posted on June 29, 2001 05:11:57 PM new
Maybe the alternative sites have their niche, listing the items that people do not place on Ebay. After all, usually sellers only like to list sure things because of the very high fees. That does not mean that what is left is junk.
Okay, these numbers are not as good as my sales were once on Yahoo, but then Yahoo was just getting good (before the big blunder).
The sales numbers start in mid February.
On BidVille:
$370.00 paid for and one for $30.00 pending
On Epier:
$45.00 paid for
On the Unmentionable site: (I stopped listing there long ago)
$75.00 paid for
The best part about all of this is no fees! I am thrilled with that!
posted on June 29, 2001 10:07:36 PM new
What kind of items do you sell? Personally I think alternative sites have their benefits too. If you're in it as a hobby or you sell inexpensive items or don't sell stuff which is very market friendly, they can be good to park things at. I sell stuff on alternative sites from time to time but 95% of my bids come from ebay.
Alt. sites can also be good for large sellers who have multiples of items and want to spread their listings around. You never know when someone who has never heard of eBay yet will buy. But anyone who is serious about making money in auctioning as a business or on a consistent basis almost has to use ebay... that is unless they can afford to live on Wheaties.
posted on June 30, 2001 06:02:41 AM new
I sell collectibles. Mostly Christmas collectibles. I have seen Hallmark Ornaments sell on Ebay for about 80% off of the box price. Gee, it doesn't take a genius to realize that the seller didn't make much! And had to pay fees on top of that. No thanks! While some brag on and on about Ebay, it does not work for me! I would lose my shirt!
posted on June 30, 2001 11:33:19 AM new
When I was listing on eBay I sold quite a few Hallmark ornaments and got really good prices, but those were older ornaments.
Last winter I found an ornament I wanted to get for my daughter (probably the only Hallmark ornament we actually have--I'm not a collector of Hallmark) and was really surprised that I was the only bidder. The ornament was mint in a mint box, just a couple of years old.
I'd never want to just 'park' my items on the smaller sites. This is hurting those sites seriously. When I browse through the listings I'm seeing very stale merchandise that's been 'parked' for months with no bids. These sites need some fresh listings.
I've been running my auction listings in rotations and it seems to pay off. A while back I'd had listings expire on ePier. I let them sit for quite a while, then went through and picked a few to re-list and added new auctions. One of the folks on ePier remembered I'd had an item before they had wanted to bid on but hadn't, then didn't see it auto-relisted. When they saw it re-listed they bid right away, and on another auction as well. They knew the item may not be there the next week or the week after that.
During that particular run I sold three items. After the auctions expired I picked some of the unsold listings and moved them to BidVille, same listing, same opening bid. I figured I'd run them once or twice there then move them elsewhere. I sold almost every one.
On Monday my $1-sale items will end (end day for the sale). All the auctions that end with no bids will be moved to another site. With few bidders there's no sense in re-listing if they don't have a bid now. In another few weeks it may be worth putting some of them back on--maybe by then there'll be a few new folks looking.
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posted on June 30, 2001 12:04:36 PM new
I am happy the free sites are around I use them alot. I sold only on Yahoo & Ebay for about 2 years but moved because I refuse to raise my price or cut my profites (that is not much anyway) just so they can get richer off their greed. I know the free sites will have to charge someday and thats OK. But I hope they keep their rates down so we the little guys are not pushed out. Well with the add cost from the post office, paypal ect net auctions are in troble anyway. We may be a dieing breed no profits no selling as simple as that. Have a nice buying/selling day.
