NOT. So here's my post without the HEINOUS posting of this seller's ID.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.auctionwatch.com/mesg/read.html?num=18&thread=8372
posted by: tentwentytwo
Don't understand what just happened, the post I posted before the above disappeared ( I sure hope it wasn't deleted), so I'll reproduce it now...
So we meet again, Mr. Marwin... Without further ado, I will post your numbers on
Amazon, and let the masses judge how "GREAT" you do, and if in fact you have any credentials WHATSOEVER to lecture everybody on what they're doing wrong if they're not doing well on Amazon (things which you, of course, AREN'T doing wrong), and what they should be doing right (things which you, of course, ARE doing right)...
Amazon ID- ***AUCTIONWATCH SEES FIT TO DELETE POSTS BECAUSE OF ME PSTING THIS, EASILY FOUND OUT ANYWAY***
Closed Auctions- 340 in the current tracking period, 27 of which had winning bids,
total sales prices- about $400 (1/12 items sold, not bad considering Amazon's 2-
4% rate, but ummm "GREAT"? NOT). Average price per auction listed- about
$1.17 ("GREAT"? ***choke***).
Open Auctions- 313 currently, 2 AS IN TWO bids, total bids- $19, ONE OUT OF
EVERY 150+ auctions listed bid on, total "sales" as of now- about SIX CENTS
per auction listed.
posted on October 24, 2000 10:51:29 AM new
tentwentytwo
Here are the dollar amounts:
For the past month, meaning last 2 Amazon settlements $545 after deduction of fees through amazon payment and a couple of direct payment. So the gross sales total must be about $650.
For the previous 1 month period: $439 net from Amazon + a couple direct payment, total must have been $525-550.
For the previous month: $612 net from Amazon, add a couple direct payments, total must have been about $700.
With an inventory which fluctuates between a bit over 300 and under 750 listings, yes, I certainly consider these to be excellent results, if nothing else in terms of sales as a percentage of listings.
I have posted here that I sell daily, receive 2-3 orders a day and that's what it is.
Selling on Amazon feels like having a passive income to me. I am very happy with it.
posted on October 24, 2000 01:21:11 PM new
Marwin writes-
<<<
For the past month, meaning last 2 Amazon settlements $545 after deduction of fees through amazon payment and a couple of direct payment. So the gross sales total must be about $650.
For the previous 1 month period: $439 net from Amazon + a couple direct payment, total must have been $525-550.
For the previous month: $612 net from Amazon, add a couple direct payments, total must have been about $700.
With an inventory which fluctuates between a bit over 300 and under 750 listings, yes, I certainly consider these to be excellent results, if nothing else in terms of sales as a percentage of listings.
>>>
... And those numbers (IF they are accurate) include Z-Shop sales, I would presume...
Obviously, my numbers regarding your not-so-good presence in the Amazon auction arena are correct, or I would presume (pardon the presumptions) you would challenge them.... Your BEST month with let's say an average of between 350 and 700 listings (525 listings)
is $700 net, which means that you make an average of around 1.40 per listing, and if your closed auctions are any indication, you sell around 8% of what you list...
So, Marwin, explain a few things to me-
Let's (uhoh, here I go again) presume that both my numers and your cumulative numbers including Z-Shop sales are spot-on accurate.... You call those numbers (again, GREAT???? No, I'm sorry, you changed "GREAT" to "EXCELLENT" in your latest post... I made between TEN AND FIFTEEN TIMES what you made per auction/Z Shop listing on eBay (in your BEST month of the ones you supplied info for), and I would call the last 2 months for me down months... Even if I made 3 times OVER what I did, I'd say it was ok-very good, but I'd hardly call it "GREAT" or "EXCELLENT..." The question is, with such mediocre results for so many listings (mediocre by any sane standards), where do you think you have the practical and actually ethical authority to criticize the competence of other sellers at length the way you do?
posted on October 24, 2000 02:25:50 PM new
I used to have only 40 listings at a time and make that amount in 2 days on Amazon when the auctions that were ending closed at the top of the list.
With the elimination of Auction Tabs on the www.amazon first page, I don't think anything would help - even correcting the auction ending times.
Merwin--16 pictures for one auction...JEEZ! That will get old fast...Someone will make 20 and you will be lost in the shuffle...
Amazon needs to make a big decision - whether they want to commit to Auctions or not.
I like Amazon, but I don't know how much longer I can hold on...
posted on October 24, 2000 02:53:05 PM new
tentwentytwo
I sell on Amazon and I sell on Ebay (and also on other sites), they are very different in most respects and therefore I don't think one can compare the two.
For instance, on Amazon, I have never done the kind of calculation you have, which is to divide total sales by total listings.
The statistical number of $1.40 per listing does not mean anything to me. First of all because at my listing level, I am paying a flat monthly fee on Amazon, whereas on Ebay I am charged on a per listing basis.
While on Ebay the pressure is on to sell everything you list the first time, if possible, because otherwise you have to pay new listing fees, on Amazon it does not matter.
I am paying the same $40 per month whether an item relists or not.
What matters to me on Amazon is how much I sell in total, and how much time it takes to handle these sales, which is very little, Amazon being an extremely low maintenance site. They host my pictures, auto-relist, receive payment for me.
The game on Ebay is entirely different, with each listing costing you $1 or $2 (it does to me for the kind of things I list there), time consuming third party hosting of your pictures, sales management, time consuming relistings.
On Amazon I list an item one time (faster than on Ebay because of Amazon's picture hosting), and then I pack it. 90% of the time I don't have a single email communication with the Customer. Or payment management work.
So, I really don't see that one can compare the 2 sites at all.
I am not advocating selling on Amazon INSTEAD of Ebay, I am suggesting using each site, and others, for what they are best for.
Maybe the 4-5 or $600 I make every month on Amazon with very little effort, are too small to be of interest to you.
My view is different, I appreciate this additional income.
Look at the incredible convenience, I think I have not listed anything new on Amazon in 2 weeks, and I am still receiving orders every day...
Now, isn't that great?
As to your question, aren't we here to exchange view points?
posted on October 24, 2000 03:09:02 PM new
Marwin, you simply DO NOT get the point, and probably never will... Let me put it to you another way... WHAT IF I, as a seller who's obviously a great deal more successful than you (notwithstanding different venues), said to YOU like you said to OTHERS that the reason you are doing badly on this venue (and your sales on Amazon are, at best, mediocre) because you did A, B, C, D, E, and F-Z wrong, and added a "have to think" implication that the dismal failure of the VENUE ITSELF had nothing to do with it? ... NOW, this certainly doesn't take into account the VERIFIABLE FACT that about 3 as in THREE percent of all items listed on Amazon the last time I looked were selling (making much more than 90% of sellers incompetent if the lack of selling was their fault as you say it is, you INCLUDED in that 90+). How would you feel about that? And I would be JUSTIFIED in doing so, whereas you're NOT, since I am doing 10 TIMES better than you are, and you consider what you're doing "GREAT." YOU were the one that named this thread "STILL DOING GREAT ON AMAZON," ***NOT*** me. YOU were the one who presumed to lecture the vast majority of the sellers about WHY they were doing poorly, NOT me. WELLLL, look how it turns out, and look at what REALITY is. You are in NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM doing anything regarding selling on Amazon that anyone with an iota of sanity would consider in the neighborhood of "GREAT." SO, I don't imagime that there will be a stampede to your door in the near future for your advice on how to succeed in Amazon Auctions as you obviously think is your due.
posted on October 24, 2000 03:45:14 PM new
You JUST DON'T STOP OR UNDERSTAND, DO YOU...
Whether you are selling 3 times more than the "average seller" (and by the way, you have NO WAY of knowing that, 3% is the TOTAL of what's sold, and 3 X 3 = 9, NOT 8 anyway), or 10 times more, or 100 TIMES MORE, it's MAKING MONEY that counts, and the percentage of what you sell is NOT a good indication of that... It was just one of the numbers I used to illustrate your marked LACK of greatness- whether you are selling 200% more quantity-wise than the "average" seller or not, 8% is CLEARLY to a sane person NOT "GREAT." To use an extreme example, if I listed 400 items at a penny, and sold 300 of them, that would be 75%, but I WOULD BE BLEEDING MONEY FROM EVERY PORE. A MUCH, MUCH, more reliable indicator of success is your the average sale per auction listing. 1.40 is (haha) GROSSLY mediocre. I am NOT happy with my own $12-15 per auction, and I have good margins, if I had YOUR success rate per auction, I wouldn't even bother listing, and I CERTAINLY wouldn't start a thread called "STILL DOING GREAT ON AMAZON." That was seriously asking for it,
considering your record as a seller.
AND so you could POSSIBLY understand the overall point, which you don't-
I am NOT criticizing you for what is documentably a mediocre success rate at selling. If you like it, and you're satisfied with it, more power to you. I wouldn't PRESUME to tell you when you should or shouldn't be satisfied. HOWEVER, what I AM criticizing is your collosal GALL to slam other sellers and blame them for what is (again) documentably a failure that can statistically and OBVIOUSLY be attributed mostly to the incompetence of the VENUE, whether any individual seller is incompetent or not. Remember the old saying, "you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas"? This auction venue is a serious DOG. Don't blame your fleas or anyone else's completely on your/their own uncleanliness.
posted on October 24, 2000 03:51:37 PM new
tentwentytwo,
Please address the issue and stop taking little pot shots at another AW user. It's very unbecoming and will only get you in hot water with the moderator on duty.
Try taking a step back and review your posts before hitting that submit button.
posted on October 24, 2000 03:59:29 PM new
Joice-
As I have posted on many boards, I don't need to take a step back from ANYTHING, I stand behind EVERY SINGLE WORD I TYPE/SAY, and if you or anyone else considers my posts "unbecoming," I frankly don't care. At all. Completely. THIS TIME, I see no posting guidelines that I violated. You, as Moderator, have reserved the right through AuctionWatch to delete any posts you want for any reason you want to delete them, that's fine. You feel you need to do so, do so. You feel that you want or need to suspend my posting privileges for responding to a pompous poster who has insulted a whole UNIVERSE of people here without possessing the credentials to do so, fine also. Just do it without telling me what's "unbecoming." A lot of things are "unbecoming," including people who live in their own private fantasy worlds, and take "pot shots" at others, while misrepresenting themselves. YUK.
posted on October 24, 2000 04:09:33 PM new
Like Marwin, I count my average price as the average sales price. Price per listing is not an accurate gauge on Amazon because of the auto-relist and monthly fee (as opposed to per auction fee). I am willing to list a little more and get a better price eventually, than to take a lot less money, but quicker, for the same product on other venues. I have an nice organized area for all of my stock and it is not a problem if something relists 5 or 10 times before selling. I make a living on Amazon auctions. Now and then I adjust prices on items that have been up for a while, but most of my stock is just waiting for the right bidder. My zShops have not done well, though I hope for Christmas.
Valerie
posted on October 24, 2000 04:25:50 PM new
Valeriet wrote-
<<<
Like Marwin, I count my average price as the average sales price. Price per listing is not an accurate gauge on Amazon because of the auto-relist and monthly fee (as opposed to per auction fee). I am willing to list a little more and get a better price eventually, than to take a lot less money, but quicker, for the same product on other venues.>>>
So let me try and understand this. You are saying that (in Marwin's case) that the $411
he made at auction last month should be divided among the 8% of items that he sold,
and the other 92% that he didn't shouldn't be taken into account? In looking for accurate gauges, is that one? And anyway, when I was talking about him (if you would read what he wrote), he says that he lists between "350 and 700" items every month, I took that to mean non-relists, as it implies. When you list to "get a better price eventually," are you saying that at the Amazon Auction venue in which 3% of total items listed sell, that when you relist the same item time after time and time again, you expect it to sell in the future, while auction tabs get buried deeper and deeper from anyone's view, and the company announces losses of $100,000,000 a month? I guess if you're willing to do the initial work in describing and posting and etc. and etc., and then wait
for however long you're willing to for an item to sell, you have a point... Bottom line
REMAINS- whether you list new stuff monthly or relist items ad infinitum, if you don't sell them, you don't make money, you pay your $40/month, if you're like most sellers you pay your little featured fee per day... And then what? Read posts about people doing "great"?
posted on October 24, 2000 04:51:17 PM new
tentwentytwo
I don't "list 350 to 700" Auctions on Amazon every month.
If I did I'd have 5000 listings by now.
350 to 700 is simply the range of number of listings I have there.
Sometimes I may go for 2 months without listing at all, I think I have once gone longer than that.
Then there may be a month when I list 200, or just 25.
All this is what makes part of the Amazon site so easy to work with and why I refer to it as "passive income" and say that it is incredibly low maintenance.
Basically I get income whether I list or not. An extremely enjoyable situation.
The auto-relist feature turns Amazon Auctions into a Web Store type of situation.
posted on October 24, 2000 05:07:04 PM new
Umm, help me out here...
***With an inventory which fluctuates between a bit over 300 and under 750 listings***
If you have an inventory that fluctuates between 350 and 750 listings a month(Individual listings??? Duplicate listings???), you're either selling a lot and listing/relisting a little more, or listing a lot and NOT RElisting a lot, which (if you relisted a lot) would cause your listing numbers to go to (as you said) the thousands with persistent relists...
Or else how can it fluctuate in that range?
And for Valeriet, about what is an accurate gauge of auction selling you said-
***yes, I certainly consider these to be excellent results, if nothing else in terms of sales as a percentage of listings. ***
Now I'm totally confused. I thought this wasn't the proper criterion, or the one used...
posted on October 24, 2000 05:11:28 PM new
tentwentytwo
There are quite a few things which will not sell within just the few days of an auction, by virtue of the fact that the market for them is very narrow.
Sometimes I sell extremely narrow market items and then, even on Ebay, they may need to be relisted several times before someone finally comes along who happens to know what they are and is a Buyer for them.
For these narrow market items, Amazon addresses the situation very well, with the auto-relist feature.
The item remains available until that special someone happens to be shopping.
What this means is that having items which are relisted many times, or take several months to sell, does not say or prove anything negative about the item, the Seller, or the Site. It has to do with how large or narrow the market is.
An example would be that the market for Japanese-Swahili dictionaries, is quite narrow.
posted on October 24, 2000 05:17:00 PM new
I guess I knew what Marwin meant because I would have said it the same way.
I would calculate [ $400 (income) - $40 (monthly fee) ] /27 (items) = $13.33 per item average. Subtract any closing fees or 1-Click fees, still about $12.00 per. Not too shabby.
I don't use Bid for Featured on my auctions. I use my $20 credit on my flailing zShop, but it doesn't seem to have much affect. I actually do most of the same things Marwin recommends and it does work well for me. Only one photo per auction though, and I don't count photos. I have also just put my "valeriet.com" website into effect, allowing bidders to view all my auctions on multiple sites and to combine shipping over multiple sites. This will allow me to advertise my other auctions (or listings) within auction texts without naming competitive sites.
posted on October 24, 2000 05:22:56 PM new
Marwin? I'm going to umm rest after I post this, you should have yourself a nice dinner, a good chianti, and watch the Mets beat the Yankees...
There's only ONE scenario in which your number of auction listings could fluctuate UP between 350 and 700, and that's listing new auctions, or auctions that may have been listed before, but are NOT current relists. BUTTTT, if that occurs... WELLL, let's say you had 350 relists, and the "fluctuation" comes because you posted ummm 150 more auctions. Now you have 500 auctions... SO, the ONLY WAY for the auction number to fluctuate BACK TOWARDS 350 would be for you to sell well, or NOT relist...SO, for the number of auctions to fluctuate BACK to 700, you'd have to relist most of them, and list some more, correct? Now, since 350 is a BIG range of listings, that would mean a LOT more. We can then safely assume if your original statement is correct, you are busily at work listing, or the number would never go up that high, could it????? Which is what I assumed, apparently it wasn't so safe.
