posted on May 21, 2001 11:42:46 AM new
I bought quite a few postcards from a seller on Yahoo!Auctions before their idiotic "site improvement", so just now comes an e-mail letting me know they are now listing their items on ...
BIDVILLE.
Just clicked the link they provided.
Nearly 800 items.
As I said, I do not see Yahoo!Auctions as a credible auction site, and apparently sellers continue to reach that same conclusion.
posted on May 21, 2001 12:43:03 PM new
My funny money is running out, and I too am moving items to bidville as the auctions end on Yahoo. I could comment on Yahoo's lack of concern for their sellers, but why beat a dead horse?
posted on May 21, 2001 02:09:41 PM new
Hello, fellow ex-yahoo sellers/victums. All of the other auctions sites except Yahoo and ebay have seen their listings grow quite a bit since the Yahoo bungle. I have been checking out various sites for my "junk" since Yahoo *&@%#d us all. A non-scientific guess based on my ever failing memory and eyesight shows most up at least 20% with Bidville being the clear victor of the ex-yahoo sellers club. As you no doubt know Bidville growth is 600,000+ and should hit the one million mark by Labor day.
As Bidville grows, I hope they learn from mistakes of Amazon.com and Yahoo Auctions and do not make them as well.
IMHO, the highest number of listings doesn't necessarily make it the best alternative site. To use your example, even if BidVille reaches a million listings, with very few page views, bids, and sales, it's dead in the water. They won't tell you what their sell-through rate is (they probably don't know), but when you see the same items listed ad nauseum (someone said 99 relists are possible!) with no looks or bids, I would not call that a good option for a seller.
I don't even shop there anymore. It's actually boring to peruse the listings now
As primarily a buyer, the other problem I see at BidVille is that starting bids on most items are way too high for a site where there are no costs to the seller. Why would I pay 20 bucks for a DVD there when I can get the same one at eBay for 1/2 that price, plus a bit of protection from eBay if the seller tries to rip me off.
BidVille also has no buyer protection, no advertising, and no rules regarding the listing of scam items, "free" items, and illegal items.
As much as I dont' like it, eBay is really the only option for sellers and buyers, in spite of their stupid rules ...
posted on May 22, 2001 09:13:58 AM new
RB >
As much as I dont' like it, eBay is really the only option for sellers and buyers, in spite of their stupid rules ...
I have to agree. I've been putting record albums on eBay, ePier and Bidville. Just a few every day, but here's the results:
eBay - two bids on four items.
ePier - zero bids on three items.
Bidville - zero bids on three items.
Let me add that albums listed on ePier and Bidville have lower opening bids reflecting the fact I have no fees to pay, i.e., $4 on eBay and $3.50 on ePier and Bidville.
And then there's "the book".
Every month I list a "high demand" book on eBay. Opening bid is $9.95 with the latest copy going for $15.50 on four bids.
This same book is listed on ePier and Bidville. Few pageviews and zero bids.
You don't even have to get out the calculator to see the trend on this one.
posted on May 22, 2001 09:27:36 AM new
dimview ...
I tried an "experiment" at BidVille too. I listed a sealed copy of a highly collectable videotape at BidVille. This tape normally sells for $50-55 on eBay and always get dozens of bids. I listed it at BidVille for $3.50 with free shipping to anywhere in North America. It sat there for 14 days without even a page view.
The 130 odd items in the tv memorablia category are the same today as they were at the beginning of February - there's no point in even looking there anymore.
I was doing a fair amount of buying on Yahoo until they suspended me for reporting a bootlegger (!), and I am now doing a lot of buying on eBay. I don't use a credit card though, and not being a US citizen either, unfortunately I cannot sell on eBay. I am hoping a site that allows me to sell without a credit card (never could figure out why I need one to sell something!) comes along with buyers so I can start paying for my collection. I wouldn't object to final selling fees one bit
posted on May 22, 2001 12:01:29 PM new
I haven't given bidville a serious try as I'm using my "funny money" up on Yahoo, but I'd like to say that possibly if your items aren't selling on Bidville it may because there's a different audience on bidville and you may want to try selling in different categories. Just like on Yahoo, many of my collectibles won't get any bids compared to ebay but when I sell music items, they do well on Yahoo.
posted on May 22, 2001 12:11:23 PM new
With a sell-through rate of somewhere between 0.1% and 0.2%, I haven't located any category that would make Bidville a "niche" auction site.
posted on May 22, 2001 03:44:51 PM new
I moved about a fourth of my yahoo auctions to bidville this morning and already have a sale. Maybe just a fluke, but we'll see-it has been on Yahoo for several weeks.
While I was at it, I browsed my favorite categories at Bidville and bought 2 items. Nuff said?
posted on May 22, 2001 03:47:35 PM new
I think BidVille will do very nicely for most of the ex-Yahoo crowd. No disrespect intended, but for people who are not interested in sports cards, home made crafts and cheap(er) collectables, there is no market there ... yet.
posted on May 22, 2001 04:01:15 PM new
bearmom >
While I was at it, I browsed my favorite categories at Bidville and bought 2 items.
I've lost count of my own Bidville purchases, but my feedback rating is 16. In the meantime I've sold nothing.
And get this. My "view open auctions" indicates that someone has put one of my items of their WatchList. What's goofy about it is, the item is listed as "Take It Now." There's nothing *to* watch, first bidder gets it.
posted on May 22, 2001 08:51:07 PM new
RB... If you will look at the Bidville site map under Buyer Services, Seller Services & Resolving Disputes you will see that you are incorrect in your statement reference to Bidville Buyer Protection. It does in fact exist there. Please try to be more accurate when you publicly slam other auction sites.
The reason Seller's have to start higher at Bidville is due to a lack of traffic, and in defense of cherry picker's who want something for nothing.
Ebay is so crowded you are lucky to get page views until your auction is about to end (cherry pickers). It costs $20 bucks just to feature on eBay. Talk about crowding out the little guy.
Bidville is a great little site and I personally believe that the long lost spirit of Yahoo is living there. You are able to import feedback ratings from other sites to Bidville. It's user friendly and offers good solid services. There is an Advanced Monthly Membership that can be purchased at Bidville which at a cost of $5 per month allows $25 of services such as featuring, bold, etc...
If you want something to work you have to support it. If you want to settle for eBay, and be my guest.
posted on May 23, 2001 12:14:45 AM new
CuFF, Is Square Trade mediation what you are talking about? I personally wouldn't call that "protection", I mean what are they going to do but ask the seller to ship or refund. To me buyer protection is the Lloyds insurance that eBay & Yahoo provide to reimburse ripped off buyers. I don't see anything on Bidville about ins. or a guarantee you will get a portion of your money back if a seller doesn't ship etc. If you have a URL showing they do have that please post it.
I agree with you that Bidville has many great points for sellers. But speaking strictly as a buyer I am tired of seeing mostly the same items day after day after day. The #'s on the front page are climbing but I can't find the stuff. Everything I click that shows the new icon turns out to be yet another relist of stuff I've already passed on a dozen times. I had that same problem on free Yahoo. For that reason I keep ending up at eBay where I know I'll find fresh items because no one is going to waste fees there on a ton of relists. I have picked up quite a few steals there lately too. I don't know if they were down at end times or what but every time I sign in I find I have won stuff for half or less of what my proxy was. That keeps me returning there too.
I was glad to see that BV stopped allowing the 99 relists on 1 and 3 day ads. That helped a bit but I'm afraid there were already a few hundred thousand running that still have 70-80 relists left. I wish the sellers would cancel the remaining relists on those so I wouldn't see so much of the same stuff almost daily. I understand why sellers love the ease of multi auto-relist but I also understand now why buyers hate it. Because of all the relists and low sales I think once a month is sufficient to browse BV now without missing out on much. This is just my opinion but I wonder how many other bidders feel the same. I'm afraid sellers there won't find too much success anytime soon if it's a majority.
As a seller I have listed a variety of things on BV but the only ones that ever get views are my few craft items. I offer low prices and cheap shipping but can't even draw viewers for the rest of my stuff so far. I still make decent sales on Yahoo and send all my winners a link to my BV ads but even they won't look at them. I don't understand that but it makes me wonder if BV has a bad reputation or if bidders aren't interested in checking out more new sites or what. I try to promote it by saying you don't have to enter a credit card, sellers can list cheaper since they don't have to pay fees and I'll combine the shipping with your Yahoo wins. Still no lookers, it is puzzling.
posted on May 23, 2001 04:51:09 AM new
"RB... If you will look at the Bidville site map under Buyer Services, Seller Services & Resolving Disputes you will see that you are incorrect in your statement reference to Bidville Buyer Protection. It does in fact exist there. Please try to be more accurate when you publicly slam other auction sites."
In fact, I have read the "agreement" on that site ... several times! After I get through all the fine print, the words "US law" keep popping up and then there's the minimum $20.00 fee ...
I AM CANADIAN - most of these "buyer protection plans" don't cover the World, just the USA ...
posted on May 23, 2001 01:33:58 PM new
Hi deichen ...
Yeah, I'm back ... but much nicer now
I meant how does BidVille pay their bills, not you or I or any of their members
With eBay, you have to pay them a fee whether your item sells or not. With a gazillion listings over there, they're making piles of dough to cover their expenses. OTOH, I wonder how the "free sites" generate revenue, especially when they don't appear to be doing any advertising.
posted on June 5, 2001 06:29:37 AM new
My wife purchases items in yahoo under sapphire002 and she was ripped off along with a ton of other people on sports cards by a use to be reputable seller and yahoo did nothing!!!! the sites that say they have protection have none. My wife bid on certain sports cards and received what she didnt bid on and they were doubled. the seller tried to make it out to be my wifes fault but he was just trying to cover his own butt. this seller even sent my wife and others threatening email and still.. nothing was done. so the buyer protection is worthless.
I have consistently kept items on BidVille since Yahoo went nuts in January - not a bad place to post - a lousy place to sell. Because keeping items are up are easy to keep up. I keep items running there, but have had little to no "luck" in selling on BidVille. I have had sales on other small auctions, some on a consistent basis, but not BidVille.
I have nothing against the sight except it doesn't produce the sales, which is the bottom line.
posted on June 11, 2001 10:06:15 AM new
For a small investment of $5 to $10 dollars you can receive a Premier or Premier Plus Membership at BidVille that gives you credits toward featuring items on the home page and other options that will draw attention to your auctions, and in turn support BidVille in upgrading the site, advertising etc...
I've only been at BidVille a short time and have had several successful transactions utilizing the featuring options. I believe that since BidVille is relatively fresh on the scene most people are just wandering around the featured sections getting a feel for the place. At least that's where most of the page-hits are occurring in my auctions.
and RB.... not all Sellers at BidVille have high starting bids, nor do they list their auctions 99 times (just to clarify). I don't and I'm sure I'm not alone.
