posted on March 19, 2001 11:33:14 AM new
Before the fees started we were selling between 60-100 items per month. Now we are averaging only about 2-4 sales per week. Sure we are listing less items but they are our best stuff. Stuff that used to sell on the first time through, at the buy price.
I was planning to use up our listing credits but I'm not sure it's even worth my time listing on Yahoo anymore.
I've also noticed that the number of listings are declining again.
posted on March 19, 2001 03:58:19 PM new
I'm sorry things are not going well for you.
Ironically, I just listed my first auctions at Yahoo (since January) about a week ago because BidVille isn't working for me in the book category and eBay is doing some tweaking and there is now intermittent difficulty listing there.
From Nov. through Jan., I sold an average of 1 item about every 10 days on Yahoo, certainly not worth paying fees for. But I've now sold 12 items since the March 11th, much better than before and I don't mind paying (I didn't get the credits, silly me ) for that level of performance.
I hope things pick up for you here, or that you can find where the majority of your potential customers have gone.
posted on March 20, 2001 06:55:59 PM new
CAgrrl - yes, just did! Hmmm. Makes me wonder. But right now I am working on establishing a presence on Bibliofind. I was surprised when I went to list a stack of books that in all but one case there were NOT tons of other copies. Don't know if they will sell, but I thought that wasn't a bad sign.
posted on March 20, 2001 08:37:41 PM new
In my category, I LIKE the new Yahoo. A lot. It's got less filler and more meat. Prices are too high IMO, but even so some of them are selling, so lower listing fees and higher prices on maybe 1/3 or so of what gets listed beats ebay AFAIC. I listed one thing the other day as a test and it sold with BIN about 15 hours before it was scheduled to close, which please me greatly (and made me wish I'd made the BIN higher <g>.
Tell me something. When Yahoo came out with their featured listing credits for ebay feedback, I did that but used them only once and was so disgusted with zero sales I never went back. Now I'm going to give Yahoo a real try. Can I still use them? Are they still good? What do I have to do -- will it be automatic when I choose Featured? What's the story?
posted on March 20, 2001 10:21:50 PM new
Yes it's automatic, all fees- listing, featuring, bold title etc. are deducted from your wallet credits. Your credit card won't be billed until all credits are used and you spend real money. To check your balance click options (next to sign-out) then click billing summary.
I'm really surprised at the number of people still paying to feature when most categories have so few ads now. I've seen people featuring in categories that only have 20-30 ads total!
posted on March 21, 2001 07:27:04 AM new
I've kept 20 to 25 items listed for a while now, and for the longest time, I would sell an average of 1 item a week. In the last 10 days, I've had 15 auctions close. I don't know what's happened to cause the change, but I don't mind.
posted on March 21, 2001 07:40:34 AM new
I think yahoo has become a better site now. I certainly have increased my buying/bidding there, now that most of the chaff has fallen from the wheat.
posted on March 21, 2001 08:08:07 AM new
Twelvepole >
I think yahoo has become a better site now. I certainly have increased my buying/bidding there, now that most of the chaff has fallen from the wheat.
Interesting. At Yahoo!Auctions I find only a few items of interest when browsing through the category that interests me; though I did bid on about ten items on Bidville and ePier last night in the same category.
Why can't I find something interesting in the "wheat"?
Does that mean my collection is nothing more than "chaff"?
posted on March 21, 2001 09:54:01 AM new
Getting back to the title of this thread...
Yahoo auctions have become a big joke!
If things keep up the way they're going right now, where I've been able to sell things on Yahoo for 3 or 4 times what I paid for them on eBay, I'd have to say I like the joke, and I'll be laughing all the way to the bank.
I guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.
posted on March 21, 2001 07:39:30 PM new
CAgrrl - I sold my first Bibliofind book today....on half.com! ; - ) I double-listed it. In fact, it's not even loaded on Bibliofind yet, so I've had to make a note to delete it when it eventually shows up.
It's pleasant to see some people having success on Yahoo - mostly because I like the idea of giving ebay some competition. I've started listing again using "funny" money, but so far my success rate has been worse than when it was Old Yahoo.
posted on March 22, 2001 10:29:10 AM new
I did OK with Yahoo before they started charging fees and now I notice that there isnt a whole lot of traffic there. I really like the layout there and the abuse team there is great! I had a seller post bogus feedback on my account and YAHOO removed it. So..I am really torn about my feelings about YAHOO. <sigh>
posted on March 22, 2001 10:51:00 AM new
Six more auctions closed successfully this morning, and one more auction with a bid set to close tonight. I don't know the reason for the sudden increased action, but I hope it keeps up.
posted on March 22, 2001 11:51:57 AM new
I had one book sell immediately. It was for a low-low price, but heck, I got it for free! I'll make a couple of bucks and someone will get something to read.
posted on March 23, 2001 04:43:04 AM new
Dimview, twelvepole is correct, ever since yahoo started to charge fees, they have finally gotten rid of chaffs, if thats what your stuff was, then maybe yahoo isnt for you. With the new stuff, I can buy better, sell better, and I think Yahoo has a chance to beat ebay at their own game. Just you wait and see. The bidders are growing, and sellers are getting better sell ratio. It can only grow!
posted on March 23, 2001 08:14:54 AM new
As expected it does look like the number of items on Yahoo is still gradually drifting lower. As the sellers here have observed there's still some "funny money" out there.
The site-wide success rate seems to be holding steady at 30% during weekends/Sundays. Average selling price is around $40 with average number of bids per successful item of 4-5. The average selling price and bumpiness in the chart suggest it has become more like a true auction.
posted on March 24, 2001 06:49:43 AM new
Grow? Yes it can grow, now that, as twelvepole put it, "chaff" is not there, sure the "lookylloos" might leave, BUT as twelvepole,and many other reputable sellers have stated, the bidding is getting better, and bidders are finally finding what they are looking for without going through junk.
The ones who are complaining are selling "chaff", stuff. I dont get it, if you have greatcolelctables that is ready to sell, yet you dont like ebays fee, you still can put it iun yahoo. But many dont. Perhaps the stuff you have for sale isnt hot, and is like leftover stuff from a swap meet nobody wants, and isnt even worth the effort to even spend 35 cents submitting at yahoo?
I put 11 items last week, you know what, 10 closed with winners! So there, yahoo is growing, and I agree with Twelvepole, it has become a much bette rplace.
So stop your crying! Only the strong survive in this world, right twelvepole?
posted on March 24, 2001 07:20:30 AM new
ironking>
I put 11 items last week, you know what, 10 closed with winners! So there, yahoo is growing, and I agree with Twelvepole, it has become a much bette rplace.
So stop your crying! Only the strong survive in this world, right twelvepole?
Why would I not be surprised to hear that twelvepole also put up 11 items last week and, amazingly, he also had 10 close with winners.
posted on March 24, 2001 02:56:10 PM new
Dimview--LOL indeed!
Ironking posted this week
"I was going to put some stuff in Yahoo anyway, but I forgotten my password for the security key, for i figured Id never have to use it, for yahoo would always be free (WRONG!). Well I tried 4 times, and no luck."
"i figured Id never have to use it". Interesting, a sec key has been required to list since Jan. 10 and you weren't even trying to figure yours out until Mar. 18 so you obviously had no ads during that time. (By the way, you're welcome for that phone # I gave you)
The last time you did run ads you posted this
"I had about 45 auctions close with winners in the last month (beofre the fee's). Out of the 45, about 25 were deadbeats!"
http://www.auctionwatch.com/mesg/read.html?num=6&id=17655&thread=17655
So exactly why, all of sudden are you thinking Yahoo is SO great? And with your deadbeat ratio, why get all excited about 10 of 11 bids? It's getting paid that counts.
posted on March 25, 2001 06:46:11 AM newmint "Junk" is probably not quite the right word -- at least in my categories -- but there's a great reduction in things that some sellers had put up and left perennially, probably too high a minimum bid to start with, multiples after multiples of the same thing. All that extraneous "stuff" gummed up the works and was very boring to look through. My categories are meaner and leaner now, and there's new activity with all that deadwood gone.
) for that level of performance.
.
LOL - Kasmoon! Most of the cheerleaders trip themselves up!
