posted on August 3, 2001 06:54:54 AM new
What is the fixation that some sellers have with wanting everything for free?
You hear it every day.
Why shoud I pay to list?
Why shoud I pay commission?
Why shoud I pay for picture hosting?
Why shoud I pay for boxes and packing?
Why shoud I pay for delivery?
Why shoud I pay for advertise?
Why shoud I pay for a website?
Why shoud I pay for credit card facilities.
On and on it goes.
The answer is simple. You are conducting a commercial enterprise in a commercial world.
Commerce is about making money.
The commercial enterprises who provide those services, provide them, at a charge, to make money for themselves and their stockholders.
In a brick and mortar business, the questions listed are all day to day business expenses.
The Internet is no different. Services have to be paid for or else they will cease to exist.
Shop around for the services that provide you with what you want at a price that gives value for money, but forget about free. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
If you can't operate without being spoon fed then commerce isn't for you.
The sooner that Internet based service provision companies can operate at a profit to themselves, the sooner the Internet will live up to its promise of being the worlds greatest centre for commerce and the better off we'll all be.
I've been wanting to say that for a while!
Thanks.
posted on August 3, 2001 07:17:42 AM new
I'll add a "well said" to that also.
I'll admit, when there where lots of "free picture hosts" out there, I took advantage of it(why not), but I saw that tumble down, and went "shopping" and found what I think is a good deal. Not free, but a good value for the money. And I don't have to worry that my auctions will have little red X's instead of pictures.
posted on August 3, 2001 07:36:15 AM newWhy pay for pic hosting if your ISP does it free?
If they give you enough space, don't have bandwidth limits, and the connection is quick, no reason at all. The isp I used to be with only gave 2 megs. The one I'm with now has a bandwidth limit that I am afraid I'd go over. Better for me to pay the (small to my mind) fee I pay.
posted on August 3, 2001 07:40:40 AM new
Ah, but we live in the age of cost-cutting and value... corporations left and right are trimming fat while scavenging through the remains of free-spending dot coms.
We all must learn to distinguish legitimate, necessary expenses from fluff.
If you're already paying for a web site, you don't need to pay for separate picture hosting.
If your ISP gives you free web space (most do), you don't need to pay for separate picture hosting.
For some of us, there's no need to pay for most listing services either (outside of Vrane's valuable -- and extremely reasonable in price -- relisting feature. My sales have not fallen since I dropped AW and designed my own templates.
If you have a web site, there's plenty of free advertising available to promote it.
The key is to learn all you can about what's available to you.
Knowledge equals power -- and money (in your own pocket, not someone else's).
posted on August 3, 2001 07:54:03 AM new
Besides your own ISP you can probably find some place that lets you have space for free, I don't know the names, but I've heard them. Where a lot of folks have free websites?
Learning ftp looks like it may be hard, but its really easy once you've done it a couple times, I really like having my own ftp and not rely on a third party to host my pictures.
posted on August 3, 2001 08:10:33 AM new
My ISP doesn't allow you to use it as a picture host.
I had a website that I was paying $10 a month for. But, I am such a small seller (15-20 items a week)that when I did the math, I would save 3-4 bucks a month just using AW's service. So I moved back. AW also has a storefront in which I actually sold something from the other day! New customer, too.
I stopped taking PayPal because the fee's were too much. Most of my stuff sells for less than $15 so Billpoint is a better deal.
I pay to list, I have no problem with it. I understand that business is about making money( though some of my competitors sell so cheap, I can't imangine they make a profit but that's another story). Listing and FVF's for the amount of traffic I get is worth it, I believe.
I use the free Priority boxes but I buy bubble wrap, peanuts, labels, tape. And I charge a handling fee.
posted on August 3, 2001 08:26:00 AM new
Our family has turned our computers into our own mini-network allowing me to self-host my own pictures. We are in the process of upgrading from a 4-port to 8-port system so I will have a dedicated server for picture hosting. Since we're already paying for the internet connection, I'm not having to spend any EXTRA to get my own pictures up. Don't have to worry about a 3rd party service crashing and I have complete control over my pictures at all times. Very nice.
I agree that vrane is a GREAT service! I absolutely love their relisting service, their counters, and their sales reports. Great way to get an idea of how things are going (or not going) and they supplement my own reports very nicely.
I use mister lister to list (free), vrane to relist (reasonable fee for the time savings), Excel and freeware accounting software for tracking - do all my own EOA notices, invoicing, etc. My expenses are mostly Ebay fees and Billpoint/Paypal fees, but these are costs of doing business that I accept because the buyers want them.
I also agree that there is nothing wrong with finding free or low cost sources when you can. I get my popcorn peanuts from the comic store we play Pokemon at. I recycle and reuse ALL the boxes and bubble mailers I can from incoming purchases.
For marketing, I have iprint.com address labels for all my packages and vistaprint.com business cards to include with my shipments. Don't know if they've HELPED any, but they are low cost methods of advertising to my customers and keep them coming back for more.
