posted on April 23, 2009 05:34:47 PM new
Amazon reported on its 1st Quarter business. Earnings increased 24% on increased revenue of 18%. Contrary to ebay, Amazon seems unaffected by the economy.
Looking for business? It would seem to me that the place to be selling from, is Amazon.com.
posted on April 23, 2009 07:42:13 PM new
Tried Amazon, even though I posted the lowest price on items and had little competition, nothing sold in six months. Same items higher prices sold on Ebay.
Guess it depends on what you sell, but it did not work for me.
I buy books directly from Amazon, but have never bought anything on their site for other buyers (books) unless Amazon did not have it in stock.
I think most of Amazon's profits come from their own items, not from other vendors selling on their site.
posted on April 23, 2009 08:23:11 PM new
The optimist in me wants to think that eBay is still viable - there are still a lot of postcard buyers shopping and, although their number is decreasing, so are the number of seller competitors. Since eBay is constantly morphing, what worked in the past doesn't necessarily work now and the prospect doesn't look good for relaxed sellers clinging on to old formulas. I'm trying to change- going from core auctions and store to BIN core, auctions and store. Raising prices and offering free shipping. Listing more items that appeal to non-US buyers. Thanks to Fluffy, experimenting with pay-per-click ads on eBay. Listing items other postcard sellers eschew. I had dismal sales from summer through winter. They're improving now. I don't know why. Maybe because of my changed selling tactics, maybe because eBay fixed their search.
posted on April 24, 2009 05:16:04 AM new
I think Pixiamom is right - most of Amazon's profits are due to sales of their own items.
Ebay sells are down for me now and I think the reason is that I can't offer free shipping on most items.
posted on April 24, 2009 09:26:11 AM new
I should add that my wife loves Amazon. The UPS truck stops at our house with items nicely boxed, contents securely packaged.
On the other hand, when I do venture to purchase on ebay, which is less frequently, and declining, the contents arrive in beat up envelopes, or poorly packaged in reused boxes, or over sized Priority Mail boxes.
I have received my dog-eared stamp purchases wrapped in plastic garbage bags, or worse yet, floating loosely in a box. One time, my sheets of stamps were sent to me rolled up. Oh me..
Other than an infrequent stamp purchase, I would never purchase an item at ebay. There is just no guarantee that I would receive the item as described or in the condition I would expect.
