ARE EBAY DELIVERING WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM YOUR STORE OR SELLING ID?

[gr8-expectations]

This morning a very helpful member of this site (BNWT) whose the thread is called "ebay and the media ...." - http://www.ozroundtable.com/index.php?topic=317.msg72736;topicseen#msg72736

posted this link;

http://letters.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/comments/2009/12/1261351918.html

It struck me that the comments this store owner made may apply to many, the person concerned is planning to close their ebay store come this christmas, but the opinions expressed perhaps encapsulated how many feel about the ebay experience as we know it today.

It would be gr8 to hear your comments here about how successful or unsuccessful your efforts have been selling on ebay, as a seller, what you feel is really good about ebay (so this thread is not just inviting negative comments but positive as well about how to improve your selling experience on ebay both here and on other ebay sites globally). But how much do YOU think ebays changes, the new search engine - perhaps more commercial than ever before, your dsr ratings, the effect of ebay special offers - when often the most popular categories you sell in are flooded with goods listed on listing fee offers, what are the benefits of having an ebay store, and what do you find works for you when selling - clues for other sellers here and those reading these threads.

Or do you feel like the poster above in the article, that it is all too hard now to make a profit after fees, or is ebay still the best place to sell online?  - which aspects of the way you sell make the difference (i.e. is it not what you sell but HOW you sell it on ebay that makes it work?

I don't wish to lead anyone to ANY particular conclusion and your comments would be appreciated.

Here are some points to perhaps focus on initially but any subject relating to the topic is fine;

1. Are you satisfied with the way the items you sell appear in ebay searches now?
2. Is the new search engine better or worse than before - and does it deliver more sales for you?
3. What effect do your DSRs have on your ratings as you understand it?
4. Does ebay deliver the audience or target market for your goods it did say 12 months or 24 months ago?
5. With ebays new store structure and fees for such, are stores as we know them today better or worse than before?
6. At the new cost structure do ebay stores deliver more customers and sales?
7. Have you tried ebay Pro Stores and what is your experience?
8. Do you sell on another site like for example an Auctiva e-commerce solution (your own store) and how does that work for you?
9. Do you have your own website, how has that experience been and how easy (or hard) is it to drive traffic to your site?
10. In todays online selling market is it better to have a number of places running to sell your items and if so given the costs is this more or less profitable than selling on just one site like ebay for example?

RE point 8 above, I recently opened an Auctiva ecommerce store, despite it being quite a steep learning curve, I have found it very exciting, I have found it easy in terms of exporting my Auctiva saved ads (whether they have previously run or are running on ebay or not) to my store and offering them independently, I added just a plain Paypal checkout 9but there are a number of other solutions for checkout including Google Checkout (which MAY only be available for US based store operators, still checking that one) and comes pre packaged with a number of pre loaded shipping solutions through USPS, fedex and others.

It feels great (excuse the pun - lol) to be independent, to have my own site and to be able to service my customers directly, of course the down side is making sure my products are ranked high enough on google and other engines, that i can drive traffic to my site and of course the time and costs involved in maintaining and marketing my own store.

Wheels a member here also posted a store solution that is completely free and also a viable option.

As far as my own personal ebay experience, i firmly believe it is a numbers game, the harder we work the "luckier" we get lol, but are we now being required to create more listings than ever at greater cost than ever just to maintain status quo, meet our costs in terms of ebay fees, and are we covering our other costs like having a high speed connection, packaging and time costs etc? I am always in awe of powersellers and volume non powerseller - sellers that do the right thing on ebay and other sites, their dedication, consistent service and quality is no small achievement, but i have also seen many of those dedicated people (one costume jewelry seller i know personally and a very ncie person, left ebay some time back) he had over 5000 100% p positive feedback but said it was just not worth it anymore.

In his case it was hard to find fault with any aspect of what he did on ebay, the price was right, the service was great, the products were special and his dedication was second to none. How many that you know fit into this category and where did they end up? Is having your own site the answer? In my case I think its a mix of solutions leading to an outcome, sell in a variety of places, provided it does not stretch you too much or get too complex and costly - or is it better to focus on just one site and do it really well?

Your opinions on any or all of the above would be appreciated.

[tellomon]

*snipe*

I was never a seller on eBay. 5 years ago I helped set up a neighbor gal to have a store. I financed it at the outset.

Wazzint long when trouble popped up.

The story is that another user, presumably a competitor posing as a buyer, was hasseling my gal.
She complained to eBay, and SHE WAS SANCTIONED!

They closed her store, kept the money and never answered to anyone ever again.

Nice goin', eh?

[cueperkins]

Crikey Mr. T....that's about the most I've ever seen you post....all at once......lmao.

My answer to all of the above is simple.....My selling experience is no longer existent because of the Paypal mandatory option predominantly...I WON'T be extorted into using a faulty product on FeePay's demand...they can bite their own arse before I'll cowtow to such blatantly predatory practices as a consumer or a trader.

And as for those of you trying to run a business on Ebay?  why bother ?, you have absolutely no negotiation power with a dominant monopoly, held to a one sided unfair contract that deters competition, both in the EFT marketplace and the online/bin marketplace.  Who's really running your business????

For instance, if you opened a real shop, you'd have rights against the landlord if they tried to push you around.....why is it any different on EBay?......virtual shop?  virtual rights?  virtual bullshit.  I wouldn't recommend that anybody use Ebay as a foundation for their business.....you are not in charge of how it's run anymore are you?......so it too is 'Defacto'.....Ebay's favourite concept....you are running a business now, for nobody but them.

Just imagine if Stocklands or Westfields started treating their shop owners like this?....you can only pay with Westpay, or we'll throw you out?...pffft !!!

As for this thread, well, I'd be including similar questions for Buyers because quite frankly, without them, it doesn't matter how good you are at running your ebay shop.....

Buyers are getting frustrated...the love affair is over, and who could wonder why?......In all these 'Innovative Disruptions'..has anyone seen Ebay actually invest any time or money or changes into customer service?  For sellers or buyers?.....mmmhhh???????. 

In 2005 Choice magazine found ebay to be amongst the worst in terms of customer service.....they still are......

GR8, I once bought a hell of a lot more on line...now I don't...there are many reasons why, but the lack of consistency in terms of postage, payment methods, even the search engine is just getting too much.  More often than not these days, I start searching for something and have to filter out all the spam listings.....so I eventually get sick of it, and just give up....e.g.

Vintage 925 -new -style -inspired -plated -look

Vintage Sterling -new -style -inspired -plated -bead -pandora -swarovksi -this -that -something else.....

It's spam paradise like walking through a market and having sellers walk up and stick things right in your face and hassle you to buy them?.....ask your buyers what they think...because it is their buying activity that dictates the success of your shop....

The more frustration buyers experience, the less they shop....I can tell you that I'm getting more than a bit pissed off about ebay's deliberate obstruction to anyone using b/deposit for instance....I'm also tired of the fact that I have to take the risk that an unverified seller will do the right thing, because as we know...b/deposit customers are open game.......

what do other buyers think?  Is it as a good a shopping experience as we once enjoyed?  I'd say not....

[gr8-expectations]

thanks cupie and tello, those are fair comments, i am interested in everyones opinions both negative, postive and any mixture of the two, i would say i fit into the last category, whilst all of cupies points I agree and understand exactly how tello would feel about his experience, i have personally never had a bad experience on paypal except for lousy customer service, no proper phone number to call for time sensitive issues and knowing i am walking a tightrope and could be held to ransom by customers charging back. I suspect it is luck and the fact i have generally not been a high volume seller that have been the reason for this - the more you sell the more likely you are to come across these sorts of issues.

also for some, like me, we are still in there doing it, working within what appears to be a faulty system trying to make it work, yes ebay do not care imo they only look at things that (to them) affect their bottom line but ignoring the thing that affects their bottom line the most - their own actions.

But this thread is not just about all the above, its about what else we are doing, where else we are selling, where did everyone go? obviously not to the same places, some to oztion (whats it like there for example?, i tried it but did not like but some swear by it), other smaller niche sites, auctiva ecommerce stores i have mentioned, sites specific to what you sell, other international sites, i dont see that just the above consitutes a complete and utter answer to the questions posed on this thread lol cupie, but your input is valuable and yes we need warnings and perhaps united we stand some chance (however small - all change starts somewhere) of making a change.

In my view ebay can see the writing is on the wall, they have a confused identity now, they have lost many of the smaller sellers with lovely unique items because they treated them badly, but maybe everyone does not feel that way? To really discuss it (leaving aside the paypal issues) we need to look at all sides.

Cupie i welcome your input with what you think needs to be said, aand perhaps in your case 10 points (or 20) detailing what would make you come back to ebay, for others, which selling solution works for you? is it away from ebay and if so where? or if it is on ebay does it work, is it profitable and what clues and advice can you give to those still there or considering selling online there.

[cueperkins]

your input is valuable and yes we need warnings and perhaps united we stand some chance (however small - all change starts somewhere) of making a change.

Change?....lmao...good luck with that......Ebay will only change if buyers and sellers boycott them and they lose profit. 

Been there......Done It Already....!!!!  What I learned in that exercise is that the best thing about banging your head against a brick wall......is that it feels so good when you stop.......

At least we stopped the Paypal only exclusive dealing...just a little thing...like breaching our TPA blatantly...oh and then there's the breaching of the Anti Money Laundering legislation.....and of course, the overbearing Ebay demanding that sellers be disallowed from passing the cost of THEIR expensive payment system onto those who choose to use it over other payment methods....on the basis of Ebay's misleading safety propaganda.

They refuse to sign the EFT Code, and yet they mislead consumers into thinking that Paypal is equal to or better than the EFT code?.....mmmmmmhhh!!!  Interesting argument....so why don't they sign it and be done with it then?  Because they want the freedom to bend more of the rules in any direction they choose.....

The truth is that if you are a collector, and/or a seller of collectibles, you ARE an endangered species on Ebay.,..they don't want us...we are second class consumers.....they want strip mall sellers......or haven't you noticed? 

And that's what the small seller is up against....sellers who are being given discounts, concessions, leeway and account managers, and hey a bloody phone number?......gord that phone number is an illusive privilege isn't it?  See something wrong in that?.....lmao...meanwhile these same high volume sellers are being incited nay assisted to spam the entire site with fast food mass produced rubbish.

The reality is Mr. T...that collectible sellers, and the everyday mum and dad sellers clearing out their garages etc, are no longer welcome....and with them, went the buyers of collectibles.....I wouldn't list anything worth anything on ebay anymore (particularly Australia only).....you just won't get the money you used to get....The buyers don't compete anymore and gone are the days of bidding wars.....soon, all there will be left is mass produced identical garbage in every category. 

At times, I have to scroll past pages of the exact same seller listing at a particular price, so they glut that price range and every category...trust me as a buyer, it's getting too frustrating to bother wading through the many mass produced items or knock offs of items that were once authentic.....Murano Glass would have to be a fantastic example of how to get ripped off on Asian knock offs?...is nothing sacred?  They even fake the old Kero lamps and try to pass them off as kookaburra's?..,...oh yeah?......why then are there always brand new looking Kooka's being sold on ebay, when they are not as prolific as this in the Real world?...trust me I know antique dealers who will tell you most of the banquet lamps being sold as alladdin and kooka are fakes......

Sterling silver is another category of fake heaven.....people just buy a bloody stamp and off they go.....sheesh...and the deception just keeps going....how many times do I put in a search for sterling silver or 925, and get listings for silver plated and 925 plated?......Some sellers use these terms in their listings...just to get their item into a search for real silver....and terms like Vintage.....*sigh*...if it ain't 40 years old, it ain't even close to vintage......what the hell is 'vintage style'? 'vintage look', 'vintage inspired'...and what the hell are listings like that doing in authentic vintage/antique categories?....???????

Why isn't ebay removing those listings when clearly they are deceptive if listed in antique/vintage jewellery? and other similar categories?????.  Ebay is losing it's credential amongst collectors, it's no longer a community marketplace Mr. T......

[shyer]

Early December selling was OK for me though only a few items to buy, all OS  in December. Selling stopped with a 30 ton anchor on 15th then Ziltch. Lots of tyre kickers and rude moronic $300 offers on a $3000 new still worth $1500  6 month old still with warranty.

I usually have 40 items on my watch list to buy last week under 20. Hardly any auctions most "they are dreaming " expensive BINs. Comparing USA Amazon and eBay USA some items getting twice as much at Amazon most 10/20 % higher Amazon.

Each year eBay losses a few more sellers and lots of buyers. And all eBay's fault when buying,, too much junk, too hard to search, no customer service when things go wrong and eventually they always do .

 When selling Pay$pal and eBay fees most expensive in business . Pay$pal a pain in the ARS! . If i did not know how to discourage P$P from 95% of my sales would not be selling. Have to know how to trick best match.
Worst of the lot is eBay telling buyers lies, if you buy a 3 month old S/H used item at auction it will be used, EBay tells buyers refunds will be given if not happy. Giving buyers unrealistic expectations, I have a buyer wanting to return a $1500 3 month old item because it has a $50 Duracell battery and new they are $50 everyready. Hallo old one died was lost whatever and given brand new one.

I know buyer will leave a negative when all fees, costs, insurance and postage, some $300 is removed from refund. I had one last month wanting full refund on opened was new software.

[bnwt]

what has really worried me this year is the plunge in traffic in November and it's likely to be the same in December

when you have a store you can access all the data about how many hits you get and where they come from etc

my traffic plunged by about 20%

it seems to me that buyers decided not to look at eBay for present buying but I have heard from other retailers that sales have not been exactly booming for them either

I do think eBay needs to reinvent itself otherwise it might slowly crumble into oblivion

while I'm sure many will disagree with me but I think the auction model has passed it's prime ... buyers are more sophisticated now and have become used to concept of buying online this is why Amazon is leaping ahead of eBay .... I think the idea of hit and miss auction buying has lost it's gloss - the novelty has worn off

I am seriously thinking about branching out onto my own web site sometime this coming year, the main reason being that high price items don't sell well for me on eBay ... is it that eBay on attracts only 'bottom feeders' ?? also quite a few suppliers refuse to sell to me because they don't want their products seen on eBay

[tellomon]

...otherwise it might slowly crumble into oblivion.

We've been waiting for that for several years now.....

[low-enghooi]

I am seriously thinking about branching out onto my own web site sometime this coming year

Yes, this should be part of your business. Don't just rely on ebay. Build your own website, and get the traffic from ebay. Also I have heard a lot of success stories with amazon. A worthy alternative.

also quite a few suppliers refuse to sell to me because they don't want their products seen on eBay

Very lovely suppliers. Do they mind if you say Amazon?

[cueperkins]

nup....you can go, you can go, you can just go......

Amazon, Amazon Am Am Amazon
Amazon, Amazon Am Am Amazon
Amazon, Amazon Am Am Amazon
Amazoooooooooooooooon.........!!!!!!

[cueperkins]

BTW....if Ebay are NOT a dominant monopoly misusing their market power, then why isn't there a feasible alternative?????...because ebay kill everything in near vicinity, or emulate those using a different model......they're predatory......

Like Predator 2.....(watched it last night)...it's all sport to Ebay...they're the meanest MF in the valley approach !!!!!  Works for them....

[low-enghooi]

BTW....if Ebay are NOT a dominant monopoly misusing their market power, then why isn't there a feasible alternative?????...because ebay kill everything in near vicinity, or emulate those using a different model......they're predatory......

Arr, they copy Microsoft.

And people are talking about Amazon as an alternative. Serious. Amazon is no longer only about books. They have the financial resources, marketing machine, traffic, no listing fee until item sold, no mandatory paypal, etc, etc. Why not just give it a try?

*********

Back to ebay, gr8 if you may allow me to add few more points to your list:

11. Do you have a ME page? Do you add a link from your listing page to your ME page, that further link to your website (or other affiliate website, newsletter, whatever you think is appropriate and profitable to you)?

12. Have you tried ebay Classified Ads (an ad on ebay.com cost US$10 / 30 days) that you can put down your phone number, email address, your website, details of services/products you offered, link to your newsletter, etc, etc.

13. If you are a store owner, do you know you can drive traffic to your store and earn some commission from ebay?

14. Have you tried to contact other power seller whose services/products complement your business? Have you thought of joint venture with other power seller?

15. Do you know who is viewing your item (I know ebay don't tell you), and how do you help them?

Good or bad, ebay has no responsibility to look after your business. At least I think so. So have you actually make good use of what ebay offered for your business advantage?

If you think carefully, aren't OZRT also a "product" born because of stupid ebay? Do you blame stupid ebay for their failing forum or you thank the good people who started this forum?

Sorry gr8. I am not a seller, so this is only a few bits I can contribute to this thread.

[cueperkins]

Why not just give it a try?

I'm certainly going to give it a look...and that's what this site is all about....discussing e-commerce problems, triumphs and alternatives....without being slapped into extinction....just another wonderful 'community' aspect of Ebay?....yep, if you like swamp trolls...lol....

In fact, Ebay is getting less like a community marketplace each passing day.....

[gr8-expectations]

*snipe*

I was never a seller on eBay. 5 years ago I helped set up a neighbor gal to have a store. I financed it at the outset.

Wazzint long when trouble popped up.

The story is that another user, presumably a competitor posing as a buyer, was hasseling my gal.
She complained to eBay, and SHE WAS SANCTIONED!

They closed her store, kept the money and never answered to anyone ever again.

Nice goin', eh?

that definitely happens tello where sellers in opposition will pose as buyers to get a free kick on a seller who may have come into their category, it happens in all sorts of ways i have seen but again personally i have not been the victim of it, but have heard of it a lot, a lot of people forget too what goes on behind the scenes in investment to bring a range of products professionally to ebay for sale so they are actually shippable and not drop ships and it seems in your case you set up to be able to sell real goods or helped your friend to do so, that would be another bad ebay experience she probably wont forget and thats sad that someone did that to her and by osmosis you as well

imo ebay should be onto things like that and fast so that sellers regardless of their status in terms of the fees they pay, can be stopped and or disciplined for what is effectively bullying and harrassment

[tellomon]

I'm over it.

[*smee*]

I'm over it.

I dont think so Tim !

[cueperkins]

   you always give me a giggle Smee...lol

[tellomon]

Let me in with the 'inside joke', will ya?

Did ya see my Drums, smee?

[*smee*]

  you always give me a giggle Smee...lol

Thats what I am here for,  Thank you Cupie..... its nice to be able to make someone smile or  laugh , or better still .... both ... have a great day !

[gr8-expectations]

Early December selling was OK for me though only a few items to buy, all OS  in December. Selling stopped with a 30 ton anchor on 15th then Ziltch. Lots of tyre kickers and rude moronic $300 offers on a $3000 new still worth $1500  6 month old still with warranty.

I usually have 40 items on my watch list to buy last week under 20. Hardly any auctions most "they are dreaming " expensive BINs. Comparing USA Amazon and eBay USA some items getting twice as much at Amazon most 10/20 % higher Amazon.

Each year eBay losses a few more sellers and lots of buyers. And all eBay's fault when buying,, too much junk, too hard to search, no customer service when things go wrong and eventually they always do .

 When selling Pay$pal and eBay fees most expensive in business . Pay$pal a pain in the ARS! . If i did not know how to discourage P$P from 95% of my sales would not be selling. Have to know how to trick best match.
Worst of the lot is eBay telling buyers lies, if you buy a 3 month old S/H used item at auction it will be used, EBay tells buyers refunds will be given if not happy. Giving buyers unrealistic expectations, I have a buyer wanting to return a $1500 3 month old item because it has a $50 Duracell battery and new they are $50 everyready. Hallo old one died was lost whatever and given brand new one.

I know buyer will leave a negative when all fees, costs, insurance and postage, some $300 is removed from refund. I had one last month wanting full refund on opened was new software.

so shyer do you find ebay delivers some buyers then that other sites do not? there must be a reason to stay if the fees are higher, i know i find with books for example its often the overseas buyers who make ebay worthwhile hanging in there, there are niche markets for particular types of books and there are collectors for those who can be from anywhere, although mostly i guess 90% of sales overseas i have had have been to either uk or usa with some others from time to time elsewhere.

are most of your products sold locally? I assume they must be if you dont accept or like to accept paypal and discourage it understandably, so ebay must deliver a market that say oztion does not for you or do you do both? and do you have your own website as well and how successful has that been if so?

[cueperkins]

Mate you could market a good laugh...maybe another one for Smee enterprises?......LMAO right to the door service...lol

[tellomon]

Who's Tim?

[gr8-expectations]

what has really worried me this year is the plunge in traffic in November and it's likely to be the same in December

when you have a store you can access all the data about how many hits you get and where they come from etc

my traffic plunged by about 20%

it seems to me that buyers decided not to look at eBay for present buying but I have heard from other retailers that sales have not been exactly booming for them either

I do think eBay needs to reinvent itself otherwise it might slowly crumble into oblivion

while I'm sure many will disagree with me but I think the auction model has passed it's prime ... buyers are more sophisticated now and have become used to concept of buying online this is why Amazon is leaping ahead of eBay .... I think the idea of hit and miss auction buying has lost it's gloss - the novelty has worn off

I am seriously thinking about branching out onto my own web site sometime this coming year, the main reason being that high price items don't sell well for me on eBay ... is it that eBay on attracts only 'bottom feeders' ?? also quite a few suppliers refuse to sell to me because they don't want their products seen on eBay

re the auction model losing its shine or interest bnwt i agree, i also think sellers are no longer willing to wait and watch so much, they pretty much KNOW these days that buyers will wait to the last minute to bid except in a small % of cases and dont want their goods to sell for too low a price, whereas with a bin it can run in their store for 30 days and is easy to renew that way.

its interesting that the recent offer for the 4-5 days was on bins, that is the first time ebay have had such and extended offer like that. In my case i found it very useful to be able to list an item on that offer in two categories, otherwise i would never double fees and list in two (even subtitle is doubled) but this latest offer now done meant being able to be in two categories for nothing, that made the difference with several items i sold through that offer, rather than having to decide which category i would put the item in and hope.

[gr8-expectations]

I am seriously thinking about branching out onto my own web site sometime this coming year

Yes, this should be part of your business. Don't just rely on ebay. Build your own website, and get the traffic from ebay. Also I have heard a lot of success stories with amazon. A worthy alternative.

also quite a few suppliers refuse to sell to me because they don't want their products seen on eBay

Very lovely suppliers. Do they mind if you say Amazon?

hi low, there is definitely a perception happening regards ebay that it lacks credibility and i have heard that comment a lot from us customers in particular, I sell also on a higher end site in the US and the comments mostly came through there and they were buyers who had moved to buying off that site, however i do think it depends on the category the astute buyer will buy a rare coin or book for example from wherever it is for sale and rely on the reputation of the seller not the site

if you own a high value brand though as bnwt has experienced, some local distributors wont wnat their product devalued into the online marketplace, because the pressure is always downwards (rarely if ever upwards) on price and they dont want that i guess, a distribution network relies on prices remaining relatively stable without fixing (leaving aside grey marketing issues which are another subject)

[*smee*]

I agree Mr T ... it was a gr8 promo ....I also agree with the comments regarding auctions v BIN and thats the reason why I use best offer..... its a bit of both , and for those buyers who have learnt the tricks of its use , its a great way to buy/sell .... I think it will catch on ... although from a selfish business point of view I hope my seller competitors dont catch on too quickly!

[*smee*]

Who's Tim?

Tim the Tellomon Toolman

[tellomon]

I don't "get it".

[*smee*]

have you seen the show ?

[tellomon]

No. I don't have TV.
I have a Movie Theatre.

What's the Gag?

[gr8-expectations]

I agree Mr T ... it was a gr8 promo ....I also agree with the comments regarding auctions v BIN and thats the reason why I use best offer..... its a bit of both , and for those buyers who have learnt the tricks of its use , its a great way to buy/sell .... I think it will catch on ... although from a selfish business point of view I hope my seller competitors dont catch on too quickly!

yes agree smee, one problem with the way BIN pricing came to aust was that at first ebay (foolishly IMO) did not offer "best offer" i agree smee the combo of a fixed price but with the customer being able to make an offer will gradually take hold.

in a sense buyers and sellers have ruined the auction format, buyers because they have learned to wait until last minute and that leaves the seller in a very uncertain position until the very last minute and the buyer gets too much of a bargain often because if they dont start their auction  low enough to attract buyers, buyers wont bid but sellers are not mind readers and dont know what that lowest price is, and sellers because often they have only put their carpiest goods on 99 cent starts and badly described.

its a classic catch 22 in my book, to justify the time and cost involved in putting a well described and photographed ad up a seller needs to get a reasonable return and in that sense BINs with offers work better.

[*smee*]

No. I don't have TV.
I have a Movie Theatre.

What's the Gag?

here is a sample ... Tim's offsider Al always uses the term "I dont think so Tim !"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDvCCcFr1Vc

[cueperkins]

It's like....an AMERICAN sitcom??????????????????????...lmao.

[tellomon]

I said I was over it.
No arguement.

[*CountessA*]

One of the problems, though, is that to sell on Amazon, one needs a US bank account, as I as I can recall.

Is that still the case?

[low-enghooi]

Is that still the case?

Yes. And maybe this helps: http://usabankaccount.net/

[gr8-expectations]

thanks low thats good info to have, some of my items would suit amazon, handy for other things too, delaware companies are also good to have apparently for us trading

[low-enghooi]

however i do think it depends on the category the astute buyer will buy a rare coin or book for example from wherever it is for sale and rely on the reputation of the seller not the site

Hi gr8, to certain extent I agree. Sorry.

Take rare book for example, I guess people recognize ebay more than say, http://used.addall.com/

Btw, a lot of those ebay seller get their book from this site. Bookmark this site please, it will save you some money.

[gr8-expectations]

excellent low have bookmarked thanks for that i had not heard of it before, looks great, also i use

www.bookfinder.com its also good and searches all the sites to find a rare book


thanks low

[shyer]

so shyer do you find eBay delivers some buyers then that other sites do not? there must be a reason to stay if the fees are higher, i know i find with books for example its often the overseas buyers who make eBay worthwhile hanging in there, there are niche markets for particular types of books and there are collectors for those who can be from anywhere, although mostly i guess 90% of sales overseas i have had have been to either UK or USA with some others from time to time elsewhere.
are most of your products sold locally? I assume they must be if you dont accept or like to accept paypal and discourage it understandably, so ebay must deliver a market that say oztion does not for you or do you do both? and do you have your own website as well and how successful has that been if so?

Ebay was a broad range of buyers up to three years ago, eBay I find now predominately housing commission or similar suburbs. 99% of my sales are Australian, either transport or exchange rate too dear or software etc suited to Australia. I buy a fair bit from USA and UK . I did try Oztrion with a full range for 6 months lots of tyre kickers ZERO sales , eBay in same period about $30,000. Oztion Waste of time and money , sales are happening there under $50 over $500 NADA , site not trusted is my experience.

I have started a website and still running test sales and browsing from friends and old clients. When it is running to a high standard, I will then start advertising and open for real sales. PAy$pal I do accept, 10% premium. Internet banking no charge as cheapest and fastest which it is. I also offer post office COD as cheaper than P$P which it is. P$P is slow , time consuming, expensive and unreliable.

[gr8-expectations]

yes shyer i definitely agree that the demographics on ebay have changed, with books i find a broad range of post codes within australia for high end and rare books its definitely more affluent areas, still often saved by us collectors and uk with sprinkling of others.

you are wise imo to encourage bank deposit and the real cost of paypal is very high, its just convenient as are its competitors like Paymate for os sales, would be far better if more trusted bank dep here, i dont do anything to discourage paypal on my sales but i do understand why you would.

Agree re oztion, i had like 50 ads running for around 7 months and only very low sales maybe 4-5, seems a different market and they dont advertise but some here swear by them, all the prices seem lower on oztion and many of the same sellers that left ebay for a new utopia (as i did) and very few i can see doing well off it, selling things is one thing and making a profit something else again.

Oztion need to market more imo and the name is very funny, need a makeover IMO, their store setup is very good though to look at.

Edging into your own website is a very good idea, gradually getting it right, de-bugging then hit it hard, there are apparently some very simple ways to increase search engine optimisation too a designer mate was telling me, he recently did so and it was almost accidental but he got his client right up there for their products, you can pay a lot for seo but get little whereas if you learn to tweak it yourself it can just be certain key words and a bit of gobblegook lol.

Post office COD is a good option to have for selling, quite a good thing. I also buy from overseas and sell there as well. I think your buyer demographic definitely depends on what you sell. There are still a lot trawling from all walks of life looking for particular things on ebay, but a hell of a lot have left and given up too i think both buyer and seller, but as you say still way better than other sites.