posted on September 27, 2001 05:29:20 PM new
Hi!
I've only sold on ebay.
I understand there are ways to get 'noticed' on Yahoo..but I don't know what works. Could anyone help me?
Is it worth it to pay the 10cents a day to feature an item?
How does an item work it's way to the top for the last day, or does it?
I sell kids clothing new and used...and maternity new and used. My profit isn't very much so there isn't much to play with for extras.
Can anyone give me the 'tricks of the trade' for Yahoo?
posted on September 27, 2001 06:40:02 PM new
I feature. It usually cost me more than $.10 because everybody in my category seems to feature!
There are about 8 pages of just featured in the main category I sell in. So, you need to look around your category a bit to see what's going on there. From what I have gleemed from this board, each category seems to be quite different!
I have personally found it doesn't help much if you are not within the top 5 pages. Seems nobody has time to "browse" more than that! If your item is routinely searched for, you won't have any problem being "found". Yahoo's search feature is excellent. If you sell in a category or sell an item that lends itself primarily to being an impulse thing, you need to stay as close to the top as possible. With as catchey a title as you can come up with! I saw one that said: YOU GOTTA SEE THIS! I thought how silly, sure won't show up in a title search, BUT they had bids!
I believe (hopefully someone will be along to correct me if I'm wrong) Yahoo is the reverse of eBay. You will start on the last page and work your way up. Up to the beginning of featured listings anyway. Again, depends on the category you sell in, but in mine that will never get you closer to the top than page 8!
Of course, bidders can toggle on time remaining and it will bring the soon to close to the top, but I was a Yahooer for a year before I stumbled across that! Hopefully not all new user are as "challenged" as I am!!!
One thing I will say for Yahoo, they are not always hours behind like eBay! When you list: Bam! There it is!!! When it closes: Bam! It is gone!!!
I really like that.
One does not have to wade through pages of items in the "Going, going, gone" to find they had already "gotten up and went" hours before!!!!
posted on September 27, 2001 07:05:09 PM new
Just started on yahoo as my results this week and last on ebay have been PITIFUL! So I am experimenting~ I am listing on amazon auctions ( since I sell on marketplace books ~ I can list for free and surprising enough I had a few sales lately)
Books~ romance~ not big sellers but I have so many and a few dollars here and there~ these I don't want to sell on marketplace has they are lowballed there
Amazon~ double dealing ~ sold for $ 9.50 just now BIN~ generally sells for $ 7.00 tops on ebay
Yahoo~ one bin for Linda Howard ~today ~ sold $ 3.50 and sells for $ 1.50 on ebay ( checked closed auctions)
Yahoo one bid for Janet Evanovich ~ Rocky road~ $ 8.98 ~ on ebay in mint condition $ 14.50 but this has a bin on yahoo and 8 days left to go!
Also listed on amazon auctions~ still waiting to sell
Listed 7 romance ~ sold one bin , have one bid and 8 days to go
for a site that is dead!!!! not too bad but I am selling favourite romance authors like linda howard, etc. will be trying for children's books and pvc toys next as why pay ebay fees if I am only making a little bit of money or worse 2 categories etc and still getting one bid
Hope yahoo pays off
I will say about amazon ~ even their marketplace~ I personally contact all my marketplace/auctions sellers and they are generally very very nice people!
I heard that buyers are more loyal on yahoo.
It is important to offer BIN on yahoo and amazon auctions ( amazon is ONLY good for books)
At least you can start your price at what you want and not have to pay extra + if I start an auction high ( and high for me is over $ 9.99 I get NO bids on that items ever! and in the past if I start low like $ 2.50 I get several but lately I get $ 2.50 if that!
Good luck and probably the only advice that I really did offer was BIN
posted on September 28, 2001 01:04:36 AM new
I would recommend ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS using a buy price. Yahoo bidders love them. And if you have room in your title, put "buy price" so that they know you have one.
I would also recommend considering signing up for a paydirect account. A lot of yahoo customers use it. There are pros and cons like any other payment service but I've found that it does help sales.
you can always wait until the last day your item is listed, and then feature it. I don't do this (people usually seem to find my stuff without it being featured) but that is always an option for a crowded category.
Another thing to keep in mind is that once your item has at least one bid, it is more visible because it has a chance at being a "hot" item. having a bid is often better exposure than being featured is. For my items, I have found that it's better to start the bidding low...not for the faint of heart but it works for me...
posted on September 28, 2001 01:14:09 AM new
oh- one more thing! SELL INTERNATIONALLY! About 40% of my past yahoo customers have been from Japan, the UK, & Canada. Without these customers my sales would not be worth posting about.
posted on September 28, 2001 04:37:48 AM new
Cagrrl covered just about every point. Use buy now feature, and paydirect. Paydirect is easy to use, lets the buyer get their item sooner, and doesn't cost you anything!
I tried feature a couple of times, seemed like a total waste of money.
Sales may start slow, but once you develop a reputation for good service and prices, you will have a loyal following-much more so than on Ebay!
posted on September 28, 2001 09:32:01 AM new
I agree 100% with bearmomsuz23 and CAgrrl and their suggestions!
As to my feeling featuring is 100% necessary and bearmom feeling it a total waste of money: I think that most probably has to do with the category you list in and/or the type of item you sell.
That's why I recommend spending some time in the categories looking around. If you see only a few items listed under FEATURED, you probably don't need to. If you find 10+ pages of "featured", it could mean the sellers are fighting for their "on-line selling lives" and the competition is stiff!
I have put independent HONESTY counters in my auctions (wasn't sure Yahoo's were accurate-but actually they are). Then I ran a set of auctions featured and a set of auctions not featured. There was such a drastic difference between featured and non-featured as to page views AND bids, that I can't do without it.
Also, for some inexplainable reason, I may be the only person on Yahoo who cannot get people to look at my other auctions even though I have put a clickable link right in my ad that takes them directly to a "show photo's only" view of ALL my auctions (sort of my own version of a photo gallery)!
I mention it 2 times in my ads. Once at the top "for a quick look at my other items just use the link at the bottom" and then at the bottom, in bold, "for a quick photo look at my other auctions just click here".
I will find that the day after I list, some of my featured items may have 10+ views while the non-featured only have 1-2 which obviously means at least 8 of those 10 DID NOT look at my other auctions!!! Drives me crazy. I want to get to the point I can feature a couple only and use those to have them look at all my stuff. Hasn't worked out that way so far.
I am open to suggestions as to how to get them to actually look at my other auctions!
Just as an observation: I also have a clickable email link in 2 places in my ads to "ask a question". It is rarely used! I still get most questions asked through the "ASK SELLER A QUESTION" feature and you would not believe what I have been asked on a page viewable to everyone who cares to look! It amazes me.
posted on September 28, 2001 09:42:47 AM new
Yahoo bidders for the most part are different from eBay bidders. Many have not used eBay or find eBay too complicated for them. eBay bidders tend to get very savvy very quickly and now Half.com links are everywhere to direct them there also. Sometimes this lack of auction savviness really works in the Yahoo sellers favor as they are able to sell common items at higher prices than eBay sellers. That was the beauty of Yahoo before the listing fees debalacle.
posted on September 28, 2001 07:16:02 PM new
Good tips and debate here. My 2c:
It appears to me that sellers who do more featuring get allocated more of the "higher category" Hot Auctions slots. The thumbnail images in the lowest category you're listed in rotate by a formula, I think only the highest 25 bids get rotated in those top 4 or 5 thumbnails that the page displays. However, a few of those top-25 also get displayed in the next higher, and therefore more generally-viewed (maybe) bracket. It seems to me there are no rules for that move, it being quite arbitrary how many bids are logged on those listings and how much money is involved.
If you have something of general interest, that sort of exposure could translate to big bucks. But not necessarily... back right after Dale Earnhardt got killed, one of my listings actually appeared on the Yahoo! Auctions main page right under Dale's picture. Unfortunately the item was of limited interest, had nothing to do with auto racing, and despite over 1000 page views went out at simply normal retail, maybe $15 or less. Sigh.
Don't forget that if there's a gaggle of featured listings at 10c, if YOU feature at 10c you're at the back of the pack, but if you do 11c, you appear at the top of the 10-centers, in effect.
Edited to add: Oh, in the "Ask a Question" function, I don't thing the question itself becomes visible unless the seller chooses to reply to it. A possible idea is to ask a question including your email and suggest the seller just delete the question and respond privately if they want to discuss something.
posted on September 28, 2001 08:56:12 PM new
I would like to thank you all for such detailed information!
You are very thoughtful to help me out like this.
Pania
posted on September 28, 2001 09:14:04 PM new
some sub-categories are just forgotten sometimes and items cansell when listed there, I just found one and started filling it up. There are currently 33 auctions going and 17 of those are mine, so no need to feature everybodies on the same page, and I'm getting bids. It pays to look around for the niche spots.
posted on September 29, 2001 06:56:58 AM new
Rob, notice all the $1 books in that category ( w/ $2.25 s/h )? That is the true state of Yahoo Auctions, sellers giving away their items and buyers thinking all books should go for $1 with low s/h. The book market in almost all auctions is one of the most difficult categories to make a profit due to a growing influx of $1/book sellers and 1/2.com with it's super low prices for books.
posted on September 29, 2001 07:24:36 AM new
oops, my above post was in error. It should have said, I have 17 current listings on Yahoo and in one category with 33 listings, I have 5 auctions running, so no need to feature.
bidbids, it is true that books are a tough category. If the market was better, I wouldn't have this nice "stackable" end table in my living room.
I do agree the auctions are filled with dollar books, (and Amazon is being flooded with penny books), but I still manage to eek out some sales on Yahoo (and other sites) to supplement my ebay income. In the category you looked at- of my 5 listings, 3 have bids and 2 of those have multiple bids. If they closed right now, I will gross almost eighteen bucks, and I won't complain, because the books that I'm listing in that "genre" were found on the last day of an estate sale, 300 books for five dollars.
posted on October 12, 2001 06:23:50 AM new
Hi. As a 2 year++ seler at Yahoo with lots of experience luring bidders to my wares, I can say most of the folks nice enough to give you tips are RIGHT ON the money.
Feature all your items, and start low and as the auction nears the end, you can move up the featured list by increasing a minimum of .10 a day. There seems to be no rhyme or reason which photos get into the thumbs at the top of the pages. I can be top spender in a catagory, but refresh that page 100 times before I see my picture. Other times as one of the lower spenders, it is there everytime I check.
(I check too often) haha.
Good Luck at Yahoo. The bidding group is a fraction of eBays and that is the only drawback I really see. The Yahoo support in a word, SUCKS, when you need help with a deadbeat bidder or billing problems.
Use Paypal and Paydirect. AND.. Buy Price is a must.
Good luck
Steve Hartywell
"gooddeals*r*us"
posted on October 13, 2001 12:28:27 PM new
I agree with what's been said. Buy price is a must. I find that Yahoo is not really an auction, I rarely get more than one bid, but I am finding that there are less and less buyers. Even my "regulars" seem to have disappeared. I know for a fact that some of them were NARU'd eBayers, so where did they go? Certainly not to my Bidville auctions, they are even worse, not a bid in 6 weeks!!
posted on October 13, 2001 05:11:09 PM new
I was having the same problem. I moved all my auctions to BidVille and haven't had a single bid in 3 months so that wasn't the solution either.
