posted on April 29, 2001 01:10:21 PM
Hi all - I feel silly expressing this based on just a few days, but...I have a bad feeling about sales right now. I can't even pinpoint what's wrong [aside from low sales, of course!]
I'm wondering if anyone else feels a little "off" ebay at the moment. Are you cutting back in general? Shifting your listings to the fixed price sites?
I guess I have also been feeling like more and more of my life is being sucked up by obtaining books, listing books, packing books. I've been pushing to "up" my income due to quitting my FT job. It looks like we are doing OK on my hubby's income, though. I think I need a course-correction so I'm not so tired all the time [need to use some of my newfound free time to exercise and, of course, play with the kids!]. It sure is easier to just list on Amazon and walk away.
posted on April 29, 2001 01:20:07 PM
Yep. Me, too. The high commission on Amazon bites, but at least it is assessed only if something sells. And, they handle the payment. All I have to do is list the book (2 minutes, or less) and ship it out when the book sells (I'm going to the PO anyway). No picture taking or scanning, no writing description except a few choice words, no EOA procedures, no deadbeats and relisting. Amazon is my "parking place" until I have time to research whether the book will do better on Ebay.
posted on April 29, 2001 01:20:39 PM
keziak, I have definitely switched to putting many of my books on fixed-price sites. Any more, if the book is relatively new and has an ISBN, it goes on Amazon and Half, unless I feel it's got that other "something" to make it interesting or collectible to eBayers. I got tired of getting too little money for my books on eBay. I'm happy to describe 'em, put 'em on a shelf and wait for the "You've Made a Sale!' email. Which is not to say I don't put *any* books on eBay; just a lot less now.
posted on April 29, 2001 02:03:37 PM
Of course, it is irritating when Amazon is down (like right now, blast them!). But, we Ebayers are used to that, right?
posted on April 29, 2001 03:04:19 PM
I am finding that my books either do super well on ebay or flop and I am out alot of fees! I am returning to amazon on some level as soon as I can get a us account. Phoned the bank that I had applied to and who had lost my application but now they have found it etc etc! not too impressed as I applied way back in feb. At least on Amazon , I can put a reserve on a lot and not have to pay extra! if I have a book on the auction site at ebay and list with a high dollar figure~ never sells for me. I generally have listings start at $ 1.00 but that was a no no for my romance which would still sell better on auctions at amazon. But I know what you mean by no time. I started out to make our income meet our expenses~ 2 serious car accidents in 2 1/2 years ( though I won't complain about health care costs here! I will get reinbursed soon) and have suddenly realized that I have spent so much time listing , reading boards etc though I like the hunting part!
Cleaned the back room for 3 days where I thrown ( put!) all my extra books which someday I was going to sell! Well 5 bags to the hospital~ here of course I bought 5 or 6 books! but at least not bags and a whole car load tomorrow to go to the thrift store. I think I should be more particular about what I buy! I looked at your auctions Keziak and was so impressed . Anytime I try something new ( ie out of romance or s/f or fiction generally) I can't sell it ! My name on ebay is lovebooksv1l or lovebooks123. ANyhow , ebay is weird~ I sold a book for $ 200.00 and then sold the same book for $ 16.00! Can't ever figure them out. Oh well, back to cleaning the house before hubby walks into a disaster zone! Good luck selling , ( personally I think all the auctions are down at this time and who wants to list and not sell!)
posted on April 29, 2001 04:00:01 PM
I'm still keeping active on eBay for the moment. I'll probably cut back over the summer as I remember last summer having much slower sales and way too many deadbeats.
I'm hesitant to try the fixed price sites myself. I had a couple of books on half.com last year and they just sat there. I wound up selling them on eBay.
Also, I don't think it's right that the customer can't contact the seller directly with questions or problems. I prefer knowing that people who might want to buy from me can contact me with any questions they have.
posted on April 29, 2001 04:46:07 PM
BJ, give Amazon a try. My books move faster there, and at least Amazon gives you an email address for the customer, so you can contact him/her if you discover a major flaw in the book that you overlooked. I know what you mean about eBay in the summer time. The last 2 summers have been so horrible, I'm not planning to list anything in July & August - too many deadbeats and VERY slow, LOW sales volume. I *was* going to spend my summer listing books on Bibliofind, but now I guess I'll have to list on ABE, unless Amazon gets its act together regarding an antiquarian and out-of-print book site.
posted on April 29, 2001 06:44:07 PM
I also recommend giving Marketplace a whirl if you are at all interested in fixed-price sites. I actually do equally well on half and Amazon, but I like being able to send my buyer an email telling them I got the order and will ship the next day. Some of them email back thanking me for it, feels more personal. Also, the prices are usually better, and need to be, with the fees!
suz23: thank you for your nice comment! I've never sold a book for $200, I would be staggered! :- )
posted on April 29, 2001 07:22:52 PM
Yep! I was staggered too!
I find that children's books do better on ebay including ex library and last summer I was selling some older ex library horse children's books which went well + Janet Lambert h/c ( harder to find though) Even in the summer, people will buy children's books if it reminds them of their childhood! Things like Richard Scarry ( the older ones ) and even Saddlehorse books~ I have seen go really high and you can pick those up a garage sale for $ .10 . So even when ebay slows down ~ the children's books sell nicely! I am always amazed as I am pulling boxes of ex libary books ( I used to teach in the classroom and then became a consultant! what a disaster as I had to drive on very bad roads! but those ex library books are sure coming in handy right now!) Anyhow Keziak I hope to learn from you and few other sellers what to sell besides children's and romance but even some of my romances ( all gone now sigh~) seem to go high like Mary Balogh. After one great week ~ in November where I sold a lot of "high" items, I came to realize that right after a low on my books selling~ out of the blue , a nice week of selling comes in~ so now I never worry about a low 2 weeks or so in book selling~ there will be always some new "steal " that comes along and what fun. Found in our very small town~ 2 signed books~ one signed and a drawingdone by him as well by a very famous children's illustrator/ illustrator of Tokien's books but my daughter begged me for that book! Good luck , I think it will pick up soon.
posted on April 29, 2001 07:43:33 PM
Hi guys,,do you ever check the announcement board at ebay,,do you list for only 3 days..many times their search is so far behind you book or item only gets into search an hour before it closes..they have had many many outages..thus the high week low week..i thought it was me..?then i got the auctionguild newsletter..it's free just go to their site..YOU WILL BE SHOCKED..
it's not you or your stuff.
good like,,i am over at the pier free great group there..growing.too
check that site..it's a www.com...site..
aucitonguid the newsletter is called tagnotes..YOU HAIR WILL STAND STRAIGHT UP WHEN YOU SEE WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON..
posted on April 30, 2001 06:24:59 AM
Well, I got to the part at Amazon Marketplace about having to ship within 2 business days of receiving payment and having to ship standard/surface mail and I, quite frankly, don't want to use a service the requires me to abide by terms that are contrary to what I set for my auctions.
Most of the time items are shipped within 2 business days, since I go to the PO 3 times a week, but I list in my auctions 3 business days, just in case the kids get sick (or me), etc. Also, I'm frequently shipping Airmail for international buyers if my fixed charge covers it and they really appreciate it. And, it's rare, but occasionally someone does want Priority Mail and if that's what they want, I'd like to be able to provide it.
And their shipping credits are so generous, what must they be charging the buyers? The people who buy from me love my low shipping cost. So I'm going to put my stuff up where they have to pay probably twice that?
Thanks for the suggestions, but I don't think a fixed price site is for me. As long as I continue to do well with auctions, that's where I'll stay. I haven't seen any shortage of buyers yet.
posted on April 30, 2001 07:24:14 AM
I find that either a book will sell or it won't, no matter what. I have had good luck with eBay and Half. I think a lot of buyers prefer fixed prices, so Buy It Now tends to cut to the chase--I'll move 50% or more of my books first time around.
If I am reasonably sure it will sell on eBay it goes there, otherwise I'll put it on Half. I'd say eBay has lost about 25-30% of my potential listings as a result.
posted on April 30, 2001 08:51:01 AM
Suz-
If it was a Janet Lambert book that first sold for $200 and then for $16, it could have something to do with the fact that about 8 of them were reprinted in January. This happens with many of the previously rare children's titles that used to sell in the hundreds. Now you can only get that if its a first edition, pristine dust jacket, or something similar.
posted on April 30, 2001 09:20:33 AM
On Amazon Marketplace they charge the buyer $3.49 shipping per book, no matter how many books they buy from the same seller. The seller is alloted $2.20 from that, so Amazon keeps $1.29 plus 15% of the sales price. that is for US customers.
For international customers (even Canadians) they allot the seller $12.00 shipping DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THEY CHARGE THE BUYER?
I am concerned that this system discourages multiple purchases, almost all of my sales have been single items and typically on auctions I have quite often sold a group of 2 to 5 to same buyer and ship together. I am answering all of my Marketplace sales with a form letter that says; 'thanks and all that'..... 'if you'd like to shop my auctions, zShops and Marketplace please let me know and I'll hold your widget for up to a week. The shipping you have already paid will cover an average of 3-5 items, at surface shipping.' blah blah. Actually the additional sales have been very low, but one or two were spectacular! One guy had bought a book that I mentioned to him was part of a 'set' and I had 14 more volumes. He was interested so I put them on auction so he wouldn't get dinged $3.49 EACH (domestic) and I made a nifty $380.00 additional.
Mom, just call me moneybags!
hey! I heard that! NOT monkeybags! Moneybags!
posted on April 30, 2001 10:34:54 AM
BJGrolle - I totally respect the "not for me" feeling about fixed rate sites, because it really is a different ballgame. But I wanted to mention that at least with Amazon, you get an email that you can simply hit "reply" and talk to the buyer. If I get a California buyer I usually suggest they contact me if media-mail delivery rate will be too slow. I have one right now interested in priority. It's an extra step for them but if they have PayPal or will promise to put $2 in the mail, I'll upgrade. I've done that at least twice so far, everyone is happy.
What I enjoy about it is the instant payment [in the sense that I don't have to solicit the payment and wait for checks or even PayPal, which takes some people days to get around to]. I don't mind shipping within 2 days because I hit the P.O. every day or two anyway, no big deal.
suz23: I am simply amazed by the children's book comments. I had no idea. Wouldn't know where to start. Ex-library too, huh? I've tried listing a few from time to time, but I really have no clue what would sell. Funny, isn't it, that we all have our little niches? I know Balogh well, though, and try to sell her whenever I can, because I just love her as author. You know about Patricia Veryan, too, right?
posted on April 30, 2001 05:07:00 PM
Hi Keziak: email me at [email protected] and I will send you a list of what sells in childrens' . I too am amazed. I have a book ex library "witch" book selling for $ 28.00 and I expect it to go higher and honest to goodness~ the buyer will often say great book even when it is fair only! They don't seem to care ~ and the one thing I have found ~ you don't have to try too hard to find hundreds of kids books that will sell ~ that's why my house is an ebay house NOT! I just got rid of 1000 books to the thrift store in town ! as my husband comes home tonight!However, it was ebay that turned me onto children's . After the auctions started slowing down on Amazon I started " studying" ebay on children's auctions and I nearly fell over ( I have about 6000 ex library children's books in my house + another 3000 at my mom's ex teacher and now not working due to an injury!) so does it ever slow down even in the summer ~ nope not for me! My sales are consistent in the children's all year except April ( tax time) and of course Christmas . Fantasy is another one that is is a consistent seller like Dragon lance series etc or of course Tolkien or Jordan ~ the high seller was a BCE s/f book that went for $ 200.00 ! my son's book so he got a cut! Even when I listed some over the Christmas holidays , they still bought and oh , oh what was I doing selling then ~ I actually bought my own books that I collect and then had to pay for them somehow.
Cheers, Suzanne and keep the books going! All Year long! What an adventure!
