posted on July 9, 2001 08:03:23 AM
I used AW until the fee's came along. I decided to abandon the service and just use Mister Lister and pay $10 a month for a website with 50 megs of space. Seemed like a good idea.. I could set up a store, use it to host me images, etc.
But I am small seller of low cost items. I only list 20-25 auctions a week at the most, sometimes none at all. I have not got the store idea going at all, procrastination I guess. Even on some of my best months, just for my ebay auctions, I would have only spent maybe $6-8 for using AW services. I am contemplating canceling my website and just use the services provided here since I could set up a store front here, etc.
What is this post about, just me venting my frustration. Also, I guess I was just curious if any other sellers here find it more cost effective to just us this service, or if having multiple services spread over the web is better for them. I know everyone is different and some people can keep track of using multiple services better than some. I just would like to hear..er...read some opinions.
posted on July 9, 2001 08:19:06 AM
Thanks! Great discussion going there.
One thing I do like about the website I pay for, STATISTICS! 73% of all hits is just image views but I have learned that Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sunday get the most hits.
posted on July 9, 2001 08:53:41 AM
Yes, I use AW. I bounced around a bit but I think there is advantage and piece of mind by "putting all your eggs in one basket". I don't think the fees here are too much, if you take advantage of all the features. Another thought, with the learning curve being what it is, it is nice to know one service in detail instead of several skin deep. sign me Happy-with-AW.
posted on July 9, 2001 09:00:34 AM
Gee, tough question...NOT! The fees are in no way supported by reliability and customer service. There are many choices out there that provide both for much less.
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posted on July 9, 2001 12:11:38 PM
atari2600
question.... can you explain how you or the statistics you cite can determine that 73% of your hits are just picture views????/ do you mean they look but don't bid?? or are jsut looking at the pic???......i can't seem to figure out how soemone can determine that the hit is just a picture view versus reading the decsription or maybe adding it to ones auctions to watch list......
posted on July 9, 2001 01:34:44 PM
If I understand the fee structure, you only pay for what you use at AW, not an ongoing monthly fee. Therefore, you might want to try using AW for a couple of months or so and see if you find it easier relative to the cost of doing it on your own.
posted on July 9, 2001 01:46:44 PM
Buster, the way the reports work on my website is they have a breakdown of all types of stats. You can see who referred someone, what server they are on, which docs they accessed and whether or not they used a search engine to find you. It breaks it down by day and hour. You can even get "sample" trails followed, the ranking of starting and exit pages etc.
In other words, more than anyone in their right mind would ever care to know!
posted on July 9, 2001 01:51:38 PM
I'm an AW "Happy Camper"...I especially appreciate how easy it is to do what I want. Plus, whenever I've had a question, I've gotten timely and useful info from moderators...well worth the fee (although free WAS better!)
Atari...I'm also strictly a "small-time" seller and I like the fact that I pay for what I use...These folks who sell upwards of 1000 items a week boggle my mind!
[ edited by blueyes29 on Jul 9, 2001 01:53 PM ]
posted on July 9, 2001 02:06:10 PM
I do not use pictures and Mister Lister has greatly improved, so I have absolutely no reason to use AW. I suppose some folks might find it worthwhile if they aren't technically inclined.
posted on July 9, 2001 02:18:53 PM
I use Auction Manager Pro and it is the best tool available. Cheap at the price! I have never had a problem, and listing is as easy as it gets.
Susan (swoose on eBay)
posted on July 9, 2001 02:27:52 PM
I used AW for the last few auctions I did, I like it - but I think I will wait until they are able to break insurance out in the WBN's before I use it again - My bidders were very confused by the form to fill out - some won multiple items, some wanted insurance, some didn't and one user couldn't even ready the WBN email. I think AW has great potential, but it still needs a few tweaks before I can use it full time.
posted on July 9, 2001 02:31:38 PM
Being technically inclined or not has no bearing on the use of AW. It's EASE. It's worth my time to pay the small AW fees than to spend my own valuable time doing all the grunt work.
As for not using pictures -- I am very hard pressed to bid on anything that does not have a picture. Just a personal preference.
posted on July 9, 2001 04:19:40 PM
I signed up and checked it but found nothing there to be useful. Haven't found any useful auction service anywhere else either.
I suppose if you don't know how to use HTML, FTP image protocol, or MS outlook Express, then it might be of some use.
With a cable connection, I'm looking into using my PC to host my own pictures.
posted on July 9, 2001 06:03:13 PM
I suppose I =could= do every little thing myself, but why should when AW is so easy to use and inexpensive?
I don't use their WBN system, because I prefer what I get with EBud and I don't want to send people to another site to fill out information. But other than that, I have found AW extremely convenient and worth its cost to me.
I am not a large seller, but if I were, the convenience and speed factor would be even more important.
posted on July 9, 2001 08:15:37 PM
Before AW I did auctions the old fashioned way uploaded to my AOL FT space, and when I ran out of room there I opened an account with Free Yellow. I went on to use AW until they instituted the fees. Since then I've gone back to using Mr. Lister and auctiontamer. But I do miss the ease of uploading AW. I did not use their post auction program. I just can't see the point of paying fees for something I don't use and especially when I can do it myself. Besides, I'm being fee'd to death! I pay a $9.99/mo fee for my ecommerce website (adaptive.net), $24 for mc/visa plus discount fees, $37 to Abebooks for my books, ebay fees, paypal fees, billpoint fees, Endicia postage fees. My products are not big ticket items and are mostly under $10 and I want to preserve what profit I get. Besides, I think learned something important when I learned how to insert jpgs into auctions, and use basic html, it was an education. And I would never have learned any of that had it not been for my passion of selling on auction sites. So now it's back to basics for me.
[ edited by jemsnjools on Jul 9, 2001 08:19 PM ]
posted on July 10, 2001 08:22:09 AM
Bustervein, my site statistics works the same as sugar2912, more info than anyone needs. I have all my images stored in a folder. That particular folder has been accessed 73% of the total. Most of the others are me. I do not believe people are actually going to the site. It is just ebay views from my auctions.
