Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aluminium
The only reason sellers are coming across from ebay is because their profit margins are reducing. Not only because of higher fees, but because sellers are undercutting each other to get a sale - a race to the bottom! I think that as long as this is happening, and things are cheap/er on ebay, buyers will shop there and not jump ship with upset selllers..........
Interesting Jim - I never thought about that.
As far as offering low prices - that's what I'm doing at the moment.
I'm selling collectable trading cards at around half the price of eBay.
I offer international postage at around half the cost that I have to actually pay.
I offer NO additional poatage charge for up to 9 extra cards purchased.
I can't do better than that - because it's already costing me more than I sell for.
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
Of course! 5p is always going to be cheaper than the minimum 99p listing price on ebay.
My point is, on ebid we have the opportunity to adjust our pricing lower due to the low listing and final value fees. This is the power we have and ebay does not. Why not pass this on to potential buyers? For example, if something has a market "buy it now" value of £5.00 on ebay, why not list the item for £4.45 - £4.50 - £ 4.55 here? That way, we sell the item but don't see any reduction in overall profit, the buyer gets a bargain or reward for shopping here, and more importantly, a discourse will emerge that ebid is
cheaper than ebay. Do you remember how ebay built its reputation on being able to get a "cheap bargain"?
Its about creating incentives and offering "carrots" to buyers using the resources we have, which are few IMHO.
What do you think?
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
Quote:
Originally Posted by
emporiumdays
Interesting Jim - I never thought about that.
As far as offering low prices - that's what I'm doing at the moment.
I'm selling collectable trading cards at around half the price of eBay.
I offer international postage at around half the cost that I have to actually pay.
I offer NO additional poatage charge for up to 9 extra cards purchased.
I can't do better than that - because it's already costing me more than I sell for.
Your trading at a loss then Steve?
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
I think it depends on the categories you are selling in.
Eg in collectables and vintage the prices can vary so much.
I think that sellers of low cost items like CD's and DVD's are coming over to ebid because of the high fees taking away most of their profit.
But in some ways the idea of a site with lower fees is so that the sellers can make more profit. Most sellers sell less on ebid already, so why reduce the prices and make less ?
I think the main thing is to make sure you are not selling items for more than on ebay.
I applaud your laudable suggestion of selling less on ebid, so that the word gets out that ebid is cheaper.
But what if ALL the sellers of low cost items came over to ebid.
Then when buyers went to ebay and they did not find any CD's or DVD's, they would soon find ebid!
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Juliebabe25
I think it depends on the categories you are selling in.
Eg in collectables and vintage the prices can vary so much.
I think that sellers of low cost items like CD's and DVD's are coming over to ebid because of the high fees taking away most of their profit.
But in some ways the idea of a site with lower fees is so that the sellers can make more profit. Most sellers sell less on ebid already, so why reduce the prices and make less ?
I think the main thing is to make sure you are not selling items for more than on ebay.
I applaud your laudable suggestion of selling less on ebid, so that the word gets out that ebid is cheaper.
But what if ALL the sellers of low cost items came over to ebid.
Then when buyers went to ebay and they did not find any CD's or DVD's, they would soon find ebid!
Reducing prices would not mean making less profit. If I was to reduce my prices by 15% - 20% I'd still earn as much as I do on ebay because I dont have to pay monthly shop fees, listing fees and final value fees here. By offering incentives I think I can increase my customer base, and although it might not sell as high, I will sell more frequently. Its more of a socialist model whereby benefits are shared.
Its only a matter of time before more low cost sellers leave ebay. But they might just go to another auction site due to a lack of buyers here.
I'd be interested to hear suggestions on how to generate more traffic here,
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aluminium
I'd be interested to hear suggestions on how to generate more traffic here,
1 Get more members posting on the PSU auction count site forum.
2 Get Gazza to finish the API
3 Make it easier to join ebid (Bonanza is getting more members on a daily basis)
4 Make it easier for new buyers to buy from ebid (some sites don't require registration just to buy)
5 Add more Youtube videos about ebid (to drown out the highly ranked negative ones.
6 Buy as much as we can from members, especially new members so that they stay on ebid.
7 Everyone install the Alexa tool bar to increase our ranking from 8,000
8 Tell ebay's business sellers that ebid needs more sellers in their categories.
(eg Toys, Technology, Photography,)
9 Get Gazza to implement Best Offer and show Watchers.
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Juliebabe25
1 Get more members posting on the PSU auction count site forum. Just seen the site, will have a look through later.
2 Get Gazza to finish the API Whats API?
3 Make it easier to join ebid (Bonanza is getting more members on a daily basis) Yes, make it as easy as possible
4 Make it easier for new buyers to buy from ebid (some sites don't require registration just to buy) Yes, make it as easy as possible.
5 Add more Youtube videos about ebid (to drown out the highly ranked negative ones.
6 Buy as much as we can from members, especially new members so that they stay on ebid. Honey and aluminium for example!
7 Everyone install the Alexa tool bar to increase our ranking from 8,000 Just installed it. Interesting!
8 Tell ebay's business sellers that ebid needs more sellers in their categories. Whats the incentive to get them here?
(eg Toys, Technology, Photography,)
9 Get Gazza to implement Best Offer and show watchers. Best offer is a good idea but watchers are misleading.
Regards
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
API
API stands for Application Programming Interface.
Basically it is a program that lets other programs interact with ebid.
Ebay has lots of them, which let people manage their ebay listings better, or listings on multiple sites.
Therefor many larger sellers may come to ebid, whereas they won't at the moment as it will be too hard to manage their listings.
Gazza said in a recent newsletter that they are working on one.
Glad you installed the Alexa toolbar, its great and a higher ranking will encourage more people to join ebid.
Yes people should buy more Honey and Aluminium (and mug holders)
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aluminium
Your trading at a loss then Steve?
Yes Jim - I am intentionally trading at a loss.
I simply want to make certain that 'lack of sales' is not caused by me.
I'm confident that (although my stock is limited), I have the cheapest available prices anywhere online. (Yes, I sell for a lower price than I buy at).
I'm also doing this to bolster my feedback score, to gain experience, and to build a client base.
eBid IS BY FAR THE BEST ONLINE AUCTION SITE - based on layout, functionality and features given it's RUNNING COSTS to Sellers.
A PERFECT SITE, plus (In my case) PERFECT BUY PRICES for Pokemon cards (ie: BELOW COST).
Now then, there's only ONE thing missing .......
BUYERS.
EBID is like a Gold MineTown - (with Gold) - but the Gold Rush is yet to start ......
Re: eBid Could Be An eBay Rival
emporiumdays
This is just off the top of my head but I am wondering if we could build on our strong points on here.
We have a community based forum that in a lot of ways betters what ebay ever had, we have a management that is open to suggestions and idea's.
Sellers like yourself that deal in collectables end up with a lot of information on the subject.
I am just wondering if it would be possible to make ebid a good place to go for information on product subjects, somehow using the forum and/or blogs or other things like that.
Sorry most of this is off the top of my head so maybe rubbish, but just wondering if there was a way to build on the good points of ebid that would bring in sellers and buyers alike, and it was just what you were saying in your last post that sort of made me look at what clubs and websites there were for collectors.
We do seem to be getting a lot of sellers of unique goods, so maybe making use of that would be beneficial.