posted on March 29, 2001 05:50:17 AM new
I am still selling on Yahoo, as long as the funny money holds out. I have noticed that a large number of the bidders are either new or have very low feedback. Anyone have an idea where they are coming from?
I'm certainly not complaining, so far they have been very good about prompt payment, for the most part. I'm just curious where they are coming from. Is Yahoo advertising-a lot of these are foreign, Israel, Japan, the Phillipines, etc. Any ideas?
posted on March 29, 2001 06:44:04 AM new
In my case it is becuase I AM *was) a new buyer on Yahoo. Maybe a lot of these bidders are coming back to Yahoo after the purge as it is easier to find things.
I won't be staying with Yahoo any longer though. I just got my fourth positive feedback notice from Yahoo AND the one that warns me about negative feedback! See my other posts about this. If Yahoo is going to warn me everytime I get a kudo, I wan't nothing to do with them.
posted on March 29, 2001 01:02:34 PM new
New buyers are where it's at, you may be experiencing an increase in buyers using auction watch's Universal search and you just happen to have the right keyword to search by. Most of the New buyers we get are actually very seasoned buyers who have merely changed there name or were stuck in one auction house (ebay, amazon)and finally are seeing they internet has more to offer then one safe site.
Getting the right Keywords into your title is vital when so many folks are now using domains such as auctionwatch to save time surfing so they can get down to bidding.
posted on March 29, 2001 09:15:11 PM new
rollanotherone, I think yahoo is keeping their promise of bringing in bidders with advertisements! YES See, yahoo is doing something to help the auction site! I think more of you should listen to great posters like rollanotherone and twlevepole instead of complaining all the time! Bidders are out there folks, like yahoo said, bidders are looking for quality so as long as you put quality you will be doing quite successful at yahoo!!!
posted on March 30, 2001 06:10:11 AM new
I think ironking is probably right! I am selling much better than I did before the purge. Same items sat for months and then sold when the dust cleared.
I'm NOT saying that the previous sellers listed junk-not at all. Remember, I was one of those sellers! I'm just saying that when there's only one or two pages in a category, bidders are more likely to see your offerings.
I don't know if I will continue on Yahoo after the funny money runs out. I'm still having to relist, and that's not cost efficient. But I am selling right now!
posted on March 30, 2001 10:07:13 AM new
Many of my bidders are also new OR low FB. I was also surprised to find that (in my case anyway) many of those low FB buyers hadn't placed bids in the past 6 months so they seem to be coming back for another look.
I really can't complain about the number of bids I get, the problem I am having is getting a decent price! I ran an experiment of placing my items up at a low start with no reserve. I have had a 100% sell through for the past 2 weeks, unfortunately I have lost money on everything!!!!
I have one buyer who has now won 2 of my auctions and she emailed to say she couldn't believe how great my items were at such an unbelievably low price and thanked me for selling on Yahoo!
I don't have the heart to tell her, I really hadn't expected them to end at that "unbelievably low price" and I won't be in business very long if the bids don't get a little higher.
posted on March 30, 2001 05:22:30 PM new
Quit gambling and figure out what price you will be happy getting. Then set the minimum bid = to the BUY price. Then put "1st Bid WINS" in the title so the buyer will understand you have created a classified ad.
Of course if your buy price = minimum bid is over $9.99 you won't be paying just $.20 for 10 days. And you most likely won't be selling any given item the first 10 days...or the second 10 days...or the 3rd.
Get the picture? That's why 93% of YaWho's listings hade disappeared since listing fees started.
posted on March 30, 2001 06:48:45 PM new
As I said, mint4you-no, I wouldn't pay real money to run these ads. I will probably have a giant garage sale when the funny money runs out, and quit online sales. And I am not giving things away-I'm doing 90% bid wins, and setting the price I want. However, I've never set unreasonable prices for anything. I've never had the attitude of 'set a high price and wait for someone who wants it bad enough to pay'. I put the same markup on items that I did in a real life mall, but they definitely sell faster on line at that price!
I don't think you are going to have to give things away to sell on Yahoo-you set a reasonable buy price, give good service, and the customers will be there. I have a LOT of repeat buyers. And that's what builds a business, whether it's Ebay, Yahoo, or the local antique mall.
posted on March 30, 2001 07:01:53 PM new
LOL Mint4u- that's funny!!
Well, as for me, customers with under 10 feedback + international customers have made up an average of about 80% of my business since I began selling on Yahoo. Business as usual, at least for me...
posted on March 30, 2001 08:15:38 PM newmint4you-that is exactly what I meant! Sell through means nothing and number of increased bids means nothing! I have had them both and have made no profit so as soon as these last auctions are through so am I.
I just thought is was humorous that the returned bidder (who had placed no bids in 6 months PRIOR to bidding on my auctions) was thanking me for being so "reasonable" with my prices!
[ edited by sulyn1950 on Mar 30, 2001 08:17 PM ]
posted on March 30, 2001 10:58:17 PM new
I think the average bidder has NO IDEA how high wholesale prices are....and all the people cleaning out their attics, or selling their unwanted Christmas gifts or deceased parents' estates, or recouping on their children's outgrown clothes, or lucking into occasional 25-cent buys at garage sales---who list everything for $1.00/no reserve and are tickled pink to make $2.00 "profit" for all their work in auctioning an item....these are the people whose listings make realistically-priced auction items look EXPENSIVE.
Unfortunately, we're not JUST competing against real-life B & M store prices, we're also competing against every John Doe out there who just wants to get rid of something and make a few bucks, OR against the gamblers like sulyn1950 who hoped for bidding wars that never materialized.
sulyn1950, while your buyers are *delighted* at the unbelievably low prices they're paying for your items, there are, no doubt, other sellers DISGUSTED at the unbeatable competition. They're sitting back wondering *how in the world* you can AFFORD to sell at those low prices when their COSTS are more than your final bids brought.
I don't know what kind of troll ironking is, but my OWN sales now don't reflect more than 5% increase in sell-through (from 10% to 15%), and my prices are all much lower, many barely above cost (my cost being waaaay below wholesale).
posted on March 31, 2001 10:59:47 AM new
I do not understand why anyone would choose to lose money just to sell. I set my prices and wait. I always sold between 500.00 and 1,000.00 a month before yahoo started fees. I have over 1000 items and there is no way I will pay listing fees.
