forceten32
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posted on October 7, 2001 12:53:23 PM new
I have three IDs selling DVDs on Ebay, one of which is a powerseller. Neither of the other two sell anything that the powerseller doesn't. The question is, am I creating my own competition, diluting the bidding and keeping prices low; or do the other IDs just get swallowed up in a sea of auctions, and do not affect the powerseller's potential one way or the other?
I've pondered this for awhile and just don't have a feel for it.
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Eventer
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posted on October 7, 2001 01:18:28 PM new
Well, the answer to all of this could be, "yes".
Some people don't like to buy from powersellers, thinking they are too big and impersonal. Others do like to buy from powersellers, thinking they must be pretty reliable. So you are possibly capturing the best of both worlds w/secondary IDs.
Why not try selling the same item at the same time, one on the PS ID and one on the other ID & see if there's any difference in ending price..could be an interesting experiment.
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torley
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posted on October 7, 2001 01:29:48 PM new
it never makes sense to me why someone would sell under more than 1 ID?
What is the benefit of this?
What are you selling under one,that you can't under the other?
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forceten32
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posted on October 7, 2001 01:32:25 PM new
Hi Eventer -
Great minds think alike. I did that. It's had mixed results. The only conclusion I reached was I am not selling as much as before but then nobody is.
This is a tough one to be definite about. You're sure right about some people preferring the smaller seller. But those are usually looking for used DVDs and I don't handle that market anyway.
Thanks for replying. Interesting perspective.
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forceten32
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posted on October 7, 2001 01:45:43 PM new
That a good question, turley. I did it because in my experience, you can't sell the Mona Lisa if you list two of them.
If you present to the buyer two of the same product side by side, you are definitely going to keep the ending bid price down, obviously. And also it makes it seem like you may have a lot of these things. One of the reasons people go to auctions is the feeling of victory they get when they isolate a solid "bargain."
And my thinking was that there are 2000 other people selling against me so I might as well make it 2001.
But then I could be wrong. Hence my posting here.
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Eventer
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posted on October 7, 2001 02:16:27 PM new
forceten32,
I once did something similar but under the same ID. I put the same item in different categories to see which brought the better price.
Many people use several IDs. If there's no difference in price, then you might consider using them to specialize..say one has used & the other has new. Or to end at different times.
The only conclusion I reached was I am not selling as much as before but then nobody is.
LOL! Isn't that the truth! 
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wbbell
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posted on October 7, 2001 02:17:19 PM new
It's precedented for a company to compete against itself. How many brands of laundy detergent does Procter & Gamble sell?
Every sale that you make, regardless of which ID sold it, is one more that didn't go to the other guy. That is one way you can think about it.
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forceten32
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posted on October 7, 2001 02:37:12 PM new
wbbell & eventer -
I agree with the posts of both you ladies/gentlemen. I guess I was getting a bit gunshy looking for reasons for sales being off, so I started blaming myself.
The concept that any sale that goes to me obviously doesn't got to someone else is valid of course. I just didn't want the possibility of killing off the profit in the sales increase.
I know I sell more. The question in my mind was always profit margin.
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wbbell
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posted on October 7, 2001 05:50:19 PM new
I haven't checked but I assume there are many people selling DVDs. So they just shop by the "going, going, gone", and knowing that, it can help to have several sales going concurrently and ending different days, so you capture every day someone might be shopping. Having different IDs will prevent you from getting NARUed due to category spamming.
In a few categories such as DVDs, unless you are selling really rare ones, you probably only get one bid and so you should be starting your bid at a level such that you get acceptable profit. I assume you are doing that...
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criterion1
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posted on October 7, 2001 06:40:54 PM new
(criterion1/forceten32 same guy.)
Well, I do on most items and break even on well known leaders. Most definitely in times like these when the bidding is ugly, I raise the initial bid, not lower it as some are doing.
In most categories, these aren't auctions anymore. They're sales. Set your price and hope for a buyer. If a person is broke or out of work, there isn't an opening bid low enough. If they are still working, they will buy it if they want it.
I think I make more money on fewer sales sold directly (not through those damn storefronts either.)
But then I wouldn't have those direct sales without the auctions. And with more IDs I get greater exposure. Which leads to more direct sales.
I guess I'm answering my own question... with the help of the answerers to my query.
Thanks all.
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katiyana
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posted on October 8, 2001 07:35:56 AM new
I set up a second ID to sell under so I could offer Billpoint - made no difference in my sales or hits or anything to offer it.
Since I'm Paypal Preferred can't list Billpoint normally (although its a bit annoying when you send a BP invoice on an auction that did NOT have BP listed, it adds it.. so I need to do some editing after Power Relisting on Vrane to fix that).
[ edited by katiyana on Oct 8, 2001 07:36 AM ]
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celebrityskin
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posted on October 8, 2001 07:38:05 AM new
"In a few categories such as DVDs, unless you are selling really rare ones, you probably only get one bid and so you should be starting your bid at a level
such that you get acceptable profit. I assume you are doing that..."
I sell many DVD's and I start everything at .02. I get tons of bids!
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camachinist
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posted on October 8, 2001 07:51:28 AM new
katiyana
so I need to do some editing after Power Relisting on Vrane to fix that
So, have you been able to get into Vrane....? I haven't since last Friday...
Looks like they're down for the count...
Pat
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mrlatenite
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posted on October 8, 2001 07:54:58 AM new
[message deleted]
[ edited by mrlatenite on Oct 9, 2001 01:20 PM ]
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kgalex
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posted on October 8, 2001 08:11:07 AM new
I have 3 ebay ID's. One as a (power) seller and 2 for bidding. I don't like to buy and resell an item with the same ID, so I created the 2nd ID. Then another bidder was stalking my bidding ID (letting me do the work then bidding against me) so I came up with the second bidding ID. I change the names of my bidding ID's every 30 days or so and alternate using them for about 60 days, to keep the stalkers away. I think that the ebay bidder search stinks for this reason, but I'm sure it has its usefullness for others. And I NEVER bid on my own stuff. I consider it unethical. And, no I haven't found ebay sales down. Actually it's been the opposite. But the items I sell (primarily vintage costume jewelry) seem to appeal to an audience that has more disposable income, and to alot of non New England dealers. Because I specailize I don't think I can base the whole selling market of ebay based on my auctions.
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katiyana
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posted on October 8, 2001 08:11:21 AM new
Cama - no, I haven't. 8(
I'm debating over whether to launch new ML files to put the auctions back up there or manually relist them all.. Gotta count up how many relists I'd have.
Only 15 - shouldn't take ALL night to relist them *crossfingers*
[ edited by katiyana on Oct 8, 2001 08:12 AM ]
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forceten32
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posted on October 8, 2001 08:13:01 AM new
With sellers on Ebay, the longer you do it, the more dogmatic you become about the methods you use. I'm no exception. But when a poor economy is reflect in overall Ebay sales, you can't help but question your long-held methods. Can I change anything that might help?
Even among DVD sellers where I am, everyone has a different philosophy. One thing most agree on though is that bids do not equal profit.
I do not believe that I would compose the same auction selling in a bull market as I would today.
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celebrityskin
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posted on October 8, 2001 12:08:38 PM new
"One thing most agree on though is that bids do not equal profit."
But bids do equal traffic. And in a busy catagory like DVDs' the more times I have people coming back to MY auctions to have a look... the happier I am.
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