posted on October 15, 2001 03:05:40 PM new
What are the benefits (in your opinion) of selling on eBay, as compared to Half.com? I'm very curious to hear your thoughts...
posted on October 15, 2001 03:30:04 PM new
If what I hear is correct, you will not have to make a choice. I heard that Half.com was being joined into eBay's core site. Not sure, but it sounded that way to me.
posted on October 15, 2001 03:31:12 PM new
Both companies are really eBay. eBay bought 1/2.com about 15 months ago and soon there will be no 1/2.com site, it will merge onto the eBay site.
The setups are quite different now. No listing fees or relist hassles at Half and no collecting of money there either. Easy editing of the optional item info and price adjustment and inventory control. Those are the pluses from Half. On the minus side there is a hefty 15% commission fee and incredible price competition on most items. Customer service is very weak and they expect sellers to add delivery confirmation or insurance on expensive or semi-expensive items out of their own wallets. Shipping re-imbursement fee can be unfair ( heavy book for example ) but you are advised to factor that in with you item price. Getting your payment(s) from Half can take a while too.
eBay allows you a shot at getting multiple bids or setting a BIN or buy-it-now price. You can position an item in one or more categories that may have a buyer for your item ( not possible on Half ). On eBay you can adjust your TOS for shipping choices, etc and add multiple photos and long item descriptions ( not possible on Half ). The feedback system is better on eBay than Half but the two systems are eventually to merge. There is a chance of deadbeats on eBay while Half has the buyers pay by CC up front.
I believe the emergence and mainstream aspect of Half.com has ruined the market for all but very uncommon or rare books and some other items. The marketplace has evolved into the price-fixed venues for the more commonplace items and eBay has capitalized on this market shift by buying Half.
posted on October 15, 2001 03:47:22 PM new
A couple of other things...while I'm a reasonable fan of HDC...it does have one or two other limitations.
You can list groups of things on eBay (lot of 20 Anne McCaffrey books) which you can't do on HDC.
Also, if the book isn't in the data base with the appropriate ISBN, it's difficult to list. You're treading in dangerous water if the book you list is a paperback and you list it under the hardcover ISBN.
The feedback is left only by the buyer, but it can be changed. The buyers tend to be very unforgiving of problems since there is no danger of retaliatory feedback.
You must confirm a sale within 48 hours and then ship within 24 hours, or the deal can sour.
On the plus side, if you go for electronic deposit, the money shows up much earlier.
You don't have to worry about npb's or Bounced checks or PayPal/Billpoint fees since HDC handles the money.
Listing a book takes about 20 seconds when done one at a time.
The book can sit there for months awaiting a buyer without incurring listing fees or having to be relisted.
You can change your price at any time or cancel or suspend the listing in about 20 seconds worth of effort.
I'm sure I've repeated some of the above, but hope I've added a little more help....
MAD
M A Dorman & The Woman's Club of Ramsey
[ edited by madorman on Oct 15, 2001 03:49 PM ]
posted on October 16, 2001 06:49:19 PM new
bidsbids wrote:
On eBay you can adjust your TOS for shipping choices
bidsbids, I don't think this will be possible after the first of the month. eBay is initating a new "Checkout" feature and with that there is going to be many limitations. Presently it can be opted out, but I don't think this will be the case for long.
