posted on February 7, 2001 09:00:06 AM new
I feel a little betrayed by Amazon.com.
Back in early 1999 Amazon was were heavily advertising their auctions. Their Auction listings were easy to find and defaulting by an "ending next" or "closing soon" format. The non-savvy Internet surfer could easily navigate to auction, traffic was wonderful, bids were frequent, and gross sales were fantastic.
At that time, Amazon's listing fees and final sales commissions were about the same as eBay. Later in 99' their listing fees became more competitive and the great feature 1-click was implemented which generated income for Amazon and added a great convenience for buyers and sellers.
In 1999 I paid about $10,000 in total fees to Amazon.com. My profit margin was very very low. Often at great losses, I replaced and refunded at the buyers slightest whimper - paying shipping both ways or telling them to keep damaged or incorrect items as I sent them refunds or replacements. But, I was gaining a customer base and getting brand name recognition: "pcalton" with the highest 5 out of 5 star rating.
I made the mistake in believing I was making time and money investments to establish myself on an site that was committed to being a major auction player. It seems I was fooled by Amazon's advancements with images on listings, the A to Z guarantee, Pro-Merchant account, Auction Pro, Online Credit application for Deadbeats, discussion boards, bidding for feature placement, etc...
Who would have thought after their many advances they would take away the auctions tab from the home page or default to displaying ONLY the bid for feature listings?
I was surprised to find that in late 1999 and thereafter, Amazon's big deals with huge corporate companies caused them to stick navigational links to smaller sellers back in the cull-de-sacs of auction pits. Big name companies were getting the above-the-fold thumbnails on Amazon's home page, auction home page, and zShops home page. Amazon didn't just join in on the auction fever they made their own auctions premiere with up top easy to find graphic links.
Who would have figured my biggest competitor for auction traffic on Amazon would turn out to be Amazon itself?
I am afraid that some in charge at Amazon think auctions are not the direction the company needs to go. It seems that auctions will be treated as a "lost child" at best. Hopefully, my fears turn out to be wrong.
Maybe some at Amazon will realize that Auctions are in need of attention again because auctions can make profits for Amazon and generate more traffic to the site.
posted on February 7, 2001 10:02:55 AM new
I agree with all that you have said and you have said it well!
I slowly have been going back to ebay ( did really well there this week ) but still keep some items on amazon. I have resorted to emailing my best customers who have continued to bid on my auctions~ otherwise the auction scene is dead dead and dead again. All their improvements meant death to the auction site. No tabs for auctions or z shops in days. Last time I saw an auction tab was just after Christmas. Nothing since then. NOw that they are forcing one click on everyone~ canadians are scrambling to get one click and I mean for some of us it has been a scramble. Personally, the marketplace scene seems better than auctions so I have signed up for a us account in the us! and pay a fee for doing that and pay fees to amazon for one click and will pay a fee for pro merchant account but only till I see if there is a market for me on marketplace. Good luck to all who do auctions. I do auctions but am also thinking of just doing a buy it price as I get so few bids. I used to sell 95% of my items ( and some high for me ie $ 25.00 or higher the first time round! ) now I sell 10% and only if I feature. whoops more money and they sell for less! I am also thinking of emailing everyday and saying Hey where are the tabs for auctions but I think it is useless. And what an easy way for amazon to make money~ just have a permanent tab!
posted on February 7, 2001 06:00:11 PM new
I feel the same. Stupid me for falling into a false sense of security and putting too many eggs in the Amazon basket. I still sell on Amazon, on auctions, on Z-shops and on marketplace. But I am now also developing an e-commerce site of my own and also pursuing other, more specialized selling sites, a book site, a music site, and an art site. It will take me a month to get each new venue up and operational, but I am determined to reclaim my independence. I have had more than enough of selling in the dark, not knowing from day to day what sales might come in. Being dependent on the tab or the floating cross-references, loosing auctions which go piff in the night, and paying for the privilege of getting steamed. Their last response to me stated that "Please understand that the it is inevitable that problems may occur
while using our site. We make every effort to locate and resolve any
and every problem we encounter. Our technical staff is committed to
helping maintain a useful and functioning venue for buyers and sellers
to shop and sell." In other words, the reliability of the site is in question.
posted on February 7, 2001 06:06:53 PM new
I am still at a loss why Amazon took a perfectly functioning and thriving auction site and drove it right into the ground.
The only conclusion I can come to is that some consultant for Amazon felt a threat to Amazon's "branding" by having a successful auction site.
posted on February 7, 2001 07:23:01 PM new
Today they took the links off the bottom of the pages too. Now you have to go to the directory page to go anywhere.
posted on February 7, 2001 07:47:25 PM new
Reamond....It does baffle one to see how Amazon has literally jammed it's own site.
My opinion? I think some "Corporate Scientist" took notice of the large amount of revenue in Auctions and the big numbers some people were doing. I think they think by diverting money from auctions...People will spend it on something from them directly which is where they make the most. As absurd as it sounds...I think it is a strong possibility. What other reason could there be for such erractic & bizarre behavior from a used to be great company?
posted on February 7, 2001 07:59:59 PM new
It is a fact that Amazon has strategically maneuvered its traffic away from auctions and zShops and to their outlets of merchandise.
Wal-Mart lost a court battle with a bunch of pharmacies for doing about the same thing. Except Wal-Mart lowered their pharmacy prices to draw customers. Wal-Mart was putting local pharmacies out of business just to get customers in the store. The courts forced Wal-Mart to raise their pharmacy prices. Now, Eckerds, Wallgreens and other Drugs stores are popping up all around towns with Wal-Marts.
As a small merchant, I feel Amazon is doing something similar to me as the drug stores felt Wal-Mart was doing to them.
posted on February 9, 2001 08:39:27 AM new
After the Ebay "it's only a dollar" fiasco, I branched out and started listing on Amazon. Today I have well over 900 auctions running there under the Pro-merchant program. I am disappointed that I'm being forced into offering one-click and am looking into non-auction venue's, particularly for my books. Amazon seems to be working towards getting rid of the "little guy" by making it almost impossible to sell anything on the auctions. I've been doing an inventory and have found that my auctions HAVE been disappearing as I suspected. I've emailed and called a dozen times and have been told that I'm the ONLY one who's auctions have vanished and that it must be somethign I'm doing wrong. HA!!! Now I see from this board that everyone is losing auctions!!
I WILL NEVER AGAIN PUT ALL MY EGGS INTO ONE BASKET.
This is the year that I get serious about branching out. It's a shame that the little seller can't seem to get a break. We're the ones who make a site successful and then we're the ones that get pushed out.
