posted on October 5, 2000 06:32:18 AM
Do you think we have a buyer shortage on ebaY?
I think we do,I have seen lots of my customers turn into sellers as well.Do you see this happening too.
ebaY expects tremendous growth by the year 2005 to hit that expectation they have to grow I think 50% it was monetary wise.
In order to do that they need both buyers and sellers but mostly buyers.Why as without buyers all they get is listing fees and no commission on the sales.
What do you think they should do to attract the buyers to the site.
First I think they need to do some National advertising to try and eliminate so much of the negativity that people feel towards the site.
posted on October 5, 2000 06:36:11 AM
Adrian, the goal quoted was 50% per year for five years. I don't see how in the world they can make that kind of growth happen from auctions, no matter how many new buyers they attract. Therefore, the plan must include some other means of making money. Any speculations on how?
I have no way to know how much ebay grows, but I and most of my friends are new this past year. I also get a lot of relative "newbie" buyers for my stuff. My sales right now are very good - lots of bids on almost everything, even days away from closing. I feel pretty upbeat about it. I have been trying out alternative venues but no other site even comes close, include half.com.
I think as long as buyers find good deals and have a positive experience, they will come back. For myself, when I need something, I like to check ebay first. I've bought a lot off the site this past year, and as soon as I have time to think about gifts, I'll buy some more. It really works for me.
posted on October 5, 2000 07:23:32 AM
There is a tremendous untapped reserve of people out there who have not a clue how to use eBay - like it is some deep mystery that you have to master. Ah - let me show you the way of the Powerseller my son so that you do not end up NLRU'd....listen to the farce er..
force.
I am selling things for normal people who are AFRAID to sit down and try to to list something for themselves. They have this attitude that they have to know EVERYTHING before they can hit a key. They seem to think that once they start they are committed and they won't get a chance to hit submit at the end it just grabs control of your computer and keeps going....
Perhaps eBay should do a tutorial that takes a newbie through listing an auction page by page and line by line.
posted on October 5, 2000 07:29:17 AM
Halfcom is expected to generate revenue as is
the deal with AOL.Though that amount was not specfied as to revenue it would generate.
They are opening up auctions sites in various countries.France just opened up this week.
I have noticed in certain categories i.e. Lego that a lot of sellers are German with descriptions in German as well.
So I think they are looking more and more to the International market as well.
I am seeing a lot more international buyers and Billpoint helps with that.
Keziak,thanks for the imput I do still see new byers out there but I do not think we see as many as we did a year or so ago.
Of the 20 or so bids I have right know a 1/4 of them have 1 feedback or O so I guess there are new buyers out there.
But for ebaY to grow they way it wants I think they have to make more people aware of its existence.I wish we would see some TV advertising.If the car company's think it works then why does not ebaY.
posted on October 5, 2000 07:38:38 AM
I've been selling on ebay since 97, and the I'm afraid the bloom is off the rose. Silly high reserves, and deadbeat buyers have muddied the water considerably. Plus the advent of numerous "other" auction sites, thinning out the buyer base. It's just a much tougher job selling these days. Perhaps this lull will separate more of the wheat from the chaff, seller wise. I still wonder what happened to all those that invested life savings in Beanie Babies.
posted on October 5, 2000 08:03:02 AM
I think as ebay grew, too many "sellers" joined who dont have the slightest business sense. I have seen posts here basically saying "I want to become an ebay seller - give me some quick hints." Can you imagine going into business when all you know about it is some "quick hints" someone emailed you? Doing anything right takes study and practice. I have seen posts on this site from "sellers" that curl my hair (even my bald spot). Sellers justifying ripping off buyers on shipping, shipping in old pizza boxes and then negging the buyer for complaining, holding personal checks for a month. My guess is that you're losing buyers because:
1) some of the buyers have become the new lousy sellers
2) lots of the new lousy sellers are buying the same items at retail prices and running auctions hoping that suckers will pay more (sometimes by inaccurate item descriptions)
3) some of the buyers have been scared off after dealing with the new lousy sellers
Just to clarify - I am not saying that all new sellers or even most new sellers are bad. But there are a number of "johnny come latelies" who have no business sense and should not be selling. The buyers suffer for it and the auction community as a whole suffers for it.
posted on October 5, 2000 08:19:42 AM
A book came out this month "The eBay Phenomenon". If they market this book aggressively, get on talk shows, or whatever, it might cause some people to try it out. But really, I heard of eBay for at least a year before I tried it. I think they have great name recognition - including jokes in the entertainment media on a regular basis. Didn't some alternative rock musician just have his "soul" auctioned to the highest bidder? Silly stuff like that.
It will be interesting to see the spin on Internet shopping this year. It shouldn't be a novelty anymore, but a realistic and desirable alternative to catalogs and malls. I have personally only bought from other online venues a few times, but since I am a bargain hunter, I've been thrilled with ebay (especially for buying legos for my son).
posted on October 5, 2000 08:36:34 AM
there is without a doubt a buyer shortage. people join, buy for awhile, and become disenchanted with some of the sellers they deal with and drift away. It's sort of like a church in that respect - there are plenty of 'lapsed ebayers' out there.
They also become sated with the incredible supply of collectibles available, and more than a few of them go nuts and then scale back for financial reasons.
Sellers we have enough of. Buyers we want. It takes many buyers to support a seller. It can be hard to sell - that's fine with me as long as it's easy to buy.
posted on October 5, 2000 08:55:40 AM
If there is a shortage - then why am I getting outbid so much in the last few weeks?
I am only a buyer - I see the ebb and flow of sellers and stuff for sale.
Quality will always sell - unusual sells - Etc. Mass produced, bulk items listed by the thousands, make me just tired all over. I am sick of seeing pages of identical brand new items on my searches with no bids.
There are a lot of sellers out there trying to auction items that are not really very good for an auction format - this bugs me.
"Well, I missed this 1.99 item at 11:02 - well, there is another one in 30 Sec. and 30 sec after that. . . . . "
I'm getting outbid a lot for legit Civil War items - no shortage of buyers in there.
posted on October 5, 2000 11:31:17 AM
I think there are lots of buyers, but many are clueless. It's the same in every market.
The main problem is that most people look at how much something costs rather than how much something is worth--the value of the item to you. There's way too many bidders who think they know the price of everything and really know the value of nothing.
Auction sites make it look like you can get a computer for a $1.00 or a CD for a penny and thereby cater to those who want something for the lowest possible amount. Bidders will "watch", wait and not bid. Joe down the street got that new CD for a $.25 so I should too. How dare anyone charge a nickel over the postage rate to ship something? Sniping lowers the final bid.
eBay is on a reverse auction trend. It's up to sellers to change the course by being professional. Enough of the cyber garage sale mentality.
posted on October 5, 2000 11:39:59 AM
mballai: Whose fault is it? Too many sellers being not quite honest about their product. Selling refurbs but saying "new" in the title. Lowballing the price and making it up on shipping and handling. And personally, I think reserve price is a bad idea. Would you shop in a store where everything had one price but when you brought it to the counter they said, "Sorry, we really want more for it?" I think you should start at your lowest acceptable price and see what the market bears but every bid should be a possible winner. But to start items at a penny or a dollar when there is a $300 reserve is just plain silly. It encourages dozens of fools to bid a few bucks and then email and ask if you have another one at that price. It sets unreasonable expectations.
I have come to the conclusion that you can't sell a new monitor or digital camera on ebay because of all the competition from the refurbs. Folks actually emailed me expecting to get new 17" monitors for $100 or new $800 cameras for $400 because that's what they see them selling for on ebay. Try to explain that the ones on ebay are refurbs, often say "as is" or missing a few items. It is bad sellers that are scaring away the buyers.
posted on October 5, 2000 12:06:35 PM
"Mass produced, bulk items listed by the
thousands, make me just tired all over."
Amen. It's becoming more difficult to find the unique and unusual amid all the junk. It takes too much time and effort.
It's not the garage sale mentality that needs to come to an end. It's the low-end, mass-produced item, flea market mentality. you can find good stuff cheap at garage sales.
Low-end flea markets are overpopulated with cheap stuff.
posted on October 5, 2000 12:10:36 PM
There appears to be a shortage where my auctions and category are concerned. Or should I say that in the main category, when I started the listings have gone from about 50-70 to about 1188 now. There is a lot more competition there now and the number of buyers have not kept up with the number of sellers.
posted on October 5, 2000 01:22:20 PM
Ok- here's my two cents:
When I started on eBay, it seemed as though I could do no wrong. Everything I listed sold. All my buyers paid immediately and left feedback. Over the summer, it seems that the whole landscape changed. Items similar to ones I'd listed before were either getting one bid or none. Buyers deadbeating became too common. So, I took a step back, and started studying. I spend two+ hours a day on eBay, checking listings and closed auctions. Personally, I think the days of finding neat stuff at garage sales and selling them on eBay willie-nillie are at a close. Of course- I've been wrong before!
I look at eBay as a sort of mall. Buyers won't shop at a mall with 32 crappy stores and one good one. I'll be thankful when the crappy stores at eBay close, and we sellers and buyers are left with the good ones.
Newbies being burned by unscrupulous sellers hurts us all.
posted on October 5, 2000 01:41:25 PMyisgood: You know, with as much business experience as I have and as much proven money-making skills that I own, I can not for the life of me figure out how to be totally honest and professional and make the Big Bucks here.
I suppose if I came up with something new that everyone wanted and no on else was able to get from the supplier but me, and I could sell it for a fraction of its retail price, I'm sure that that is the way to go.
I do jewelry, but so do seemingly thousands of other Sellers as well. I sell the quality stuff as many do, but Buyers do what Mballai figured out: they see the schlock that is being sold as quality at back-of-the-truck prices and the folks that really are offering real quality goods at fair prices get burned because the Buyer's expectations are less.
You know, it sometimes occures to me that if I wasn't a totally honest person, I could make BIG money on eBay. I see so many Sellers doing well because they are walking that fine line between honesty and dishonesty so tightly. I have never in my life tried to push the envelope of honesty vs. dishonesty and it seems that unless you get that niche early, you gotta be a bit crooked to make it on eBay.
posted on October 5, 2000 01:54:31 PM
Borillar
I agree with what you are saying and sometimes feel the same way you do.But I hate to assume that everybody on ebaY is a crook which the majority are not.
I find it more and more difficult to make money on ebaY.I consider ebaY to have a garage sale mentality and people assume that what you have must be bought for next to nothing.
I buy a lot of items at auctions in Europe I compete with other dealers who sell similar items either in there stores or to their clients for 2 or 3 times what I sell them for on ebaY.
In fact of late its getting to the point where ebaY prices are even less than what these would sell at auction.
I have thought of buying these items off ebaY and selling them at the brick and mortar sites that I normally buy at.
I ship them details every few days and see what they think and then buy and ship to them.
EbaY does not reflect the real market at all.
I am very honest about my items I have over 3300 feedbacks with about 2500 unique.2 negs only both retalitory.
So my buyer satisfaction is very higher almost 100 based on feedback.
But I have sold some of my items to other ebaY sellers who have stretched the truth about the item.Its not a lie and its not the truth either its kind of in the middle.
Then watch the item sell through the roof.
This in tern hurts all of us,now that seller is desperate to sell their items and no longer sells as well as they did.But then neither do I.
I guess it was my fault for selling it too him but he assured me it was not for retail just for his collection.Plus I still made money.
posted on October 5, 2000 01:55:53 PM
borillar: I feel your pain. However, with a long-time sales career, I never saw auctions as the way to sales, only as the way to get new customers. When I get a customer, I do more than just close the sale. I toss in an extra item, join them to my mailing list to receive a monthly email of useful information (not sales info), invite them to ask me for advice anytime, give them discounts on future orders or referrals to friends. For every sale I made through an auction, I made 20 more direct to repeat customers and their friends. I only run an auction a week on ebay just to keep my ID alive and since Yahoo instituted the cc verification for bidders, bidding has almost entirely dropped off. But my sales keep going up. I have seen posts from sellers that said that when someone emails them, they give them the link to the auction. Why? Why pay greedbay for every single sale you make? I tell them "you can bid on my auction which starts at $400 or you can buy it direct, no waiting for $425." A lot of them choose to go direct. The sale is faster and no closing fees.
posted on October 5, 2000 02:08:56 PM
I would like to see "buy" prices on eBay. People would be inclined to stop watching and start bidding. It works remarkably well on Yahoo. I realize that this is not a real auction format, but boy does it provide an incentive. A seven day auction puts an eBay auction at the slow end of things.
posted on October 5, 2000 02:13:02 PMIf there is a shortage - then why am I getting outbid so much in the last few weeks
Same here
The feeding frenzy of the last half of 1998-early 1999 is over, but that was a fluke anyway - ebay was the new "trend" place everybody had to shop. I'm getting the same $ (and bid #) for the same stuff I was selling a year ago. My net is down, but so's my gross, because I've given up antiques for the present - just can't do the hunting-gathering these days, much as I'd like to. And it's killing me, because I know I'm missing out on some great finds/sales!
Hmm....maybe I'll drag myself out this weekend anyway.....
posted on October 5, 2000 03:16:28 PM
The good stuff still gets bids, but less than before. There is just too much competition. My take on it is that there is too much competition from cheap (and I mean poor quality) sources. If you introduce a new product or item and it sells well, you can bet that within a week or two there will be a dozen "knock-offs" that are poor quality undercutting your sales.
I fully believe that many buyers are naive or don't care about quality. They'll buy a piece of junk because it costs a buck less. And usually the sellers of these crappy items have the gaudiest and successful ads. Product development is my skill, not marketing, and it always surprises me to see how some sellers can gift wrap dog poop and sell it on eBay. Yes, I'm a little dismayed with eBay right now.
To be fair, eBay has also attracted a lot of "pros." I mean, it's not all crap. But there are so many sellers now that buyers are just overwhelmed. Buyers know that hard-to-find item will be back again next week, and they are holding on to their purses.
posted on October 5, 2000 04:11:18 PM
I also think that there are plenty of buyers but they are savvy and to sell to them successfully you have to be same.
If you have some rare one of a kind object, then fine.
Everything else has got to be marketed in a way that makes it compelling to the buyer. Things have to be grouped things in a creative or interesting way, or in a way that offers a very good value.
posted on October 5, 2000 04:28:08 PM
Quite a few of us seem to be in agreement that there are too many sellers. Now for the hard question: Who wants to volunteer to leave ? Or are we going to have to pick numbers...
posted on October 5, 2000 04:58:39 PM
Well I guess I am about to volunteer to quit! Been selling since October 6, 1997. Have two very high quality, very unusual items ending in the next hour. Neither will make the reserve I set at under half of book price. I can do better at my local antique mall--even counting in the breakage and pilferage that are ever present in that environment. Would like to recoup the cost of a new camera but will not be agressively listing until I see a BIG turnaround. If folks want the cheap close out stuff they can have it. My quality collectibles and antiques won't be here and I suspect many other dealers with nice inventories will be making a similar decision.
Ebay needs to clean house on the shady sellers as well as the deadbeat bidders. Then they need to stop competing with the sellers--instead of promoting things not sold on ebay, how about some promotions for the stuff that is on ebay?
posted on October 5, 2000 05:26:54 PMyisgood: You are right. That was my first assessment of eBay auctioning. I immediately saw that unless you had the knowledge, skill, and luck to turn 25-cent plastic junk in a gargage sale to $150.00 collectables, the rest of it just wasn't likely to ever be more than a hobby. So I also have a web site where I take orders. The unfortunate thing is that I have little time to develope it and I need to invest more time into it. right now, with my new digital camera, I am shooting over 1,500 items we currently have in our inventory, croping them in the software, writing the HTMLs, listing them - ugh! Not enough time! Prioritize!
posted on October 5, 2000 08:42:20 PMMballai: What you are suggesting is exactly what I have shocked and angered so many old-time eBayers on AW about. I clearly understand that eBay was once "Your Friendly Neighborhood Garage Sale & Antique Dealer Direct". But things change.
I have bummed around selling various things on eBay for about five years now. I have only begun to take it seriously in the last year or so. I never did develop that sentimental mentality expressed by so many long-time Sellers and Buyers on the issue of what business platform that eBay was supposed to be.
In my eyes, eBay has always been a place for the American Dream -- at least, for those technically inclined towards computers. I have seen and met so many ordinary blue and white collar workers who want that little piece of the American Dream that has always been their Hope and have not yet made it. Certainly, the governments, banking industry, and public schools have failed us in no small measure. Even when government is there with a helping hand for folks to get started and banks actually offer assistance through neighborhood business projects, people just do not have the know-how or expertise to go and start up a brick & mortar establishment. What hopes and dreams have died of old-age, not from a lack of trying or talent, but because they just weren't prepared to think Business.
Most of us know the nearly false promises made by Multi-level marketing schemes over the past few decades. It was a nice idea to try to offer people their Dream without having to go through all of the usual legal mumbo-jumbo and restrictions placed upon new start-ups. But in the end, most people dumped the idea of MLM and blamed themselves, when in reality, only the original person and the first few people around them usually get rich.
Now we have the Internet. Once again the American Dream is all fired up. But look at these crazy venture capitalists ruining solid, but small web based businesses such as Amazon and eBay and a hundred others. Who has the expertise and resources to fire up their own Server, program all that software, and then operate some bright idea? The most that anyone could then and still hope for now is to come up with an original idea that makes it big - such as eBay has.
But now there is a new opportunity to bring the American Dream from out of the Brick & Mortar establishment. An opportunity to offer market exposure on such a scale that only a decade ago just the biggest corporations could hope to do. The ability to connect the Seller at home directly to a continent-wide marketplace for their goods for a mere listing fee was unthinkable just a half-decade ago. No longer does the average person have to purchase a hundred-thousand widgets in order to get such a good price as to compete with the local huge Multi-stores and malls. Now you need so little expertise in relative terms to just a few years ago to start up your own business on a scratch-scale that nearly anyone with a little dedication and hard work can make a go of it. And the nicest part is, do it part-time first, see what works, see what makes you comfortable then go for it.
But back to your original point, Mballai. I have often advocated changes to eBay's venue that would open the flood gates to all Americans to take part in a real business opportunity with limited time, talent, and capital. Selling on eBay is evolving from that Back-Yard Garage Sale to Small Retailers/Wholesalers and I have openly suggested many ways that eBay might grow in the direction that they seem so reluctant to take.
I have offended many on AW with my outright disdain for "the old ways". Sorry - Change is a fact and eBay's small business opportunity hasn't been missed by millions of Americans and foreigners alike. And eBay will, even with eBay's current blinder-based marketing strategies, eventually make the necessary changes in the marketplace that they are in or their brighter competitors surely will.
posted on October 5, 2000 08:44:22 PM
jadejim
I actually agree with you I do not think the truly unique items do sell as well as they used too on ebaY.The buyers who recognise what these are,are not buying them on ebaY.Who are new collectors who really have no idea as to the real value of the item.
But are just getting it as cheap as possible.
Most of the items I sell are unique and often have no competition.
Case in point I have a really nice 1619/20 King James Bible in great shape.I used to be able to get at least 2000 for a similar Bible on ebaY about a 12 months ago.
I could also show you similar Bibles offered for sale on dealer catalogue web sites for 2500 to 3500 dollars.They have a retail store and still sell those Bible in that range.
Currently I cannot even get 1200 dollars for it.Yet my source of supply has seen a steady increase in the vaule of these too the point.
Where wholesale cost either at or very close to what they sell for on ebaY.
Plus there is not an over abundance of these books and Bibles so it takes time and a lot of effort to find them.
Yet I could sell such no problem a year ago
but why not know.There are supposed to be more buyers coming in.So in theory there should be more demand for these not less and the price should rise likewise.
In the real book world it is but not on ebaY its going the other way.
Thats why I feel there are is a shortage of buyers.The new ones I see coming are not the big dollar spenders anymore.
Maybe people have not bee too happy with what they bought.Well I have never had one returned or a complaint all I get is wow this is great.I still sell too some of these buyers but you can only afford so many.
I have 3300 feedbacks 2500 uniques with 2 negs 1 retalitory and the other over some stupid misunderstading on behalf of a customer over 10.00 that went in the mail cash at christmas time and never recieved.
posted on October 5, 2000 08:46:51 PM
I think many buyers try their hand at selling but give up when they discover how much work it is.
I try to purchase as many things as possible from ebay. It saves time and money.
In fact, I will try to do most of my Christmas shopping on line. With gas $2.00/gallon, it doesn't make sense to drive all over just to find the shelves empty.
