posted on January 2, 2001 08:34:44 PM new
Maybe Yahoo will start listening to sellers when they start charging fees (I'm not counting on it). Most important to me, is they get rid of the jumbled listings.
If not, I'm planning on moving all my items to Lycos. Listing items on Lycos seems tedious compared to Yahoo, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. Listing with Lycos will also list your items on MSN, NBCi, Excite, etc. MSN and Excite charge final value fees so you have to list through Lycos to avoid the fees.
posted on January 3, 2001 01:43:56 AM new
I just looked and Lycos as loved the way it is set up. On the down side, bids are slim in the categories I sell in. It seems that JC Penneys is the only one getting any bids..
posted on January 3, 2001 02:20:53 AM new
My main problem isn't really with the listing, but with my completed auctions. On Yahoo I relist completed auctions with no bids and delete the auctions that have been paid for and shipped. On Lycos, I can't find anyway to delete completed auctions, so the list keeps growing and tends to get a little confusing. Or atleast very tedious to search through. Seems like I have to do more paper work to keep everything straight (like I did on eBay).
posted on January 3, 2001 08:24:39 AM new
I've never tried Lycos, but will give it a go. Don't understand though, why if it's free, it says this on the link 'dave' has up:
Seller Transaction Fees Free
(Taken as a percentage of final price)
posted on January 3, 2001 11:40:45 AM new
Yes it is free. Lycos does not charge listing fees or final value fees (transaction fees). And as with Yahoo and PayPal, this is subject to change.
posted on January 3, 2001 01:09:03 PM new
I'm also dumping Yahoo. I hardly make any sales there anyway. For Yahoo to introduce fees now is a bit premature in my opinion. When and if Yahoo becomes as successful as Ebay in attracting bidders, then that would be a more appropriate time to introduce fees. The least Yahoo could have done was to put in FVFs instead of listing fees.
I signed up with Lycos just now. Anyone know what their stats are? (ie. population, listings etc.)
posted on January 3, 2001 01:28:36 PM new
It does look promising and worth a try. I've already registered, and am going to shoot a few listings that way as soon as I dig out my credit card.
posted on January 3, 2001 07:51:33 PM new
I took a look at Lycos. The bids in the categories I sell don't seem to be there. I searched under "candle" and it returned 1000 items. I went through them all (nothing better to do right now) and only 3 had bids. I looked at "perfume bottles" which returned 205 items with no bids. Various book categories had 1 or no bids.
Hopefully, those of you who go there will have better traffic with your categories than it appears I would have.
Free is a good price, but there is still the time spent entering all the listings. I think I'll take a wait and see approach.
posted on January 3, 2001 08:30:53 PM new
I may try listing there to see what happens. There seem to be some toy listings already, which is good. Note: I'm not counting the (approx) 9,000 beanies when I say "some listings". Whew, happy to NOT be selling beanies right about now!!!
But I have to ask, is Lycos SERIOUSLY you guys' plan B????
Ebay will only be getting a portion of my listings. (Assuming the site is running again anytime soon, who knows??) Yahoo will be getting a share too. And I'll try out some sites like Amazon, Lycos & Dutchbid. But I don't think I'd rely too heavily on Lycos for income just yet...
posted on January 3, 2001 08:33:38 PM new
My 2¢ is that Lycos' categories look pretty terrible. For dolls, you have Barbies & "other". That's it???? On Yahoo we gripe about the lack of categories, but Yahoo looks like category heaven next to Lycos.
posted on January 3, 2001 10:36:30 PM new
>I hear that excite has free auctions? Has anyone tried them yet?<
Excite, MSN, & NBCi all charge final value fees. It doesn't matter which site you list with, your item will appear on all the Fair Market sites, but Lycos is the only one that does not charge final value fees.
posted on January 3, 2001 10:44:34 PM new
I just checked out the misc goods and services category on Lycos.
Holy mother, more expensive then retail.
One example is someone selling 36 novelty pens with an opening price of OVER $53.00. Not a bad deal because the seller says the retail of these 36 pens is more then $71.00. OUCH
posted on January 4, 2001 07:45:11 PM new
Looking for a free listing alternative? I'm a part owner in an auction site which is entering it's 3rd year. The site has a couple of active areas...boy scout memoribilia and stamps. If you want a new area established, let us know.
The areas that currently exist have been establed by using referrals from closing auctions on other sites. You're welcome to do the same.
posted on January 10, 2001 07:04:53 PM new
Ummmm... Me again.
Lyco's is part of the FairMarket network of auction sites. Total disaster, your better off staying at Yahoo w/ fee's in that case.
Really, I kid you not. Fairmarket had a VERY good idea and as the business history of same has shown over... and over... and over... and over again they fuble the football completely. I wont even say that, too kind. Let me put it this way... Yahoo fumbled the football, FairMarket doesnt even know what a football looks like.
Absolutely no support. The software at best is lackluster (there are public domain auction engines that do a better job) and they like to play favorites. A "powerseller" at eBay is nothing, a word, great support is the only major advantage in "powerseller". Fairmarket plays the class game. If your a retailer and you pay then you are a "reliable merchant". When these sites were first deployed we used them, for about 6 weeks sales were "fair" (how appropriate) it has since become nothing but a dead zone. No bidders, lots of spam sellers, if you are fortunate to get a bid they wont pay. It became a total waste of time for us and many many others. At one point we were nearly giving stuff away at cost, some OUTSTANDING deals on computer stuff and few bids, not a one paid. Our final payout rate on leaving the site was 22% roughly 2 in 10 bidders paying. We'd have about 10 bids a month and run off 250+ auctions a week. So 10 bids in 1000 listings. At eBay we do about 75%.
This is the company that deployed their site saying publically to media We are directly targeted at eBay, we have millions more users on this "network" of sites. I almost peed my pants I laughed so hard. Fairmarket had a B2C auction site in the past, floparoo and back then ANY B2C auction did well (there has been alot of fallout in B2C auctions too).
You basically have 2 viable points of sale. Actually Three. Perhaps 4. Depends how smart and how much effort you wish to put in.
We sell at both person to person sites and business to consumer such as HSN, Onsale, dealdeal.com etc. 14 all total. If your a business, and can prove your a decent one we can open some doors to such places. Done it before we are more than happy to do it again for GREAT web sellers.
For the non-business business (business defined as states define it, if you buy goods (period) with intent for resale for profit more than likely your state defines you as a business whether you do or not, there are laws you know).
Anyhow... For those seeking money. I would list goods at Amazon auctions. Make a zShop so you have your own brand new shiny online store too. Listing fee's are reasonable. .10 a pop or $40 a month and 4000 listings for it. A tremendous bargain might I add. You can use 1 click payments and get payment via credit card and the service has REAL policies not like PayPal where they seem to be made up on the fly as they are THE MERCHANT, not a card processor, not a bank, no different than the gas station down the street.
List there, try bid for featured placement to get some attention. TALK to Amazon, they are wonderful in trying to help you succeed.
Take your zShop and make an entry page say with your ISP, index that with search engines and just put a link in to your new shiny zShop.
Now with the sales you get at Amazon, use that profit to list with eBay. Start yourself a mailing list of your customers if you have not already done so. Email is cheap, VERY effective marketing tool as its truly "directed" advertising. In other words it targeted right at people who buy what you sell or they would not have known you otherwise.
If you wish to use say Lycos auctions because its free, thats cool. Dont expect sales, they wont happen. BUT you can use it to say direct people to stuff you sell thats not listed at Lycos but instead at your zShop. Go to free classified sites, there are zillions of em' and get again your zShop listed.
Once you grow your mailing list start directing those folks at the zShop as well as pointed eBay auctions. We've done that quite effective. We actually have a mass mailing we do to our list subscribers saying "check out this auction and this one and that one" at eBay and they LOVE IT. We get better bids, eBay and us make more money.
Change the attitude... Biggest asset you can have on the net in sales. See... most sellers think THEY sell at Yahoo or THEY sell at eBay. Wrong attitude and its also why and where most problems come from. We have never viewed any site as "working for us" no no no. We work for THEM. We are posting goods for THEM & consumers. They in turn bring us sales and we in turn pay them for that privaledge and we WORK to drive MORE paying consumers AT THEM. So its reciprocal. NEVER an Us vs Them
scenario. Same with HSN, dealdeal, uBid, Onsale, C/Net etc.
The web does not work well as a "What can they do for me" it does work well in a "What can we do for them". Then doors open, opportunities occur and with a little luck you get to see the revenue rainbow.
Its advisable to become a legit business. Sure there is more paper work etc. On the other side of the coin your listings, commissions, even costs of web access become tax deductible as a cost of doing business. A percentage of your computer used for business can be written off (depreciated over the years). In home office? Out of home office? Free shipping as a promotion? In other words ALL KINDS of creativity can now be used to succeed even perhaps a small business loan from the fed. You cant succeed unless you play by the rules, its only a matter of when it blows up not if.
Amazes me. People deposit 100 checks a month or money order or paypal exchanges and figure they are getting it over. Getting nothing over. Banks, collections, IRS networks are all interconnected, its a matter of WHEN not if. People think its only "large ticket" deposits that send up flares. Incorrect. Its all computerized folks. And again, most states define that if you buy goods with intent of resale for profit you are by nature a business under the laws eyes. Be smart, use your creativity and the web can blossom for you as a small business.
