posted on December 13, 2000 01:37:23 PM new
Well, I'm throwing in the eBay towel. This Christmas season was a complete bust for us. We were ten times more prepared this year than as prepared last year for Christmas and last year we made quadruple the sales of this year. It's been a bad year and eBay is killing us with their fees.
I know it's only nickle and dime fees, but when you sell so marginally, there just isn't a lot of profit to go around. It would be different if eBay charged you only one time to list the item 3 times or until it sells: whichever came first. But to pay three listing fees to sell an item one time is too much for us.
Then, the BuyItNow has been a big help. We sell all new items and for us, it is keeping us barely out of the Red for this Christmas. But after the first, eBay intends on charging for this simple service as well. That's just too much for us.
You know, it isn't that we've been over-pricing anything. Or that we've failed to meet customer's expectations in our auction descriptions. There just hasn't been the business to go around for our category.
I am moving our business to Yahoo and other auction web sites. With the way things are, it is better to not pay any money until the item has sold, rather than passing out your meager profits whether you make them or not.
Oh, we'll keep our eBay account and next Christmas we'll be sure to list a few things on eBay. But the economy has taken such a nose-dive that I doubt that we'll see it bounce back anytime soon, even if OPEC does relent and lower fuel prices -- the damage is already done.
Edited for spelling
[ edited by Borillar on Dec 13, 2000 01:41 PM ]
posted on December 13, 2000 01:43:57 PM new
Hi, Borillar. Sorry to hear you're leaving eBay. I hope you will still visit the eBay Outlook forum and say "hi!" You're one of my favorite posters and I wondered where you've been.
posted on December 13, 2000 02:42:00 PM new
I know how you feel. I am in the same boat as you are. I had a terrific christmas last year. I went from 95% sales to barely 20 to 30% sales this year.
There is too much competition in Jewelry.
Too many auctions for people to read and go through to find what they want.
I too work on a very small margin. I try to offer a good deal. I buy right. My source is direct and deals in volume so my prices can't be beat. It too subjective. I am looking at other auctions too.
I wish you the best of luck in your ventures. I hope you have a prosperous new year.
posted on December 13, 2000 02:59:13 PM new
I think the sellers who fight the temptation to sell 'just anything' will be sucesssful year in and year out.
As time goes along, the garbage sellers will disappear from the landscape.
If you offer quality items..your profit should have been made at the purchase of said items.
Not at the sale.
Good Luck and Seasons Greetings to all.
May the New Year bring us all
Peace
Prosperity
New Ebay Management
posted on December 13, 2000 03:02:25 PM new
I am right behind you. I have been at yahoo and doing good, but the last nail in the coffin for me is the shipping hike in January. With the shipping costs going through the roof it is much cheaper to shop at the retail stores and that is the reason for the low sales. Now with Bush going to the White House and not being the clear winner look for the econony to crumble.
posted on December 13, 2000 03:20:24 PM new
Borillar,
Good move. Ebay is still viable for me, but I am continually transferring as much as possible to Yahoo.
I highly recommend that anyone considering doing the same spend some time on the Yahoo board here at AW. Yahoo is very, very different from Yahoo in many respects. But there are people here who know the "ins and outs" and are extrememly helpful in helping others make the transition.
My advice: Don't think of Yahoo as free. Think of it as a much lower cost alternative. In reality "feature" auctions at Yahoo are roughly the equivalent of regular listings at Ebay. You may be able to sell many items without featuring, but don't consider featuring something extravagant, as you might on Ebay. It's still a lot cheaper, and where Ebay penalizes success by charging FVF's, Yahoo rewards success by refunding 1/2 of your feature fee.
As for other sites, I haven't found any that are worthwhile for me yet. If you find anything, please let us know.
Most people I know in the market are foreseeing a recession - unfortunately Bush will bet the blame for all the give away spending of the prior administration - but such is life.
We do most of our selling on Yahoo, have for almost a year now and have topped anything ever done on eBay - we use eBay from time to time, but not too often - to risky, to much down time - to many ever changing rules -
I don't see the shipping fees will cause problems - we always ship the least expensive way, and on any item over 6 pounds UPS cuts USPS rates with insurance greatly.
We are so diverse, and have such good sources I don't see much reduction in our sales over the next year.
I do think a bad market will weed out the “want to be’s” and reduce the number of sellers, particularly on eBay.
posted on December 13, 2000 04:24:24 PM new
Thanks for the replies all -- although I'm not sure of what zeenza's point is. I don't sell garbage nor do I sell just anything because I am not a junk dealer. Maybe that's the point: be a junk dealer, buy scrap for nothing and sell it for something. Other than that, I don't see how anyone can make a profit before they receive the money in their hands.
I am moving off of eBay because of "up-front" fees. I wouldn't mind in the least paying those listing and FVF fees IF the item gets sold! It is having to list and relist the same item(s) and paying out funds on potential profits. Sure - all our stuff sells, but with overflooded markets and so few buyers left that it isn't worth it. With Yahoo, you can list your items all year long for free and when it sells, onlu then do you pay anything (except for special features). If I list a $5.00 pair of earrings, I can let it sit there until the right buyer omes along.
But eBay is off the track. By taxing Sellers up-front with neumourous fees is a bad strategy whose success so far has totally been dependant upon the boom economy that we've enjoyed up until this year. Now that times are getting much leaner and will get a lot leaner still, the endless replacement of dissatisfied Sellers is going to end and eBay will feel the pinch sure enough. But will they stop hurting themselves by taxing their revenue sources with up-front fees soon enough to make the critical difference is just a wait-and-see.
posted on December 13, 2000 04:33:28 PM newjwpc: I blame the GOP and the Bush Empire for this recession that is hurting my online business. I know that my thoughts are fantastic when I say that I think that the Bushes put pressure on our Friendlies at OPEC to raise up oil prices in an election year where their son had to go up against the greatest economic expansion in history. It sounds too paranoid, I know that. But when you recall that back in 1981 when the media reported that the GOP finally admitted that our Iranian Hostages had been held an extra 6 months in Iran because the GOP bribed the Iranian officials in order to make Carter look bad to help Ronald reagan win the Presidency, to me, nothing is too far-fetcched.
But whyever our oil allies should suddenly decide to spin the industrial world over into chaos for trivial reasons such as extra billions of dollars per day than the billions that they already get is beyond the scope of why I don't have enough buyers.
posted on December 13, 2000 06:01:58 PM new
[i]"If you offer quality items..your profit should have been made at the purchase of said items.
Not at the sale."[/i]
I'd ask that you run that by me one more time, but I still wouldn't get it.
posted on December 13, 2000 06:08:53 PM newmzkittie makes a good point.
I am sorry that you folks are having a hard time selling right now.
You gotta buy extra cheap and be willing to sell cheap to make it on ebay. That's the way it is. And folks, getting merchandise at wholesale prices (for resale) may not be cheap enough (for ebay), if you get my drift.
posted on December 13, 2000 06:11:25 PM new
The solution may be to study the market to determine just what the customer wants and then supply that want.
If your merchandise isn't selling and has to be relisted over and over again it may be because the customers don't want what you are trying to sell.
posted on December 13, 2000 06:14:52 PM new
You and me both cariad. I never made a profit buying something.
[ edited by december3 on Dec 13, 2000 06:16 PM ]
posted on December 13, 2000 06:37:34 PM new
I really think it has nothing to do with what you sell,or trying to find out what sells on ebaY.I have been trying to figure out that for years and have yet to do so.
EbaY is a completely different kettle of fish from regular retail.
One post mentioned that is is not good enough to buy something at wholesale.You have to buy it in some cases one third of wholesale to sell at half wholesale and thats not easy to do.
Borillar,know you can see why I quit too.I saw this coming for the last 6 months or so.I think as I have said before we are in for a recession of that I am sure.
I will still do ebaY but not full time,my sales this Dec are off 50% over last year but I expected that.So I adjusted accordingly and my sales have been up 50% over last month.
I think a lot of sellers here have no idea what it takes too do this full time and what is involved in making sure you make a profit.
Lots of sellers just sell excess items they have at home.But when they go after items to sell outside of their home they realise this is not as easy as they thought it would be.
posted on December 13, 2000 07:59:23 PM new
I was just browsing yesterday at http://www.vrane.com and I came across their "Power Relister" tool. I sell a lot of items and if they don't sell, it's too much hassle to relist them all and save maybe a dime. But this relister tool looks like it may save me some money. Just click a button and it automatically relists all your auctions. Wow!
This will take some additional bookkeeping on my part. I'll need to make sure I have enough but not too many auctions going at one time, etc. But even so, it's far easier than relisting each auction individually.
I've already relisted 100 auctions through Vrane is just the last 24 hours, which may result in a savings of $10 or so. Excellent!
posted on December 13, 2000 09:35:21 PM new
The category I sell in is FLOODED with merchandise--now consistently at 900-1000 items each week vs. 180-200 items a year and a half ago. Most of the sellers are buying wholesale from the same three or four sources, and there is a LOT of repetition of the same merchandise. It is impossible to sell anything in this category at anything approaching retail. I am no longer stocking merchandise from the aforementioned wholesalers because it is NOT WORTH IT to me.
(Not making enough income by selling the merchandise on eBay to both pay the wholesalers *and* pay my monthly bills--don't need an economics degree to know that this is BAD!) I've had to sell twice as much stuff/do twice as much work in 2000 as I did in the previous two years just to keep my eBay income at the same level as 1998 and 1999.
I'm trying to tough it out and produce my own unique items so I can continue to be competitive on eBay, but it's hard. I don't think Yahoo is an option (yet), as there was zilch in the category I typically sell in the last time I did a search over there.
On a more positive note, I am really happy with the Buy It Now feature for the commonplace pieces I know the fair price for and want to turnover rapidly. The only problem is that it really complicates my bookkeeping, with individual auctions ending at random instead of once or twice a week in a big group.
posted on December 13, 2000 10:24:35 PM new
Too Expensive?
Try selling your widgets at a RL auction, then tell me about expenses.
Sorry to hear another seller is biting the dust, but it's a dog eat dog world out there.
I've had no problem in sales for the past 12 months running. This Xmas has been every bit as good as last Xmas. If I had 10 times as many unique widgets to list, I'd be making 10 times as much money this month. As it is I decided to take the rest of the month off.
Time to stock up for January!
edited fer typo
[ edited by reddeer on Dec 14, 2000 07:00 AM ]
posted on December 14, 2000 05:17:21 AM new
Well, well.....I let this thread pass yesterday, but now that the Deer has said the obvious I will add my voice. GET A GRIP!
If the costs of doing business are too much in this on line venue, then I will also hold the door for you as you leave and quickly shuffle off to the curb. Try turning the key on your car to go to the local auction or flea market. Add in the costs of space rental, of some crappy food, dealing with the elements & the great unwashed, and we shall see how quickly you yearn for the good ole [new!] days of on-line sales.
Neil.....you shut up now....hear!? Let them go.......speed their exit, hold the door for them...heres your hat, whats your hurry......and make more room for the rest of us. They cannot leave fast enough
Dr. Trooth
[ edited by DrTrooth on Dec 14, 2000 05:21 AM ]
posted on December 14, 2000 05:24:37 AM new
I'm with reddeer, amy and drtrooth. Try selliing your merchandise in a B&M store, then compare costs. Unless you're "featuring" an item, total ebay fees run 8% maximum. Show me one consignment shop, online or off, that charges less than 40%, and has even half the traffic of ebay.
But to pay three listing fees to sell an item one time is too much for us.
You list an item, doesn't sell....relist again for free. That's one listing fee. For what you've described to occur, you'd have to list one item three or four times. What on God's green earth are you trying to sell that's not getting any bids for 2 or 3 go-arounds??
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Dec 14, 2000 05:26 AM ]
posted on December 14, 2000 05:57:12 AM new
Borillar
I won't argue politics with you - although I strongly disagree with your "insight" on the cause of a possible recession.....
I think the idea of having a President who is:
Moral
Isn't a pathological liar
Doesn't Want to Murder Unborn Children
Won't support those who won't work....
And whose supporters can actually read and understand a ballot!
I could stand a recession much better than another immoral, murdering Administration.
posted on December 14, 2000 06:22:26 AM new
Here's what you should do. Buy something for 3.00, put it on ebay. Sell it for 9.00 or maybe even 20.00 if the bids go that high. Do this over and over. Make money.
posted on December 14, 2000 06:43:20 AM new
Hi All,
I sell in the Antiques category. I've been at it for 2+ years now. Business has been dropping off and this holiday season has been waaaaaay off. I think Ebay has really changed the antiques market. Buyers now know that most of these items are old but not rare. America has a bunch of "stuff" even 100+ year old beautiful "stuff". I've even learned that as a seller. I used to get upset when a piece of early 20th Century silver went too high at an auction house for me to win the bid and sell at some profit on ebay. Now I don't lose any sleep because I know an identical item or one better will come along in the next couple of weeks. I think ebay buyers realize that now too.
Amy and waspath......I agree with you. I think the rarer items continue to get high bids and sell successfully. That must be frustrating for a buyer. But, be patient. I've seen last year's big items go for a fraction this year and so on.
I think I will concentrate on the rarer items. I won't be able to make a living off of it but I also won't be wasting my time and money either buying and preparing items that I consider to be beautiful only to have them not sell or sell for $10.00
The fees from Ebay, Billpoint, PayPal etc. are really adding up! I'm going to take a look at Yahoo as well as reevaluate this business.
Thanks for letting me yap on I've been feeling lonely in all of this and it is nice to know that I'm not all alone or going crazy!!
posted on December 14, 2000 09:49:11 AM new
My year has been great. December has been a little slower but most of my stuff is purchased by people for themselves not as gifts. November was my best month ever on eBay.
But yes, the economy is not as healthy as it has been for the last several years. Optimists will see that as new opportunities.
It is a lot tougher to make a buck on eBay but there are still lots of bucks to be made.
posted on December 14, 2000 11:44:02 AM new
I'm seeling nearly as much on Yahoo now as eBay. Ebay has become a saturated market. I'll be moving more and move over to Yahoo as long as sales there are improving. I'm also buying more off Yahoo dealers than eBayers.
posted on December 14, 2000 11:55:48 AM new
Twinsoft: How can Vrane's service save you money by relisting your auctions for you? You still have to pay ebay's relisting fees... can you explain what you mean?
posted on December 14, 2000 12:27:39 PM new
EG, if your item doesn't sell the first time, and you relist it, then if it sells the second time around the relist is free. Up until now, I hadn't found a cost-effective way to do this. Relisting the auction via eBay just takes too much time.
My own personal pet peeve? Late pays and deadbeats. They will kill my business. Right now I've got to send out 50 late-pay reminders. Of these maybe three or four will come through. eBay, are you listening?
[ edited by december3 on Dec 13, 2000 06:16 PM ]
