posted on July 7, 2001 05:42:28 AM
I like the BidVille system, and the customer
support (as a seller) is top notch. I
actually get personalized replies that
clearly show the person replying has read
my original message. BUT, I am making very
few sales. I am averaging less than 1 sale
a week on BidVille, while I averaged almost
2 sales a day on Yahoo. The same items, at
the same prices that I had them for on
Yahoo, and they used to sell on Yahoo, while
they just sit there on BidVille. I hate the
idea of paying someone in order to sell an
item I alone own, but it looks like I really
have no choice if I want to make sales (at a
profit). Oh well...
Z
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
posted on July 7, 2001 05:52:06 AM
Just like any auctions site.. featuring seems to work at BidVille. If you will look at the sites own sell-thru rates you will see what I mean. A Premier Membership at BidVille costs either $5 or $10 per month. I get $200 worth of featuring for ten bucks a month, and I have had some success there, as have many others.
posted on July 7, 2001 07:09:04 AM
I've stated it before and I'll state it again, the featuring stats are skewed because sellers tend put their best items at reduced prices to lure viewers to their other auctions. Of course those numbers will be much higher than the non-featured auctions.
Yahoo would almost be worth going back to if the listing fee were not so high. A five cent listing fee would be okay and a ten cent listing fee would almost be acceptable as there is at least some traffic and buyers there compared to the lonely outposts like ePier & BV. ( equal opprotunity auction basher )
posted on July 7, 2001 07:18:03 AM
Why go to Yahoo when you can go to eBay? Sure ebay might be $0.15-0.20 more expensive, but you clearly make that up by increased bids.
posted on July 7, 2001 08:10:59 AM
I have had absolutely no success at BidVille, although we handle a variety of items - we quite using BidVille after about three weeks of attempts to sell there, plus I feel the market is glutted to the core at BidVille.
Regarding taking an item to eBay or Yahoo, it would depend on the item. We personally use to sell on Yahoo, before they went nuts with their TOS violations and no web links. We strictly sold “1st Bid Wins” and did a tremendous business via that mode – therefore, depending on the item, I might take it to Yahoo instead of eBay, since we have found the eBay customers just don’t use the eBay “BIN” system very often.
Till eBay started disallowing web site links I’d opt for eBay, but without the web link – I really don’t care – rather pay less and use Yahoo on a 1st Bid Wins.
posted on July 7, 2001 08:56:43 AM
anyone that can get the two or three bids nearly everyday at yahoo has nothing to lose the list price is loe enough to cover fees and still make a profit.
Im happy to see there are some strong bidville supporter out there and I agree no seller should have all there faith and sales at one site for sure.
but I think some of the supports in these threads have forgot that some have serious money invested in inventory that they cant just keep week after week month after month.
if you can list 20 Items each 10 day listings at yahoo includeing featureing them for a cost $3.50
and sell 6 to 9 of these item in the 10 days
any one can see you have nearly 40% to 50% sell thur and got a good deal.
this even better then the primere seller on bidville who paid $10 to list for the month listed & relisted and featured 100 0r 200 items and over the month received a bid on there featured item and maybe 50 question about other items.
The guy selling on yahoo will pay $4.00 more in a month but will have had 12 to 16 more sales.
The number cruching that means the most to serious sellers is this at yahoo if thre average starting bid is $9.99
There income for the moth with 14 bid is roughly $140 minus there selling fees $136.50
the same seller pays bidville selling Item in the same price range and averages 1 bid in the month there total on sales after cost is -$0.01
I agree bidville is a nice auction site easy to list on and has many nice features BUT bidville must be as will to help its supporter as the supports are to help them.
our support has helped get there site up to over 600 thousand items and loads of word of mouth advertizeing.
the people at bidville have offered free listings which was nice but there support back to seller isnt very storng when it come to advertizeing it took them 4 and a half months to register the site with search engines and the most advertizeing we have seen was a few banners one day last febuary mainly on auction watch.
posted on July 7, 2001 10:57:24 AM
I'm sorry you've having such a rough time at BidVille. I know if I was trying to make a living at this BidVille wouldn't do it for me. Still, I enjoy listing there and the people are mostly nice and customer support is great.
What I would do in your case is list a few things at BidVille from time to time but list on other sites as well. When a person is listing on these smaller sites it definately takes more than one to keep sales going. I usually sell one or two items a week on BidVille (sometimes more--and WAAY more during the $1-sale) but usually have auctions running on two or three sites.
I agree BidVille needs more publicity. I know I have my own ideas how I'd go about that if it were me, but they're not me so I'm just hoping they will start getting the word out more.
-----------------------------------
posted on July 7, 2001 12:56:30 PM
daredevil2010 said:
>Why go to Yahoo when you can go to eBay?
I went to that site, and viewed the fees
page, and instantly got a headache. Not
just any headache mind you, but the kind of
headache you would get if you showed up for
a college level course in, say Economics,
only to discover that you forgot to study
for the final exam AND finish your term
project!
If you can figure all that stuff out, then
1) you have a lot of time on your hands,
and 2) you are a better man than I Gunga Din!
:^)
Z
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
posted on July 7, 2001 04:15:45 PM
Personally, I'm doing about the same here on Bidville as on Yahoo!. About 7-12 auctions close during an average day. Today 4 auctions closed today for me on Bidville.
However, nothing beats eBay. eBay is still king and I almost always do better on eBay if I have a "valuable" item. Now I said almost always, and it has to be "valuable". If you're selling an item only a very few would want maybe Yahoo! and Bidville would do far better.
posted on July 7, 2001 04:52:21 PM
I know how you feel. I've been listing on Bidville since the institution of fees on Yahoo. I've sold one item (my catagory is small and somewhat "niche" and that went to a deadbeat bidder. On the other hand I am listing a few items on Yahoo - not near what I used to do - and am getting sales. I love Bidville's format. I love their customer support. They just need to advertise and draw in the buyers. We sellers can't do it all.
posted on July 7, 2001 05:03:44 PM
Maybe you should try some other auction sites besides just bidville. I've been hearing a lot of talk about auctionweiser, epier, and edeal. Maybe if you sell on more than one site, it will seem profitable to continue to help build these niche sites as well.
posted on July 10, 2001 01:38:40 PM
I've had moderate success (which is easy since I don't expect much) on Bidville, but I tend to list relatively low priced items there. I use the Buy it Now feature as bidding is rare (although once I had an item get 16 bids!) - I also sell things there that I would sell at a web site, that I have multiples of, and when they sell, I just relist.
On Ebay, I tend to sell more one of a kind stuff that will get bids, and sometimes I am very pleased at the final results.
I use both sites, and will continue to do so (I also think the Premier membership is a good idea, for $10 a month, it gives you a lot, and the featured auction on the front page only cost 50 cents, that is a good deal)
Oh yeah, want to add, why not use more than one site? I've used Ebay, Bidville, and Yahoo. I may even try some more. Why not? I don't shop at one department store when I go to the mall, I look around. All have slightly different things to offer...
[ edited by ahc3 on Jul 10, 2001 01:39 PM ]
posted on July 10, 2001 02:44:14 PM
Actually the cost to feature on the front page is $5.00, not 50 cents, but I still consider it a good deal since I got the Premier membership too
edited to add... OH I see what you mean - based on the $10 Premier membership cost, the feature works out to be 50 cents. Sorry!
[ edited by joanne on Jul 10, 2001 02:45 PM ]
posted on July 10, 2001 02:48:23 PM
The posted cost is $5 to list on the front page. I pay $10 for premier membership, which gives me $100 posting credit each month. If you have the premier membership, you are paying 10% of the posted prices. You are paying 50 cents, not $5!! Now, once you use you up your credit, it will cost you $5, so you are limited to 20 auctions per month at 50 cents each (although I suppose you can always get another ID and get a premier membership for that too)
posted on July 10, 2001 06:07:28 PM
I would recommend selling on both Yahoo and Bidville. I currently the cards that I feel have a good chance of selling on Yahoo in one or two listings. I then list my other items on Bidville. I have started moving items back and forth on the two sites. If a player or team starts selling well on one site, I will move similar cards to that site. It does help to keep the items fresher on both sites.
For the previous poster, you may want to take advantage of what seems to be a little know premier membership offer on Bidville. If you buy both the $5 and the $10 memberships, they will give you $200 in credit. You must contact customer service after you have done that to get the extra credit. Also the extra is not available the first month that you sign up, but is credited every month afterward. If you look back in the posts in the Announcements section, you will see a post on this.
and that went to a deadbeat bidder. On the other hand I am listing a few items on Yahoo - not near what I used to do - and am getting sales. I love Bidville's format. I love their customer support. They just need to advertise and draw in the buyers. We sellers can't do it all.