posted on January 22, 2001 04:50:20 AM new
For close on 70 hours a week I sit at the computer and prepare and list auctions. No bulk loaders for me. I do them individually one at a time and maybe that is why I take note of which sites sell and those that don’t.
I’ve discovered close on 80 sites during the past two years and all but a handful are a waste of time and effort.
Before someone asks what it is that I list let me say that I have access to more than 16,000 items covering Music, videos, books, militaria, memorabilia, collectibles, antiques etc. Enough to list something in almost every category on the largest auction site in a price range from $1 - $1000 and beyond. I never have new items for sale and I rarely have more than one of a kind.
After two years of hard work I am still learning. Free auctions aren’t always free and paid for auctions don’t always bring the right results. There are dozens of sites dying on their feet out in cyberland and they are trying to bury us with them.
For me personally, EBAY is the place to sell. I consistently sell 70% of what I list first time around and I never re-list unsold items. I simply move them to another site in protest. However, I have noticed a strange occurrence on EBAY. Six months ago I was averaging more than 200 hits per item and now some of the items only register half that, if I’m lucky. It seems that having a bigger site isn’t always of benefit to the seller.
However, there is one distinct advantage. I recently found myself with 4 similar items and listed one on EBAY and one on each of three other sites. They all sold but the one on EBAY brought $250 more than the high bid on the next site. Pays for a lot of listing fees!
QXL the UK based site is more expensive than just about anything else but there are lots of hits. In a two week period I ”sold “ nearly 80% of everything I listed. The only problem was that 60% of the bidders were deadbeats.
I love the way EORBIS translates your listing into Spanish. It’s a great feature. Wish someone would bid on something though.
I adore the features on EDEAL but my sales there have been very limited, to say the least.
DUTCHBID may eventually blossom into something worthwhile but to date I have only sold 1 in every 19 listed.
The same is true of EPIER as far as I’m concerned. Sold 1 in 20 but it’s totally free so whose complaining?
YAHOO has always been a disappointment to me. Lots of hits but very few sales.
EXCITE is great. Maybe it’s because the auctions are also seen on more than a few other sites as well.
The best kept secret of online auctions is POPULA. It’s a small friendly site offering magnificent service, with a very select membership, probably because it’s such a secret. It has respectable hits and matching sales. Best of all, they listen to their members. You won’t find hundreds of categories or sub-categories but there is always some place in which to place your listing. It isn’t exactly a fee-free site unless you list 100+ items a month when listing fees are waived. It will never present a real threat to EBAY but it has the makings of a good alternative.
If you are so inclined, please let me have your views.
