posted on March 6, 2001 09:29:37 PM new
I recently finished a round of 21 auctions with a sell through of all but 4.
I was really encouraged, so I picked some of what I consider my more unique items and listed a second round.
Of the 11 auctions currently running, I only have one item with bids! Ironically it is 1 of the 4 that didn't get sold last time! Even stranger, I increased the start price by $6.00 and now have 2 bids on it! Go figure!!
I use a template, so my auctions are the same as last time. A little too wordy and long, but the info about the item is right on top and if they don't feel like going beyond that, they really don't have too!
I am really verrrry surprised! I personally prefer what I am offering now over what I offered last time. Maybe my taste is different than the average buyer????
posted on March 6, 2001 10:08:52 PM new
Yahoo auctions have always worked that way for me. I will list similar clothing items, same quality, and will have a rash of bidders for about a week or week and a half. Then nothing for two weeks, then a rash of bids again. Never could figure out why and never could find anything to attract those bids during a down time, so I just plan for the cycle.
My sister saw the same phenomonon(sp?). She sold crafts and trading cards, I sell clothing & sewing patterns so it wasn't any particular catagory. Just the nature of the site, I guess.
posted on March 6, 2001 11:27:19 PM new
Mine have been doing better, but I have not been listing a lot!
I list in collectibles and I have folks from E-Bay coming over to bid now! I have not seen them on"Y" for over a year now!
Many of them did not like to look at the same stuff over and over and higher then book prices! I had to sell at high book just to compete and some items I would not even try to sell on "Y"!
Instant purchase and BIN have been doing great the past couple weeks!
In those instances I am really since I list for higher then I expect to receive with multiple bids!
posted on March 7, 2001 03:37:12 AM new
Glad to hear I'm not the only one that's happening to. I will sell 6-10 items a day for 2 weeks, then nada for several days. Then it will pick up again. Maybe it has something to do with cycles of the moon?
posted on March 7, 2001 06:28:57 AM new
It also has something to do with the reason 95% of YaWhoze auctions disappeared just after they started with listing fees, and will no doubt figure in your decision somewhere down the road, that that you can't make any money after paying multiple listing fees to sell an item.
Right now you're like the amatuer poker player who arrives in Vegas, plays a few hands, wins a hundred and considers quitting his real job and moving to Las Vegas. But before the weekend is over, the poker player will be ready to kiss the ground where he lives. And for you, the lenghty auction process will draw out the time you need to come to the same conclusion as the gambler: If the house rakes too much of the pot, you can't beat the game.
posted on March 7, 2001 12:06:43 PM newzzyzx000-I was afraid of that! I started selling on Yahoo about a year ago. It's where I learned. After a few months I moved over to eBay because I kept hearing that's where the action was and you could make money! I sold on eBay but never made much money!
When Yahoo started charging fees and so many people left and the categories thinned out, I decided to try again. It's easier for someone to find my widget when there are only 450 listed, than when there was 12,000!
My first round gave me hope. I had planned on listing a few items every few days for at least a month to see what would happen and try and keep 20-25 going at all times. I don't do this for a living! I do it really for entertainment!
I created a picture gallery with a link hoping to get people looking at all my auctions--After the 1st round, the counters showed that most of my viewers didn't use it. I had 4 or 5 auctions with very high views (my record is 600+) and some that only had 10 after 10 days! Incidently the honesty counters were very close to the Yahoo ones (within 2 on almost every item I had added the counter to). I remember a thread here where someone was wondering if the Yahoo counters were correct.
This round is showing practically no views on anything. One item has only had 5 views in the last 7 days!
I have also discovered that people don't snipe on Yahoo!
On one of my previous auctions, I had quite a bit of interest early. I had 15 bids (and was on 6 watchlist). I was for sure there would be more! On the lastday, I had only 8 views all day long! The last 4 hours had 0!!!!!! I had timed this auction to end during primetime on Sunday! This really surprised me.
Since, I don't do this for a living, I guess I'll try one of the other "free" sites (just for fun !!!!
Thanks for all your comments, it's nice knowing you are not alone, but sad that others are expierencing the same unfortunate quirk! it's most definetly a bummer!
Good luck to you all!
edited due to happy "dancing" on the keyboard!
[ edited by sulyn1950 on Mar 7, 2001 12:12 PM ]
posted on March 7, 2001 06:26:06 PM new
No Snipers here, since it was never an auction site!
It was a classifieds!
The word "AUCTION" is what draws the customers!
Most folks here sold first bid wins which I wish they would do at real auctions! All you would have to do is keep your number in the air, but I imagine everyone else would also!
posted on March 7, 2001 07:01:47 PM new
I was with Yahoo had lookers but very little buying had to list and relist and relist ect. I could not afford to keep relisting when their charges came in so I moved to Bidville my sales are down so far but the hits have picked up in the last week or so reminds me of when I first started with Yahoo. All I can say is I look in on Yahoo off and on it still looks and sounds the same as when I left just alot of sellers gone now. Hope you better luck and try to stay happy.
posted on March 7, 2001 07:16:47 PM new
I was with Yahoo had lookers but very little buying had to list and relist and relist ect. I could not afford to keep relisting when their charges came in so I moved to Bidville my sales are down so far but the hits have picked up in the last week or so reminds me of when I first started with Yahoo. All I can say is I look in on Yahoo off and on it still looks and sounds the same as when I left just alot of sellers gone now. Hope you better luck and try to stay happy.
posted on March 7, 2001 09:39:08 PM new
zzyzxOO-the thing you are overlooking is the fact that most people still listing on Yahoo are 'playing' with chips the house gave us (funny money). If we lose, so what-it isn't costing us anything to play. By the time the chips are gone, we'll either make money or leave for other sites.
I wouldn't gamble real money on Yahoo right now-but I am willing to give it a try as long as it doesn't cost me anything.
posted on March 8, 2001 08:26:30 PM new
bearmom
I agree with you! I still have close to $500 Yahoo Bucks left!
My sales have actually picked up! Some are previous customers from both "Y" and "E"!
I signed up for Bidville! May give it a go!
I haven't listed books for over a year and thought I might give it a go there!
I took a look in the general category non fiction with over 5,000 listings and clicke on "VIEW MY AUCTIONS"" for one sellers adds, since they seemed to be the only seller!
This is the response I got from "Bidville Search":
"Over 4000 item(s) matching your search criteria were found:
This user has too many items to list!"
I see Bidville heading the same direction as Yahoo, but they do not have all the other services that Yahoo has to bring customers to there site!
Does not take long to build high numbers with folks listing auctions in those kind of quantities! Imagine listing 10 books in there?
since I list for higher then I expect to receive with multiple bids!
!!!!
