posted on September 21, 2001 04:43:47 PM new
Well, I am wondering if ebay is worth it anymore. I am getting to the point that ebay is just getting or has gotten impossible between the constant category changes, The constant fiddling with the site thus causing auction management programs to stop working almost on a daily basis's. The AFA Auctions which I still see as a competition to regular auctions and the newly added Misc. categories that has just been added to half.com which is known that everybody and their brother that seems to list their doesn't seem to care weather they make money or not (and if you don't think the new misc. categories won't hurt auction sales ask any book seller what happened to their book sales on ebay after the start of half.com.) and other reasons that I am sure I have forgotten at this time & What's next? at this point I am seriously considering finding a full time job again because its just getting harder and harder to make money on ebay. Unless some other company comes around that will create competition for ebay thus forcing ebay to listen or show some kind of concern for their sellers I don't see how any small time seller can survive anymore.
[ edited by Dawna34 on Sep 21, 2001 04:54 PM ]
posted on September 21, 2001 04:54:15 PM new
dawna I hear you and agree! But me--the old B&M shop is just slightly hanging on and has good days and bad days--so I will continue to use eBay. My great find about eBay. Those marginal items that I really didn't want to list get bids! It's mind booggling!
So diversify---research those off the wall items. What category did they do best, how was the title worded, what is a realistic starting bid.
Just a few things that have helped me over the past two years.
I refuse to give up on eBay. It has been an eye opener from the get go.
posted on September 21, 2001 05:13:10 PM new
Thanks Jeany for the encouragement, I am just so frustrated especially after slow summer sales I was looking forward to holiday season and with all this added stuff (AFA, Misc. Category at Half) it just really brought my enthusiasm down. I have inventory so I probably will still post at least on a part-time basis maybe take a part-time job to sustain me through the rest of the year. I don't know, I want to keep trying but economics will really be the dictator of if I will be able to or not.
posted on September 21, 2001 07:04:21 PM new
I have acquaintances that also sell on eBay, some are actually in competition with me. Often conversation drifts towards other auction sites, looking for the "next eBay." Most of these people have good business sense but lack vision.
Let me say that again, they lack vision.
eBay is not IT, eBay is not everything, if eBay sales get harder and harder, you must diversify, you cannot put all your eggs in one basket. There are so many ebay sellers who could, could, have other related businesses going but do not, they are pure play eBay. And there are lots of eBay sellers who used their eBay profits to finance other ventures.
The benefit to them is that when it becomes nearly impossible for them to sell on ebay, they will have somewhere else to go. Not another auction site, not another eBay owned venue.
If you really rely on eBay and you have not developed other sales channels, you are shooting yourself in the foot.
posted on September 21, 2001 07:56:18 PM new
I won't give up on E-Bay, it is half my income.I do hope all the Sellers are able to hang on and make it through Christmas.I think the stores are going to go through a rougher storm than we are.
posted on September 21, 2001 08:13:28 PM new
I agree with some of what you say, but wanted to pick at one quote... "The constant fiddling with the site thus causing auction management programs to stop working almost on a daily basis's." The good auction management services are almost never down, and are not affected by ebay's "fiddling". That's the whole idea behind the API. Either you get it, or you don't.
posted on September 21, 2001 08:16:49 PM new
I'm still so upset about what happened in NYC that I really can't concentrate long enough to list anything.
I know I should not let these cowards get to me, but I just feel so bad for the familes and friends of all those innocent people. My ebay business seems so insignificant.
posted on September 21, 2001 08:58:31 PM new
I know about API and have herd about the pricing structure through another site. From what I have read the pricing is based on the number of calls or database requests made through the API to eBay's database the price is fairly hefty about $3,500 per month for
35,000 calls per day, 35,000 up to 100,000 calls per day, is about $10,000 per month.
Over 100,000 calls per day is licensed on a case-by-case basis. Based on these figures I can understand why some of the programs don't subscribe they would have to raise their prices to the point that they would loose many of there subscribers. Personally I think this is not only another way for Greedbay to make more money but again control
the whole situation, if by making theses company's get this API thus forcing the other software to raise prices what does it do?? Ebay auction management software than becomes the cheaper program forcing many smaller sellers to use the ebay software because the others are to expensive for the smaller seller. this bring me to my original point that the only way for ebay to become more competitive and show more concern for their sellers is for another auction site to become there competition.
Another point I was wondering about if this holiday season is slow which I expect it to be not only because of AfA but because of the economy in general will we as ebay sellers be seeing a price increase in listing fees and FVF after the first of the year??? Just something to think about.
posted on September 21, 2001 09:18:34 PM new
I'm a bookseller so you'd think that half.com and/or Amazon would have ruined the whole thing but nope, that isn't the case at all! There may be some price deflation at play, but for the most part the low-priced stuff on the fixed rate sites are simply common or less desirable books. Finding a steady supply of more desirable books takes work, but so does just about anything else that earns money.
I've been fairly startled by some of the prices and bidding I've seen just lately, on my auctions or those of others. People are in a buying mood on ebay. I'm buying too, because I still need stuff, and ebay is a good place to try first.
Diversifying is crucial though. I list on the fixed price sites, Yahoo, and ebay. Right now my income comes about 50/50 from ebay and Amazon, with some additional, occasional, sales on half.com and Yahoo.
posted on September 21, 2001 09:20:14 PM new
Sure eBay is worth it, but you have to stay focused, keep your overhead down, and not put everything on eBay unless you know it will sell there.
Most of my inventory right know is on half. This works better for me because I do not have to chase bidders for collections or addresses (very labor intensive) and there are no fees unless something sells and none of those fees are coming out of my credit card or bank account. Yes I front the money to ship for two weeks, but then I collect without ever going to the bank.
The rest goes on eBay with a lot of BIN. This generates money faster to improve my cash flow.
One needs to interact as little as possible with eBay's latest psychoses. AFA will bomb, the half misc category is almost pointless because half's server and search engine stinks. Ignore them. Don't use an auction management program that tethers to eBay. I use a bulk lister and a homemade database and do not have any of the problems I read about here--the little extra manual work is easy enough.
Almost all of the problems I read about in AW tend to be easily dealt with if you concentrate on your business. People go out of business when they let their business revolve around someone else's.
posted on September 21, 2001 09:42:24 PM new
<<Diversifying is crucial though>>
I do agree with that and I do List books through Half, Amazon, ABE, Ebay, But Since Half started book sales at ebay have been slower. I don't really sell the everyday stuff my books are rarer but I wouldn't say extremely rare. I am happy with amazon and have done well there, Most of the time I don't list at Half because I'm not willing to sell my books for .75 cents or $1.00 I seem to get more interest and better prices at Amazon. Sales were fairly slow between July 4th and Labor Day but started to pickup considerably after Labor Day that was until WTC since then sales have been sporadic at best. As far as ebay sales they are very unpredictable for books (Which is not the only thing I sell at ebay) As far a diversifying at auction sites I have tried various others and was not happy with the results. If someone knows of other auction sites that have been doing well please let me know.
