posted on May 26, 2014 12:02:45 PM new
I clicked on the site it says opening soon. I'm thinking there might be some magic number of sellers they need to sign up before they open the doors.
posted on May 26, 2014 01:26:25 PM new
Alibaba's USA site,it bought Vendio and Auctiva and thru them,they are setting up a venue like Ebay .
They should have enough Ebay sellers signing up.
I dont know what takes them so long?
posted on May 27, 2014 07:32:04 AM new
I was totally unimpressed by them when they did the promotional thing years ago. If I wasn't the only one that could be the problem.
posted on May 27, 2014 09:46:01 AM new
They have approved my shop and said now it is open for business,but not all my merchandise is available for sale?
And if you go to their main site,it said opening soon?
I am surprised with Vendio knowhow,they cant get the site up and running?
From what I understand,the site is for US sellers only and certain categories like jewelry,they dont want new items.
I looked at my shop,I am not impressed,it seems Etsy has a better layout.
I used to have a shop on Yahoo shopping,I think they have the best layout,unfortunately my items are more suitable for Ebay and Yahoo keeps screwing around with their site.
posted on May 27, 2014 09:48:17 AM new
Shag,
they are running a promotion,giving a discount to the buyers,(out of their own pocket),
Now if they have a way to drive traffic from China,it could be very good news for the US sellers.
posted on May 28, 2014 08:30:13 AM new
I received mine at 10:25pm last night, though when I click the link to "register here", I am taken to my Vendio account page.
The fees are good - 5 cents per listing, 3.5% selling fee including shipping/handling. Since I haven't set up anything yet I assume they will use Paypal - hence added fees or their own system.
Sounds like they are more interested in going after the Etsy market instead of eBay. I don't know enough to make this assumption yet, but that is how it looks so far.
posted on May 28, 2014 08:54:14 AM new
I hope they are not going after Etsy market ?
They are going after Ebay market ,many unhappy sellers there,buyers file ISNAD,they always win.
posted on May 30, 2014 02:53:29 PM new
I spoke with a rep today who called me. Many of the things she described were almost exactly like Etsy. I asked if they were targeting general products or more artisan and she said "definitely more artisan". I said, "so, like Etsy" and she said yes.
My understanding is that they are also going to set up their own payment system similar to Etsy too, but you can use Paypal.
I suspected as much by the style of the "invites" and the images on the 11 Main website.
[ edited by shagmidmod on May 30, 2014 03:01 PM ]
posted on May 30, 2014 03:49:22 PM new
I am surprised they told you they are going after ETSY marketshare?
I have to take another look at 11 Main St,what I see so far is more like Ebay but they are more selective.
I would take 'going after Etsy 'with a grain of salt,no one spent that kind of money to go after a small market.
With the financial prowness of Alibaba,I would think they aim to go after AMZN and Ebay.
If they can drive traffic from China and set up a GSP in China to receive all our shipments,that would be nice!
If you scroll down to the 2nd page you will see the Fee Structure. Note the 3rd orange circle:
NO FEES: To Shoppers you invite through your referrals (for a limited time).
I asked them if they were planning on charging shoppers fees, whether in the Collecting & Art or other departments. I received the following response -
"If your shop is up and running before June 14th you do not have to pay any fees until the end of the year! While we are in out Beta phase you do not have to pay the fees either. Once we go public and it is after the end of the year we will notify of all fees by email."
Didn't answer my question at all. I'm not interested in investing a lot of time and work into a website that is going to be vague AND appears to want to charge buyers fees as well. That will scare off buyers and just be another defunct site.
2) They haven't been too forthright about how they will be driving traffic either. When I asked about their marketing plan I was greeted with, "That is the great thing about this..." and then a bunch of info that didn't tell me much.
I'm quite skeptical, especially with the reputation of Alibaba.
posted on May 31, 2014 07:05:55 AM new
It seems to me you are asking about buyer and they are telling you about seller, Who would charge shoppers a fee these days?
You dont need to invest much to open a store on 11 main st,they will pull all your listings from Ebay and take their sweet time reviewing them.
A friend of mine tried several times to register,but they turned him down because he does not have a website or Ebay listing.
They have reason to be vague,why let competitors know what they are up to?
[ edited by lostmymojo on May 31, 2014 07:10 AM ]
posted on May 31, 2014 09:07:44 AM new
Alibaba isn't competing with anyone its more like the new kid on the block it may endure and it may die. They already do more sales than amazon and eBay combine. The bulk of their business being in eastern markets. Because it is a private company with 18 partners its worth is an estimate of between 55 and 150 Billion.
It looks like 11 Main is an attempt to establish a position in the USA. it appears that if eBay or Amazon were for sale Ali could afford to buy it.
IN the beginning I think they were dealing in a lot of cheap Chinese goods and maybe still do and would like to elevate that rep. Like any other mega retail business it feeds on money and constantly demands to be feed more and more. Which in the retail biz means sell more stuff. If it doesn't get it it soon withers and dies. Examples Woolworth, Montgomery Ward, Circuit City, and 1000's more. In few generations the retailers we know today will also be gone.
posted on May 31, 2014 10:24:29 AM new
ALIBABA is going public,the question is if it will be listed on NYSE or Nassaq,expect trading frenzy on its first day .
Alibaba and a smaller site called Tradewind? look more like a wholesale site to me with tons of Chinese sellers .
11 main street is small small potato ,they could easily buy a site and get it going,like Yahoo shopping or the entire Yahoo,but then Yahoo owns a piece of ALIBABA?
Why reinvent the wheel when it takes so long to get it going?
I always like Yahoo shopping,you get a home page and each item listing is all about your product,no such alert like report this seller,report this buyer,report this item!
I can choose my shipping table either by weight or by order amount,during XMAS shopping,I upgrade all domestic orders to FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING and Free Gift wrap.
No one throws up a message saying I am asking too much on shipping or the item,I have my own merchant account and review the return code and decide if I want to accept the order.
Unfortunately,sales is slow and slim.
[ edited by lostmymojo on May 31, 2014 10:29 AM ]
posted on June 1, 2014 07:58:34 AM new
lost - I wasn't just asking about the buyer, their own documentation (see the link) suggests there are fees for buyers.
my first reaction was that this may only be for the Collectibles & Art section of their store and could be a "buyers premium" like at auction houses.
Why would they charge a buyer we invited to their site, now or in the future? That doesn't make much sense to me.
posted on June 1, 2014 08:56:18 AM new
where is the link which said buyer has to pay?
There are so many bad buyers scamming sellers on EBAY,may be not a bad idea to charge the buyer ,like Costco.
I cant believe the scams on EBay-feedback extortions,returning different item or empty box,claiming item not as described.
Some sellers are dropshipping from CHINA and asking the buyer to return their items BACK TO CHINA,can you imagine buying from someone in NJ and asked to return the item to China?
Sellers are eating losses left and right as buyers always win.
One woman in a small rural town shipped almost 3k worth of gold jewelry,went to a post office inside a general store and right in front of a video camera,she packed the gold.
Buyer said she received a CD instead,seller lost the dispute,the package is insured with USPS,but how do you file insurance claim?It was delivered and signed for?
Lots of horror stories going on.
posted on June 1, 2014 09:01:30 AM new
are you sure they charge buyer fee?
it could mean if you refer the buyer,then you dont pay Main st for items sold to those buyers.
posted on June 1, 2014 12:51:09 PM new
11main could charge buyers it would have to be in the form of a membership fee.
From what I have read and will not detail it here I will pass on all things 11 Main and Alibaba.
posted on June 2, 2014 07:40:39 AM new
https://11main.com/Docs/Sellers/Collecting-page001.pdf
If you scroll down to the 2nd page you will see the Fee Structure. Note the 3rd orange circle:
NO FEES: To Shoppers you invite through your referrals (for a limited time).
If it meant no fees to seller, it should read "For Shoppers you invite" not "To shoppers you invite". The rep sent me an email stating, "no fees to buyers".
posted on June 2, 2014 07:46:17 AM new
A few other unusual things I also noted:
1) Each item must be reviewed and approved by 11main. Seems like a lot of work that would slow things down.
2) From my discussion, they are relying heavily on user promotion. Sellers who link their sites into their 11main store (aka referrals).
The issue with the referrals is that they want sellers to promote 11main. So, you bring your customers over to their marketplace where they can buy from anyone including your competitors. This is a flaw I saw when I received a call from a local business inquiring about lights I make. I referred them to my Etsy store to view my items which he was unfamiliar with. I haven't heard back from them since. Perhaps they found another competitor or other item they liked.
This has me thinking more about just having my own e-commerce site and use Etsy and other sites without links from my website. Why promote everyone else and risk losing sales?
posted on June 2, 2014 11:01:34 AM new
But how often do shoppers come to your store and you send them to your website?
Off the topic,
I heard brick and mortar stores using Google Adwords,paying anywhere from 3k to 7k a month,
They do see results but what they made is just enough to pay for the 3k-7k ,so what do they gain?/
future sales,referrals,building up your brand name??
it sounds like a lot of money to pay,and we complain about Ebay fees??
posted on June 4, 2014 11:54:25 AM new
Bill has his own website and signed up with search engines,he also sell on Ebay.
Whatever happens to Google shopping,we used to be able to upload our Ebay listings into Google Shopping
posted on June 4, 2014 11:55:36 AM new
I received another email from 11 Main,I gave up on them,I have no clue what they are doing.
When I get my first order,I will pay more attention to what they have to say
posted on June 6, 2014 10:27:18 AM new
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y14/m05/i13/s03
Thats nothing new,people who sell low priced mass produced items are not welcome.
Main St pulled all my Ebay listings but my low priced items are not accepted,although they think the photos are very nice.
Google has downgraded Ebay for being a site of inferior quality , so I am glad Main St is not trying to make itself another site of low price,inferior quality!
Asian culture-Asians may not drive big car and have fancy dishes and silverware in their formal dining room and embroidered hand towels in their bathroom,when it is time to entertain,they go to the restaurants ,when they want to give gifts,they give quality goods.
So I am hoping Main St with US sellers will attract the Chinese buyers who want to buy quality items!
