posted on January 7, 2001 10:43:06 PM new
On the other hand
Looking at bits of the auction site from "what's hot" find
Automotive > Vehicles > Cars > General
current listings 32 pages, closed 34 pages, hardly any penny ante, many in 4-5 figures
Electronics & Cameras > Television & Video > Camcorders > Digital
current listings 11 pages, closed 17 pages, no penny ante
Entertainment > Music > Instruments & Equipment > Stringed Instruments > Guitar > Electric Bass
current listings 32 pages, closed 34 pages, about 1/3 > 100.00
Electronics & Cameras > Phones > Cellular & PCS > Phones
current listings 21 pages, closed 74 pages, hardly any penny ante
Business & Office > Business Machines > Copiers
current listings 8 pages, closed 5 pages, hardly any penny ante, many in 4 figures
Toys, Games, & Hobbies > Hobbies & Crafts > Basketry > Longaberger
current listings 118 pages, closed 130 pages, most repectable 2 digits, occ. more / less
Coins, Paper Money, & Stamps > Coins > United States > Dollars > Morgan (1878-1921)
current listings 80 pages, closed 139 pages, most repectable 2 digits, occ. more / less
As closed auctions seems to hold about 90 days, 9 * current listings may give a reasonable estimate of how many listings were required to generate the sales, yahoo may well have created enough of a marketplace in quite a few categories to easily sustain the fees, and continue to prosper, while sloughing off the penny ante.
posted on January 8, 2001 06:33:31 AM new
...and I should have added that people need a place to sell all the stuff they paid too much for on ebay 2 and 3 years ago.
Everyone is bursting at the seams with all they have "collected"!
posted on January 8, 2001 06:34:47 AM new
...and since they will be taking a loss as it is, by and large - I doubt they are going to want to pay for the privilege!
posted on January 9, 2001 06:18:15 AM new
figmente >
As closed auctions seems to hold about 90 days, 9 * current listings may give a reasonable estimate of how many listings were required to generate the sales, yahoo may well have created enough of a marketplace in quite a few categories to easily sustain the fees, and continue to prosper, while sloughing off the penny ante.
That would probably be a good guesstimate, and in doing that to all the categories you cited, here's the percentages:
10%, 7%, 10%, 3%, 18%, 10% and 6%.
pplive/(9*ppclosed)
I do not see that as a perticularly good sellthrough rate; especially if listing fees are part of the equation.
posted on January 9, 2001 07:29:43 AM new
dinview>
"not see that as a perticularly good sellthrough rate"
true, though I don't think your arithmetic is quite right, but not all listings are created equal, and even this poor sell through appears to be about enough for the fvf delta to cover insertion fees.
The categories were selected by "what's hot", I don't have any particular familiarity in them and have not attempted to research how the successful prices compare. They show a significant chunk of commerce (not overwhelming) occurring in items whose value dwarfs the new fees.
Choosing categories more randomly I see many similiar sell throughs (and many lower) but most often at item prices which would not justify the entry fees. I do believe that yahoo auctions adding insertion fees constitutes self-destruct (fee paying sellers will continue to use ebay, others are in for a drought until another site begins to resemble what yahoo was). The counter argument shows some doubts, i.e. the possibility that yahoo will become a much smaller but still meaningful alternative.
