posted on October 14, 2000 05:08:14 PM new
Why is it that most items on yahoo seem overpriced compared to other auctions sites?
Can't be the cost of listing.
posted on October 14, 2000 05:42:41 PM new
A fair number of sellers list things high in the hopes that a dummy stumbles into them and buys. Occasionally this happens of course, but by and large the stuff goes unsold and the seller whines that you can't sell anything on Yahoo.
Meanwhile, other sellers list things priced BUY NOW AT A FAIR PRICE and people do and do and do and do and do and do
posted on October 14, 2000 05:49:15 PM new
HERE IS THE REASON...
at least for me,
on ebay, their is a better traffic area of bidders, this is no secret. so on yahoo where their is less traffic, most of the time we renew our auctions with no bids on it most of the time, and when you do get a bid, in most cases the item only gets that one bid, so to just give it away at a low price would hurt any business. so to protect our selves at least me, we start at a price that is close to wholesale, or near retail. this causes less bidding as well, but, again i say, we can't just give it away, example 1994 model d. earnhardt sold back then for $12.95, today it is worth around $19.95 and up, unopened, i would put it up for $17.95 and hope i will get a bid before jesus comes back to earth. and sometimes for weeks no bids, then all of a sudden bam, just like emirl live on food network, you get a hand ful of bids, if i want to move an item i reduce it to half the price, and it goes fast, within days.
posted on October 14, 2000 08:41:42 PM new
The items arent over priced on yahoo many times items end with only one bid so where I can list an Item for $4 start bid on ebay there is a fair chance it will end with $6 to $15 with more then one bid.
I list an Item on yahoo worth $15 $20 on yahoo for $4 it will get one bid for just $4.
Also there is this I have money tied up in inventory I list an Item worth $20 on yahoo for $4 not only does it end with one $4 bid but many time it take 6 months to get that bid. and many times I have paid up words of $6 in fetureing this item as well in that time.
I have been selling off and on, on ebay since april but in the last three months I been selling 24/7 there and most of the same Items list at yahoo for 6 month sell in the frist 7 to 10 days on ebay and are bringing in some cases 3X what my start bids were for them on yahoo the unfortunate part of this after haveing this inventory this long and since some of its over a year old now and any money on them is a great deal I lost all Profit I should have made on this inventory simply due to the time its taken to sell it.
and I been selling on yahoo and I am still a big yahoo suporter. I have been running these one bid wins auction long before many even decided the BUY Price was the hot way to do it.
In fact I have been a yahoo auction suporter to this point when I started yahoo auctions I had a Tooties Toy MetalDoll house full of furnature complete set in good condition from the 20s this set has a Book value of $4,500 to $5,500 I listed this as one of my frist Item last christmas time for weeks I couldnt even get a lick of interest I figured it was me I had to high of exspectations of online auctions trying use what I thought was a fair starting price and I found AW here found bidders were so down on Reserve auctions and stuff I broke this great Antique collectable set up in to bits and tried to sell it in bits to this day I have sold choosen peice most at a loss but I was happy to get the bids and feed back I have less then 50% of this set left and so far looks like I will never even get close to even $800 when its all sold now.
in fact while I was takeing a loss on this great true antique Item on yahoo there were people selling new burger king pokemon cards and 1999 Hess trucks for more money then I could get paid for a true auctionable item.
Why are thing so high priced on yahoo well it my exspearance that many buyers dont know the really value of antique collectables not only that many dont know the differnce when you see can see them paying up to $70 last year for them burger king pokemon cards you could still get in there kids meals free and up to $300 for the 1999 hess truck I could still buy at hess for less the $50.
posted on October 15, 2000 02:59:05 PM new
I agree, one bid for an item on Yahoo! is average. You don’t have to look any further than the boards here for the number of post for eBay and Yahoo! Auctions to see the discrepancy with the sheer volume!
Like VeryModern, several items I list do have a bid and buy price…so one can debate whether you are really having an auction or not!
posted on October 15, 2000 03:04:45 PM new
What I wonder is besides the low bids, how the heck are you supposed to have an AUCTION (in the online tradition sense of the word - where sniping rules) when the auctions are listed out of order!
posted on October 15, 2000 04:31:20 PM new
Oh, so basically Yahoo isn't a good place for auctions? Ever wonder why fewer bids? maybe a higher starting price drives bidders elsewhere.
I know I look elsewhere first.
Ain't Life Grand...
posted on October 15, 2000 05:02:20 PM new
Bidders on Yahoo! do not like reserve prices. If you use one they will usually pass you by. If you start low, hoping to get a good, fair price, you may get burned. It's not like feebay, it is a totally different style of selling.
Most sellers start at a price that they are willing to accept, but hope they actually get a little better price. Sometimes they do, but not always because the volume of views is much less. Yahoo! sellers try to go with what the bidders on Yahoo! want them to do, and that's how it is.
There are some who overprice, but they are in the minority. And eventually will learn the errors of their ways. In my opinion, having sold on feebay, and leaving. There are a lot more scammers, and ripoffs on there, than I've ever wittnessed on Yahoo! auctions. I seen so many items start at .01, with NO reserve on some expensive items. Why, because they bid on their own items. Or have a network of buyers/friends who protect these items, and theirs in return, if they do not go high enough in bids.
The games played on feebay are not prevelent on Yahoo! auctions, not yet at least. But I fear as Yahoo! catches up to, and possibly passes feebay, we will have the same problems here. The same people, abusing the buyers on feebay, will just migrate to Yahoo! and practice there tactics here.
posted on October 15, 2000 07:07:22 PM new
I think you will see less overpriced merchandise on Yahoo now that sellers are penalized for poor sell-through. The items of sellers who have low sell through are now placed at the bottom of the piles of listings- meaning that sellers who sell fairly-priced items are more likely to be at the top of the stack that is viewed first.
posted on October 15, 2000 07:46:40 PM new
I actually sell my items for less on Yahoo than on Ebay. I sell mostly with 1st Bid Wins! or a reserve with buy price and let the customers know about where the reserve is. I like to share the savings in listing and FVF's on Yahoo. I really LOVE Yahoo!
I start things lower on Ebay, but they end up higher with the bids by and large.
There are still a few things that I put on Ebay first, if it is unique and I want a larger audience, but by and large, I am listing less on Ebay all of the time.
posted on October 15, 2000 07:46:53 PM new
I keep hearing this high priced fair price stuff here and on ebay outlook .
I tend to agree some starting prices seem high in both places but all auction have to start at some point even at auction houses.
1 cent is just not a fair or game starting price for the owner of the Items
once collectables get so easy to find and so cheap to obtain the less they will be desirered. a hobby thats no challange at all isnt much of a hobby really.
posted on October 16, 2000 01:28:37 AM new
I can see both sides of this as I buy and sell. I remember when I started with Yahoo back in July I posted a comment here on this board that was almost exactly the same- I was shopping for items to buy so I could build a feedback profile. I too thought lots of things were overpriced. Then again, I'm a bargain shopper. You WILL come across bargains on Yahoo, and I can say this from experience. With first bid wins there is always the chance that you will come across a seller who just doesn't know what (s)he has & wants to be rid of it, and I find these goodies fairly often now that I use Yahoo's alerts. I recommend them for anyone who does a lot of buying & has a lot of patience, which I do. With Alerts, you will occasionally be alerted to things that are completely unrelated to anything you are looking for, and you will wonder why you recieved the alert. BUT the stuff that you are looking for, you will be the first to know about it when someone lists one. If it's listed with a buy price, it can be yours before anyone else even sees it. Pretty cool!!!!
As a seller, I have "given away" lots of things on Yahoo, especially when I was new & didn't get that it's not realistic to start the bidding at $1.00 & expect it to reach a decent price. On Ebay I frequently begin auctions at $1.00- and I have done so on Yahoo- but I don't do that any more. I sell Yahoo because I want to make money! But, I still price my items as low as I possibly can. The object is to sell them, not have them cluttering up my house for the rest of my life!!
posted on October 16, 2000 05:43:38 AM new
Just my own observations - A lot of what I see on eBay is underpriced. What I find on Yahoo is is not overpriced, but fairly priced.
I don't know about everyone elses location, but check out the pricing in some of your local antique and collectible stores. Often double or triple what you'll find on Yahoo.
posted on October 16, 2000 06:00:47 AM new
Yes, many of us moved to Yahoo because we were tired of searching high and low for desirable things and having them sell for a song on ebay and paying for the privilege to boot.
posted on October 16, 2000 09:10:28 AM new
One reason I havent seen listed yet. Ebay charges for listings. Folks who list on ebay are usually serious sellers who are investing some money in the hopes of selling something. Yahoo is free. So there are a lot of clowns who go to the local store or web site, check out the retail price and then list it at Yahoo for more in the hope of snagging a dummy. It if doesnt work, it costs them nothing. I have seen stuff selling at list price and above. http://www.ygoodman.com [email protected]
posted on October 16, 2000 09:25:57 AM new
fascinations- YES!!!! You are absolutely RIGHT! Many many things on Ebay are seriously underpriced. It's sad because many of those same items couldn't be sold for much more on Ebay, because realistic shipping charges are prohibitively expensive. For example, I shy away from buying breakables on Ebay- dishes etc- because a realistic shipping charge, although I understand the necessity thereof, is just too much for me to absorb in addition to the fact that such items are a REAL gamble to buy on Ebay. By the time I'm done paying for the item, shipping, handling, & insurance, I'va arrived at a figure that is too high for me to bet that I'm really going to get an as-advertised item. There are just too many sellers out there misrepresenting their stuff for me to do that. BUT at the same time, the seller isn't making much at ALL- it's the POST OFFICE that is making megabucks on those deals!!!!!
yisgood, You are RIGHT ON THE MONEY as well!!! I completely agree that this is happening. I do think we'll see a lot less of it though under the new rules- sellers who aren't selling will be buried at the bottom!
