posted on January 8, 2001 09:53:50 AM new
Over the past year I bought numerous items from sellers on Yahoo! auctions. I spent a good chunk of money there, as well as on ebay and a few other sites. I think highly of most of the sellers I did business with. For the most part, I think that Yahoo sellers have been fair, gave a good value, and provided good merchandise.
I do have some points that I think sellers ought to consider though.
The fees on Yahoo! are due directly to (a minority of)sellers actions, I believe. Such as:
1) Sellers using free listings at Yahoo! to re-list all of their items that failed to sell at ebay. Please don't tell me this did not occur. I shop both sites and know better.
Too many sellers made Yahoo! a dumping ground for their ebay orphans. This is grossly unfair to the site, and the customers who have to wade through all of those listings.
2) Sellers who listed 20,30, or more of the same item. I have brought up up dozens of listings for the same new items on any given day. What part of list only one similiar item didn't these people understand? That includes one attachment that fits twenty different cameras, or guitars or whatever. You don't need to list one for each model if they are all the exact same except for the mount. Just list the different mounts available!
3) Sellers linking to their own pages for retail sales. If you do this, I assume you aren't here to auction your items off. If I wanted a retail site, I'd look for one. Bidders expect an auction when they click on your ad. Why not show a little respect for their time and trouble and actually offer one?
4) This is even worse when the same sellers run multiple ads like that.
5) Another big problem on Yahoo! has been unrealistic prices. No, I am not suggesting you to give your things away, or what to charge. But many sellers started out auctions on Yahoo! for MORE than similiar items had SOLD for on ebay. Simply doing a search at ebay before setting your starting bids would avoid this problem. Another thought - not every item is going to make you a decent profit. Some items go DOWN in value, despite what you thought when you bought them. Prices on the internet aren't fixed, you need to be aware of changes in value and reflect them in your listings, rather than just hitting "relist" every time an auction ends.
6) Too many sellers seemed to think Yahoo! was a storefront, rather than an auction site. I saw the same items listed month after month, even when there was no interest evidenced. If it wasn't worth the time to freshen up their inventory, I wonder why some sellers continued to list ?
7) When Yahoo! started the program to limit free listings to 1000, too many sellers started using multiple IDs to avoid the system, and kept right on swamping the site with their listings. Besides completely defeating the idea of cutting down on the deadwood and multiple listings, these sellers exhibited a dishonesty that really turns off potential customers. If they can't be honest with Yahoo! who was giving them free auctions, can a bidder expect honest behavior in a transaction with them?
I have seen a number of posts here where sellers admitted having multiple IDs, and I cannot honestly remember one instance where other sellers called them on it. If you want customers to trust you, you need to reassure them with honest behavior. That includes honoring the terms on the site you are listing on, and expecting your fellow sellers to do so.
8) Yahoo! (had)has certain following. Lots of posts here have mentioned that you need to sell the right stuff in order to be sucessful on the site. Unfortunately, too mant ebay and amazon sellers seem to come over with their same stock they used on those sites. When it didn't sell, you would read the posts complaining of no hits, no traffic, no bidders. Well, it's not true. If your stuff got no looks, maybe you needed different stuff. In reality, some sellers just clogged the site up with things, that by their own admission, no one really wanted. Since it was free, we bidders got "treated" to these same listings month after month.
These things really helped bring down Yahoo! auctions, and led to the fees.
I realize many of you will say -" I didn't operate that way." I know many of you didn't. But it is still your problem. Wherever you eventually sell, these folks will come along for the ride. And they will ruin those sites, too. Sellers need to start policing their own, and letting other sellers know that they have to consider their customers. Otherwise, we all will lose in the long run.
posted on January 8, 2001 10:11:38 AM new
Well, they should have lots of open space after the 10th! They're losing the sellers they don't want AND buyers that they do want!
posted on January 8, 2001 10:15:12 AM new
This really does not jibe with what YAHOO stated - that overwhelmingly buyers shopped by search and the PROBLEM is that there are too FEW offerings, not the other way around.
In whatever case there are endless ways all of these problems could have been addressed and it would have been prudent on Yahoo's part to select something other than what they have which will do them in without a doubt as far as I am concerned.
One of the things here that everyone seems to deny is that BUYERS do NOT want STINKIN' Auctions anymore! What we need at Yahoo is a BUY NOW ICON, not auctions!
It is TOO LATE to try to be Ebay. Ebay isn't even Ebay anymore for chrissakes!
posted on January 8, 2001 10:23:45 AM new
You say Yahoo is a dumping ground for things that didn't sell on ebay. It works both ways, so it ivalidates your point. Many categories on Yahoo are dead, meaning no bidders. I can dump that same stuff onto ebay and have it sell the first time around and with a larger profit margin to make up for the fees.
These so called "un-quality" auctions which Yahoo refers to being auctions that don't receive (m)any bids is a sign that Yahoo is clueless about running an auction site for the masses. How does a bidder find a deal now? Lets take beanie babies for an example. They were hot collectibles and has cooled off lately. Let's say you just started to collect beanies now. How do you find the no demand beanies on Yahoo to complete your collection if sellers won't pay the fee to sell the item? The buyer will likely head over to ebay to do their buying.
Which brings up another point. Ebay has fees and it doesn't deter a lot of the junk that you proclaim that is cluttering up the "search." The main difference being that on ebay, the audience is larger and more of the junk sells faster therefore less relistings. It's YAHOOS FAULT! Yahoo can't bring in enough of an audience and the sellers are blamed.
Unrealistic prices? Same thing on ebay but since there's more of an audience on ebay more sellers can take the chance with a lower start bid. Again, YAHOO'S FAULT!
\"It's lonely at the top, but you eat better.
\"
posted on January 8, 2001 10:23:51 AM new
musicman - uh huh. Business as usual.
VeryModern - "This really does not jibe with what YAHOO stated - that overwhelmingly buyers shopped by search and the PROBLEM is that there are too FEW offerings, not the other way around. "
True. But I judge by Yahoos actions (the free listing limit) rather than their words. They certainly wanted to limit an individuals listings regardless of what they said. They must have had some reason for that.
posted on January 8, 2001 10:28:06 AM new
quickdraw - we disagree.
If items don't sell at Yahoo! why keep listing them? If there was no traffic last month, why expect that to change? Sellers are responsible for merchandise that doesn't move, no one else. It's called the free market.
posted on January 8, 2001 10:31:28 AM new
whereistheprophet
By the same token of the sellers that you claim are trying to push unwated things on Yahoo from which they couldn't sell on ebay... maybe if 80% of the buyers on yahoo didn't end up being deadbeat.. there would be a higher quality of stuff on yahoo!
posted on January 8, 2001 10:31:33 AM new
I appreciate that whereistheprophet, and my point is that the method they chose will lead to the demise of their auction site. IOW baby out with the bathwater.
posted on January 8, 2001 10:37:22 AM new
VeryModern, excellent point and one hardly addressed. If we go back in history to learn how "fixed prices" got its start, it's because people prefer the ease of shopping without haggling. Generally we have to pay more with fixed prices but people are ok with that just so that don't have to haggle. Auctions have a fun and bargain aspect that has it's place, but the market is limited and ebay has won the crown online. Yahoo started the "Buy it now" and should be promoting that as a main feature for buyers. They just don't know what they are doing.
\"It's lonely at the top, but you eat better.
\"
posted on January 8, 2001 10:39:45 AM new
Whereistheprophet: And your user name on Yahoo is...?
I'd like to see the auctions of an expert like yourself. Maybe I could learn a thing or two...
Aaron
posted on January 8, 2001 10:41:26 AM new
Using your logic, whereistheprophet, Bill Clinton wasn't at fault - it was Monica! After all, she offered it!
posted on January 8, 2001 10:44:28 AM new
"If items don't sell at Yahoo! why keep listing them? If there was no traffic last month, why expect that to change?"
Because demand does change! On ebay I've listed items that got no bids. After a few months bidding wars developed and I sold the items at a very high price. Since Yahoo is (was) free, I can afford to just keep relisting until the demand picked up.
posted on January 8, 2001 10:49:24 AM new
Before long you will not be able to "auction" on ebay either.
I have been saying this for a stinkin' year. Only very few things are suited for auction - the authentically scarce. The rest of it WAS a fad and it is a fad that is going the way of beanie babies, there is no doubt about it. Give it up people!
Yahoo lost their edge when Ebay added BIN option, and with an ICON and believe me, before long no one will even click your widget it they can't BUY IT NOW.
If this is true (and it is) than Yahoo's attempt to encourage "auctions" is truly misguided.
The future?
The future will be like Half.com (with obviously better search and covering EVERYTHING)
Free and easy to list
Best Deal OBVIOUS to the buyer
Shipping is stated.
IOW no bull****, people are not in the mood.
The site will take they percentage on SALES and have EVERYTHING under the sun available, which means you cannot exclude LOW END.
That is the winning combo right there.
Ebay was cut out of the race LONG TERM *because* of their listing fees and Yahoo was poised to win.
This ranks as one the the stupidest moves I can possibly imagine.
This, and from far and away Yahoo's biggest supporter on these boards for nearly a year. Whatcha gonna do?
posted on January 8, 2001 10:54:58 AM new
Now I'm really confused.
whereistheprophet says that the problem at Yahoo!Auctions is that sellers make their opening bids too high. But if sellers lower them Yahoo!Auctions says they don't want those items on their auction site.
posted on January 8, 2001 11:31:59 AM new
As I see it Yahoo does not have a policy against having several user names. Before I decided to get another one I checked into it. The only rule they had was you had to have a DIFFERENT Credit Card for each user ID in order to sell on the auctions. All of my accounts used the same email address, are under my name and I have done nothing dishonest!!!! The only reason for multiple user id's for me was to be able to offer one product in one booth, another in the next and so on. Then people who were looking for cards didn't have to wade through clothes and crafts and vice versa. I have great feedback on all, have never gotten a negative that wasn't a retaliation feedback because I had posted neg on them and have done everything in my power to draw bidders to Yahoo. My items may take a few months to sell but I can guarantee you there is nothing on my auctions that was there when I started and I have never had to close an auction and discard the item because it has never sold.
A good example of this is: I sell the trading cards put out by the BBOC. I sell an average of 5 of them a month. In December a lady came along and bought $150. worth of cards ranging between $.10 and $5.00. She was thrilled to find all the cards in one place and be able to pay a smaller amount for shipping than one card at a time. I don't think this was a waste of either of our time but some people seem to think because they don't want certain items there is no one else out there who does. I think the biggest problem out there is the small mindedness of some sellers who think if it's not something they want, it isn't worth anything!!!!!
posted on January 8, 2001 12:19:32 PM new
whereisthepropet - You certainly do have a great deal of "detailed" information there... and outlined in such an well organized and proficient manner.... wow, you must devoted hours in research...
posted on January 8, 2001 01:15:26 PM new
I get so sick and tired of these cowardly postings by anonymous posters like whereistheprophet that critisize what others do yet can never back up what they say or even have the guts to use their real name or user name.
posted on January 8, 2001 01:39:27 PM newIf items don't sell at Yahoo! why keep listing them? If there was no traffic last month, why expect that to change?
-- well, because it does. I regularly sell things on Yahoo that have been listed since late summer. People come and go on Yahoo all the time, and their desires are all different, especially when it comes to non-commodity items.
What Yahoo is really saying with this whole fee thing is that a quality auction (their language) is one that sells in at least 10, maybe 20 days. If it takes a few months for it to find a seller, it belongs somewhere else.
Not everyone is selling cameras, or purses, or whatever. I sell old (50-90 year old) postcards. There are a million different, perhaps more. How long do I have to wait before a buyer surfaces for a postcard of Crandel Park in Glens Falls NY? Quite a while, really. That doesn't make it junk, or even undesireable, merely something with a limited audience.
I liked Yahoo because it gave me the time it took for that specific buyer to wander by. (they sure weren't sucked in by Yahoo's slick marketing!) I even directed eBay customers to Yahoo any way I could. Not no more.
posted on January 8, 2001 02:07:28 PM new
whereistheprophet:
If you do not like certain sellers or their items- then JUST DON'T BID!!! I have run across auctions that I didn't like either- and I voted with my 'bacl' button on my browser. Just because I don't like how an auction is run or the sellers' terms does not mean I need to complain or throw a fit over it. Sellers have the right to list items as they see fit - after all, YaGREED (as well as eGREED) is supposedly - at least their claim is - they are JUST A VENUE
I sell for the most part expensive items ($100. - $1,500.) and it takes the right buyer for most of the items. I have listed items on eGREED several times with not even a bid - and sold one of the same items on Yahoo for $400. the first time it was listed. I have taken items I had listed on Yahoo with no interest in it and sold it immediately on eGREED for $900. The target audiences are different.
WHY ON EARTH do you THINK that you have ANY right to tell ANYONE how to operate THEIR business??? Both eGREED and YaGREED both claim that they are JUST A VENUE so why are they now involved in telling sellers how to operate their businesses??? (reserve fees, what items can be listed, etc.)
I am taking my $200. "pieces of junk" to a site where they appreciate quality items.
I for one loved looking through the categories- especially the post cards and books - but, I guess, I will be looking for the items at other auction sites as I will not do any business on Yahoo auctions even as a buyer (I stopped even looking at items on eGREED when the extortion fees were announced last year- and I was buying $1,000. - $2,000. worth of stuff every month)
posted on January 8, 2001 03:37:02 PM new
If it didn't sell last month could it be that the person who wanted it just didn't find it last month?
I've sold just as much on Yahoo as I have on Ebay if I consider that I started on eBay at a different time.
Read what the Wall St. Journalists are writing. The fees are simply to increase the bottom line and to get good writes from the WSJ writers, which, in turn, will prop up the stock price. I think that whether it's a mistake on Yahoo's part or not remains to be seen although I don't agree with their philosphy.
posted on January 8, 2001 03:54:38 PM new
I am now convinced that the fees have nothing to do with "cleaning up the site." The fees were instituted to generate revenue. Period.
Want proof? The graduate fee system itself is proof. A flat listing fee of 20 cents would have been more effective at raising the overall quality on the site. They could have weeded out all of the "junk" described above without running off sellers of quality items who operate on a thin profit margin.
[ edited by amalgamated2000 on Jan 8, 2001 04:50 PM ]
posted on January 8, 2001 04:01:05 PM new
amalgamated2000:
Good point! Also, why the reserve fees - reserves are usually on higher priced items anyway??? Since they are charging reserve fees, you know it isn't just to weed the site of "trash" (their word, not mine)
Yahoo should realize that many sellers were listing on Yahoo because of eGREED's reserve fees - that's why I left eGREED and I will NOT pay reserve fees anywhere (I listed some on eGREED this Fall and it sickened me to pay the ILLEGAL reserve fees - I would rather starve than do it again)
posted on January 8, 2001 05:21:23 PM new
whereistheprophet
You are giving Ebay far too much credit. In essence you are saying, if the item has any value at all it will sell the first time through on Ebay. Sorry, it doesn't work that way...
Some of the things that haven't sold on Ebay for us have sold within a day after listing them on Yahoo... Hmmmm, so much for that logic. Right now I don't relist on Ebay, at all. Everything that doesn't sell on the first time through goes directly to Yahoo. I do not purchase junk! Everything that I purchase, I think should sell. 85% to 90% does sell. The rest I donate to charities or we keep for ourselves. Many of the items that don't sell are still good (useable) items. They were just not right for auction.
Your logic also falls apart when an item, and this has happened several times, sits on Yahoo for several months and suddenly sells at the buy price. The right person has come along and liked the item.
If you have any experience, at all, selling on internet auction sites you would know this.
[ edited by outoftheblue on Jan 8, 2001 05:23 PM ]
posted on January 8, 2001 06:51:17 PM new
Hey! The Yahoo fees are a way of gearing up for a ePAY takeover. All the talk and whining are pretty much useless. We, the seller community, had a chance to take action but instead of cancelling your auctions far too many of you are loading up on auctions thus reinforcing the MBA rat thinkers who predicted (correctly) that is what would happen.
We sellers really have nobody to blame but ourselves. It's not the crappy listings, it's not the fees, it's not anything that's being talked about.
It's all about stock options for the poor bastards that work in these .com companies.
If you can't see that they you really should keep listing on Yahoo!
posted on January 8, 2001 10:41:25 PM new
canvid13
I have noticed, as you said, that the number of listings has increased instead of decreased in several categories. Is anyone else out there, tracking the numbers in their categories?
posted on January 8, 2001 11:05:18 PM new
I cant wait to see those junk auctions by misguided sellers leaving yahoo.
Also the overinflated opening prices, yes
real world overinflated prices and not the fair almost break even auctions, those are okay.
Oh and what about the sellers you use a template and they never adjust their S/H according to the item!! Idiots
They are no more auction sellers than the
makemoneyfast folks.
Out with them all, before there are no bidders left.
