posted on June 10, 2001 12:18:20 AM
Hello! I have been selling on ebay for about 2 years, with a feedback of around 600.
Recently I decided to start a new seller ID. I plan to use the old one to sell certain things that I can list during the daytime (when the kids are napping! LOL) and things that I have repeat customers looking my ID up to find these items. The other, new ID, I plan to use when I'm listing at odd times (like now, at 2 in the morning) and will use the AuctionWatch system to launch my auctions.
I figured it would be easiest to seperate my auctions this way, so when I relist something I'll know if it was launched from AW or not.
I have been formatting my auctions (wording, etc) exactly the same way. I'm not listing competitive items against myself, though. Each ID has it's own "category".
OK, I mentioned to a friend that I was doing this to make things easier on me, and she said I need to make the auctions appear much different from each other, so that someone doesn't "catch on' that I've got the 2 IDs.
It doesn't matter to me if someone realizes I'm the same person. But, does it appear sneaky somehow, for whatever reason?
Just wondering what some other ebay-ers might think. I know several of you have second IDs that you use for buying... I was just wondering if any of you have that second ID for selling too?
posted on June 10, 2001 12:29:11 AM
I know sellers on eBay that have several user ID's according to what they sell. One poster on AW has a different ID for different types of clothing, one for childrens, one for petite, one for X-large etc. Nothing wrong with that at all, & a good idea too.
Edited to add, I don't, I have enough trouble keeping track of one.
[ edited by mcjane on Jun 10, 2001 12:32 AM ]
posted on June 10, 2001 12:37:33 AM
I think that having more than one ID for selling is far more common than most people realize. You're certainly not the only person who doesn't want the (children/spouse/parents/friends/psychiatrist/employer/head waiter/neighbors/certain customers/parson/fill-in-the-blank here) knowing all their business!
eBay doesn't have a problem with sellers having multiple ID's so long as the accounts have no interaction with each other. There's no legit reason why anyone else should care, and there probably won't be any problem with the wording being similar. With the incredible number of auctions currently running on eBay, I don't think Sherlock Holmes could make a connection between winky-blinky selling porn in the adult section and Ma Kettle selling gold rings in the jewelry!
It would not deter me as a buyer....most of the jewelry folks I have bought from use seperate ID's to separate their jewelry types as well as, with some of the larger ones, assigning different sales reps to the different ID's.
As a businessman, I see it the same way a corporation having different divisions or "DBA"'s....
Contrary to the advice you've received, I would encourage you, if you have a readily identifiable auction template and style, to continue using the recognition that you have with your customers to build your new seller ID...
Betcha didn't know the McDonalds in Odessa, Ukraine looks just like the one in my hometown....I know because my apartment there looked right down on the only one there....food tasted the same too, although there were some decidedly Ukranian dishes on the menu
Reading that darn Cyrillic menu was a challenge though...thank God for pictures of the food!
posted on June 10, 2001 12:54:25 AM
Would it be wise to put a link to my other seller's ID in each auction? Let the customers know right up front that both are me, and that they can save on shipping by winning bids from either auction ID?
posted on June 10, 2001 04:33:26 AM
Canton - I have one ID with lots of feedback, and when I started a new one to sell different type items, I put a link in the new auctions to the feedback of the original ID, so bidders could see my feedback and feel more comfortable bidding. Different ID's are just different "branches" of your business. You can relate them to each other or keep them separate, as fits your needs.
posted on June 10, 2001 05:06:55 AM
I think multiple seller IDs is a good idea myself. I'll look at the seller's feedback and sometimes I'll click on a recently closed auction or look at their other auctions. A seller specializing in fishing lures will get more attention from me than a seller selling fishing lures, beanie babies, and weight loss pills.
Each ID has it's own "category".
