posted on February 13, 2001 06:59:25 AM new
BidVille now at 293,512 open auctions. Think it may hit 300,000 today? I am getting many more hits and sales, Hey I even bid on two items. I just hate when that happens, you know when you spend more than you sell!
posted on February 13, 2001 10:11:46 AM new
Now that yahoo has almost finished bleeding off auctions (from 2.2 million to .4 or so), it will be interesting to see if bidville continues to grow.
Actually, I'm almost surprised it hasn't grown even faster, up to a million or so items, since sellers can use Bidville just like they did Yahoo - the new "sargasso sea" of auctions (where items can sit becalmed for months if need be, due to no fees).
posted on February 13, 2001 12:06:35 PM new
I just reviewed the automotive catagory, lots of listings, mainly (make)parking only signs etc., all easily available cheaper at any swap meet for less, all the ads look like one seller! Only 1 bid? I will continue to watch and might even try listing an item or two to test the waters, but does not look very promising as yet.
posted on February 13, 2001 12:20:38 PM new
I Currently have 15 items with bids on them out of 75 listed. Have also had some close successfully, some with 'TAKE IT ' bids. They don'y hang around to be seen.
posted on February 13, 2001 12:35:20 PM new
pizzatigger >
I just reviewed the automotive catagory, lots of listings, mainly (make)parking only signs etc., all easily available cheaper at any swap meet for less, all the ads look like one seller! Only 1 bid? I will continue to watch and might even try listing an item or two to test the waters, but does not look very promising as yet.
There is bidding taking place, however, in quite a few categories.
Take another look at Automotive > General and click on "completed". There you'll find that there were five bids on 75 closed auctions, which is a 7% sell-through rate.
In Books > Non-Fiction, there were 23 bids on 169 closed auctions, or a 14% sell-through rate.
In Movies > DVD > General, there were 21 bids on 60 closed auctions, or a 35% sell-through rate.
In Trading Cards > Baseball > Singles, there were 38 bids on the most recent 150 closed auctions, or a 25% sell-through rate.
Whatever categories interest you, make sure to check the completed auctions to see how much activity has taken place already.
posted on February 13, 2001 12:36:12 PM new
Before I get slammed for apearing negative, that was not the purpose of my post. I was only saying that in the catagory of interest to me there is nothing of interest to buy, and that from the lack of bids I am not in the minority. I would like to see the site succeed and could use a good alternative to eBay. That said if the buyer has to wade thru so much overpriced (above retail, that someone listed just because it's free, and what the hell some fool might bid) items to find anything, I feel is detrimental to the site.
posted on February 13, 2001 12:40:25 PM new
Having run a B&M bussiness in the past, and auctioning off and on for a while I do not look on a 7% sell thru as viable. I am interested in selling my items not werehousing.
Perhaps the percentage of sales will increase as the quality, usefulness and pricing of the listings improve?
The second paragraph was added as an edit
[ edited by pizzatigger on Feb 13, 2001 12:43 PM ]
posted on February 13, 2001 12:49:17 PM new
THANX, jimhhow for your comment, I see how the take it now option could skew the appearance of low bid #'s if one looks only at the current auction page.
posted on February 13, 2001 01:12:20 PM new
"In Movies > DVD > General, there were 21 bids on 60 closed auctions, or a 35% sell-through rate."
You should analyse this a little further and report the actual sell-through rate, or at least define what "sell-through" means.
- a couple of these were not for DVD's but for some "get DVD's free" scam!
- several ("American Pie" and "Friday" for example) received several bids but did not reach the seller's reserve price. Do these count as a sell-through?
For the ones that were sold, in most cases the selling price plus shipping was higher than retail, and certainly higher than Amazon or Future Shop on-line pricing. These bidders are either folks who don't have access to shopping centres, folks who have just got into DVD and are in a buying frenzy, or folks who do not do any research on prices (the impulse buyers).
Your statistic appears to be meaningless
There was only one DVD in a list of hundreds that I looked at, and only because it had a starting bid of $1.00. Of course, it also had a reserve price!
posted on February 13, 2001 01:35:27 PM new
The problems you all are mentioning are the same ones I've run into on every new auction site I've looked at. Sellers are used to getting a certain amount of money for their items and, since they're not likely to get a lot of competitive bidding at a new site, price their items at the amount they'd expect to get at eBay (either the starting bid or via a reserve).
Not many sellers are willing (or can afford) to take a loss on their items in order to help a new site get off the ground (and I include myself in this). The times I've tried to list nice items at low prices on a new site, hoping to stir some interest, I've lost money every time.
It's a catch-22... sellers can't/don't want to price items low enough to attract bidders, and bidders don't want to bid on items priced at retail from the get-go.
I also get tired of wading through all the wholesale "Limoges-like" trinket boxes, FTD vases, and made in Taiwan reproductions to look for the vintage and antique collectibles I love.
posted on February 13, 2001 01:41:28 PM new
Good points Joanne.
I wonder what the BidVille listing numbers would be if they got rid of all the illegal auctions (hundreds of bootleg tapes and CD's), the get-rich quick scams, and the other "junk" stuff that that migrated over from Yahoooooo?
posted on February 13, 2001 06:49:51 PM new
I bulk loaded about 250 auctions through them. Fast response, and probably about 10 of the items sold almost immediately (I like the take it now feature) and several more have bids. Granted these are inexpensive auctions (Sportscards) that would not be worth selling on Ebay with fees. I've also sold other items that I do sell on Ebay. This site definitely has the momentum right now. I think charging for auctions is inevitable, since the more traffic they have, the more costs. As long as they go for a FVF, I will stay with them even over a free site.
I just briefly clicked through these categories to get a feel for the kind of bidding activity taking place. I'm sure that some listed were reserve auctions that did not reach the reserve price.
Unlike Yahoo!Auctions, which removes auctions that close without bids, at least you can get an idea of the bidding activity at Bidville, which doesn't.
posted on February 14, 2001 10:28:14 AM new
tomwiii... Take a look at a depression glass category on any auction site, including eBay - I can almost guarantee you'll find contemporary florist vases and planters listed! (FTD, etc)
I've also seen Early American Pattern Glass (eapg) vases, which can be bought at Wal-Mart for about $4, listed as antiques. And people wonder why bidders are reluctant!
[ edited by joanne on Feb 14, 2001 10:30 AM ]
