Ebay seller strike and other stuff.

[isabelladangelo]

For those that don't know, Ebay, once again, is threating to raise their rates. You can read the article regarding the strike here:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/07/smbusiness/ebay_boycott.fsb/index.htm?postversion=2008021009
I've pretty much given up lately on selling on ebay for a variety of reasons. It's expensive for one. Even if you do manage to sell your item, you get a chunk of the selling price out both from the Ebay fees and the paypal fees. Unfortunately, there are very little alternatives to paypal right now.
As for Ebay alternatives, there are quite a few. Most of my F-list seems to know about http://www.etsy.com/ so I won't go into that one. My personal favorite for accessories and totally random stuff is http://www.bidville.com I use to try and sell on that but unfortunately it just doesn't get the traffic of the bigger websites. However, this means you can get some awesome deals and not really have to worry about the sniping that goes on on Ebay.
Http://www.overstock.com has auctions. There was some hope in the begining that it would be the next great alternative to Ebay but that fizzled within a few months. It's still there but it's mostly overseas sellers trying to sell things to the USA.
Of course http://auctions.yahoo.com/ is still around. It was the leading competitor to Ebay in the early days but fizzled after the rate hikes. Now, it's cheaper than Ebay I think or at least about the same...
http://www.ubid.com/ is mostly for expensive items (Jewelry, computers, ect). I don't think I've ever seen fabric listed there...ever.
There are plenty more. The biggest thing going against the "Ebay Alternative" sites is one very simple thing, traffic. Almost all of them have better rates, great user interface, and are easy to start up on...it's purely a traffic issue. None of them can have the publicity that Ebay gets. Ebay is synonymous with online auctions. Even those that aren't computer/web savvy know about Ebay. It's the Walmart of the online world. Everyone knows where it is. Everyone goes there despite knowing that it has problems because, well, where else can you go for everything in one stop?
In the real world we do have Target and Kmart but neither store has a fabric section :-) . So, we are stuck going to Walmart to get everything we need. Who cares about the lead paint toys or the burning flip flops? It still has everything you need on your list...probably more so that Costco!
And so it's the same with the online world. Ebay has everything. Things you didn't even realize you needed. I've gotten furniture (my solid wood mission style futon that I love), fabric, dolls, toys, even things for Ginsie off of Ebay. On Bidville, the only other one I visit with any regularity, I've gotten a few SCA type items (a belt and some jewelry) and some random buttons that work well with garb...oh and Jimmy Buffet tape for Dad since he didn't have a CD player on the boat. Thats about it. There really is no comparison between the two and that's a big part of the problem.
Until the other auction sites do something to increase traffic (Overstock did have commercials for a while. As long as they ran the commercials it was doing well. After they stopped, the traffic stopped too.) there really *isn't* an Ebay alternative because nothing can give the same amount of traffic as Ebay. This is why Ebay knows they can make their fees astronomical.
Oh yes, the sellers will complain. I remember the last time this happened...and the time before that. I use to visit the Ebay message boards quite frequently. People would grumble and complain...say they were leaving...only to return a couple of months later. Why? Because they simply weren't generating the same amount of revenue on the other sites they went to because no one was bidding. If you can sell necklaces for $5 a piece, and Ebay takes a quarter for listing each of the necklaces, yeah, it's not as great as the dime listing price over on Bidville. However, at least the necklaces will sell and you won't have the same item up for years like I've seen on Bidville.
It all comes down to the money. Do you rather have a ton of upfront costs or sit around and hope that your item might sell? Basically, although I won't be bidding or selling during this strike I don't think it will change anything at all.

Comments

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

I'm unhappy about the changes too - but there hasn't been any other auction sites that can compete with ebay for traffic. I've searched these other sites for things that I would buy on ebay, and there aren't any listings for those items. Etsy, I think, has been one of the few sites that is become successful, but it's kind of a niche site, for the handmade.

I don't know what kind of profit ebay makes, but I suspect they do well. I think they are getting greedy. I think it's a shame, because engendering illwill in your customer base isn't a good thing, and eventually it will affect their bottom line. If not this time, then next time they raise prices. Eventually some other site will stick if enough people get angry enough to move their stuff en masse somewhere else.

I don't sell much on ebay anymore either - it's just too expensive to be worth it for small stuff. I either give it away to a thrift store and get a tax deduction, sell stuff on LJ, or sell it on specific yahoo lists - there are sale lists for lots of brands of collectible dolls on yahoo, plus Den of Angels, which is a ball-jointed doll list. Doll collectors often try these list first, because there's no limit to how long you can have your listing up, and it's free. :-)

Anyway, I'll participate in the strike as well. At least this time it's getting some publicity, though I don't ebay cares at all..

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Someone just posted this on one of the groups I'm on..

Ebay is down 12.65% and dropping. The other show small increases, but ebay is falling steadily.
Check it out
http://www.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! If nothing else, it does show that Ebay has almost a monopoly on on-line auctioning. Right now, it says it's only down 3%. Hopefully, through the week it will go down about 15%. That much will give Ebay a slight bruise. I'd prefer 25% but I know better than to think that would happen.

[sistersola.livejournal.com]

I think the 'selling public' could make this work and move to other sites, were it not for the PayPal issue. Although I have seen webmerchants outside of eBay include PayPal as a payment option directly from their own sites. But it would certainly be better if other online payment companies got started/recognized (there must be some, right? PayPal can't be the only one out there surely)?

It's not so much the fees that bother me about these eBay changes (although I'm not happy about that either), it's the Feedback changes, and that 21-day hold-the-seller's-money that really ticks me off.

[orlacarey.livejournal.com]

It's not so much the fees that bother me about these eBay changes (although I'm not happy about that either), it's the Feedback changes, and that 21-day hold-the-seller's-money that really ticks me off.

I was just about to reply about this too. Yeah the fee increases suck but I think that these other issues are the major problem.

[sistersola.livejournal.com]

Yeah, plus if I do decide to try some other site(s), I have to build up my reputation from scratch all over again! I've spent 5+ years building and maintaining a 100% feedback rating on eBay (mostly as a buyer, but still).

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

There is a semi-solution to the importing feedback problem. You can go to FeedBackSite.com and sign up all your online auction accounts through them. You can then place their code at the bottom of all your auctions (or tell sellers to look at the code) so everyone will know that you have high ratings elsewhere. It's not the best but it does help. I know I'm far more willing to buy from a person that might have only a one or a two on Bidville but has a feedback of over 200+ over on ebay.
The feedback site does require verification so it's pretty hard to scam someone into just thinking you have a high feedback elsewhere..

[sistersola.livejournal.com]

Oh that is great to know! Thanks for the information!

[julia0925.livejournal.com]

Have you tried craigslist? It's more local, but can be accessed from around the country.

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

Yeap. But craigslist is more of an on the web classifieds section than an auction. You can find anything there but even craigslist doesn't get the traffic of ebay.