posted on November 8, 2001 07:40:47 AM new
I am paying about $1500 to Ebay per month, with Yahoo rate, I can save $800, that's mucho of money to save. I like Yahoo but not the old fee structure, will come back and take a try, hope they do a good advertising campaing to bring more buyers too.
posted on November 8, 2001 02:04:48 PM new
That's true on those sites you will save the whole $1,500/month. Of course you will sell almost nothing, but you will save that $1,500
posted on November 8, 2001 03:14:19 PM new
That's the problem, and I think most people return to ebay because that is where the sales are.
However, I applaud Yahoo for making the change, and certainly will give them a try again. If things get better, then it will certainly be a good option, but right now, I think this will hurt the smaller auction sites (bidville, epier) but not really affect ebay that much. Eventually, it might though..
posted on November 8, 2001 03:16:54 PM newI like Yahoo but not the old fee structure
Here I go again asking silly questions, but could someone tell me why so many people dislike the old fee structure? It was still cheaper than listing on ebaY.
Actually I am one who benefitted from the old fee structure. My sales went up signficantly after the change was implemented because a lot of the clutter in the sports card area left. Right now, I do like the new fees because it will let me list some of my slower cards. Not necessarily cheaper, but cards of players and teams that do not normally sell rapidly. Also I think the fees are still enough to discourage a lot of the cheap commons from being listed. I would have preferred keeping the old listing fee and allowing a couple of free relists.
[ edited by stavecards on Nov 8, 2001 03:25 PM ]
posted on November 8, 2001 04:52:06 PM new
In the old fee structure if you listed 100 items you paid no FVF on the items sold. That was good but if you only sold a few of the items you were paying $20 in listing fees to sell those few items due to lack of traffic on Yahoo. The new fee structure would be only $5 to list those same 100 items with a mere 2% FVF and they've added ebay's free relist if the item sells the second time around feature.
I hope Yahoo's new fee structure draws many sellers from ebay. That will make Yahoo Auction more competitive and bring the buyers back. It will also make selling on ebay a lot better because of the lessening of competition amongst sellers. A definite win-win situation for sellers that use both venue to sell on and it keeps ebay from having almost zero competition and their constant rising of fees because of the lack of a major competitor.
Does any of that make sense? It sorta does to me but I'm like Jim on Taxi and can no longer trust my own judgement anymore.
posted on November 8, 2001 06:16:18 PM new
one thing people dont seem to mind is that auction listing is very labor intensive if you dont use any tool like aw which you have to pay .
1500 is a big chunk,do you sell electronic goods??
someone who sells ethnic jewelry use auction tool and paid them 1000,then pay ebay over 1000,as prices keep dropping,she cant handle all that fee,over 2000 dollars easily.
have a yahoo shop for 49.95 plus 10 cents per item,leave the slow moving items there.yahoo search covers shops,auction,classified and warehouse,not like EBAY,no one knows where the front entrance to the stores is.
posted on November 8, 2001 08:07:38 PM new
Hi Steve,
I can see how the fee structure worked to your benefit, and the same holds true for me to a certain extent. But what I'm trying to understand from the OP and many other posters is WHY the (old) Yahoo fee was so undesirable?
Ploverlane says he/she can save mucho money by switching over now that the new fee are about to take place, but they could have had substantial savings prior to the new structure. Bear in mind, we're talking fees not traffic.
-Rob
ps: Jimtaxi-you made sense...(sort of)
[ edited by robnzak on Nov 8, 2001 08:08 PM ]
posted on November 8, 2001 09:28:52 PM new
Hi Rob,
The reason that there is a difference is that on ebay, if I list 100 auctions that sell for $10 each, I would generally expect a sell through of 90% - So that is $30 in listing fees, $50 in FVF, and each auction theoretically averages to 88 cents per item sold
On Yahoo, the sell through rate is MUCH lower. I would be happy with a 10% sell through. That would cost me $20 to list, and no FVF, but only $100 in sales instead of $900 - I would have to keep relisting to sell, and it would not take that long to reach the $80 I pay on ebay. It also means an average of $2.00 per item sold, significantly higher.
With a 5 cents listing and a 2% FVF, I can list 100 auctions for $5.00, and if I have a sell through rate of 10% still, that is $7 in fees for 10 auctions, or 70 cents per item - Lower than ebay
Of course, the numbers make or break this, but that is my take on it. If yahoo gets traffic, and I hope they do, then it will get even better. I know I will be a lot more willing to list there after 11/20
posted on November 8, 2001 10:29:57 PM new
The ebay sellers that do jump ship will probably try to get their regular customers to follow them to Yahoo and that will increase traffic at least somewhat. The sellers from third tier auction sites that abandon their low traffic sites will probably bring many of their regular customers with them also. That's the word-of-mouth advertising that the third tier sites depended on so strongly.
The buyers should return when the selection of items grows back to the pre-January levels, or at least we hope they will.
posted on November 9, 2001 06:42:47 AM new
jim said.
The sellers from third tier auction sites that abandon their low traffic sites will probably bring many of their regular customers with them also. That's the word-of-mouth ---------///
many sellers of third tier auction sites such as epier and bidville dont have customers,or rather regular customers,so how can they bring customers to yahoo auction??
for years,sellers have tried to entice ebay bidders to come to their own websites or other auction sites ,and it just does not work.
they may buy one or more items along with their winning bids and return to ebay.
they just prefer to bid on ebay where there is such a fast changing diversed range of products available.
every nite they sign on,they are bound to see many new items,which most private websites cannot match
posted on November 9, 2001 08:25:12 AM new
Hi Rob,
I believe that the .20 cent listing fee wasn't low enough to entice most sellers from Ebay to gamble and move their auctions to Yahoo where they believed they would have a much lower sell-through. It appears that the .05 listing fee is so low that it is enticing these sellers to take that gamble. Also the level of dissatisfaction with Ebay over several recent charges had already starting pushing many sellers to consider an alternate.
posted on November 9, 2001 08:40:34 AM new
Wowwow,
I believe that we are talking much different circumstances than we were in the past. Also all of this is currently speculation - the events in the next several months will tell the story. You have had two different Yahoo auctions in the past. The first was the no fee auction. The auction listings included a very high % of low cost, common items that turned off many buyers as they cluttered any searches. The second Yahoo auction, which is still the current, has relatively few listings as compared to Ebay. Some categories have almost no listings. Both of these situations had the tendency to turn off the Ebay buyer who was used to a lot of different, high quality listings. Also Yahoo did not attract many of the larger Ebay sellers who have established repeat customers who would have more of a tendency to follow the seller.
The Yahoo auction that many envision with the new fees is one with a much larger number of listings while maintaining a similar average listing quality. Also there is much more serious talk of several large Ebay sellers actually leaving Ebay. The higher number of listings and familiar sellers presents the potential to retain the Ebay buyer who visits Yahoo in the future.
As far as the third tier sellers, each seller has a handful of steady customers. These buyers are more likely to follow the seller to Yahoo than the Ebay buyer. Also a higher % of third tier sellers are also buyers.
posted on November 9, 2001 09:14:27 AM newAs far as the third tier sellers, each seller has a handful of steady customers. These buyers are more likely to follow the seller to Yahoo than the Ebay buyer
I guess you could call me a three-tiered seller. I list on all of em.
But I wouldn't try to move any of my customers from the smaller sites over to Yahoo. I've worked hard to build a loyal base over on Carnaby, and I'm doing fairly well, so I don't want to uproot my position there. I will (and do) however, try to persuade my regulars on ebaY to expand their horizons and look at the second and third tiered sites.
I agree with your position on retaining your customers where you are currently selling. My main reference would concern a seller who moved their entire business to Yahoo.
posted on November 9, 2001 10:33:21 AM new
i tried to put my money where my mouth is by dropping items from my yahoo shop to yahoo auction.
my problem with yahoo auction is that i am not used to their categories,where do you put your items ??
i guess under house and garden??
but there is hardly any views?
do auction bidders use search or do they go to thier favorite categories?
i also checked out yahoo warehouse on electronics,look like several big dealers have already set up shop there.
posted on November 9, 2001 10:46:47 AM new
Wowwow85,
You mentioned (in an earlier post) that listing on Yahoo is labor intensive. Yahoo now has an off-line bulk listing tool (free) which appears a huge improvement over what they had several months ago.
posted on November 9, 2001 01:41:55 PM new
Hi Irene,
The seller manager is quick and easy to use.
The drawback is that listings can only be bulk loaded once. It lacks the ability to take saved listings and reload them to Yahoo, so any relisting has to be done individually.
posted on November 9, 2001 02:31:25 PM new
If you are comfortable with a spreadsheet and do not use a large template, you can bulk load on Yahoo using a spreadsheet (you can still load pictures and use html). This is the only method I use to load my sport card listings and I find it quite easy. Would be willing to assist anyone that needs more info or help.
posted on November 9, 2001 06:16:11 PM new
Yahoo is going to be a whole lot cheaper then Ebay since they host up to 3 picture free no paying to host pictures.
Bid your Feature starting at .05 per day with a 50% refund of feature bid if your item sells.
Free credit card payment option.
No Checkout, Allow links to your other online website sales.
built in auction management tool and down loadable action manager free of charge.
free buy it now not a free trail service.
no charge for reserve auctions.
the new yahoo warehouse.
No limited email contact between buyers and sell though yahoo server like ebay..
many power sellers can save thousands and as ebay sellers move to yahoo so will the buyers they will follow the merchandise they use to be able to buy on Ebay.
posted on November 9, 2001 07:30:42 PM new
Does anyone really think ebay will start charging for buy it now? Yahoo knows old meg must meet her earnings projections or there is trouble in ebay land. I hope someone here posts the yahoo auction count starting on the 20th. I dont know how or I would. It should be interesting.
posted on November 9, 2001 07:41:05 PM new
In all Reality They are already chargeing for BIN Not yet for the Auction side but there is a .05 listing fee to list in ebay stores.
Which are all BIN Items..
I think they will be chargeing for the BIN feature after they start chargeing the $9.95 for the Ebay store feature.
How ever the ebay stores are like Half finished business they Just barely got to the grand opening and they put there whole business on HOLD for AFA and Checkout feature.
I think come January they will extend again the free stores again, In the end they will Role Half.com into Ebay The ebay we all Know will Become Ebay Stores and include half.com all Fixed price selling and the Auction will Sub domain like auctions/ebay.com once all the noise about checkout settles down The store was step one the checkout was a nessary thing to make the store work as they were planned a quick fast way to find what you want and buy it now faster garenteed shipping.. http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
Email [email protected]
posted on November 9, 2001 07:40:36 PM new
I see on new yahoo boards many ebayers moving right now,not even waiting for 20th LOLthey have a thread for suggestions too ie: categories..
Here is what i do if unsure,i type in search..green widgets..whatever,,then i click on a couple see where they are listed..if you click sell at top while you are on that page where you want to list it automatically is listed in that category.
you need to play around a little with it..
oh yes a tip...load your best closeup pic FIRST so it will be your free gallery pic..
you just hit manage & you can change categories easily too..just check out where you want to put it first by searching..they really need some better categories..example for porcelain or teapots..you have to list under ANTIQUES, TEASETS..(everyone puts new ones there too..no one seems to mind as that is all there is other than kitchenware or porcelain)funny the bidders must use the search a lot as they seem to find everything just fine..
There is a brand new search box on every page which is good.
I really like the counter & shows if you have been added to a watchlist very much,but you have to actually click on the auction to see it..Does not count you looking at your own stuff which is great.
good luck everyone wherever you sell! hope they catch this postal terrorist..we could still have an ok Christmas season if they do it quick..ps..my yahoo hits have doubled since this announcement cannot wait for 11-20 I am hopeful
posted on November 9, 2001 07:51:32 PM new
another tip i always hit the box this auction may be ended early ..if you have to go on vacation or whatever it makes it easy.
If you still have stuff at the big place use the free auctiva showcase you set it up for ebay & yahoo..it automatically puts links in all your ebay & yahoo auctions..you can personalize it too.you can add a nice big pic too..contact us page etc it is cool..if people click from ebay they have to click twice..(be sure & set it up with that)but from yahoo they see all your pics..they do all the work just like paypal links can be inserted right after you list it...
Also if you don't have any yahoo feedback use the www.feedbacksite.com really great..it also links to each auction site..
neat to see people happy about something for a change..i see yahoo is already advertising heavily..YAHOO
