posted on September 1, 2000 11:20:35 PM new
Yahoo is a giant vacuum..sucks you in with free listings, easy relist feature..now you get hundreds of auctions running...and guess what? lack of bidders! Do they promote the site at all? No, auctions are just an extension of their brand, not exactly a profit center, although they do make ad revenue. That's the good, the bad, and he ugly. The main point being, Yahoo is our number 2 auction site, and this is the best second choice we get? Our third best site is Amazon, is 10 times as worse as Yahoo. No bidders, no promotion, and they charge you. The field is wide open for any smart entrepeneur to run right up and grab huge market share, but so far only imitators are giving it a try and failing. I'll keep using Yahoo for what it's good for, list until it sells. But really, we do need a good second site to take Yahoo's place!
posted on September 2, 2000 06:36:54 PM new
quickdraw- maybe the categories you sell aren't good on Yahoo, but there is money to be made at Yahoo. Out of 3 categories I generally sell in, ONE doesn't sell well on Yahoo, so I "ebay" the majority of that stuff. You do have to do what works for you.
Have you experimented with different the strategies available on Yahoo like featuring & 1st bid wins? Just wondering. If you haven't maybe you could give them a try. 1st bid wins has worked well for me, and I'm starting to feature more as well. I am pretty satisfied with my sales in general. Getting to this point took some trial & error, & much reading of this forum.
posted on September 2, 2000 06:53:39 PM new
"1st bid wins" is GREAT. After a short time getting that figured out I sell almost 100% of what I list, either through a bidder waiting it out with the minimum bid, or someone taking it at the buy price.
posted on September 3, 2000 05:18:41 PM new
Yea, I've done $500 a week in sales on Yahoo in the past, so what? I've burned through my hot sellers. Now, on Yahoo half my inventory would take an average of four attempts to get a bid vs one to two attempts on ebay. It doesn't bother me on slow and weak sellers where I can at least list until it sells, it bothers me that on ebay when I have consistant sellers and they aren't moving on Yahoo very fast.
Warr, if Yahoo cleaned up there relists, there wouldn't be many listings on Yahoo; they wouldn't even be a blip on the auction scene. So that's not a logical choice. Also, slow seller items do deserve a spot on a free site. However, sellers should lower their prices on these items and quit listing at retail. Last month I sold a lot of junk that took many months to sell, but the buyers were anxious to receive them, so we can't ignore the market just so we can clean up the relists.
There's an old age question, what came first the chicken or the egg. Well, in auctions it's the buyers who create the market, and the sellers go where the demand is. Yahoo needs to recognize this and promote their site (it's not going to happen unfortunately).
"If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it."
posted on September 3, 2000 05:40:19 PM new
Depending on what your selling the buyers do not stay looking at the same stuff over and over!!
I have been on Yahoo for over two years and only started the automatic relist a few months ago, since everyone else was doing it
Since it is a sell for what you list and not a true Auction site!!
I sold $100 last night on Yahoo but I have to list higher then on E-bay. because there is no bidder competition! I normally do between $150 & $500 a week depending on how many auctions I list!
When the same items close on E-bay and most will sell if not all and there will be minimal relists, if any, I will see over $300!
I gamble on lower prices on E-bay with no reserves and realize higher prices then I can even get on Yahoo if the buyers can find it in the myriads of repeat listings that have been relisted for over a year now with exuberent prices!
They have to become part of the Auction Scene first and not a classifieds section!
For promotion of the site? You can say good -bye to FREE if they do!
posted on September 3, 2000 06:32:00 PM new
Hey Dman3...no offense, but I just looked at your auctions and you don't have any bids on any of your 117 items for sale...I'm going back to the eBay forum...just thought I'd drop in and see how Yahoo'ers were doing.
posted on September 3, 2000 06:47:30 PM new
You all say that there is no bidding competition, but here is a seller I buy from on Yahoo (don't panic AW mods - I already have written permission from them to share their links) who lists everything at $1.00 start no reserve, and they appear to sell 100% of the merchandise listed, and at prices that appear to be competitive with what they get at ebaY.
http://user.auctions.yahoo.com/user/bargaintown_liquidation
I have gotten great stuff from them - good service and the kind of seller that would probably succeed anywhere. Plenty of lessons to be learned there! -Rosalinda
TAGnotes - daily email synopsis about the Online Auction Industry
http://www.egroups.com/group/TheAuctionGuildnotes
posted on September 3, 2000 10:32:45 PM newRosalinda,
Unlike bargaintown_liquidation, we aren't ALL selling unclaimed freight and returned merchandise for which we pay very little, and sell AS IS with ALL SALES FINAL.
I could have a 100% sell-through rate on Yahoo, too, if I listed everything with $1.00 openings and no reserve, but I'd also LOSE MY SHIRT selling that way, because MY COSTS aren't CHEAP and I guarantee customer satisfaction on every sale.
I've reduced some of my books (new price guides and special interest) to 75-80% off list lately, and they're STILL relisting unsold on Yahoo. THERE JUST AREN'T ENOUGH BIDDERS on Yahoo for most items....so who can BLAME sellers for high opening prices???
posted on September 4, 2000 08:27:02 AM new
yeah I dont have any bids on my auctions things started slowing down on wenesday and thursday for this long last weekend of the summer.
I also only had one item sell on ebay in this 5 dayts too
but on last but on saturday I was siting here holding $300 in checks from sales ready to ship out and I still have $200 in checks on the way.
like everyone feared its a ghost town at the auctions I have sale out there anyhow to earn from it you have to be in it.
WWW.dman-n-company.com
posted on September 4, 2000 09:31:10 AM new
when your in business for your self there is many ups and many downs .
But if these ups and downs make you this unhappy and your not enjoying this freedom you might as well shut off your computer and go back to your boss who decides what your worth a volenteer for 30 more hours everyweek work.
But tell you what since all business has ups and downs. when that business drops off the money they pay you will drop off too.
moveing to a new job dont help because it seem when things slow down it slows for all not just one.
you know I work in a factory going on my 17th year and when things are booming there and all are getting 60 hours a week makeing $750 $800 most everyone is singing oh happy now.
but each and every time it drops off most turn saying the dam job isnt worth it they need new work the job is hell they want raises ECT.
if you cant handle normal business cycles where good cycles can last for years and the recovery from bad cycle happens over a year or more.
how do you ever exspect to make it in E-business where if you been here for any amount of time you know things are speeded up the life cycle of anything from computers to programs and changes is at this time about three month.
like dogs gain 7 years for every one of ours the internet lives four to our one and technology moves faster every year .
I been on the net since 93 been dealing with web design since 94 and selling my time and goods on the web since november 94.
and I can tell you there is a cycles here to
There are 30 days in every month of that thirty days you will have 10 to 14 days to make good for all 30 the rests of the days will be hit and miss.
there is 12 months in a year you have 10 month to make good for all 12 months.
this goes for small guys and big dotcoms in fact the companies with many employess will have less time in the year to make good they have employees who will be going off on vacations over the year there over head is more and they have to set a budget that has to be meet every month or they lose for the whole year.
Key is to be haveing fun Not to put down one venue over the other if you learn how to sell on yahoo your sales can be good there and you make money.
if you learn to sell on ebay you make money you can double your earning time from 10 to 14 day every month to 20 to 28 days every month
and make it through them three bad months.
if you have the inventory and can add have a garage sale on week end or rent a booth at the out door flea market on the weekends you can fill in the the 90 to 114 bad day in a year with income from that.
you can have a full blow business but its far from easy its far from some of the get rich quick MLM programs many are trying to sell its work.
you need goals you need a plan and you need to enjoy and have fun at it not stress what good is a great plan and business and money if your not careing about our health.
I know I have strong opinions and they are mine. and if your a casual seller most of dont matter to you.
posted on September 4, 2000 12:11:24 PM new
I list 99% on Yahoo ( hand made glass beads and lapidary) SLOW,SLOW,SLOW. Tis the season. I've actually sold something on Ebay. I got what I would have sold it for at one of my shows. It sold for the opening bid, hahahhahah. Ebay is congested, and Yahoo is slow. But its a nice break in firing and grinding.
I'm glassgirl42 everywhere. Thanks for reading.
posted on September 4, 2000 12:41:28 PM new
Hello all,
Have any of you with the decreased sales, taken a look at the new search engine when the new upgrades were done the end of August???
I am done with my opinions on the rule of 1000, since opinions are like rears and we all have one!
I believe some of the decreased sales is due to the fact that the BROWSE BY PHOTOS ONLY IS NO LONGER IN A TIME STAMP SEQUENCE!
IT HAS BEEN THIS WAY, SINCE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 1000 RULE AND SEARCH ENGINE CHANGES!
Everyone has been on the bandwagon about the rule of 1000 and are not addressing some of the other problems that directly affect sales with the other changes that have been implemented!
I have been e-mailing Yahoo everyday on the issue and from some of the replies I receive it is quite obvious some of the techs do not even know how their own system used to function as to how it is functioning now!
Last night I could not even find the Auction TOS and would only get directed to the GENERAL YAHOO TOS!
I believe they hired someone from E-bay to fix what wasn't broke?
I guess I will have to concentrate my efforts on E-bay, where I get bidding competition and better prices!
If this problem gets fixed I will resume more listings on Yahoo!
posted on September 6, 2000 12:05:22 PM new
DMAN--What you are describing here is a Retail Store---I had one- and that is just the way it is calculated. Now, if that trend is solidly established (by bidders) it proves that the merchandising trade in this country is undergoing a major upheaval.
We auctioneers are slowly establishing our own little malls, like it or not. The idea of auctioning works mostly on "one of a kind" type of collectibles or a "snipe" price on other types of items. The inbetween stuff just stays upredictable as it does in a Flea Mkt.
The problem here is - that unlike Malls and Flea Mkts, there is a fair amount of unexpected and un-negotiable interferance by the "landlord" from who we either pay rent to or get freebie rent.
I can no longer afford to be at the whim of a Yahoo or Ebay. I have other ideas......
