posted on January 7, 2001 12:35:36 PM new
I would like to hear from those of you who have seen their sales prices reduced by the half.com banners at the bottom of their auctions.
I feel if it continues it will destroy several categories. It seems incredibly predatory to me.
Anyone have any ideas on how to get eBay to listen to us on this?
posted on January 7, 2001 04:19:25 PM new
No,Half.Com allows me to sell some of my videos at alot more than I could ever get on E-Bay.It all depends on how many copies of a book or video is available.Some of the videos I have aren't really worth a $1.Others are worth much more than I pay for them.I have one video that sells for $20 everytime I put it on Half.Com I pay $1.49 for it.
posted on January 7, 2001 05:08:52 PM new
Half.com is so disorganized that I don't
believe anybody should worry about it. The
format is not user friendly. There is no
connection between seller and buyer.
I sell books on Ebay and I haven't noticed any competition with half.com.
posted on January 7, 2001 09:50:52 PM new
I just went on a little snooping trip. Hmmm....
Decided to sign up first, just in case ----
drats, someone has my name ...
Who is this person? I must know! HA! Try to find that needle in a haystack!
So, enter something into the search field. 3 items available. Check feedback. 4/5, 5/5
WHAT?
I run right back to eBay with my tail between my legs ....
I see many problems with Half.com that would make me NOT buy there. Hopefully alot of others will agree, also!
OK - so now I see that Half.com is not what I thought it was - thank whoever your supreme being is! (Added to not inflame others who do not share the same religious beliefs as I)
posted on January 7, 2001 11:22:03 PM new
Buyers perspective...
I would rather buy books from half.com than Ebay. I DO buy books from half.com rather than Ebay.
Why?
Reasonable price. Half.
I can order it as soon as I find it. No bidding, no waiting.
No attack TOS. I don't have to deal with whacked sellers. Not saying all sellers are whacked, of course not. But there are just as many whacked sellers as there are whacked buyers and I might run across one or ten.
Wish list allows me to list the books I'm looking for and be notified when they're in instead of digging digging digging through Ebay on a daily basis.
I'm not asked to pay $5 shipping/handling for a $1 book. 3.00+ yes. $5 no.
I don't have to buy 3 books I don't want in order to get 1 book I do.
The books in my special interest go for far more on Ebay than on half.com Good for you as seller. Bad for me as buyer.
As a buyer I don't find half.com disorganized at all. I find it very simple, easy, clean, elegant and I get what I want, when I want it. If nobody is offering it yet, I'll get it when somebody does.
I've never been burned with a half.com purchase.
If I were in the market for vintage collectible books I would go to Ebay. For recently published books or books in my area of special interest, I find more, faster, cheaper on half.com. I've listed every book that I read about on my special interest email group on my wish list and I'm notified when it's in and available for purchase.
Another Point of View. Take what works and leave the rest. Your mileage may vary, and probably does.
posted on January 8, 2001 06:58:35 AM new
I have been buying and selling on Half.com, and I like it! The books I sell on Half. are generally less expensive ones, and not really worth the time to list on eBay. Or of very limited interest, and I can put them on Half. and leave them until someone comes along looking for just that . . .
I have bought a lot on Half., and been VERY pleased with the books I got and the service. The Wish List is great - I've purchased some wonderful books as soon as they were listed, by having them on my Wish List.
I honestly do not think that Half. is hurting my eBay sales - maybe now and then on something, but I am trying to learn what will go well on Half. and what should be on eBay; there is a difference (from a selling point of view).
Now, I do have to admit that Half. Customer Service leaves something to be desired (so far I have had no serious problems that had to be worked out with their "help". But then, so does eBay's!
posted on January 8, 2001 08:08:44 AM new
I am not a big seller on Ebay, so I can't say if half.com has for sure hurt my sales. I do buy and sell at half.com. Just want to post a good experience I had with customer service.
There is a very popular seller at half.com. He is selling just about every movie on half.com! Okay, that is an exaggeration, but he sells a lot. Most likely, when I search for a movie, he is selling it. I would the sellers name, but I am not sure if I can post it here.
Anyway, the first time I bought from the seller, he shipped a few days late, but put a free cd in my order, so I was happy. I decided I would order from him on a regular basis.
I ordered a movie, and it was descriped as Like new BRAND NEW condition. When I got the movie, it certainly was not in like new brand new condition. It looked like it had been through the gutter and back twice, and was shrinkrap
I sent the movie back to half.com, and about 15 to 20 days later, they slowly but surely credited my card back.
The seller I bought from has a lot of feedbacks, and it is like playing Russian roulette buying from him. Some people are very happy, but most are not. He has a rating of 4.5, but from the way he operates, I would say that feedback will be going down even lower real soon. I do wish I could post the his half.com username so I can warn others not to buy from him.
posted on January 8, 2001 08:41:57 AM new
I sell mostly on eBay (not books), but I started listing some lower priced books at half.com, mostly because they weren't worth messing with on eBay. I like how easy it is to list at half.com. Now that they allow listing for over half, I've listed some of my expensive books there, too, until I get a chance to scan them for listing at eBay. If they sell at half.com then I'll be happy.
As a book buyer, I like to buy at half.com. I like how easy it is to pay, use the shopping cart, get my books right away and not mess with an auction or auction sellers. I bought one book this month at eBay that I couldn't find elsewhere, and I bought about 8 or 9 on half.com.
Can somebody explain what's up with sellers who sell books for a penny, though? I could understand if they were using the books to get people to look at their other books, but that isn't easy to do on half.com and isn't too appealing to me. Do you even get a break on shipping for buying from one seller? That's one thing I haven't understood.
Lisa
posted on January 8, 2001 09:25:17 AM new
Right now, there are 100 books on half.com of dubious distinction and
mostly paperback.
There is absolutely no good reason that a seller would sell on half
unless maybe a good way to unload trash.
The seller is charged 15% commission and has to pay a major portion
of shipping cost. For example, if your buyer wants the book shipped
by Priority Mail, the seller will pay anything over 1.70 after the
first book. For standard mail, the seller will pay the amound over
.83.(These are rates for hardbacks.)
For paperbacks by standard, after the first book the seller will pay
shipping over .58.
So I don't know how anybody can sell a book for a penny. Does anybody
have an answer?
Sellers can actually make money on shipping. Half.com reimburses $1.75 for paperbacks/CDs/DVDs. Actual postage for Media Mail 1 pound is $1.30 so there is a $0.45 margin. If you can purchase a mailer cheaply (mine are about ten cents each) or recycle one, the seller can make a few cents.
That being said, I have never sold an item for one cent.
posted on January 8, 2001 10:45:00 AM new
Helen - I think you are confused about the shipping allowances on Half.com. You always get more than the actual shipping for the average book. If a book is so heavy that it will require more, the seller is expected to know that and allow for it in the selling price. I have made more than enough on shipping to make up for having to occasionally send a multiple order and pay the extra.
You can decide to not offer Priority Mail - it is the seller's option. You CAN get taken on Priority if a buyer buys more than one book, they are heavy, and you haven't figured on that IN YOUR PRICING.
Lisa - Unless it has changed very recently, the buyer gets no break on a multiple buy from the same seller, and since Half.com gives less to the seller (after the first book) and keeps the excess, the only one who comes out better on a multiple sale is Half.com. VERY UNFAIR in my opinion. I recently ordered several hardback books from the same seller; I ordered them all the same day, but I placed a different order for each one. That way, she got the full seller shipping amount for each one, rather than the reduced amount.
I have done well with what I've sold on Half., and recommend it, but you need to read all the fine print. And I am not just "unloading trash".
posted on January 8, 2001 11:09:21 AM new
Kudzurose, I guess that's what was confusing me about the combination shipping. I remember reading that as a seller I would get a reduced amount for shipping if selling two books to the same person. Then when I bought two books from somebody, I wondered why I didn't get a break on shipping.
I've had to pay more than the shipping allowance occasionally when selling, but usually half.com has paid me more than the actual cost of shipping.
Lisa
posted on January 8, 2001 11:54:06 AM new
Thanks kudzurose, for that correction on
postage. As I was typing that, I was thinking, This is unbelievable! and sure
enough it was!
posted on January 8, 2001 01:57:14 PM new
mrssantaclaus,
A few weeks ago I started a couple threads dealing with this very subject. One was called "half.com banners are screwing us!" and the other, I believe, was "Misgivings About half.com."
The first thread received many responses and even merited a news story on AW's main page. If you look at the "screwing us" thread, you'll see that several booksellers -- myself included -- are pretty upset about the banners.
At one point I considered trying to turn lemons into lemonade -- that is, to find books on half.com which I know I can turn around for more on eBay. I figured if these half.com sellers were too lazy to write up a good description and post the book at auction with pics, then I'd be happy to do it myself. What I didn't expect was to find that many of the half.com sellers whose feedback I checked appear to be outright liars. They are apparently selling books with such descriptions as "like new" yet receiving feedbacks in which the buyers complain that the books are in lousy condition. Admittedly, not all of their feedbacks were bad -- but even if someone has one or two out of 25 that make them out to be liars, then frankly I am wary of doing business that person. A couple of feedbacks asserting you lied about the condition of a book would be like the kiss of death on eBay. Yet on half.com it seems to be no big deal.
I suspect that as time goes on, half.com will build a reputation as a haven for people trying to pass off garbage as quality merchandise -- which explains how and why they ask so little for their goods. I know not all half.com sellers fit this description, but all you need is handful to taint the general perception. This may be half.com's undoing. Unfortunately in the meantime the banners are drawing buyers away from eBay and in some cases leading them into bad experiences with shady sellers, which may turn some folks off to internet sales in general. That would be bad for everyone, not just booksellers.
posted on January 8, 2001 02:16:25 PM new
I spend several hundred dollars a month on books, consistently month after month (mostly because when I was young and broke I promised myself that when I had money to buy books, I would...so now I do)...anyway...some I buy new, some I buy from the used bookstore locally, some I buy from half.com
I've purchased shelves worth of books from half.com I've not been unhappy with any of the purchases. Maybe it's how I buy..unless it's some kind of art or coffeetable book, I don't care if it's "like new" or not. I only care if I can get to the content without loose pages flying out into my bathwater.
As long as there are people like me, and since many of my friends (at least the ones who read) also buy happily at half.com, half will be around a long time. I'm sorry if that annoys Ebay sellers, but that is the way it is.
I think there is are certain books that belong on Ebay and others that belong on half. I do empathize with the half.com banners coming up on a search on Ebay though. I personally feel the two units should be kept separate on a business basis. That's not going to happen either, since what is good for half.com is good for Ebay, as a business. Bad for book sellers, however. Fortunately I never part with mine so I won't be in that position. I just move to bigger houses.
posted on January 8, 2001 02:38:51 PM new
If you don't care that your books are warped, stained, shelf-cocked, have torn or missing dustjackets, pages with writing on them, then yes, half.com may be the perfect venue for you.
Personally, I have no qualms about sellers offering such booksr -- as long as they identify them for what they are. Once they start describing them as "like new" or "excellent condition" then it becomes fraud. I wound up NOT buying from half.com after I had made a decision to give it a try -- and why? Because the sellers whose feedback I checked, the ones who had the books I wanted, appeared to be liars and thieves. Sure, I could have taken a chance on them and maybe gotten a good book. But I haven't the time or the patience to risk it -- or to waste sending back a less than satisfactory item. I have heard more than one person describe buying from half.com as "russian roulette." That's a pretty poor business reputation, if you ask me.
posted on January 8, 2001 03:37:05 PM new
I've been buying books from Half. at the rate of about 10 per month for the past three months. Most of them were described as "like new" or "very good", and there was only one with which I was MILDLY disappointed. All the others were great books, at great prices. (Most looked like they just came from the bookstore.) Some were books currently selling new for twenty, thirty, even forty dollars, and I got them for half or less. People are getting great deals every day on specialized non-fiction, textbooks, art books, etc.
I am sure there are people selling books on half. which are not described honestly - just as there are on eBay - but I have not encountered them.
I check the feedback of everyone I buy from there, and on occasion have decided not to buy a book because of the feedback.
I like the fact that I can list stuff on half that probably is not worth the time to list on eBay, but I have a link in all my auctions so anyone can see what I have listed there.
The two sites complement each other, at least to an extent, and I am just going to try to make each work to my advantage.
posted on January 8, 2001 05:05:37 PM new
I have been watching a certain author for at least a year, waiting for a book from the 60's to appear. I had recently noticed a decline in bids, but until someone mentioned the link I hadn't realized that was probably the problem. I wish I had printed out the finished auction prices for a before & after, as I did for the items I wanted to sell. I would loved to have sent them to Ebay.
As I have said before...I will not buy from Half.com, nor will I sell there. Just as I did not for Yahoo. When I read that sellers are putting stuff on that doesn't sell on Ebay, the red flags go up...waving wildly!!!
I get enough junk from Ebay with pictures...can't imagine the garbage I would get from Half. No thanks.
My sister purchased a video tape from Half. that she couldn't find anywhere else, because her 7 year old wanted only that for Christmas. She realized that she hadn't ask for priority. Too bad, no contact with the seller. It arrived the day before Christmas, thank goodness.
As I have said in two threads, including one started by spazmodeus, this is not a "book seller thing" when you can type in "seminole patchwork vest" and get a Half.com link. Had it happen again yesterday while looking for a collectible, not a book. Pi**es me off royally.
I am selling a collectible book right now, that no one else has sold in awhile. I am carrying their da*n link with mine on the search page. I am watching Half. and if a seller lists the same book during my 10 days, I am going to close mine down, both description & photos, and send Ebay a bill for listing fees. I do not feel I should have to carry someone who is too lazy to post pictures and a decent description. Sorry.
posted on January 8, 2001 05:17:34 PM new
As of yesterday I guess I"m one of those crappy half.com sellers because I have a WHOPPING angry neg on my FB. The person says they never got the book...no response from half.com....very disatisfied. As I said in another post, *I* feel victimized, too! I had no way of knowing this was happening, no chance to trace anything, check my records [if only my memory], offer a refund, or whatever.
Makes me want to deal only with Amazon. At least there you have contact with the buyer and a chance in hell of resolving problems or misunderstandings.
keziak
P.S. apparently, according to another thread, I'm also a flea market junk dealer because I use BIN. SHEESH, already!
posted on January 8, 2001 05:50:11 PM new
Sorry Keziah, I am a little strong in my dislike for Half.com right now. There is no reason for Ebay not to have a site like Half., but there is no good reason to be linking it to Ebay search pages either!!!!!!!
It isn't just common or popular books, like Suze Orman, that show up on Half. Alot of the 50-70s collectible books show up as out of stock, but you can order or place on your wish list. Anyone can look at the pictures I took hours to get ready and go over and place an order to get it cheaper sometime in the future.
I have a vintage Disney figure that I will be listing soon, from the 1950s. I just wonder if Ebay would link my auction on the Ebay collectible page to the Disney company page, if I ask? Ha!
posted on January 8, 2001 11:06:46 PM new
Ebay and Half.com have their own good qualities. I especially like Half.com for textbook purchases. I have gotten college textbooks for as cheap as 3 cents. (Plus Shipping)
The inventory is also great from a buyer's point of view. I have purchased my favorite books and some extras there. The search by ISBN is very helpful to assure you get the exact book you are looking for. You can even find obscure choices in movies and games for great prices, that are hard to find in stores.
Ebay is good for complete book sets or special lots of general subject books, because you don't have to pay shipping per item, as it is often combined.
posted on January 9, 2001 04:44:25 PM new
Thanks for your comments. I must agree that there is no good reason to link half.com to auctions on eBay. I still feel it is predatory.
How would the powers that be at eBay have felt if you had an auction for a widget on eBay and linked it to your auction for the same widget on Yahoo? The widget might be just a bit cheaper because you didn't have to pay any fees to Yahoo. I believe that your widget auction would have been ended long before you could say "Stop the half.com banners!"
I'm sorry but as a victim of the Blockywood Wars in the video industry I still feel you can't win when you try to build one business at the expense of another. If the first business is profitable for you eventually you will feel some of the lifeblood trickling out ... and then what will you have left?
. But then, so does eBay's!
