posted on September 27, 2001 03:35:50 PM
First let me say hello to everyone on the board. I've known about auction watch for a while but never took the time to get into the message board... This seems to be the best discussion board about eBay I've seen yet....
My question is regarding ebay & half.com
I'm an ebay gold powerseller and do about $60,000-$90,000 of sales/month, and run about 20,000 auctions/month and close about 25% of my auctions with a sale, so I'm pretty familiar with ebay. However, I am considering expanding my business onto half.com. The product I sell is magazine subscriptions, which would seem to me to be a perfect item for half.com.
Does anyone on this board make a living by selling on half.com?
Any big downsides to half.com? (Other than the 15% FVF)
Can you keep your item up there forever until you run out? (I have an unlimited supply)
posted on September 27, 2001 03:44:49 PM
Hello Midwest Magazines,
I have used half.com for about a year to sell books and I have had good success. It sounds like you have a great product so your sales will probably be excellent.
I've not had a single non-paying bidder because the winning bidder pays directly to half.com and then half.com notifies you that you are all set to ship.
You can list your items on half.com and leave them up there forever.
I do not make a living using it, but my experience has been excellent and much more trouble free than eBay.
P.S. How can I find out about selling the magazine subscriptions like you?! I've been selling on eBay since 1998 and my sales don't look anything like yours. Please email me at [email protected] if you can share some info with me. Thanks!
posted on September 27, 2001 04:18:44 PM
While I no way do the volume of business you do, I do derive my income selling primarily on Half.com. I sell books and make a fairly comfortable living doing it.
Like eBay, Half.com has its good points and its bad points.
THE GOOD POINTS ARE:
1. There are no NPB. Once you sell an item it is sold and charged to the buyers credit card. I have had little or no charge backs so this is not even a concern for me at all.
If you deliver what you advertise there shouldn't be a problem.
2. You get paid by Half.com twice a month, not the buyer. There is no collecting, sending reminders, filing NPB forms or FVFs. I use their direct deposit option and have always been paid like clockwork.
3. Your items says listed indefinitely until they sell. No 3,5,7, or 10 day limits.
4. You don’t get charged the 15% until your item sells. So while 15% maybe a bit high it is for sales made not items listed.
5. If you’re a big enough seller you are assigned a personal representative that is there to assist you. Similar to being a power seller. Most people are not aware this is done on Half.com. You get their private e-mail address and phone number.
6. You don’t pay for special listing options because there isn't any. So your not forking out money for things like; featured auctions, Bold titles, gallery pictures, high-lighted titles, etc.
DOWNSIDE
1. Buyers can leave you negative feedback and you can not respond to it at all. In some cases if you’re a big enough seller and you get neg'd you can contact your personal representative and they do have the ability to remove feedback if they feel the feedback is not justified.
I personally feel that not being able to respond to feedback is the biggest downside they have.
2. There is a 15% FVF so to speak for using there service.
3. No customer service or support phone numbers to call (unless you are a volumne seller) All problems are handled through e-mail through their site. Similar to ebay.
Overall I really like Half.com. It make me a living and I am thankful for that
Maybe some other Half.com sellers can add their thought positive and negative for your consideration
posted on September 27, 2001 04:32:16 PM
I use ebay and half and like half leaps and bounds over ebay. The 15% "FVF" is well worth not having to pay listing fees on an unsold item AND there are NO "non-payers". Half makes money when you make money, what an original idea! The only drawbacks are the "feedback system" (buyer only, no way to respond) and there is nothing to stop a person from saying "I never got the item". I use to have this problem on ebay but I since I have used delivery conformation on ALL my items I have not had a single "I never got that". I would like to give the buyer the option to purchase conformation or insurance. I can prove an item was sent, but after that it is out of my hands.
posted on September 27, 2001 04:49:33 PM
Half. is very slow to respond to problems.
Kolonel How do you find out about that private Rep.? Did they just notify you or did you have to stumble on it yourself? Do you know what the level of sales is?
posted on September 27, 2001 04:56:38 PM
midwestmagazines,
I'm sorry that I had to delete your post for being promotional. I know someone asked you a question that you felt obligated to answer, but responding in email may be more appropriate.
posted on September 27, 2001 05:04:31 PM
"Half. is very slow to respond to problems." At least they respond, ebay could care less when you get ripped off. Half takes the risk, not the buyer....
posted on September 27, 2001 05:15:06 PM
spittingcamel,
I was contacted by e-mail by what's called an Account Acquisition Manager. In my case it is a female. She gave me her private e-mail address, phone number and fax number as well as their complete mailing address.
This happened once my book listings exceeded 4,000. I don't know if that is the "magic number" or not but that was more or less when I heard from them.
I kind of knew this info might open a can of worms and didn't know if I should let the cat out of the bag so to speak. But I am sure there are other large volume sellers on Half.com that read AW and are very aware of this service.
Unfortunately Half.com does not have any phone numbers or customer service numbers the general public can call. Thinking about that I should have listed that as a negative as well. That would be my #3.
posted on September 27, 2001 05:29:51 PM
The biggest downside to half is that you have to wait for weeks to get your money. They issue payments only twice per month. I wonder if the larger sellers get their money quicker than this?
posted on September 27, 2001 05:58:11 PM
I waited a very long time to use Half. It's extremely impersonal--it relegates the seller to just being an order filler in the most anonymous fashion. One of the nice things about eBay is that you can interact with your customers even if it is somewhat limited.
The advantage of half is that it is very efficient. No fancy auctions, no pix to upload. While it would be nice to get paid more often, you aren't trying to collect either. My average price is higher too.
It takes about three months to build up sales. People buy once you get some feedback which is much harder to come by on Half-mine is only about 30% of my total sales.
You need to use both eBay and Half. Sometimes more people seem to buying in one or the other.
posted on September 28, 2001 06:48:16 AM
I sell trading cards, and except for the rarer and more valuable cards, its not worth the time of listing those on Ebay except in complete sets (ie. complete common set from a set of cards).
Back in June I discovered half.com and started listing Pokemon cards there - and I was making sales! My half.com sales were outpacing ebay some weeks. I've started listing Harry Potter there this month, and again LOTS of sales.. I'm going to have about $100 coming to me from half.com this month - my best month ever there.
One more downside - S/H is assigned per item - so if someone buys 10 items from you in one order, they get charged S/H for each item. I've been refunding the excess back to them in their shipments - and they've started coming BACK to my half.com listings for more sales.. THIS I like.
Another downside - can't search for a specific seller - only by item. I have a link direct to my listings in my Ebay listings, but don't know if I've gotten any sales that way or not.
But for very low-end $ items ($1 and less) - half.com is just terrific... I'm up to about 182 items, and plan on increasing that up to about 1000 over the next few months with more commons & uncommons from various Pokemon sets.
posted on September 28, 2001 11:41:50 AM
Everyone,
Thanks for all the great help regarding Half.com!
You seemed to answer most all of my questions, except the following...
1) There doesn't seem to be a category for magazine subscriptions. Where would I list them?
2) Also, half.com seems to have a deal set up with magazineoutlet.com. Will their agreement hinder my efforts, or stop them altogether?
3) You say there is shipping assigned to all items. Since my magazines require no shipping, can I not charge shipping, or can I call it a handling/processing fee?
4) Since I have no shipping costs, will I still get reimbursed for shipping?
5) You said you "Linked your half.com items in your ebay auctions". Does ebay allow this?
Thanks for all the prompt and wonderful responses.
posted on September 28, 2001 11:54:51 AM
Let me answer the ones I'm sure about:
#3 - you can put a S/H fee of 0.00 and receive no shipping fees per item. I know with books you get a flat fee reimbursement from half.com, with other categories like trading cards you can set your own shipping fees.
#4 - If you list in a category other than books, and put a S/H fee of 0.00, you'll get no reimbursement.
#5 - Per Ebay's link policy - What links may I have on my View Item page?
You may have one link to a page that further describes the item being sold in that listing, links to your eBay or Half.com listings, one link to your About Me page (in addition to the About Me icon already provided by eBay) and links that provide credits to third parties.
Now the ones I'm not sure about:
#1 There is now a category for "everything else" - but I'm not sure if that allows you to literally list ANYTHING else or not.
#2 - I don't know anything about that magazineoutlet deal either.
