stonecold613
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posted on September 28, 2002 03:48:25 PM new
I must admit with the recent free listing day Yahoo offered to us sellers that it has been a big success for me. I sold many very slow moving items that haven't had much bidding activity in recent times. Many of those went with the Buy It Now option as well. I hadn't had a sale on Ebay with many of those items in quite some time. Sure is nice to have a viable option other than Ebay. Tried bidville. Too many deadbeats and crap auctions there.
Any other Yahoo success stories around?
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barparts
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posted on September 28, 2002 08:42:25 PM new
I have to agree with stonecold. I ended up selling about 25% which is way higher than I had expected. Thanks Yahoo.
bp
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tooltimes
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posted on September 28, 2002 09:12:06 PM new
I did very well but really, really want no listing fees with a much higher FVF instead of the nickel for 10 or 14 days. Many items take a long time to find a buyer.
Amazon has no listing fee and a 99 cents + 15% FVF
Half has no listing fee and a 15% FVF
Yahoo Used Goods has no listing fee and a 10% FVF
How about if Yahoo Auctions has no listing fee and a 6 % or 7% FVF?
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tooltimes
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posted on September 28, 2002 09:12:15 PM new
bad double post. I sold 10 items to one bidder. If you are able to list a lot of items at once you have a better chance of selling multiple items to individual bidders. The bane of sellers are listing fees and the bane of bidders are s/h fees. If Yahoo went back to free listings with a decent FVF it would allow many bidders to combine shipping fees on items from the same buyers and allow sellers to put up their entire inventories.
Someone at Yahoo Auctions has to be reading these boards ocassionally. At least consider it. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
[ edited by tooltimes on Sep 29, 2002 01:30 AM ]
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katiyana
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posted on September 28, 2002 09:23:29 PM new
I still have 4 more days to run on my FLD items but have 5 bids and a BIN - out of a lot of listings.. but I'm not worried about sell-through on Yahoo FLD days - I just want to get any sales I can to move stuff outta here. 8)
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stonecold613
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posted on September 29, 2002 12:28:27 PM new
I must respectfully disagree with tooltimes. Keep the 5 cent listing fee. It keeps the junk auctions out of Yahoo. If they get rid of the listing fees, it would be a giant step backwards from the main reason they implemented them in the first place. It was to drive the crap auctions out. It worked. Now they are at bidville. If you don't believe me, go there and look for yourself. At first, I thought the same way. No listing fee and a higher FVF. But after doing the Bidville thing for a while, it became very clear why Yahoo started the listing fees. Since I came back to Yahoo last fall, my Yahoo sales have never been better. When the listing fees went into effect, the crap sellers left along with a few good item sellers, but the bidders stayed. What they found was they no longer had to sift through crap to find what they were looking for. And the deadbeats, the majority went to bidville along with the crap. Since I came back to Yahoo, I have had only two deadbeats. Before listing fees, it was in the neighborhood of 40%. Now those deadbeats are at bidville too.
So I say keep it as it is. Very low listing fees with the low FVF's. Kudos Yahoo.
PS: I agree with tooltime that it sometimes takes a couple of relists to sell some items. But is that all so bad? You can list a item 6 times to the same cost as listing it once at Ebay. In my case, it is worth it as my sales from these relists far outways the cost of relisting them. And multiple bids on other items. Doesn't seem to be a problem for me. If I have related items that bidders want, they do tend to find them. If not, many even e-mail me to ask if I have something. Many times I have it in waiting or my closed auction list. I just forward the info and let the bidder decide if they would like the item.
[ edited by stonecold613 on Sep 29, 2002 12:34 PM ]
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tooltimes
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posted on September 29, 2002 01:04:16 PM new
We've gone over this several times on this board about various methods that Yahoo Auction couls employ to rid its site of dime cards or recipes or signpost auctions.
Yahoo could use a minimum FVF fee + a percentage or a minimum $1 start bid. It wouldn't take much to weed out the junk. Half uses a 75 cent minimum on books for instance. A 20 cent minimum FVF on anything sold on Yahoo Auctions would cut down on the dime cards and if they want to list signpost or crap auctions at least Yahoo will get 20 cents a throw for them.
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stonecold613
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posted on September 29, 2002 01:19:15 PM new
Tooltimes,
You do have some very good points there. I guess I will have to think about them for a while. At least we agree upon what is junk.
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tooltimes
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posted on September 29, 2002 04:56:23 PM new
The online auction world is dominated by ebay. It's exactly like the computer operating systems dominance by MS with ebay and Microsoft being the only real games in town in their markets.
The vulnerability of ebay is the fixed priced markets such as their Half.com unit. They get a hefty 15% comission. They have to handle all of the money exchange and refunds which adds a lot of cost. Yahoo can avoid the money exchange and money refunds by simply allowing sellers to list their items for free like Half and pay a 7% or 8% FVF. They could re-credit the sellers any Yahoo fees if a bidder becomes a deadbeat just like they do now. The Half sellers may leave in mass if they can get such a deal and Yahoo can make it's money on a high volume. The Yahoo Used Goods unit can be junked.
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emak
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posted on September 30, 2002 09:07:32 AM new
Someone has suggested in the past a subscription-type option for selling at Yahoo versus the nickel listings. This would allow, among other things, the ability to list at higher starting prices without being knicked by the higher listing fees.
I happen to like this idea (similar to Amazon's Merchant Pro subscription), and if you tied in either 'X' number of listings per month, or some type of minimum start price or FVF fee, I think you'd see Yahoo grow quite nicely without bringing back all the 'junk'.
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gawooley
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posted on September 30, 2002 09:35:25 AM new
I agree that completely scrapping listing fees is a bad idea for Yahoo! Auctions. That was proven to me back when Yahoo! was completely free and the site was riddled with the stuff that is currently parked on Bidville.
Like some other sellers, I actually sell better when there isn't a FLD going on. The occasional FLD is OK to build interest, but to do away with listing fees opens the door to "junk" auctions and I've seen no other option, other than listing fees, that would keep them out.
A $1 minimum list wouldn't, because sellers would list their nickel and dime items at $1, and hope to find a buyer. The same applies for a 20 cent minimum FVF. Sellers would just list the items at a high enough price to cover the FVF.
I WOULD like a subscription option like Amazon has and would take advantage of it if it was offered by Yahoo!
Yahoo! Auctions has turned the corner from the "freefall" that resulted from their ill-fated high-listing fee implementation in 2001. I'm seeing more sales and more happy sellers all the time at Yahoo! Time and patience are the keys here...time for the site to build up buyers and sellers through the increasing success that is being realized there...and patience, on the part of sellers, because their items may take a little longer to sell on Yahoo! than on eBay.
Yahoo! Auctions is still the best AUCTION alternative to eBay, IMNHO, and it, along with Amazon.com, are the only viable "checks" that will keep eBay from increasing their profits directly out of the pockets of the smaller independent sellers. Y! Auctions deserves our support...our survival, long-term, may depend on THEIR survival.
George
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tooltimes
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posted on September 30, 2002 10:17:01 AM new
The idea is that at least Yahoo would get a minimum of 20 cents per "junk" listing. Those FVFs would add up very fast. The junk arguement doesn't hold up when Yahoo is raking in nice fees from sales. What's wrong with a $1 minimum start price? The higher FVF fees might allow Yahoo Auctions to continue to exist, they have to be seriously thinking about stopping the low revenue-producing unit now.
They could triple the current listing fees at ebay and it would have little effect on the number of listings there because most sellers add all ebay costs into their s/h they charge their buyer. They can do the same at Yahoo if higher fees beyond the small listing and FVF are raised.
[ edited by tooltimes on Sep 30, 2002 10:19 AM ]
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gawooley
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posted on September 30, 2002 10:42:57 AM new
tooltimes said:
They could triple the current listing fees at ebay and it would have little effect on the number of listings there because most sellers add all ebay costs into their s/h they charge their buyer.
*******************************************
I disagree! Tripling listing fees would significantly lower listings on eBay, where the sell through rate is only 25%-35%. That would involve sellers increasing handling fees an average of 3 to 4 times the listing fee for the buyer to fully cover those costs for a seller. I don't see that happening without seeing significant buyer resistance!
********************************************
tooltimes also said:
The idea is that at least Yahoo would get a minimum of 20 cents per "junk" listing.
********************************************
They'd only get 20 cents per "junk" listing if the item actually sold. I have no problem with such a "minimum" fee, would welcome it in fact, but a minimum FVF would have little or no effect on keeping the "junk" listings off of Yahoo! should they do away with listing fees. It's just not an alternative for the listing fees in keeping the Y! Auction site "fresh".
George
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tooltimes
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posted on September 30, 2002 12:15:45 PM new
You're correct in that Yahoo would only get the 20 cent minimum FVF if the item sold. I'd sure as heck learn to ignore the junk auctions if it meant free listings again. I'd be great if Yahoo could have an "ignore all auctions by seller" feature in the search engine. Yahoo Auctions users could compile lists similar to their 'block bidders' list to exclude all serarch results by the junk sellers.
The bidders might come back if there was a decent selection of items to bid on or buy.
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stonecold613
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posted on September 30, 2002 08:43:28 PM new
The idea of block seller is a very good idea. No matter if there is listing fees or not. The benefit of this is not only to block many junk items, but even more importantly, block the items of a seller that a buyer had a bad experience with and no longer wants to have anything to do with them.
In fact tooltimes, you should suggest this to all the auction sites. Not just Yahoo. It is a feature that makes sense.
Great idea.
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JWPC
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posted on October 2, 2002 09:55:15 AM new
BOTTOM line is, that all of this has been discussed and discussed, since Yahoo attempted suicide 2 years ago - and Yahoo doesn't care, doesn't listen, and so what is the point?
We sold like crazy on Yahoo till the change -since then basically nothing - and with their illusive TOS rules - you can keep Yahoo...many sellers simply don't have the time to mess with a weak site, with illusive rules, that has few buyers.
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tooltimes
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posted on October 2, 2002 11:49:19 AM new
I personally don't care about Yahoo as an auction site but instead would like to see them turn into a viable alternative to ebay's Half unit.
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blairwitch
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posted on October 2, 2002 05:41:28 PM new
We sold like crazy on Yahoo till the change -since then basically nothing - and with their illusive TOS rules - you can keep Yahoo...many sellers simply don't have the time to mess with a weak site, with illusive rules, that has few buyers.
You should check out Bidville if you are looking for a cheap venue. Funny you mention the TOS because its the same as ebay's. Let me guess you broke the rules at yahoo??
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tooltimes
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posted on October 2, 2002 08:21:28 PM new
I agree BW, send em to Bidville so they can make their fortune in online selling. 
Watch out for changing fee structures without warning though.
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stonecold613
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posted on October 2, 2002 11:12:37 PM new
JWPC,
Spoken like a true bidville-ite that only has crap auctions to offer. Kudos to Yahoo for running you out of town.
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moonmem-07
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posted on October 5, 2002 02:15:37 PM new
Some of you on here talk about how much you sell on Yahoo. Yet I look at the bids on some of the catagories I sell in and the bids are a joke! I don't know what you guys sell but it must be different stuff than I look at.
I to miss the old Yahoo. I wish they would go with a FVF and no listing fee because a lot of the items I sell I can't start at $9.99 so the listing fees are more than .05.
As to JWPC, she was a good seller on Yahoo and I have seen her posting here longer than most of you. So she knows what she is talking about. Melanie
"If man were to be crossed with a cat, it would greatly improve the man, but deteriorate the cat." Mark Twain
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tooltimes
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posted on October 5, 2002 03:00:52 PM new
Looking at bids on Yahoo is not a good way to gauge success there since most items sold there are on a First Bid Wins setup.
I wish Yahoo would go with a hefty FVF and no listing fee so that sellers with slow moving inventories could list their entire inventories and make Yahoo a worthwhile place to look for unique items.
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blairwitch
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posted on October 5, 2002 04:48:16 PM new
tooltimes I think yahoo's plan is to set back and allow ebay to outprice themselves. Over the last week there have been stories in the news about it, which is good news for yahoo. What helps yahoo is the auction portal is only a small fraction of operations, while ebay depends on fees. I see yahoo is having another 99cent showcase for the upcoming second biggest sale in history.
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tooltimes
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posted on October 5, 2002 05:19:23 PM new
I think Yahoo better make its move now before AOL gets rolling with its new auction with its 31 million users.
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blairwitch
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posted on October 5, 2002 06:26:41 PM new
Now that you mentioned AOL I think since eBay enjoys nickel and dimeing their sellers, turn about is fair play. I would like to see more sites chip away at ebay's revenue. Yahoo could easily compete against paypal with paydirect, and hopefully AOL will have their own payment service too.
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stonecold613
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posted on October 5, 2002 08:58:45 PM new
moommem,
No one here is saying that people should quit selling at ebay and sell everything at Yahoo. That would be stupid. Ebay is king and no one disputes that. What I have been saying is Yahoo is a great second viable site to sell your items. I use it to list items that need decent exposure at cheap prices. And now that listing fees have been implemented, my bidders no longer have to sift through crap. All of that went to bidville along with the majority of deadbeats. Fact is at least for me is Yahoo out sold Ebay in August and September. I'm not saying quit your day job to sell on Yahoo, but for the price, sales are great. Now in October, at least so far, ebay seems to have gotten a shot in the arm as my bids are the best since last Christmas season. The big point here is to use Ebay, but when you get something that seems to be slow on an item, list it at Yahoo. Even your items above $9.99 can be run three times for the same price that you can run it once on ebay without a relist or 6 times on Yahoo with an ebay relist (assuming no sale). In my experience, if I have an item run that long on Yahoo, it will usually get a sale. Fact is most items I list there usually go through 1-2 relists before a sale. Also if you have a lot of a certain item, it is also good to list it on Yahoo in addition to ebay for the simple fact if you sell it for the exact same price, the fees at Yahoo as less so you make more money which is the bottom line. I do that often with my items. List at both Ebay, Yahoo. As far as listing fees being eliminated, look at bidville and try and find anything of value. You will learn for yourself why Yahoo started listing fees.
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yam250
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posted on October 13, 2002 10:30:24 PM new
yup
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