posted on October 14, 2000 10:10:59 PM
I've been a Half.com seller for about
6 months now. I'm listing around 1200 books
and, up until recently, have been averaging about five book sales per day. Over the last few weeks, I've noticed that this number has started to drop. Now, I'm only averaging 2-3 books per day. This despite the fact that I have a 5/5 seller rating. Have any of you other sellers noticed a drop off? It seems as if the number of sellers is growing faster than the buyers. This should have a negative impact on Half.com's profits due to the average book price being pushed down by the greater supply. I wonder if they will take any steps to limit the number of sellers? Any thoughts?
posted on October 14, 2000 10:29:57 PM
A book's price depends on its (perceived) value and (perceived) availability. I would say that the number of sellers on the Internet have forced many book prices down. Go to book sale search engines. You can usually find a half dozen copies of anything.
Half.com pits sellers against one another by price. For a 15% commission you can do better than half.com.
Glad you started this topic--it's something I'd been wondering about for the past several weeks. I have about 600 books listed, and a 4.9 seller rating there. I started listing there in June and through about Sept 1, I averaged 2-3 sales per day, and since then it's been a book a day or thereabouts. I know the last week in August, sales were likely pushed due to half's across-the-board $5 off price for both old and new buyers. During that week, I averaged 4 sales per day. I also think that back-to-school needs fueled my sales during late August and the first week in September--I could see that by the type of books that were selling and the towns (almost all colleges) that I was shipping to.
Many of my books are unique--no other seller is listing them, so other sellers haven't made too much of a dent in my sales, I don't think. My theory is that half.com really took off over the summer: the on-line community of reaaders found out about it and rushed to buy the books they'd been wanting for some time--abetted by the new buyers' incentives offered by half.com. The growth rate hasn't stopped, but it likely has leveled off--and those who found half.com are sated, waiting for the next promotion or waiting 'til they finish the books they already bought to buy more.
I must say also that my own buying experience on half.com has been spotty. I've been disappointed only once with the condition of a book, but I've been dismayed quite often by the packaging sellers have used. (I've probably bought between 25-30 books from the site). Probably half the books have been just shoved in bubblewrap, or eveen worse, a manila envelope with no cushion or other protection. I wonder if other buyers have had the same experience and have decided not to buy there at all or as frequently?
All the above are just my ruminations--I'd be interested to hear what other folks think as well.
posted on October 14, 2000 10:47:43 PM
I have never understood how selling 1 or two books a day, or even 5 books a day, justifies the time and effort involved in running a half.com business, even just for fun. You are made to jump through hoops to satisfy heightened customer expectations, and then pay through the nose for the privelege.
More important to this discussion, I suspect the problem (as with ANY antique or resale business) is that with the passage of time all your BEST stuff is being purchased, leaving less desirable or unattractively priced items only. How many times have you gone to an antiques mall, found a stall you liked, bought a few things, then returned a couple months later to find nothing you want? The dealer saved months or years to build up his inventory, posted it for sale, sold the best items quickly and is now left with the mediocre stuff.
posted on October 15, 2000 02:40:37 AM
I buy from half.com quite often, both books and vhs tapes. I have never even looked at a feedback, just the condition and price. So far I have been happy with each purchase. Do I take the time to leave feedback there?, not unless I am trying to purchase and remember to check my account.
posted on October 15, 2000 03:34:17 AM
My sales picked up in September, mostly due to college sales also (judging by the type of book). Just the last week or so however has been slow.
My problem isn't refreshing my inventory - I add stuff almost every week. I do think the prices that other sellers are listing at are getting lower. Yesterday I saw a book that I think should be in demand that only had a few copies listed, and someone had listed it for 4 cents!
I am hoping that the Christmas season at half.com will be good - it will be my first one.
Karen
PS I agree that 15% is high, but its so easy that it makes it worth it to me. And I'm going to the PO anyway almost everyday.
posted on October 15, 2000 06:42:17 AM
I sell well on half.com and I admit that I also use bubble wrap or padded envelopes to ship my books at that site. The problem is that their shipping allowance does not account for the extra weight of the b-flute that I use to wrap my books on eBay. So far I have been lucky - only 2 out of over 100 books have been damaged. Since every buyer chooses bookrate shipping, I can't use priority (my choice on eBay because I can protect the books better). Also, I would gladly refund money on those damaged books if I had access to my buyer's email.
Still, it is a wonderful site and I do get rid of many books that would otherwise not sell.
I guess, on balance, the good outweighs the bad and I will continue adding books to my inventory - it's SO EASY!
posted on October 15, 2000 08:42:21 AM
My sales on half have dropped tremendously. I don't believe that it is because the 'good' ones are all out of my inventory. Many of the books listed have sold 3 or 4 times for me already. I think it is the season - and the glut of low priced books. Although, sometimes I check to see what other prices are listed for the book I just sold and mune was not the lowest - sometimes mid-priced, so I don't know what's up.
My feedback level is high - 4.9, so I don't think that's the problem. I agree, I don't normally read feedback before buying, unless the rating is a 1 or a 2 - I don't want to buy from someone who misrepresents things continually.
I agree that I don't like not being able to contact the buyer via email.
BTW - I ship using the bubble envelopes. I have never had a problem with damaged books. The envelopes provide more protection than book companies do when shipping - I used to belong to book clubs that shipped hardcovers in just a cardboard wrapper box - no padding at all. What is the b-flute that you mentioned?
