posted on February 22, 2004 05:09:01 PM
Can anything be more fun than looking through lots of tasty items at dirt-cheap prices?
There's sure something for everyone here. Women's, men's, teens, kids, formal wear, casual wear, urban wear. One booth has a team of guys and gals doing hip-hop continuously. This show brings buyers from the mega chains like Ross and TJMaxx as well as small local concerns and yes, eBay sellers.
eBay also has quite a presence here. Seems like no one can throw a party anywhere without eBay muscling in with its tiresome seminars. The effort is to make attendees aware of the selling opportunities on eBay, but I didn't see a lot of interest. One comment I heard several times was along the lines of "But wouldn't I be competing with my wholesaler? I can't believe he isn't already selling on eBay."
Yes, well, the vendor I bought some jewelry from here let it slip that he has a "girl" (his word, not mine) at work seven days a week listing on "the Internet". I understood that to mean eBay.
But you don't need an exclusive to make money.
I managed to restrain myself and didn't scream "I'll take three dozen!" more than a couple of times today, but tomorrow I'm gonna cut loose.
posted on February 22, 2004 06:54:40 PM
I'm jealous! I have not been to Magic in years.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on February 22, 2004 10:35:30 PM
I had a whale of a time at the show today. Took lots of notes, came back to the hotel and did some research. Hey, whaddaya know, nobody is selling anything like *that* on eBay. Huh.
Sometimes it seems like every market is oversaturated on eBay. I don't think that's necessarily the case. One notion didn't pan out: that of diabetic socks, which I hadn't heard of previously. (Diabetics are notoriously prone to circulation problems in the legs and feet, so they need non-binding socks.) There are currently more than 200 auctions for such products, so I think I'll stay away.
It was kind of funny: One of the eBay drones tried to start an argument with me over my eBay username, which is mydomain.com. "You can't have a dot-com in your username!" she barked. I told her 1)I had been on eBay for a very long time, 2) my understanding was that you couldn't use email addresses or Web addresses as your user ID, and my domain is neither of those. Nor has eBay told me I must change it.
Where do they find these people?
I didn't stay for the whole eBay seminar on selling, though I thought it might be amusing to ask some pointed questions at the end, like when is eBay going to do something about the people who have dead email. You know, one programmer could solve this problem for them. All that would have to be done is to design and send out a Hello from eBay-type email to everyone who's registered, no matter how long ago. The bounce messages would pour in, then a program would scan each message, determine the cause of the bounce, and suspend each ID where the cause was "invalid or no such user". That's the only way these yahoos are ever going to be compelled to update their registration information.
posted on February 23, 2004 02:46:20 AM
fluffy, at the ebay seminars were there reps there that you could give a list of your "sellers main complaints and must haves?" if so I hope you let them hear from you but good.
posted on February 23, 2004 03:34:13 AM
fluffy, how do you know when one of these fantastic sales is coming? I heard about this show at eBay live last year, but then forgot about it.
posted on February 23, 2004 03:58:42 AM
Just a few ideas you might mention Thanks!
1.Buyers, NEED to !. BEFORE Bidding. Thank you.
2.NPB's (buyers?) have No rights,, Posting. Need be BLOCKED by e bay. Upon final filing of NPB.
3.Naru's . Good riddance after 3,,,, DIFFERENT Sellers file NPB's. Negs do 0 to NARU. filing for PARTIAL fees DOES.
4.Current buyers Geographical location i.e. STATE or ZIP or CITY need be known. California cool Shades.
5.E bay need to ENHANCE F/B System. A ing period. Like 20 days of HOOPS on NPB's. Many give up. Works! 4 e bay. They keep K's of $'s. [] trade makes even MORE $.
Bet You NEVER knew [] trades fees are as high as $250.00. and they hook them with,,, it's FREEEEEEEEEE. Misleading to say the least!
posted on February 23, 2004 05:30:11 AMwere there reps there that you could give a list of your "sellers main complaints and must haves?"
Oh how I wish.
No, these were bright-eyed eager marketroids who would neither admit to or listen to seller problems. It's all a big beautiful eBay universe, you know, where everyone smiles all the time, every sale fetches top dollar and the only sellers who get bad feedback are the ones who deserve it.
Yes, they went on (and on and on) about the importance of feedback. Made me think I should have had a colonoscopy instead: just as painful but at least you find out something useful.
how do you know when one of these fantastic sales is coming?
Other than that, I guess it depends on what you sell. I spend as much time as I can poking around wholesalers' web pages, where there are not necessarily such good deals to be found, but there's much to be learned. Hard truth: those surplus dealers aren't putting their best deals or lowest prices online. You still need to pick up the phone or, in some cases, go pay a visit in person.
Just a few ideas you might mention
I don't know if eBay does it any more (I imagine they do) but they used to have focus groups all the time and to a certain extent you could volunteer for them. I never did because I was too frickin' busy.
The other way to get eBay's ear is to do the kind of volume that jayandmarie do. Then eBay will find YOU.
By the bye, eBay is now claiming 86 million registered users. That's what it says right here in this glossy brochure. I guess they won't be cleaning up the user database any time soon, after all.
posted on February 23, 2004 06:03:28 AM
LOL,,,,,your last line part. How many are actually ALIVE!!
I had a few that actually DID kick off.
Oh, they must be LIFE members. Will always be counted on the roster. kind of like the Arizona. Still Active.
Yup, I understand, 86 million and GROWING!
1.Buyers, NEED to !. BEFORE Bidding. Thank you.
2.NPB's (buyers?) have No rights,, Posting. Need be BLOCKED by e bay. Upon final filing of NPB.
3.Naru's . Good riddance after 3,,,, DIFFERENT Sellers file NPB's. Negs do 0 to NARU. filing for PARTIAL fees DOES.
4.Current buyers Geographical location i.e. STATE or ZIP or CITY need be known. California cool Shades.
5.E bay need to ENHANCE F/B System. A ing period. Like 20 days of HOOPS on NPB's. Many give up. Works! 4 e bay. They keep K's of $'s. [] trade makes even MORE $.
Bet You NEVER knew [] trades fees are as high as $250.00. and they hook them with,,, it's FREEEEEEEEEE. Misleading to say the least!
posted on February 23, 2004 10:43:10 AM
Fluff - I mistakenly though tha t the OffPrice Show was part of Magic given the dates. Since you are already in town are you planning any side trips over to the Hilton area of town?
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on February 23, 2004 10:45:14 AM
Marc - check your distributors/manufacturers websites. Many times they will have a link to various trade shows they will be at during the year.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on February 23, 2004 10:58:35 AM
The 86 million refers to active users that have listed an item or made a bid within the last 12 months.
If they counted all the dead accounts the numbers would be at least three times larger in my estimation. Remember that ebay's growth is mostly coming from international markets and not the US.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
posted on February 23, 2004 11:24:44 AM
Great thread, fluffy, the 'vacation' is doing you good! Thanks for the information on an interesting show. I doubt I will need the contacts, but would go just to see the goodies. Newbies should be taking notes!
edited to add: Did you cut loose?
[ edited by parklane64 on Feb 23, 2004 11:28 AM ]
posted on February 23, 2004 03:12:51 PM
So did ya hit any jackpots at the casino?!!
I'd probably be flat broke from gambling before I could actually go to the show and buy anything!!!
Fluffy, its so funny you mentioned diabetic socks. I was thinking about that because I sold some slipper socks awhile back and the bidding on them sure surprised me and I thought I guess its good for the elderly or if you cant have elastic around your legs like diabetics. Bummer quite a few somebody's elses have already thought about that for ebay!
posted on February 23, 2004 07:53:58 PM
Ace, I am still waiting to hear where those stats came from. Inquiring minds want to know.
1.Buyers, NEED to !. BEFORE Bidding. Thank you.
2.NPB's (buyers?) have No rights,, Posting. NEED to be BLOCKED by e bay.(But they are NOT!!!!) Upon final filing of NPB.
3.Naru's . Good riddance after 3,,,, DIFFERENT Sellers file NPB's. Negs do 0 to NARU. filing for PARTIAL fees DOES.
4.Current buyers Geographical location i.e. STATE or ZIP or CITY need be known. California cool Shades.
5.E bay need to ENHANCE F/B System. A ing period. Like 20 days of HOOPS on NPB's. Many give up. Works! 4 e bay. They keep K's of $'s. [] trade makes even MORE $..
posted on February 24, 2004 12:10:34 PM
Back home now after a long day of travel.
Fenix: MAGIC was right next to the Off-Price Show and there were quite a few people circulating between the two. I went and peeked inside, then was hustled outside by a gorgeous bouncer in a tux.
If you have to be tossed out, it's definitely the place to do it. Yum.
I looked at the lines for MAGIC registration and opted to go back to the room for a nap instead.
kiara: eBay quoted that number in one of the "Hey! Come dispose of your excess inventory on eBay!" brochures. This one was directed towards the CSA crowd: clothing, shoes and accessories.
I would retype the whole thing verbatim here, save that the very FIRST thing in the seminar was a stern warning not to reproduce the eBay materials anywhere. Doesn't mean I can't quote tidbits, though.
neroter: I didn't wager so much as a quarter anywhere. This from someone who spent prodigious amounts of time learning to count cards in blackjack years ago. I'm old and boring now, I guess. (I still remember how to count, though!)
For future show attendees: You want to ask when your order will ship. Some of the stuff I bought will ship next week, some won't ship until April.
I once wrote in this forum that real wholesalers won't take credit cards. Well, it's true and not true at the same time. I think it depends on where you are in the supply chain.
Here's my general rule of thumb:
Supplier --> Me --> Customer
For what I do, the terms "wholesale" and "retail" are misleading. You could say that my Supplier wholesales to Me and I retail to the Customer. But that's not true from my Customer's point of view. I sell to other eBay sellers and shop owners, so I am their wholesaler and *they* are retailing to *their* customers.
Make sense?
My sweetie was surprised to hear that for the most part I was not buying anything directly from factory representatives.
Anyway, for the relatively small lots they were selling (standard pack of 6 in a 1-2-2-1 or by the dozen) everyone wanted credit card payment. But then, they aren't the factory.
neroter again: Until the sock idea came up I had no idea how many people were selling hosiery on eBay. It's a lot. Makes sense. Small, light item, standard sizes, easy to ship. Not much of a margin, though.
posted on February 24, 2004 12:51:58 PM
Hi fluffy, it sounds like you had a good time and gained even more knowledge. It's fun to read about sellers who experience things firsthand.
Yes, it makes sense to me that for you, the terms "wholesale" and "retail" are misleading because you do both.
BTW, almost all of my suppliers have accepted CC payments for quite a few years now. It's a fast way for new retailers to get their stock without having to wait for the supplier to do a credit check and then approve. Many are also offering payment terms up to 4 months now depending on the volume of purchase whereas 30 to 60 days was the norm for many years.
Yes, I saw up above the other day where you wrote By the bye, eBay is now claiming 86 million registered users. That's what it says right here in this glossy brochure.
Then Ace wrote The 86 million refers to active users that have listed an item or made a bid within the last 12 months. He said it didn't refer to dead accounts. Did your brochure actually state that the figures only referred to the active users within the last 12 months?
I'm asking because I'm interested in how ebay computes these stats. I have several accounts, some active and some inactive. Am I counted as one user or perhaps 6 or more users, does anyone know? And if my account sits idle for a year I'm no longer considered a user? Some of my friends have asked me this too.
posted on February 24, 2004 01:23:13 PM
kiara: You want precision from an eBay marketing brochure?
I quote:
...selling on eBay generates a new, loyal customer base with 86 million registered users...and growing!
I take that to mean 86 million registrations, which would be 86 million accounts.
I would guess that yes, you are 6 or more users all by your lonesome, just as I am 12 or more users (I need a bigger house) and that no one is ever dropped from eBay for inactivity. There are without a doubt millions of users who have never converted from an email address account to the user-id eBay now requires. My mother, for example. I just looked up her account, which she hasn't used since December 2001.
Do you think they're going to pare those users off the eBay apple if they don't voluntarily convert? No, we know the answer to that one. eBay generates a user-id FOR them and emails it to them. Imagine how many of those emails must be bouncing.
posted on February 24, 2004 01:39:52 PM
AuctionBytes has been reporting the ebay membership numbers that way for a while now.
Here's a fairly recent auctionbytes article excerpt
eBay said it has 31.1 million active users, the number of users on the eBay platform who bid, bought or listed over the trailing twelve months. (This is the number of active User IDs, not unique users.)
I eavesdropped on some individual help the eBay marketroids were giving various prospective sellers at the Off-Price Show. The marketroids didn't like this, which I found odd. I wasn't saying anything, just listening. In a 60 second period I was accosted by 3 of the 'troids who said very aggressively, "Can I help you?" (You know how you're in a store browsing and the clerk thinks you're a potential thief, so they say "May I help you" to let you know they're watching you...)
"I'm just listening in," I said. Later I decided they were worried that I would chime in with some actual seller experience that would conflict with what the 'troids were trying to sell.
Like this line, for example:
"For Fixed Price listings where you have multiples, it's better to run 10 day auctions and well worth the extra 20 cents for the additional exposure. More items will sell over the 10 day period."
Helll-o?
You guys ever hear of the Law of Perceived Rarity? It's alive and well on eBay. How come eBay doesn't know about it?
Look, if I have 8 Clarice Cliff Bizarre Ware plates, all identical, do I run one Fixed Price auction and list the quantity as 8?
If I have 4 Tiffany heart tag sterling bracelets, do I list it FP with quantity 4?
(Are they insane?)
Why tell the world, "This item is so common and so easy-to-get that I have 8 listed here. You don't need to pay my fixed price, you'll probably find it cheaper if you just look around a bit more."
That is exactly what I *didn't* say.
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Feb 24, 2004 01:45 PM ]
posted on February 24, 2004 01:45:50 PM
Referring to the ebay user IDs, that's what I thought, fluffy. Thanks!
BTW, Ace...... where did you get that info? You haven't answered me or Jack so I'm wondering if it's more that you just pulled out of your head or if you really can back it up. For a long time you've quoted figures and percentages and all kinds of other ebay info so I'm wondering if you have a secret inside source.
Edited because I now see your post above, Ace. It would help when you quote figures and facts to also put the link the first time to back up your statements. Thanks.
If auctionbytes quotes 31.1 million active users then why do you say The 86 million refers to active users that have listed an item or made a bid within the last 12 months.
[ edited by kiara on Feb 24, 2004 02:04 PM ]
posted on February 25, 2004 07:38:12 AM
fluffythewondercat; I love those shows. I just came back from the International Toy Fair in New York, boy O boy there were alot of good deals there.
Also I will be at the Las Vegas Convention center for the ASD/AMD Trade show March 07 - 11, come see me if you are there I have a booth selling my chess games. Ask for the chessguy I would love to meet my fellow vendio posters.
posted on March 18, 2004 03:56:27 PM
chessguy: I'm planning to go to the ASD/AMD show in Las Vegas (again with the Las Vegas, oy) in August. It's gonna be huge, in conjunction with the jewelry show and gift expo. I plan to spend much time in air-conditioned comfort.
All: Orders from the Off-Price Show have started arriving, which should give you some sense of the lag time. Interesting how some orders were interpreted. One guy was selling assortments of boxed sterling jewelry (no choice). He said he could "weight" the assortment towards what types I wanted, and I wanted crosses. They arrived today and guess what, they're ALL crosses. Huh.
The clothing is just as gorgeous as it was at the show, so it looks like Fluffy has found a new wardrobe source. Buy twelve, keep one. R.H.I.P.
You can get show information by going to wholesale411.com, which generally advertises at the top of these pages.
--
"Clearly, people want things that make their lives the way they wish they were." --John Peterman, `Peterman Rides Again'
posted on March 19, 2004 04:28:06 PM
Fluffy great buys huh? I had a good show, sold many of my new products made many new contacts as well. I will be back in August, I will have 2 booths then. Come see me if you get a chance I will be a the LVC Gift section.
Found some ebay sellers looking for new products they are already posting my product on ebay that's great since I will dropship for them.
See you in Vegas in August and if you are in the Orlando area I will be at the ASD/AMD Show in April as well. Come by and pick up some chess games to sell on ebay.
posted on March 19, 2004 04:40:20 PM
Can't make it to Orlando but would love to meet in LV and see your chess games. We could use a good board for home.
--
"The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: `If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down.'" -- Rita Rudner
posted on March 20, 2004 05:42:07 AM
Jack - My lawyer called the judge and had it thrown out before we even went to court. What a loser that guy was. Oh well it's over with and I don't have to worry about him anylonger.
Thanks!
!. BEFORE Bidding. Thank you.
. Need be BLOCKED by e bay. Upon final filing of NPB.
. Good riddance after 3,,,, DIFFERENT Sellers file NPB's. Negs do 0 to NARU. filing for PARTIAL fees DOES.
California cool Shades.
A