posted on May 24, 2001 10:58:02 AM new
I have been full time seller on eBay for over 4 years, and I beleive that the party is slowly coming to an end, eBay is banning items right and left almost daily now, mouse pads made with a movie star (or any one else's picture) are now banned, along with keychains, photo CDs, photos (even if you took the picture of the person and own it) light switch covers with celebs on them....almost anything the little dealer could produce and maybe make a few bucks with are being removed from eBay as we speak!
when they banned guns and ammo I said fine, that does not concern me, then it was fireworks & model rocket motors, I said OK that does not bother me, then it was BB guns and a host of other items, again no problem!
now it's anything and everything with the photo or likeness of anyone you don't have a model release form on...and I don't just mean celebrities. And in most cases I don't think that it was the celebs complaining...most of them have so much money they could care less if some little seller makes $5.00 on a CD with photos of them on it, or a T-Shirt Iron on of them....no it's the PC worms at eBay, they made their Billions and could care less about the little guy (who made them their Billions by the way) no they have stabbed us all in the back and have made deals with corporate giants (over 200 corporations last time i checked are in partnership with eBay)
if you are saying "well none of this concerns me. I don't sell those types of items" well hang on a while, you may be next!
posted on May 24, 2001 11:09:33 AM new
Sounds like eBay is attempting to protect the intellectual property right owners to me. Same goes with trademarks, copyrights and patent right owners. What is wrong with this and how does this only effect the small sellers?
Sounds like eBay is trying to weed out sellers who are breaking the law, not the small seller.
Why should the eBay selling platform be allowed to sell items that other selling venues can't? They shouldn't and that is why this is being done.
posted on May 24, 2001 11:26:27 AM new
here is one link of the new banned items...
I have dealt in collectibles for 3 of the 4 years that I have been on eBay, and collectibles (unles extremely rare) are dead on eBay unless of course you want to take 10 to 20% of what it's worth.
posted on May 24, 2001 11:32:56 AM new
oh and by the way, in the Spring of 1997 when i first became a seller on eBay (selling only collectibles) we sold 80 to 90% of everything we listed, how many of you can say that now? my collectible's sell now at an average rate of %10 to 20% and the prices realized are much lower than they were 4 years ago....also the deadbeat bidder rate is much, much higher than 4 years ago., at that time we were getting Maybe 1 deadbeat out of every 100 sales, now it's closer to 1 out of every 10 to 20
If things don't change, the small dealer will be a thing of the past on eBay, all we can hope is the Yahoo will pull their heads out of the sand open their eyes and see the golden opportunity that awaits them.
[ edited by tohellwithebay on May 24, 2001 11:34 AM ]
posted on May 24, 2001 11:52:48 AM new
It does little good to complain about eBay on this board. It's nice to vent frustration, but your time could be better spent contacting the various Auction venues (i.e. Amazon, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) with suggestions on ways to improve their viewership and sell-through rates and take marketshare from eBay. Offer them constructive criticism in a friendly manner and you'll be surprised by their reaction. Whether they'll take action is another thing. They might when enough folks express dissatisfaction with their current services. One of the problems might be these competing sites may not know what they're doing wrong specifically and just as important what eBay is doing wrong so that they can capitalize. It doesn't hurt to point out to them what we'd like to see and how they could improve. We can only benefit if they listen.
MSN, Yahoo, and Amazon stand to gain a lot from eBay's miscues in alienating sellers if these sites become aware of what it is that annoys us about eBay and how they could capitalize on their weaknesses. Many of these sites simply need to change a few policies and begin to promote, promote, promote, in order to drive traffic to their sites. For example, Amazon has a loyal userbase of 10-20 million people they often email targeted promotions to. That's virtually FREE marketing that they could do anytime they want. Why not promote the Auction business through a simple email campaign. Make people aware of the auction business. eBay and Half.com do it relentlessly since users tend to forget these venues exist if you don't market endlessly. There are so many other things they could do to rejuvenate their ailing auction businesses if they'd only focus.
posted on May 24, 2001 11:58:12 AM new
I too have been selling antiques & collectibles on eBay since 1997.
Am I dying, nope, just checked my pulse & I'm still alive and well.
My sell through for the past 30 days is 84%, with a total of over 4K in sales. It's actually higher, as I sold several items that didn't receive any bids to a regular customer of mine. She won a few, then took the rest as well. God bless her.
BTW - My deadbeat rate is about the same as it was in 97, approx 1 deadbeat per 100 sales.
posted on May 24, 2001 12:18:16 PM new
tohellwithebay,
For years I have sold licensed T-shirts, posters, key chains, lighters, etc. I buy them through reputable dealers. One of my frustrations is any customer that comes into my shop and brags how he got his at a flea market for hardly any money. His is usually always a fake.
I know in some areas the cops do go into flea markets and check the merchandise for authenticity. Why should ebay be any different? I am sorry if this is hurting your business but I wouldn't blame ebay.
It is a VERO issue and all the fakes do drag down the price of the authentic item.
As far as other collectibles, the items I am mostly interested in are still selling for pretty good prices. Some are much higher than last year and I wish I would have purchased them then.
Maybe I am just wasting my time saying this because when I think of all the activity under the bridges lately it is hard to know whether to respond or not.
posted on May 24, 2001 12:21:03 PM new
Lucky You Reddeer....you are in the minority, becuase most sellers on eBay have a real problem with deadbeat bidders.
posted on May 24, 2001 12:27:13 PM new
eSeller: you have some good ideas, and I will do a little letter writing to Yahoo, this board seems to be mostly eBay loyalists, so likely will not receive the real info about how they are doing on eBay, thank you for your information.
We're like you. We average a deabeat ratio of less than 1 in 100 and have since we started selling back in '98.
I believe that deabeat ratios are directly related to how well a company stays in contact with its buyers. F.U. applies. Follow up!
If a seller thinks a cryptic winning bid confirmation, which lacks inportant details and structure that is sent after an auction ends is going to get the job done, they are mistaken.
Sometimes you have to tap buyers in the butt to remind them to send their payments, as many have lives outside of their eBay purchases.
posted on May 24, 2001 12:30:55 PM new
computerboy
I believe the deadbeat ratio depends a lot on what you sell. From what I've seen over the years there are certain categories that are plagued with deadbeats [ask twinsoft] and others that seem to be almost deadbeat free.
posted on May 24, 2001 12:39:11 PM new
reddeer: you are right about that, I have noticed that highest rates of deadbeats on items I have sold have been, in the music area (including music cds) sports cards & memorabilia, Comic Books, I have had the best success with Post Cards, very few deadbeats....but even at that they have incresed by a wide margin over the last 4 plus years (for me anyway) and from what I have heard for many, many others as well.
I use an email program (and have for years, Blackthorne) and email usually within hours of the auctions end, if no email reply is received within 7 to 10 days I will email again, if no payment or email is received within 2 to 3 weeks I place a deadbeat (or the new eBay PC term "Non Paying Bidder" alert on them....and most of them still do not pay.
posted on May 24, 2001 01:27:41 PM new
reddeer,
just wanted to affirm what you posted as well.
I also started in early 1997, sell antiques and collectibles only, and my sell-through rate has always been 80% and higher. More like 85-90%...and no, I am not giving the stuff away! Deadbeats crop up occasionally, but not enough to consider it as one of my major concerns. Haven't actually measured the 1 in 100 thingy...but it is similar..sometimes 0 in 100, then 2 the next time 'round
I firmly believe IT IS what's being sold.
Not hurting yet. Some items sold through the roof when I first started, now others do better. Being adaptable is crucial (although I admit I don't like having to adapt to new eBay changes anymore than anyone else).
posted on May 24, 2001 02:17:50 PM newtohellwithebay
Don't waste your time writing to Yahoo they have never listened - it was obvious when a multitude of their sellers rose up and rebelled when fees came in, in January - not that we weren't willing to pay fees, but fees to post don't go with the way Yahoo works - it should have been FVF - if you have followed the Yahoo Board, Yahoo has lost about 70% of their sellers since January.
If sellers on eBay would rebel in the same manor they might get some attention. The rebellion on Yahoo wasn't organized, just everyone got fed up with not only the new fees, but all of the sudden Yahoo was canceling auctions right and left for TOS violations, but Yahoo doesn't tell you why, and they don't refund your money like eBay when they cancel your auction!!
Yes, Yahoo actually is the only platform that might have a chance to make an impact against eBay, but Yahoo decided instead, to commit suicide in January.
Sad.....but if eBay folks ever get their fill, there are other sites....just a matter of looking, testing, and extra work. Really, endlessly complaining here accomplishes nothing –only bad publicity and a drop in income will impact eBay.
posted on May 24, 2001 02:29:46 PM new
Best thing to do is move your auctions to one of the free sites. Many people like novelties with movie stars, and where the sellers go, the buyers go. Everything eBay bans another site will pick up. With all the corporate listings coming to ebay, it wouldent surprise me that music groups set up shop selling retail goods, and tour merchandise. The free sites are growing slowly but steadily.
posted on May 24, 2001 04:18:01 PM new
I think computerboy is correct good communiction goes a long way toword stopping deadbeats ...when I stay in close communication the sales go smoothly.
Sometimes I am called out of town ,get busy ect don't get back to buyers quickly...deadbeats go up..
Also reddeer has a good point I find when I sell items to collage age crowd..deadbeats go up.
as ebay ban's go I can understand evrything they have banned and why...no different than a good flea market..
posted on May 25, 2001 06:39:30 AM new
Ebay must realize what it is doing and obviously doesnt care or they think that they are sooooooo good that it doesn't matter. Only when sellers AND buyers start going elsewhere, will ebay feel the pain on their bottom line.
posted on May 25, 2001 07:21:18 AM new
I concur what reddeer and the others above are saying about deadbeats. It is the type of item you are selling.
I sell collectibles and antiques also, but jumped out of my category recently to sell a set of Super Nintendo remote controls we only used for maybe a half hour and then they set in the closet for five years.
They sold for $16 to a deadbeat college student. I filed NPB notice and FVF and they were eventually NARU'd. Immediately relisted them and they ended up selling for $38, so I wasn't too upset!
My deadbeat average is the same as many of you, 1 in 100.
Although, I've found my antique and collectible sales are quite slow right now. I don't know what your secret is reddeer, but I've been hesitant to list my high dollar items in fear of giving them away at cheap prices because sales are sooooo slow. Right now, out of 10 items listed, I may sell 4 or 5 first time around.
I don't like using a reserve on my items, thinking it scares away some buyers. Do you use a reserve?
Do you think it would be wise if I take the plunge to list a few of the big buck items and see how they do?
Again, it really depends what those high $ items are? Some high ticket items are selling very well, others don't seem to have any bidders? I've been selling a lot in a particular category for the past 6 months and there are MEGA bidders for these items. The majority of my repeat bidders come from this one category. [and no, I won't tell you what it is ]
I try not to use reserves, but on $100+ items I usually slap a reserve on the item. I know some people hate reserves, but I find that most times my reserves are met early on. With a reserve you can at least get a feel of where the bidding is at. If you start an item at $275, and don't get a single bid, you'll never know how high "some" bidders might have been willing to go. That info can be very important if & when you have to re-list the item.
posted on May 25, 2001 10:38:28 AM new
One advantage eBay has over the other big auction sites (MSN, Yahoo, and Amazon) is the sense of community they've fostered on the site. That's one thing the other giants should attempt to copy. MSN, Yahoo, and Amazon may be too professional for their own good. They have to find ways to make people stay close to the auction venue. Builds a core group of loyalists that you can grow. As a result eBay is a place people frequent over and over again. Meanwhile the other sites are attracting "hit and run" clientele with short memories, at best.
Now that eBay is beginning to alienate its small seller community, it's a perfect opportunity for Amazon, Yahoo, and MSN to walk in, replicate what eBay used to be, improve upon it (offer FREE e-Stores to sellers as well), and steal marketshare. Of course they need to promote, promote, promote, and then promote some more ENDLESSLY if any changes they make are going to show dramatic impact. Yahoo and Amazon have really nice site architectures but that alone isn't going to cut in on eBay's dominance if you can't attract viewership and buyers. Have to find ways to increase sell-through and the success will follow.
Months ago I contacted Yahoo about replicating eBay's Half.com service and apparently they didn't think much of the idea. Meanwhile Half.com has emerged as one of eBay's major growth drivers for the future. Hopefully under new management Yahoo will be more receptive to ideas for change. Most of these ideas for change aren't rocket science.
Have contacted Amazon recently and they seem much more receptive to ideas for change, especially when I mentioned their site is no longer worth the time, money and effort we expend in listing, although I do love the site architecture. We'll see if they make changes. If Amazon puts their mind to it they can steal eBay's marketshare. IMO they're a sleeping giant with great brand recognition, but they're underutilizing their auction, ZShops, and Marketplace venues. Marketplace could give Half.com a run for their money in the discount Fixed Price arena, but it has to be marketed more aggressively. It's surprising when these brilliant companies fumble the ball the way they do.
posted on May 25, 2001 02:58:01 PM new
>I have been full time seller on eBay for over 4 years, and I beleive that the party is slowly coming to an end, eBay is banning items right and left almost daily now, mouse pads made with a movie star (or any one else's picture) are now banned, along with keychains, photo CDs, photos....<
They may TRY to ban the items, but I am sitting here, looking at a dutch auction for Dale Earnhardt CD's, containing photos, likenesses, demo pc games, a signature and many more copyrighted items! Then the seller has the nerve to say that he has sold over 300 COPIES in the last month! This is just one of the thousands of items that are not allowed, yet continue to sell on ebay. I still see lots of mousepads being offered also, along with about a zillion different photo cds of famous people.
ebay really may have to ban just about everything before too long.
In fact, we should form a group here and petition ebay to stop allowing the resale of Beanies or something.....
I'd kinda like to know the real plan behind ebays current moves. I wonder if they do want to do away with the little guys, like me, that only send them $150.00 - $200.00 a month.
If so, so be it. If we don't make another nickel on ebay we have done pretty well in the last 3 years.
posted on May 25, 2001 10:18:28 PM new
Yup, anybody not being able to see the writing on the wall is wearing blinders! Maybe not this year but there isn't going to be much for the small sellers by next year. Now they're integrating half.com and starting storefronts and stopping the links.
Lycos is getting bids on antiques and collectibles. Epier is moving up the top 20 list. Sellyouritem and bargainandhaggle are 2 more newer ones. Time to start spreading those eggs around.
posted on May 25, 2001 10:51:14 PM new
Yes, things are slowing down in some areas. I sell CDs and videos. With the advent of Napster, CD sales went way down. They are actually coming back up a little. But that's an aside.
I knew before I started selling on Ebay fulltime (as in quitting my regular job) that my business model was not insulated against what I thought may be coming: a giant closeout mall for roughly (what was that # someone mentioned before? 200?) a few hundred major retailers/manufacturers to dump last years model etc. Ebay used the little guys/gals to build a loyal customer base or at least get their mall filled up so to speak and now all that's left to streamline it further is get rid of these pesky little people (like me)and bring the big guys in. They won't complain, take up anyone's time, they have co-op advert.dollars and hey, it's the American thing to do. It started when interstate highways knocked out all the small mom and pop businesses along the blue highways. It flourishes in every city, town, even hamlet where there's now a Home Depot, Petsmart, Mediaplay, OfficeMax etc.
I remember going to Northside Pharmacy in Atlanta and getting an egg salad sandwich and cherry limeade (fresh squeezed!) and the banter between the soda jerk and the customers (the soda jerk was slightly uh...he wasn't wrapped too tightly)and it was great. There's now a Barnes and Noble there.
Anyway, here in Cyberspace it's just a microcosm of all this. It's actually happened so fast that Ebay is one of the last active sites left that boasts of posting profits. The internet is relatively dead compared to just a year ago when Webvan
and all these other then-fledgling, now dead companies thought a revolution was afoot.
Anyway, I'm rambling so to conclude while totally changing the subject let me say that I've been in the music business (retail record store then booking agent/publicist)for 23 years. I have many friends/former clients whose CDs are being sold on Ebay in promotional copy form. These copies are meant for media, retail buyers etc. and are clearly marked "for promotional use only, not for retail sale" or similiar language. One of the biggest offenders is one of the largest volume dealers on ebay. I have never done anything like this before, but I wrote to safeharbor about this tonight. These friends that I mentioned before, in most cases, make little to no $ off their CD sales. They tour constantly and live anything but a glamorous life. Yes, there are stars whose popularity is so huge that it seemingly doesn't matter. But percolating underneath is a much larger number of artists who don't enjoy such immense profits. I think people need to understand this.
OK, I'm done...
posted on May 26, 2001 03:40:05 AM new
Then why not try a free site like Epier?
Ok, so the buyers aren't there, that's because no one gives it a chance and it's not hard to give it a chance. Listing is Free.
Feature in your category for .50 cents
Feature it for 2.50!
$5.00 credit for trying, so you get to feature $5.00 worth free.
I'm a little guy and I think Epier has potential if you copy/paste some items, worth a shot, took me about 5 minutes to load up a couple of auctions, maybe not even.
Also, I'm searching for something to buy there, to support the community of sellers already over there.
Leave a message in general chat, stating what you have, I've seen some buyers post some wants, so there going, but not finding.
Might as well scoop up a good user name too, you never know if you'll go back someday, and you'll have your ID already.
There are many categories that need filling, why not be one of the only ones there.
Check this out as well:
I sell various DJ memorabilia, equipment, and accessories. I went there yesterday morning, there was no "DJ Equipment" catagory, emailed support, went back about 15-20 min. later, there it was. I quickly went to edit my listings to move them, however it wasn't showing in the drop down cat. list, emailed again...(most likely, I just needed to wait for the refresh), but within an hour, I was able to quickly edit through MY PIER, now I'm the only one.
FREE RELIST, long auctions or short, you don't pay for extra time.
I had about 1/2 dozen unique views in a few hours. Better then Ebay.
I've been reading these boards for a few days(weeks actually) and going through the various sites, you can't really beat giving it a shot, because it's free, so why not put one item up, make your Ebay listings a dollar more or something, if you used AW Customer management or have a list of buyers that you know support you, tell them you have items on Epier too, that are less. They should be less, because your not paying anything, so drop the price a bit, turn on your buyers, and they will see the price diffrences.
You can link your Ebay feedback, NO PROBLEM, you can link you Ebay Items, NO PROBLEM, you can link you website/store, AW STORE, NO PROBLEM.
In a sense, we could turn this thread into:
The little Guys are killing Ebay!
Some of you may be there already, but I'm just throwing in my support, only because it's so easy to put some items up to see how it goes.
alert on them....and most of them still do not pay.