posted on April 2, 2012 09:49:35 AM new
Ok I never thought I would say this, but it is time to move most of my postcards off of eBay. It's not "just" the Spring changes ...it's everything put together.
I need a way to move 10,000 postcards from eBay to my own web store with a minimum of effort. I still will list auctions on ebay and maybe rotate store inventory back and forth but the days of keeping long tail items on a site with zero visibility are over. I used to get "add on" sales when I ran a lot of auctions - well I am running about 1,000 auctions and have very little add on activity. I don't know if it's the auction sales (which have been coming all too frequently IMHO though I will change my tune when I go auctions only I am sure) or the shopping cart or if nobody is shopping eBay anymore ...at any rate .... I give up!
So, does anyone have recommendations? I am curious about Vendio stores (can you use your own domain?) or Blackthorne or ??? I appreciate the help.
-------------------------------------
posted on April 2, 2012 11:44:15 AM new
No add on sales from your store or other auction/BIN listings?
My hunch based on my store and auction performance is that Ebay has tweaked its site and search engine,auction ,esp free auction has low visibility and far from the maddening crowd of regular card carrying,fee paying stores and fee paying auctions and BIN.
Low price items also do not get high visibility ,how does Ebay pay its fee,if not from the high ticket items?
Is there a venue which is devoted to post cards?
Ask Bill,he sells stamps and has his own website and he is registered with Google and other search engines.
I dont know if there is still Google listings,if so,you can upload your entire list of merchandise from Ebay or Yahoo to Google,they have the software to do it.
posted on April 2, 2012 12:51:57 PM new
Thanks lostmy. I have a postcard store at Bidstart but that really isn't going that well either. I notice the sellers at Bidstart that have a lot of volume hold huge sales and spam their customers several times/month with notices of their sales. I really don't want to do that.
I have been working at about half pace on eBay for the past year for various reasons. I was hoping that if I went at it like I used to in the month of March I would see results like a year or so ago ...not so. I know all those free listings greatly impact visibility of store items and they have been running listing specials since September. I have come to the conclusion that that is the new "norm".
-------------------------------------
posted on April 2, 2012 02:45:15 PM new
neglus
I feel your pain. I've said it many times that these free listing are not free if they cost you money in lost sales.
My main ID did OK during the last sale because I listed some big ticket items and sold a few but my jewelry ID - not so much. Average views are anywhere from 0 to 2 where they are typically 5 to 10.
I wish I could help you with a great way to move your items but I don't have one - hopefully someone will be able to help you.
posted on April 2, 2012 03:36:18 PM new
If I copy my exact title and search Google my item comes up on Google twice, via eBay and Bidstart and sometimes on other weird places so I think my items are in Google. However, when I do a general search of keywords in title, other vendors come up before eBay and eBay comes up with several results, not necessarily mine. I don't think the Googleplus uploader works anymore. I really do think I would get higher rankings through my own website.
-------------------------------------
posted on April 2, 2012 03:59:11 PM new
There is one factor no one talks about and it is the economy.
Walmart shoppers have gone to dollar stores,where a can of food costs 99 cents.
What is more important to your survival,feed your stomach or buy a collectible?
Some high ticket items sell,because they hold their value and even appreciate,like antiques, ivory,coral,sterling silver,solid gold.
Some folks who were your buyers at one time could be your competitors now,so many people out of job not 6 months or 9 months,but 2-4 years,horrible situation to be in !
posted on April 3, 2012 06:45:09 AM new
I think I might go with ProStores - seems like the easiest way to synch with my eBay listings. Has anyone had experience with them?
-------------------------------------
posted on April 3, 2012 03:00:11 PM new
Thanks for the input Bill. I asked Vendio to contact me about opening a store and am still waiting for a response. I have been a long time Vendio user but I am a little apprehensive about the "new" platform and the fact that they haven't contacted me makes me think that they aren't on top of things...also their pricing seems a lot higher for 10,000 items than ProStores pricing (if I read it right it looks like it's 3x's higher!)
The fact that eBay owns ProStores makes me a little fearful but right now I just want to get the stuff off of eBay with as little fuss as possible and stop paying eBay $.05/item/per month for the privilege of being buried in search when the new Top Rated Seller standards are implemented. I always thought I would be the one to turn off the lights when eBay shut down but not anymore!
My biggest mistake was filing everything by eBay number! I am in the process of putting my own filing numbers in all the titles (thankfully I filed in batches that cover a few days' listings so I can bulk edit titles by using dates instead of item numbers). When that is done I will be ready to start a web store somewhere or other. I am finding a whole lot of items were dropped from the system over the years (and others duplicated).
I haven't checked out Prestores but will do so - thanks for the tip.
I was so hopeful that BidStart would work for me and it might still if the buyers will migrate over there. I really like the people there and the system is SO much better than eBay's dinosaur system.
-------------------------------------
posted on April 3, 2012 06:47:53 PM new
I agree that sales at BidStart are slow. When I last spoke with them, I was told that sales would increase if I emailed all my old customers. Apparently, BidStart and eBid are the same - you have to find your own buyers, then beat them over the head with email. No thanks.
I just stopped listing new items at those sites. I'm concentrating on my store. No listing, or FVFs.
Currently, I only have 12 items listed at eBay. Not sure what to do there.
posted on April 4, 2012 06:06:59 AM new
I tried to move 15k ads to the new platform when it was first rolled out and was given the thumbs down by Vendio. It’s proven to be far too time consuming to promote my old Vendio store with meager results. The old VD store layout is weak at best and very unprofessional looking so why bother.
Not a fan of eBay exec’s making their bloated salaries on our backs but I will adjust and adapt to these new changes again. As long as my year over year net profit increases guess I’ll just keep plugging away….sigh
posted on April 4, 2012 07:11:18 AM new
Costs keep going up,healthcare cost,payroll cost,utility cost,hardware/software costs,how much can Ebay make hosting postcards,stamps and 99 cents jewelry?
Like the guy at Rubylane often said,bandwidth is not cheap,why not just liquidate your low price items and seek out some higher margin,higher priced items?
Bundle some of your postcards together and sell them as lots!
It could just be a matter of time the other venues will raise its fee.
The obscure websites may welcome you at first with your huge inventory,but if there is no benefits to them,how long will they be willing to play hosts to 10,000 poctcards,15,000 ads?
posted on April 4, 2012 09:04:11 AM new
Thing is, I don't want to be an internet merchant just to be an internet merchant. I want to sell postcards. If I have to just do shows and schlepp my boxes from place to place, I will.
EBay worked great for collectible items such as mine for years. I guess when they made the disruptive "innovative" decision to Amazonify eBay we should have seen the writing on the wall. I don't belong on Amazon and now I don't belong on eBay except as an auction seller. I may sell off lots in the end but selling from my own website will be reasonably cheap and give me some flexibility. The postcard collectors are still out there and they love online shopping because they can find what they want without digging through boxes.
There was a time when folks just did internet shopping on eBay but now there are so many options. When I am looking for something other than collectibles, I search on Google and usually end up on Amazon. With "Prime" I even get free shipping. When I shop for collectibles, I Google first and eBay second. Hopefully eBay buyers will learn to do the same and hopefully I can figure out SEO so I at least come up in Google searches.
posted on April 4, 2012 10:57:22 AM new
I know the anxiety you are experiencing. Years ago, I had the same decisions to make, and I'm glad that I made the change.
At first I tried listing everything on as many marketplaces as I could. That was a mistake as it is impossible to do that correctly. I have the inventory, I just don't have the staff necessary to do that. Further, posting all your items on many marketplaces, dilutes sales at your main site.
I eventually settled on a plan where my store is supported by select listings on a few marketplaces. This is similar to your plan of doing shows if necessary.
Your store would contain all your listings, while eBay, BidStart, and DelCampe will contain select listings of your items. The marketplaces listings would then be similar to you being at a show.
Now, that is easier said than done. I have had to learn SEO, HTML, and most importantly, to develop a plan, and budget my time.
Pick your store provider, design your store, stock your store, consider Google Adwords, and then stock the marketplaces with select items.
posted on April 4, 2012 12:00:14 PM new
You said you dont belong on AMZN?WHY?
If you have a promerchant account,can you upload 11,000 postcards to AMZN marketplace?
It is cheaper than EBAY,pro mercant account I think it is 40 dollars,but my information is old.
posted on April 4, 2012 12:05:34 PM new
As I read this I feel just plain sad! I have read many threads like this on the eBay Boards.
I KNOW it is business and 'not personal' but for many of us who have sold for years it is very personal as what we sell is close to our hearts. The first rule I learnt in Sales was to 'Sell what you love and know what you sell then sell what you know' and that is what Neglus has been doing so well for many years. The situation that she and many others now find themselves in is just plain wrong and should never have come about!
When we first started selling 10 years ago we had just got married (late in life) and each had a huge collection of varied antiques and collectibles.
We sold at Antique shows but that became a chore and now we have maybe one Antique show a year on our Island as the market has changed. We turned to eBay and loved it, made money had fun and got to know a lot of people.
We downsized homes in late 2007 and knew we still wanted to sell on eBay and turned to small easy to store collectibles and we already had a pile of postcards and souvenir spoons so we took what was left of our china and silver to our local Live Auction house and started to sell the postcards and spoons along with vintage scarves and lapel pins.
It is a hobby (albeit a BIG hobby) for us but I still have a hankering to turn it into a full time job as my early retirement didn't mean my brain retired however we have talked it through many times lately and are not sure we are ready to take that step(yet).
eBay shot themselves in the foot with their 'disruptive innovation' and lost the great reputation that they once had as well as causing a huge loss on the site of fantastic collectibles and their Sellers and with them went the Buyers because they can no longer find what they want.
posted on April 7, 2012 05:20:39 PM new
check www.highwire.com, they have storesyou can have you own domain and are going to sync with ebay.
I received a notice from my inkfrog account
so i checked it out it might work for you
Anne
posted on April 7, 2012 06:33:07 PM new
Many of these sites dont have traffic and plenty of deadbeats.
Is Epier still around?There is Ecrate,Bluejay,all a waste of time !
Ioffer ?Bonanza?Tias.
The sellers ask too much and the items just stay there forever,no one seems to care.
posted on April 7, 2012 08:23:25 PM new
I don't think that neglus has those sites in mind. I think she wants a store off those sites. Then she will be able to build a store with features that she wants, not what someone will let her have. Plus, no listing fees, or FVFs.
It's a lot of work having your own store. I'm working tonight updating item titles and Google categories, plus updating search terms.
