posted on February 13, 2001 12:34:32 PM
I work for a local ISP here in my town. We have been in business for 3 years now and still going strong. We have entertained the idea of hosting an auction with the only exception being that it would be free to post to, there will be no charges hidden or otherwise.
My boss said he wanted it to remain a free auction and wanted a setup much like eBays. I already have the script that does the auction like eBays, I just have to finish plugging in all the modules that make it function like eBays and it is a time consuming task.
This auction will be open to anyone to post to around the world, just like eBay. I'm sure I will run into bugs with the script in the beginning. What I want to ask here is what suggestions would YOU guys have for a good auction like eBays? What would you include? Leave out? I thought this would be the best place to ask these questions.
Please let me know what you think! Thanks!
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"Nothing is so complicated that
it cannot be explained simply"
- Albert Einstein
posted on February 13, 2001 12:43:47 PM
As a seller, thinking of moving what little sales I have left to another site to start fresh with, I would want the following:
No listings fees, but FVF would be fine (depending on the percentage).
Retailers with oodles of listings kept SEPARATE from vintage, collectibles, apparel, antiques, etc. If I want to sell retail, I will open a RL store. In short, I LOVE going to the swap meet and yard sales to find that one-of-a-kind item to resell so a collector. I DONT go to sidewalk sales outside RL stores, nor do I like swap meets with retailers taking up all the spaces and the little guys with the COOL stuff laying on blankets and on top of car hoods, shoved way in the back.
I want to see BIDS...cant sell if there are no bidders.
Icons showing which items up for bid are RESERVE so I dont waste my time bidding on something starting at 10 bucks and has a reserve for 1000.00.
posted on February 13, 2001 01:00:49 PM
I'm just curious...WHY does your boss want to do this? Is it because he's always wanted to run an auction (good small talk item at his next cocktail party...)? Or he's a frustrated ex-ebayer? Or is there some hidden profit potential here (even with no fees?)?
Otherwise, I'd love to see how he intends to provide a viable, successful, growing auction with no fees? Or does he expect banner advertising to carry the costs (snicker snicker)?
posted on February 13, 2001 01:06:06 PM
Personally, if I knew what the hell I was doing, and had the servers and the know-how to do it, I would. And expect no money for it. Just like my referal link I have on my auctions and homepage. I refer my customers to them, they refer to me. None of us get anything out of it except the sharing of customers looking for items from people who have cool stuff, are honest and friendly. Maybe her boss is the same way. Whatever the case may be, I wish him/her luck.
posted on February 13, 2001 01:07:36 PM
Initally it was for our dialup customers here, we started with 15 and have close to 3000 now. That is really what it is for but no one will be "locked out" from using it.
Because we are a small ISP and because we know it won't be as powerfull as eBay is the reason there will be no charge. If it does get big, he will invest in someone/people taking care of it fulltime with top notch servers.
We also host corporate domains and do other things so this is not targeted to be a source of income for us. If banner ads DO become possible, then hey, that will be some icing on the cake.
No, he is not an ex-eBayer, no he doesn't want to brag at dinner parties. He is a nice guy. The best I have ever worked for and I wouldn't work for anyone else Most of us work from home with 2 running the office in town. We are fast on technical support via phone OR email so we are getting a good reputation right now.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Nothing is so complicated that
it cannot be explained simply"
- Albert Einstein
posted on February 13, 2001 01:11:10 PM
Susan, your boss sounds like mine (I manage property, and this guy is THE BEST. Been working for him 11 years as of Feb 1st).
Given that you are a very small ISP I would suggest the following for you to consider.
Organize the auction on a local aspect. A sort of online flea market, open 24 hours a day, every day of the week, rain or shine.
Provide a place for folks to drop off items they have sold and for the buyers to pick up the items. Items dropped off should already be paid for and clearly marked as to who the recipient is. The buyer would need to present some valid identification in order to pick up the item.
If a non local sale occurred, the drop off/pick up feature would obviously not be available.
But, for all of the folks reasonably local to the drop off/pick up point your auction would provide a tremendous benefit over eBay. No shipping, handling or insurance fees for seller or buyer to contend with.
That would truly be a benefit that would distinguish your auction from others. And it would benefit buyer and seller.
posted on February 13, 2001 01:18:53 PM
"No, he is not an ex-eBayer, no he doesn't want to brag at dinner parties. He is a nice guy"
Well, technically, I didn't say he wanted to BRAG about this at dinner parties, and I certainly didn't mean to imply (if I did) that he wasn't a nice guy.
It just seemed a little odd out of the blue for a small-town ISP to want to start up a world-wide auction a la ebay.
Unfortunately, writing the auction code is the easy part of running an auction. Hope he/you are ready for it.
PS - even nice people sometimes brag at dinner parties...
posted on February 13, 2001 01:25:16 PM
Oops sorry Captian! I did sound a little defensive, didn't I. I guess it is because he is such a great person I think I have to be his guard dog! lol
I guess I also wasn't clear when I made the opening statement. Our goal is not to go world wide, but we wouldn't deny anyone from posting is what I meant. Local audience is the target.
Codasaurus: That is an EXCELLANT idea for drop off and pickup! Thanks!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Nothing is so complicated that
it cannot be explained simply"
- Albert Einstein
posted on February 13, 2001 01:31:44 PM
By the way, I kinda like codasaurus's thinking...in terms of making this have a local focus. Sort of turning the local want ads/pennysaver into an auction, which could be a lot of fun (certainly a lot more fun than running a "for sale" listing).
The local aspect might reduce significantly the scamming as well - its a lot harder to rip off your neighbors!
For example, maybe have all auctions end on saturday, and saturday night is a pot luck/pick up your item event, or some such "thinking out of the box".
posted on February 13, 2001 01:35:52 PM
And if you added a fund-raising aspect to it--like $1.00 to pickup/dropoff items---it would be a great media/ and FREE advertising f
posted on February 13, 2001 02:04:30 PM
I want more characters in the auction title.
A small niche auction site (mostly art)I use has the sellers ID by the auction in the listings, very handy, saves time when browsing.
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Don't take life so serious, it ain't nohow permanent.
posted on February 13, 2001 02:05:09 PM
Biggest thing I would suggest is to continue to have the attitude you have now of asking what your users want. There is a small local auction I list on occasionally and they had no category that was appropriate for the tools I was selling, but when I asked the fellow said sure give me a day or three and I will have it there for you. Impressed the daylights out of me.
posted on February 13, 2001 04:37:32 PM
Hey these are all GREAT ideas! I like yours captian, that sounds like a great community thing. Keep the suggestions coming, I'm going to have my boss hop over here before this thread gets buried and look at what all you guys have to say.
Being that I will be in control of configuring the script, I can try to make it as close to what you think would be best as possible. I would also like for everyone that has helped me here to have a look at it when I'm finished and maybe help me test it with just some test entries, you don't have to sell anything.
PS, we have a LOT of eBayers that dial up through us and I have already received positive feedback from them about a local auction.
Thanks for all the feedback!
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"Nothing is so complicated that
it cannot be explained simply"
- Albert Einstein
posted on February 14, 2001 08:15:37 AM
Kind of hard to have an auction like eBay if you're not really stickin it to your sellers with excessive fees.
If you really want an eBay style auction you have to act like you're God's gift to the internet and act like you're doing everybody a favor taking their money.
Ebay sellers will use free ISPs, free web hosting, free email, etc. but most of them just won't put up with a free auction site.
