packer
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posted on December 19, 2000 08:32:10 PM
FREE LIST DAY...Not For Me!!!
Heres why....
2 years ago it was GREAT...
Today, 2 years later, I don't think my auctions would have a hope in hell of getting what I want for them. I list all my auctions with $1.00 opener and No Reserve.
For starters the only people taking up valuable space is going to be the people listing.
This is no BIG EVENT for the buyers...just another day of looking. And if the system is SOOOOOOOO bogged down from all the sellers overloading the system the buyers arn't going to be able to look anyway.
And not to mention all the frustration of wading through pages and pages of listings.
And for those that have hundreds of auctions waiting in the wings to launch, what if they don't get any bids the first time around. Is the RELIST going to be FREE as well(and I don't mean only if it sells)?
No, I just don't see this as a good thing.
If eBay wants to show some appreciation, I think maybe a
credit of a percentage back of the total monies we've paid to them in fees for the past year. To me that would benefit ALL who has contributed to there growth and wealth and it would'nt bog down the system.
I remember last year(I didn't participate then either), people were complaining at how long it took to list auctions. Everything was running very SLOOOOW!
This is a good time anyway to take a much needed break from the eBay rat-race.
Good Luck to all those that are going to participate, I hope your auctions go well!!
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edited for packer by packer!!
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Having a BAD HAIR DAY! ... 
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kathyg
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posted on December 19, 2000 08:41:17 PM
hey packer: you will probably get a lot of crap for stating these points, but I am with you.
Free list time is a time to avoid eBay like it was the worst plauge on the internet. Maybe they will get a clue this year and avoid it altogether.
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jwpc
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posted on December 19, 2000 08:43:22 PM
Well, I am tempted, I must admit - but FREE-BEE's always tempt me. I swore I'd stay off till after Christmas and I may - depends on how I feel in the morning - I always have tons of auctions ready to go - and have always done well on Free Days - just don't know if I want the bother of orders till after the 1st - it is so nice to have some peace and quite for a couple of weeks.
We are off the boards, but with a large web site - there are always the last minute shoppers, wanting things shipped next day or 2nd day air -
YOU asked about relists - I never relist on eBay any more, either it sells or it doesn't. I do most of my sales on Yahoo now, and merely play with eBay from time to time - found I sell as well or better for FREE on Yahoo, once I got the hang of it.
To all who are seriously planning on a big listing day tomorrow, best of wishes - I may be in there with you, but hope I can control myself and stay off the boards for a respite.
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morgantown
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posted on December 19, 2000 08:49:46 PM
Packer I agree with you. If ebay wants to show some year end appreciation, a bit of
cash would be nice! 
I suspect that the free listing day is not about appreciation at all. Rather, the slump in number of listings must be addressed!
Free listing is for ebay's benefit...
Morgantown
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kathyg
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posted on December 19, 2000 08:50:51 PM
Ooh... now I read the Announcement Board and see it is happening. Glad I had no plans to be there.
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packer
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posted on December 19, 2000 09:02:27 PM
I hope in 10 days when the last of the FREE auctions end we get to hear how everyone did.
Like how many of their auctions sold of the ones they listed.
I'd like to hear how they did this year.
You know I read in some other threads where some are unloading all the cheapo stuff that wouldn't be worth paying a quarter otherwise to list.
I find that so odd....I spend just as much time getting an item ready that may only bring $3.00 as I do getting one ready that may bring $300.00. Of corse with the stuff I sell each and every piece is different, nothing where I can just take 1 picture and write one description for the same auction over & over.
All that time invested taking pictures and writing descriptions to save a quarter?
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edited for packer by packer!!
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Having a BAD HAIR DAY! ...
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dave_michmerhuizen
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posted on December 19, 2000 09:05:45 PM
the item I listed on and after FLD last year did very well. eBay was a little slow here and there, but nothing serious. Stay away if you like -- not me.
ebay: [email protected]
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kkbclear
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posted on December 19, 2000 09:11:18 PM
Well said! I'd rather have them show their appreciation by lowering their fees or giving me a rebate on some of my listing fees and FVF's for the past year.
Time for a little R' n R' here, and more auction listings is not the way to regroup (for me at least).
To those who do take advantage of eBay's very generous token of appreciation, I wish you the best of luck. I sincerely mean that!
[ edited by kkbclear on Dec 19, 2000 09:13 PM ]
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anggellene
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posted on December 19, 2000 09:20:03 PM
I keep a nice little stockpile of dud listings ready to go for those free listing days - items that I've listed in the past and just crashed and burned their first and second time around.
I've had pretty good luck the past couple of years listing these 'dud' items during free listing time - 50-60% of the duds usually move during this time and I think that's pretty good! I'm not out anything to put them up - just hit the RELIST button on the AuctionSubmit software. It's kind of fun to watch 100 or so items not get a bid and know I'm not out any fees!  I call it 'No Sweat Listing'. I start out with low expectations.
I definitely don't risk putting any items up that usually sell fairly well. I'm not crazy!
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reddeer
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posted on December 19, 2000 10:27:41 PM
I agree, it doesn't hurt to relist past items that didn't sell, for free. I'll be tossing out some duds from last month.
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imabrit
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posted on December 20, 2000 05:49:24 AM
Free listing days are a crock.In the end even if you run lots of auctions how much are you really going to save 50.00 maybe.
I agree that I would sooner see what packer mentioned instead but that will never happen.
I have participated in these in the past and things never went the way they where supposed too due to the bogging down of the system.
I will list a few items but thats it.
Funny how the old timers here ignore them.
Adrian
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MrJim
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posted on December 20, 2000 06:13:10 AM
I believe that Ebay picks this time for free listings because otherwise their site would be empty. Many people stop listing this close to Christmas because there is no way to get the items delivered in time. (except for Express at $15) I think there was another thread with the numbers of listings in it.
We stopped listing and relisting last week because we did not want customers screaming when there items didn't arrive in time. We intended to resume listing a couple days after Christmas. (or when and if free listing day came)
We will dedicate today to relisting and listing 7 and 10 day auctions, and only items starting at $25 or more. We expect to list about 300 plus. Our savings will be in the $400 to $500 range, which for us will be worth the effort. We also expect our closing ratio to be extremely low. (possibly as low as 10%) Even with this, we should make a nice profit to close out the year. This is what we did last year and it was very successful for us.
I would agree that this is the wrong time to run $1 auctions with no reserve, but if you have auctions ready to go (as we do) then raise the prices and let'm rip.
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avaloncourt
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posted on December 20, 2000 07:19:56 AM
packer - it is actually an excellent time for the bidder. If there's a flood of listings the bidder can be pretty sure nobody is going to bid against him because there's 20 others. If someone does bid against him, he can always move on to number 18 of the same item.
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amy
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posted on December 20, 2000 08:06:19 AM
I did well the last two years on free listing day and expect to do well this time.
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HartCottageQuilts
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posted on December 20, 2000 02:44:47 PM
packer and mrjim, thanks for some insightful analysis, including some wise speculation as to WHY ebay has timed FLD as it has, and what that means about the market generally: it's SOFT.
I don't see much profit in spending time listing items for "free" now when I can reasonably expect a higher return on in a month or so when folks are snowbound and bored and the Christmas toys have lost their thrill. Of course, I'll have to pay that pesky 25 cents then, won't I?
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canvid13
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posted on December 20, 2000 03:56:07 PM
Hey? What's with these annoying photos and animations??
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longhurst
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posted on December 20, 2000 04:41:30 PM
Remember the saying about not looking a gift horse in the mouth...It is there to accept or not, why complain? I appreciate it!
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amy
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posted on December 20, 2000 05:02:49 PM
Ebay has given a free listing day for at least the last four years...maybe (and that's only a maybe since none of us are mindreaders or part of the management team at ebay)..maybe the reason originally was to increase listings...but remember, the first one was before ebay went public...but by now it has become a tradition that the community expects and is probably being done more as a public relations thing than to increase listings.
As for the listings being clogged....from another thread, listings are down 41%, which is common for ebay at this time of the year. If a huge number of items are listed in free listing day it will probably only bring the total number of auctions back up to earlier levels...meaning the site will be no more clogged than it was before.
Waiting a month or so to list means you will be back competing with the normal number of auctions as we had before the recent downturn of listings.
Sellers not listing doesn't mean the buyers aren't there ready to buy. Listing items today for 7 or 10 days means you get the buyer who is now able to sit down and spend that Christmas gift money they got on Christmas on a present or two for themselves. It means the buyer is now able to take the time to relax and look for something THEY want (and didn't get as a gift) instead of rushing around shopping for gifts for the family, cleaning the house, making cookies, preparing a big dinner, sending out greeting cards.
Anyway..a penny saved is a penny earned. The wise person takes advantage of all oportunities, no matter how meager.
....on second thought...DON'T LIST...leaves more buyers for the rest of us!
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MrJim
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posted on December 20, 2000 05:36:21 PM
252 listed so far and more to go.
HCQ: Most of the auctions we are listing are $1.00 and $2.00 listing fees, and we are listing them in two categories (since that is free) which means $2.00 to $4.00 each.
I hope to list about 50 more before I quit for the day which will be a total of 300+ auctions and over $900 in listing fees. (something I would never ever ever do if I had to pay for them)
We try to keep our Ebay fees under $1,000 a month, and an opportunity to burn that in a day for free is something I can't pass up. (unless you have to use some auction service to get the free listings and wait for a refund check)
And by the way...
I have spent the last 10 hours listing over $10,000 worth of merchandise. Even at a meager 15% closing rate, that's $1500. At 50% profit, that's $750. Not a bad day's work. If only every day was free listing day.
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dave_michmerhuizen
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posted on December 20, 2000 07:15:52 PM
so far today the auction listing tracker shows only about a 500,000 auction increase, to around 4 million - still way down from more than 6 million at the time listings started dropping off (week ago sunday).
Amy has it down (always does) - there are still fewer listings than normal, and many people have chunks of time next week that they don't normally have. It's a good time to have listings up, at least items that didn't sell the first time around.
ebay: [email protected]
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Pocono
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posted on December 20, 2000 07:51:02 PM
I know people that save their items, and only list on FREE day.
I also know another joker who usually lists dutch auctions, that now lists them one at a time for FREE Day.
HUNDREDS of them...LMAO
They can have it. it would be the LAST day that I list. No sese in getting lost in the flood.
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imabrit
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posted on December 20, 2000 09:23:57 PM
Well I have 30 items stuck in processing on AW so much for a free listing day.
Thats why I generally never bother as something always messes up
Adrian
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packer
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posted on December 20, 2000 09:41:08 PM
MrJim,
I have read and re-read your post.
Please enlighten me on how you can save $3.00 on each listing.
Also, are you sure you can list in 2 catigories for FREE?
Please tell me how this is done.
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edited for packer by packer!!
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Having a BAD HAIR DAY! ...
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amy
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posted on December 20, 2000 10:00:11 PM
Packer...yes, listing in two categories is free for both categories. Both are considered basic listing fees and basic listing fees are refunds (free). I've listed most of the items I listed today in two categories.
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packer
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posted on December 20, 2000 10:07:54 PM
Ok, let me see if I got this straight.
Normal listings for ONE item...if in 2 categories cost $.50.
Your saying that you can list in 2 categories on FREE LIST DAY and save $.50 per ITEM?
So where did you find this information?
I don't think eBay is going to be that generous!
If so I think a lot of people missed the boat on this one.
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edited for packer by packer!!
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Having a BAD HAIR DAY! ...
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reddeer
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posted on December 20, 2000 10:17:00 PM
Packer ...... I listed most everything today in TWO categories, for FREE. Some of those listings would have cost me $2, for 1 category. For 2 categories, the fee would have been $4.
Today it was FREE.
I also agree with Amy, there's always lots of buyers on eBay over the Xmas holidays.
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rnrgroup
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posted on December 20, 2000 10:21:51 PM
I just listed 10 like items (the legal ebaY limit before you need to go dutch) in two categories at a cost of $4. each - for free. Since these are really glorified advertisements - though a legitimate auction - it was a great deal. I am expecting no buyers but hope for increased exposure for my client - the whole purpose of the auctions in the first place. - Rosalinda
TAGnotes - daily email synopsis about the Online Auction Industry
http://www.topica.com/lists/tagnotes
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packer
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posted on December 20, 2000 10:36:05 PM
I know its late, and I just drove home from work in a white-out from the blowing and drifting snow. I'm in IOWA :~~~~
I'm not getting how it can cost you $4.00 for one listing?
What? Your starting price is $1,000?
I know the higher your starting price the more the fee is. But $4.00? I thought the most it could cost was $2.00. So thats it, 2x category = $4.00?
I quess I was under the impression that on FREE LISTING DAY the most you could get back was $.25.
To think I've been at this for three years!
edited for packer by packer!!
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Having a BAD HAIR DAY! ...
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reddeer
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posted on December 20, 2000 10:48:32 PM
Opening Value or Reserve Price
Insertion Fee
$0.01 - $9.99 $0.25
$10.00 - $24.99 $0.50
$25.00 - $49.99 $1.00
$50.00 and up $2.00
So if your opening bid is $50 or up, the listing fee is $2. If you list the item in 2 categories, the listing fee is $4.
Today it was FREE.
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topprospects
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posted on December 20, 2000 10:53:36 PM
Free is Free. If you like to take a break or your items just don't do well this time of year, that is a personal decision. I viewed this as my after Christmas sale with no listing fees. Many people do receive cash for Christmas and some will spend it on ebay. I listed almost 1800 items today. Yes, many are duplicates and the majority proabably will not sell but I feel I put in a good days work and will see some fruit from the hard work today. By the way since I am on the West Coast, 1000 were listed by Mister Lister last night at Midnight. To my surprise though I could upload additional collections which reside on the server, ebay prevented me from listing more than 1000 items in one day through Mister Lister or I might have even done more. Good Night and Happy holidays!
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