capolady
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posted on July 22, 2006 01:08:34 AM new
I've been pondering this question for awhile now.
Why is there no good alternative internet auction site that can give Ebay a run for its money?
You would think that after all the years Ebay has dominated the marketplace that someone would launch a good site that could compete with them.
It certainly isn't because of a lack of sellers who would be willing to try an alternative site - it isn't due to a lack of advertising as Yahoo has advertised their site constantly. What is the problem???
It seems reasonable to me that someone, somewhere could get a good site up and running - fund it properly - advertise it extensively and attach a good payment site such as Paypal to compete with Meg and her minions.
Does anyone have any reasonable explanation as to why this hasn't happened?
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cashinyourcloset
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posted on July 22, 2006 05:48:38 AM new
Cost of Entry.
Google might be the only company now around that has the resources (both financial and intellectual) to do it.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on July 22, 2006 08:00:18 AM new
Does anyone have any reasonable explanation as to why this hasn't happened?
Well, shucks, obviously it's all a big conspiracy.
Look. eBay spends more than $130 million per month on marketing alone.
By contrast...
Oh, Yahoo has auctions? When did that happen? Anything I want to buy there or is it just more overpriced junk?
You say there are auctions at the big O? Huh. How about that. Anyone I know shop there?
Yeah, I know about eBay. My sister loves it. I see their ads on TV all the time. I like the ad where the guy is shopping for a clock and millions of people are lined up outside his house, each holding a clock for him to buy. When I go to the post office, I see eBay contests and promotions.
See what I mean?
fLufF
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[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Jul 22, 2006 08:00 AM ]
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MAH645
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posted on July 22, 2006 09:14:06 AM new
Its kind of like wondering why the Mom & Pop store can't beat Walmart in sales. Everybody thinks they HAVE to shop at Wal-mart.
**********************************
Two men sit behind bars,one sees mud the other sees stars.
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WashingtoneBayer
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posted on July 22, 2006 09:31:45 AM new
contrary to popular belief, there are not many sellers waiting to jump from the eBay wagon and those that do go to another site mostly put up crap that wouldn't sell on eBay. And then they get upset nothing will sell and come back to eBay.
As fluffy has pointed out, it would take a tremendous amount of marketing and how many sellers do you know would leave ebay if the pricing were more expensive?
Ron
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stonecold613
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posted on July 22, 2006 10:30:03 AM new
That's the problem with a Monopoly. They can do anything with their prices and get away with it. Prime example is the 20 cent listing days. Up from 10 cents which is up from free. No effect on listings at all.
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aintrichyet
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posted on July 22, 2006 10:38:56 AM new
yep ... there's another 'sux' lol
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jake
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posted on July 22, 2006 11:24:57 AM new
I think all who have tried starting auction sites have failed because they should have made them just selling sites, not auctions. Ebay is known as THE auction site, someone else could become known as the BUY IT NOW site.
I don't think most buyers even want to buy in the auction format. Certainly not the common items that are all over ebay.
Ebay made it big because they were unique at the time they started. Another site could be successful by coming up with a truly unique idea.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on July 22, 2006 11:41:56 AM new
I don't think most buyers even want to buy in the auction format.
Then you are 100% incontrovertibly dead wrong.
Why are you even wasting our time making statements like that when you clearly have no idea what's going on in the auction industry?
fLufF
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jake
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posted on July 22, 2006 11:56:08 AM new
WHAT?????
Who in the hell wants to buy the latest rap trap music cd at auction? Along with all of the other new crap being auctioned on ebay?
Why do you think the auction sell thru rates are way, way down? People want to buy easy and quick, not play the waiting game.
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parklane64
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posted on July 22, 2006 01:32:32 PM new
So there!
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on July 22, 2006 02:25:46 PM new
So far you haven't cited a single fact to support your preposterous allegation.
Feel free to start any time.
fLufF
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mikes4x4andtruckrepair
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posted on July 22, 2006 03:31:53 PM new
I don't think there is a good alternative out there because "we" the sellers can't make up our collective minds which one to go to. I think any of the other online auction sites would stand a chance if we the ebay sellers could somehow all get together and decide to go to a specefic site. When one of us decides to try another auction site we never know which one to try. You try site "A", I try site "B", next guy try's site "C" and so on. If we all went to site "A" it might actually get enough volume in time to be real competition for febay.
As for Walmart stores. I have not set foot on a Chinamart parking lot in over 2 1/2 years and I refuse to ever set foot on their property ever again. Walmart can take their non made in the US junk and shove it cuz I aint buyin it!
 1 out of 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Take a look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem alright, you're the one! - Kyle Stubbins, CMS
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hwahwa
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posted on July 22, 2006 03:45:50 PM new
I just got back from Walmart,I dont shop there much,but hate to say this,I found 90% of what I want and the price is right.
Why is it so difficult to find CIBA VISION MIRAFLOW EXTRA STRENGTH DAILY CLEANER?
Walmart is the new and improved ,bigger and better WOOLWORTH,think of it -back then,people are so thrilled there is an affordable dept store for common people !
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hwahwa
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posted on July 22, 2006 03:48:53 PM new
Some merchandise are suitable for auction and some are for BIN ,how many people want to bid on toothpaste or toothbrush??or preparation H? or antifungal cream??
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mikes4x4andtruckrepair
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posted on July 22, 2006 04:10:15 PM new
"Walmart is the new and improved ,bigger and better WOOLWORTH,think of it -back then,people are so thrilled there is an affordable dept store for common people !"
Yes but at least the majority of what they sold back then was made in America, by Americans and for Americans. Not made in China, by underpaid Chinese in a Comunist country for Americans.
1 out of 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Take a look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem alright, you're the one! - Kyle Stubbins, CMS
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on July 22, 2006 05:01:15 PM new
If we all went to site "A" it might actually get enough volume in time to be real competition for febay.
Hi Mike,
Yep, I used to think that too. But the Overstock.com Auctions debacle taught me one thing: Sellers are not willing to put their buying dollars on an unknown, unproven site.
It's not enough for everyone to decide they're going to list on site "A"; they have to buy there, too. And if they won't buy there, who will?
And you *have* to spend the tens of millions on marketing, there's no way around that. I sold quite a bit on big O auctions in the beginning. When they stopped doing ads specifically for auctions, the bidding stream dried up.
fLufF
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mikes4x4andtruckrepair
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posted on July 22, 2006 08:55:34 PM new
Not arguing with you on that one fLuff. Just seems like a compound problem. People try so many different auction sites it spreads out the effect they could have if they were to go to one site. If everyone went to another single auction site that could boost that sites worth and they could then in turn invest more in advertisement. We would still probably end up with the same problems in the end however, just another febay clone that cares more about profit's then the people that make it possible for them.
1 out of 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Take a look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem alright, you're the one! - Kyle Stubbins, CMS
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irked
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posted on July 22, 2006 09:54:24 PM new
I know what would get their attention but I also know everyone would not do it. Have a strike by the sellers a temporary walk out. No listings for a week maybe 2. BUT that would probably backfire so far up our collective arses that even a backhoe could not pull it out. Would befun to sit back and watch wha would happen if everyone stopped selling for 2 weeks pulled all auctions and store items.
But if I know feebay they would start charging weekly holding fees to keep our user ids in good standing.
**************
Well, aren't we a ray of sunshine.
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stonecold613
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posted on July 22, 2006 10:48:02 PM new
Fluffy,
You are dead wrong on this one.
Just a few months back, when Kirby Puckett died, I had many Puckett items (no cards, just real items) that really weren't one of a kind, but there were many. While I did have competition on all of them, I out sold them using F/P over the auction format and also realized a higher selling price than most as well. Why, you ask? It is simple. People wanted those items right now. They also did not want to go through the competition of a bidding war. I even ran some auctions of the same item and still sold at higher prices with F/P.
Jake's statement about the common items on ebay, that no one wants to go through the auction format and would rather do Buy-it-now or F/P is actually pretty accurate.
Sure, in the early days before Buy-it-now or fixed price, there were huge bidding wars. But times have changed. Unless you have a legite one-of-a-kind and not just a one of a kind in that area, you simply will not realize the same kind of results. A generally speaking, with F/P, bidders will see the item. If they want it, they buy it. No waiting for later. I agree with Jake. Buyers don't want the hassle of the auction as a rule.
Ebay's theory of brining back the excitement of the online auction, is going to be a bit more difficult than ebay thinks. Sure, it will on some selected items, but for the majority of items, those days are simply gone.
[ edited by stonecold613 on Jul 22, 2006 10:52 PM ]
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ladyjewels2000
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posted on July 23, 2006 10:42:49 AM new
Mike - selling little glass Christmas ornaments from Germany put Woolworth's on the map at the turn of the 20th Century! But somehow it's not the same. I don't/won't shop WalMart either because of what they have done to small business all across America.
We can all keep hoping that someone will come along to give ebay a run for their (our) money. Will it happen?? Doesn't look like it right now.
[ edited by ladyjewels2000 on Jul 23, 2006 10:47 AM ]
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allcash7
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posted on July 24, 2006 09:25:04 PM new
What about "Craigs List"? Some people are using it now for everything. Has anybody here sold on Craigs List?
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pixiamom
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posted on July 24, 2006 11:42:35 PM new
I think a better question is, has anyone bought anything from Craig's List? I did because I wanted it now, wanted it cheap (used) and wanted it local. Might work well as a garage sale/ flea market alternative but I don't think postcard buyers shop there.
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jake
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posted on July 25, 2006 08:18:12 AM new
I read somewhere that 75% of online shoppers DO NOT buy on ebay. If that's true, that's a big chunk of buyers we're not getting.
Looking at the medved sell-thru chart, it looks like more sales are done with BIN than auction.
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paloma91
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posted on July 25, 2006 08:25:53 AM new
Stone, you are probably going to think I'm am idiot but what is F/P ?
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iceicepenguin
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posted on July 25, 2006 09:10:56 AM new
Didn't I read somewhere that Ebay owns a piece of Craig's List now?
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ewora
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posted on July 25, 2006 09:14:41 AM new
25% I believe
I bought a couple of tower lamps off Craigs list last year. $5.00 a piece a real steal. She just left them on the front porch and I put the money in an envelope on the door. Yipee...new lamps for photo taking.
I don't look very often and I've never tried selling anything on it.
I think Jack has sold off Craig's list before....
Note to self....don't post first thing in the morning as my spelling leaves much to be desired.
[ edited by ewora on Jul 25, 2006 09:16 AM ]
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jake
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posted on July 25, 2006 09:39:37 AM new
F/P = fixed price
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paloma91
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posted on July 25, 2006 09:43:08 AM new
Thanks Jake
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stonecold613
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posted on July 25, 2006 10:53:03 AM new
Didn't I read somewhere that Ebay owns a piece of Craig's List now?
Yes. That happened about two years ago.
FP=Fixed Price.
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