lifesablur
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posted on June 11, 2001 05:28:27 PM
How will eBay Storefronts hurt or help the small sellers?
Opinions?
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insightwatcher
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posted on June 11, 2001 05:37:09 PM
When is it suppose to start? I haven't seen anything about it, beyond this board.
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wbbell
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posted on June 11, 2001 06:40:04 PM
http://www.auctionwatch.com/mesg/read.html?num=2&thread=383183
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packer
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posted on June 11, 2001 06:45:14 PM
OK, I give up.
Whats a storefront and just what is it suppose to do?
I haven't had a whole lot of time to check it out so maybe someone can give me the abbreviated version.
Thank you,
packer
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wbbell
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posted on June 11, 2001 07:04:44 PM
It is very similar to the amazon zShops and to the AW Storefronts.
An example shows it better than I can describe it: http://www.ebaystores.com/id=822296
The cost is $9.95 per month plus 5 cents per line. (Whether that is line per month or line per week/day/? is unknown to me.)
The other thread I cited has copies of the eBay information provided to the beta users of storefronts.
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packer
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posted on June 11, 2001 07:10:46 PM
Well I certainly don't see much difference in that then in the "view my other items" on the auction page.
And they pay EXTRA for that?
What a joke!
packer
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Microbes
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posted on June 11, 2001 07:20:53 PM
packer
Couldn't agree more. Much ta-do about NOTHING. I was thinking that MAYBE it would be something I would use for certain items, but...
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capotasto
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posted on June 11, 2001 07:25:54 PM
That's nothing but a listing of his BIN auctions!
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Microbes
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posted on June 11, 2001 07:44:10 PM
Yup, a list of BIN items. So they want you to pay 9.95 a month, plus a nickle a item to have 2 sellers lists...
Wanna' to bet the "Free while promotion lasts" BIN option disapears? Wanna' bet the only way to use BIN is going to be signing up for a "storefront". That's the ONLY way they will get anyone to use this, and even then, they won't get many takers. I've used BIN on some items, but I can do with out it if that's what they are up to.
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wbbell
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posted on June 11, 2001 08:19:57 PM
Very astute, Microbes. We've all been waiting for the time that they'd charge for BIN, and here it is on a silver platter.
There has to be some component of this that we're missing. If these storefronts do not have some sort of auto-relist or inventory decrement feature (like zShops) then this really is nothing more than a glorified seller list.
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Microbes
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posted on June 11, 2001 08:34:53 PM
wbbell, The nickle I wouldn't mind, it's the $9.95 a month that I don't like. What's the official "roll out" date on "store fronts"....
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morgantown
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posted on June 11, 2001 08:38:42 PM
I am going to make soooo much money when the store fronts open!
So many sellers will try [move their stock] store fronts out with INFLATED prices. My auctions are going to look better than ever - super attractive!
Bring on the Store Fronts!
MTown
ubb
[ edited by morgantown on Jun 11, 2001 08:39 PM ]
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pumpkinhead
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posted on June 11, 2001 08:40:30 PM
Geez, Not sure what I expected, but I certainly didnt expect that. What a joke...What are they thinking!
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Microbes
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posted on June 11, 2001 08:46:10 PM
This isn't going to hurt any of us. All it's going to do is you will see LESS BIN auctions.
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hwahwahwahwa
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posted on June 11, 2001 08:52:20 PM
a nickel per item per month,cheaper than auction listing fee of 30 cents to ???
but this is not going to scarce yahoo or amzn?
ebay programmers must be on special leave of absence
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Microbes
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posted on June 11, 2001 09:10:03 PM
wbbell:
Want another astute thought?
1. Ebay TRYED to make any buyer that wanted to use BIN to file a credit card. Buyers raised holy heck about it and they finaly backed off, but they TRYED.
2. In order to have a store front, a seller is "required" to take credit cards. Think the two ideas where some how linked?
3. in another thread jereth (who is one of ebays largest volume dealers) said:
"FYI to the curious, we were not asked to participate in the Pilot Program for eBay Stores. Probably has a lot to do with our unwillingness to accept Billpoint (or any other type of Credit Card, other than PayPal)."
Do you think that maybe eBay is also trying to FORCE as much of the money in the "store fronts" thru "billpoint" (their very own CC payment service) as they can?
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whynot
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posted on June 11, 2001 09:20:04 PM
eBay storefronts should be a HUGE success as long as eBay nakes sure the requirements are tight. For example they state the merchant must accept credit cards. I assume that means they want to see a merchant account in place.
The feature is pointed at sellers who are businesses, thats what storefronts are for. Private sellers dont set up storefronts, those that would say at Bigshow.com or even AW would be crazy. Try explaining to your state authorities that yur not a business yet have web storefronts. Wont fly. George Bush has set paths in motion on web sales now to begin with that over the next 2-4 years gonna be alot of unhappy campers out there who thought they were just making some extra money and really set themselves up to loose alot more than they ever gained.
From the brief news story at AW it clearly appears the shops are directed at legitimate businesses who I presume can prove their legitimacy. Will that affect private sellers?
Absolutely.
There has been a trend going on for years of buyers stepping away from non-business sellers as thats where many of them get sniped. On the other side of the coin for businesses its a real blessing and should get eBay revenues sky-rocketing as real businesses utilize it as real business has real policies. Real return policies, and factors of legitimacy. You MUCH more likely to be taken on the web by a private seller than a bonified business. Lots of sellers "act" like they are businesses but are not.
I think its wonderful and its the next logical step for ebay to make in A. Curbing even more fraud and giving buyers the option of knowing with no doubts they are working with business, paying by credit card and all their rights are fully in place.
Hopefully the shops will be feature rich as we cant wait to get started.
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wbbell
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posted on June 11, 2001 09:21:46 PM
Uggg, Microbes, we're way too jaded... 
I am going to keep a wait and see attitude until they have full rollout of the storefront. I just can't imagine that many people will pay $9.95/mo for version III of "view sellers other auctions".
I was hoping the store would be more like ... well, a store where you can have inventory to some degree and sell things in a shopping cart type setting. This store concept, as it exists today, is just another regurgitation of data already present in eBay with nothing new added.
One thing seems very clear in all this: there is no shortage of creative minds at eBay to come up with new ways to separate us from our money.
How does that saying go ... resistance is futile ... you will all be assimilated...
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tomwiii
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posted on June 11, 2001 09:26:55 PM
PLEASE NOTE: the acceptance of credit cards DOES NOT equate into MERCHANT ACCOUNTS! All eBay is requiring of Storefront owners is that they accept...
you guessed it...
BillPoint!
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tomwiii
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posted on June 11, 2001 09:30:10 PM
This whole thing is merely a pi**ing contest between Meg & Jeff!
Jeff yanked on her undies a few mos ago with the Amazon Marketplace -- a direct assualt on Half-assed.com!
Meg is just returning the favor with this goose to Jeff's nethers as a way of saying: "Stay out of our baliwack!"
OTOH: I'm usually talking through my hat!
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whynot
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posted on June 11, 2001 09:35:59 PM
As an addendum if eBay requires Billpoint usage then we'll have to review that. Either way we'll sure give it a go.
Its a very smart move for eBay. They can now attract small, moderate and even large businesses into the site. Businesses (brick and morter) dont understand auctions nor do they like to deal with all the various hassles of person to person points of sale. Yet they DO want on the web.
Storefronts they do understand. Getting traffic to come to a web storefront again they dont understand. eBay has loads of traffic inbound and from what I see at $9.95 a month + .05 a listing (assumed a month run x quantity) thats REAL REAL cheap for the kind of traffic eBay can drive.
Did it work at Amazon? No. Not because the concept is wrong, the implemtation is wrong and Amazon never actively drove natural traffic at it. In fact they even limited traffic into it. eBay doesnt tend to make the mistakes others such as FairMarket and Amazon make. Why? eBay LISTENS to the core sellers especially those who are businesses. That core segment is what keeps bidders coming back and makes sure good experiences happen (for the most part).
With storefronts eBay can attract Sears, JC Pennys and just loads and loads of non-web savvy businesses of ALL sizes. eBay is doing the right thing all around as P2P sales are on the wane and have been for years. We sell at both forms of venues both person to person and business to consumers sites. The B2C sector is MUCH more lucrative now the P2P where-as 3 years ago it was the opposite.
We'd expect with eBay storefronts somewhere in the neighboorhood of 400-800% sales increases and no, it doesnt mean "fixed pricing" has to be higher than auctions. In fact I dont see why we would "up prices" at all. On the contrary, given volume and cheaper lising fee's and commissions it'd be in our best interest to go the exact opposite way and lower prices so we can do higher volume and not have to wait until auctions close for sales to be consumated.
I am very excited at the prospects.
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Microbes
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posted on June 11, 2001 10:26:37 PM
whynot
>eBay has loads of traffic inbound and from what I see at $9.95 a month + .05 a listing <
The information link isn't open yet, but my bet is it's going to be 9.95 + .05 + it has to be also listed as an auction.
My thought is Ebay isn't going to let people list items for JUST that nickle (if they do, I'll take a VERY hard look at it, I'm paying 3.30 a pop to list a lot of my stuff)
We'll know soon, but I think it's just glorified BIN.
Sears and JC Penny's? Why would companies with VERY well known names like this need to use eBay to get web traffic? If I (or anyone else)wants to see what they have to offer, we go look. They are EASY to find on the net. Try sears.com. There is a heck of a e-store there. Why would they give eBay a "cut".
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eSeller004
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posted on June 12, 2001 05:42:34 AM
Even though I don't like the look of Storefronts currently, you can look at them as 1 large Choice auction. Why eBay doesn't allow Choice auctions is beyond me! They're the best type of auction for sell-through IMO! Maybe you don't like what you see on my auction page enough to bid, but if I can convince you to enter my Storefront where I offer so many other types of widgets maybe one will capture your fancy and generate a sale. Heck, if I offer a 10% discount on any Storefront item, maybe you'll buy more than 1! Hey if I offer FREE shipping on orders over $75, maybe you'll load up your cart!!! Or how about buy 3 items and get the 4th FREE! All sorts of retailer games you can play once you convince a person to visit. 
P.S. The majority of Storefront items are going to be marked up offering tremendous profits no matter what games you want to play. Check out any Yahoo or ZShops store and look at the prices to see this phenomenon. Don't know why this is but maybe when you don't see direct competition (i.e. many other auctions on the same page) you try to milk every penny out of a sale. Your Storefront is like a little isolated world unto itself once someone enters. No real competition for auctions since that will be where the really fantastic deals will be found! Storefonts will be more of a haven for the instant gratification crowd.
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celebrityskin
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posted on June 12, 2001 05:57:54 AM
wbbell:
All I see if basically links to auctions from that "store" ya gave us.
Is that it?
Can you have items in your store that are not up for auction?
Can your store items stay up there forever... or is there a set time like auctions?
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eSeller004
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posted on June 12, 2001 06:02:40 AM
whynot,
Great points, however, any joker will be able to setup a Storefront as you can an Amazon ZShop or Yahoo shop today. All it takes is a few bucks and meeting very limited requirements. It's virtually no different than the thousands of individuals (non-businesses) selling millions/billions of items on Half/Amazon Marketplace/eBay/Yahoo/etc. today. All the Storefront will be is a centralized location to list your wares. Dealing with the IRS is a separate issue that won't come into play until eBay and these other venues start reporting our selling activities, which they're fighting not to do.
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kolonel22
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posted on June 12, 2001 06:13:52 AM
One small item you’re all over looking. Storefronts will have a Final value fee ranging from 5 percent to 1.25 percent based on selling price as well as the per line listing fee.
To encourage seller adoption eBay is offering a free trial period, charging only final value fees until September 1, 2001.
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eSeller004
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posted on June 12, 2001 06:29:22 AM
Yikes, kolonel, thanks for pointing that out!  That certainly throws a wrinkle into things! However, 1 to 5% isn't much compared to the way they gouge us at Half.com ---- 15% FVF!!!  However, a lot of us still do make nice profits at Half. Storefront sellers will have to jack up prices to offset the nefarious fees. Very little competition for auctioneers!
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zymo
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posted on June 12, 2001 06:29:59 AM
bump
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nefish
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posted on June 12, 2001 06:38:23 AM
then this really is nothing more than a glorified seller list.
Exactly! What a let-down. I thought the Store Fronts would be much more visually appealing - it just looks like a seller list! How lame.
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deco100
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posted on June 12, 2001 06:41:36 AM
Celebrity, what I got out of it from reading the other thread, and bear in mind I have not read all the ebay fine print yet is this: The storefronts will replace your About Me page, you can have both your auctions and your fixed price merchandise there. makes it sound like you still pay your regular auction fees plus the $9.95 a month for the storefront plus 5 cents a month for anything (each item)on your storefront page plus FVF for any sales at either auction or storefront.
The concensus on Billpoint is still out but we all know that's the way they want to go.
My mother always taught me there would be legal ways to steal and she was right. What this will do for the small seller remains to be seen. I for one, think I should go back into the pawn shop business, it was more honest and the rules didn't change monthly.
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