posted on July 29, 2009 06:52:17 AM new
I know this gets asked a lot. I just never really paid attention. Amazon, I think, is out for me since most of what I sell are vintage and antique collectibles. I've looked on Amazon and can't see where that stuff can be sold there. I want to slowly start pulling things off eBay, but I'm not quite sure where to go. Starting my own site and the expense that goes along with it is not an option right now. Ken is hardly working and money is really tight!
posted on July 29, 2009 08:05:58 AM new
Some of the ones I've heard of (there are hundreds, but many have not taken off):
eBid is one of the most popular auction sites outside eBay. Established since 1999, eBid have a number of international sites including: UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, Holland and Italy
A powerseller from ebay got fed up and went here: http://www.bidtopia.com/index.aspx
(I had purchased from them in the past, and recently received an email directing me here. It says something that this was a successful eBay PowerSeller.)
Google Base Beta: Google Base is a powerful and free service for getting your sale items listed in the country's most popular search engine. One reader put it this way: "That Google search box is some prime real estate, and it's free."
HiBidder
HiBidder.com is one of the more established and well-rounded alternatives to eBay that you'll find online today. For the fee-weary seller, HiBidder doesn't actually charge any fees for listing items, reserve price, image gallery, InstaBuy or second-category listings. Instead HiBidder charges only a final sale fee, if your item sells. Currently HiBidder is offering $50 in free credits when you join, and sellers can also relist unsold items up to 20 times each.
USiFF Auctions
The USiFF auction concept was developed in early 2005 by Rene and Teri Holliday. Usellit4free.com, Inc. launched USiFF Auctions, which operates with the motto "you don't sell, you don't pay." The goal of USiFF Auctions is to offer sellers the opportunity to list items for sale without the fear of being charged if their merchandise fails to attract a buyer.
PlunderHere
PlunderHere, launched in mid-2005. For sellers interested in listing on PlunderHere, the auction site offers a clean-cut interface with quick and easy access to auction or fixed-price listings, an eBay feedback importer, as well as a Power Lister. PlunderHere offers its sellers free listing, free reposting, and free image hosting and image previews. Fees that sellers may incur on the site when listing are for optional services such as category featured, highlight titles and icons. Final value fees are a flat 2.5 percent of the selling total (see "Eye on The Little Guy: PlunderHere Profile." Currently the PlunderHere Web site welcomes ebay sellers with the following message; "PlunderHere Supports the eBay boycott!!! Of course we do, we want your business!!!"
Hoobly: As evidenced by its blank About page, Hoobly still has a ways to go before it catches up with Google--and really, the site is more of an online classified site, comparable to, say, Craigslist. However, according to a PR rep who contacted us after the last eBay alternatives story, 500,000 people have already signed up for the site. So they must be doing something right. Right?
Ruby Lane: This site is geared toward users looking to sell things like antiques and jewelry. Items cost 30 cents to list, and the site doesn't take a commission on your sales.
BiddersnSellers
Online sellers looking for another basket to carry their wares might want to take a look at BiddersnSellers.com, an auction Web site offering more than 30 categories for buyers and sellers including art, cars, parts & vehicles, cell phones, clothing, DVDs, real estate and video games. Currently BiddersnSellers is promoting the "EB** Boycott", as they call it on this site, with plenty of features for new sellers including; $1 per month fees, Homepage Featured for $1, penny Gallery fees and a flat 1 percent final value fee for the first month.
CozyBug
CozyBug is an online flea market and garage sale boutique that connects local buyers and sellers for safe, shipping-free transactions. CozyBug was created to address the challenges of buying and selling items online that are expensive and difficult to ship. This week CozyBug is offering all eBay sellers free
storefronts.
WeBidz Auctions
Calling itself The Other Auction Site, WeBidz Auctions is a general auction marketplace, offering a variety of categories for buyers and sellers. For the most part it, is also a free online auction site. At WeBidz sellers can list items for free (basic listing), but can opt for listing enhancements, which do come with small fees.
Wensy
Launched earlier this year, the online auction site Wensy has grown in the past six months to a total of 2,400 registered members conducting $60,000 in net sales. Currently Wensy offers offer 21,000 listed items spanning a total of 22 categories. Wensy has become more popular than many of the smaller online auction sites we've covered simply because all services to buyers and sellers are completely free.
My Auction Planet
Free item insertion, free image upload, free stores and no final value fees are some of the many give-aways that My Auction Planet, formerly called Ubid Fast, is offering. Additionally, sellers can take advantage of auto-listing, which lets them post any item until it sells. Like most small auction sites, My Auction Planet still has just a handful of registered members and only 50 or so total auctions listed. Still, with lots of "free fees" it might be worth bookmarking and checking in on from time to time.
posted on August 1, 2009 07:22:06 PM new
Overstock.com has no way of making the bidder pay but it will refund your FVF.
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
posted on August 2, 2009 01:06:49 PM new
Your best bet may be the Google Store Checkout Gadget on your own blog or website. See Bill K's thread.
Get a good book on SEO (Search Engine Optimization for Dummies by Peter Kent) and promote the heck out of your website or blog.
I own a bunch of domain names I don't use (freebiejewelry.com, jewelryfreebie.com, jewelrygiveaway.com, etc.) so now that my ISP offers $1/month hosting plans I may just set them up as Google Store Checkout Gadget sites. One sale would pay for a year's worth of hosting.
posted on August 2, 2009 09:13:45 PM new
Thanks, all! At least I know there are alternatives. This summer has been pretty bad as far as getting prices that go beyond the starting bid. It's hard to get my TA customers to realize that right now their items are not going to get a whole heck of a lot.
Fluffy - I like your idea. I may get another domain name since they're relatively cheap. The one I have now is my eBay name and I'd rather not have both of them so closely associated.
Currently the PlunderHere Web site welcomes ebay sellers with the following message; "PlunderHere Supports the eBay boycott!!! Of course we do, we want your business!!!"
