A few ideas for growth

[Gatecompany]

After lurking on the forums for the last few days quietly reading away I have decided to post a few thoughts.
Now i expect a bit of a backlash for some of my comments froma few of the Ebid faithfull
but before you do I want to make it clear i have watched ebid for some years and really hope that this site works and to be honest I would love to bring my items to Ebid for sale

But after logging on this morning I saw an upgrade to seller+ at just under the £100 mark in reality i can not justify this as with some of the research i have done i can expect to sell a few items a year so will probably get my money back in the first year not worth it really

It seems you have a good amount of sellers and i constantly see notifications of proudly stating how many live auctions there are which i take my hat off to you....

Having said this if you dont have the buyers there is nothing

so my ideas for you to debate or consider
firstly you need to improve visibility of the site I constantly see ebay adverts but never ebid why???
infact the best way to find this site from google is typing alternatives to ebay there are plenty of reasons for a seller to serch this but very few for a buyer
Yes this will cost money but carry on reading i have an idea later on in this post for this.

second
You need to focus on what makes you better than ebay with you reduced fees i see no reason why sellers could be slightly cheaper selling here than there in a world where money is tight this would be great.
find ebays weaknesses as expose and improve yes fees for a seller are a big downside but you could also give greater flexibility to sellers yes you already have but maybe for payment options I for one Have my own merchant account and sage pay gateway for my own site which costs me money is there anyway this could be integrated with ebid if so this would make you the only one that does and that could be a way of enticing sellers that do not currently sell on auction sites

ok back to paying for greater site exposure
you have a very good faithful following if you had a drive to recruit more sellers maybe offering a 6 month free trial with a final value fee (but keep an enticing level below ebay or you defeat the object) to boost the range found
but also ask members to commit to a fund for advertising and im not talking adwords you need your brand out there maybe sponsorship or tv adverts
I for one would pay the 100 seller fee if i could see there was a plan but not if ebid as a company is happy with slow growth

so what do you think of my ideas

[cheaver]

....

But after logging on this morning I saw an upgrade to seller+ at just under the £100 mark in reality i can not justify this as with some of the research i have done i can expect to sell a few items a year so will probably get my money back in the first year not worth it really...

Having said this if you dont have the buyers there is nothing ....

firstly you need to improve visibility of the site I constantly see ebay adverts but never ebid why???.....

second
Have my own merchant account and sage pay gateway for my own site which costs me money is there anyway this could be integrated with ebid if so this would make you the only one that does and that could be a way of enticing sellers that do not currently sell on auction sites ...


but also ask members to commit to a fund for advertising and im not talking adwords you need your brand out there maybe sponsorship or tv adverts

For options on the special offer (reduced) price (Seller+ Lifetime) see here:

http://www.mootango.webspace.virginm...idkb.htm#a0065

re Buyers ~ I know I am not alone when I say I am not complaining - I sold another 2 items this morning....

For Advertising info see here:

http://www.mootango.webspace.virginm...idkb.htm#a0069

in addition, I feel that asking members to commit to an advertising fund would not be workable ~ some might, some might not. I for one would not want to contribute to a scheme where others could opt out. (why should I subsidize them?)

Re payment suggestions: I personally don't feel the need to increase my payment options but understand that others might.

[Gatecompany]

in addition, I feel that asking members to commit to an advertising fund would not be workable ~ some might, some might not. I for one would not want to contribute to a scheme where others could opt out. (why should I subsidize them?)

Re payment suggestions: I personally don't feel the need to increase my payment options but understand that others might.

Hi cheaver
re some might some wont
yes this is true but maybe if someone had donated they could get a greater exposure just a thought
and payment options yes if you just sell on auction sites you would be happy with paypal personally i dont touch them I pay £40 a month for my merchant account and gateway without paying paypal for there "services" aswell and i feel merchant accounts are more professional

my ideas are just thoughts for healthy debate
as i said before i dont wish to be seeing as saying anything bad against ebid i really hope it becomes a serious contender and i could justify the time joining

[cheaver]

Hi cheaver
re some might some wont
yes this is true but maybe if someone had donated they could get a greater exposure just a thought
and payment options yes if you just sell on auction sites you would be happy with paypal personally i dont touch them I pay £40 a month for my merchant account and gateway without paying paypal for there "services" aswell and i feel merchant accounts are more professional

my ideas are just thoughts for healthy debate
as i said before i dont wish to be seeing as saying anything bad against ebid i really hope it becomes a serious contender and i could justify the time joining

Hi again Gatecompany
I can see where you are coming from re advert donations but can't add to my previous post.
Actually, I don't just sell on auction sites..... and I think Seller professionalism is judged on far more than payment systems.
I do agree with you in that healthy debate on the issues you have raised is valid, as it is in other Forum issues.
Welcome to the Forum! Great to see you here.

[FBNeNotes]

Waste of time and hope.

[MPS16]

Waste of time and hope.

So why are you wasteing your time and energy by keep posting on eBid.

Please note this is a

Rhetorical question.

[tkauctionworldwide]

But after logging on this morning I saw an upgrade to seller+ at just under the £100 mark in reality i can not justify this as with some of the research i have done i can expect to sell a few items a year so will probably get my money back in the first year not worth it really

Would it not be good to get sales wherever you can? sales along with sales from other sites must be a plus?
I have found sales have improved substantially recently, dont know if that is because buyers are no longer finding what they want on ebay due to the search manipulation.
So it could be possible to make the joining fee back in less than a year if the new buyers keep coming here.

It seems you have a good amount of sellers and i constantly see notifications of proudly stating how many live auctions there are which i take my hat off to you....

having said this if you dont have the buyers there is nothing

Yes the listing count is rising with new sellers coming to the ebid site, there are also new buyers also coming to the site thus pushing my sales & other sellers sales count up.
Back later

[philactica]

so my ideas for you to debate or consider
firstly you need to improve visibility of the site I constantly see ebay adverts but never ebid why???
infact the best way to find this site from google is typing alternatives to ebay there are plenty of reasons for a seller to serch this but very few for a buyer.

I see two New Zealand auction sites being advertised on this site.
I have not seen any adverts for on one and would only wonder if the other one advertises Ebid.
There is as imbalance as it stands.

I could never understand why one online aution would advertise another, offering the same commodities.
Especially if there is no checked reciprocation, such adverts should be respectfully declined.

My answer to your and all the others' lamentation is simple:-
Much, much more, better and varied listings.

[squern]

I'm very happy with the way my sales are building month on month, and I have recovered my investment twice over (in 4 months).

Nearly all of my buyers have been new to eBid, so they are finding us somehow, and adding to the faithful.

Maybe the fact that eBay are ditching 15000 sellers a month has something to do with their advertising at peak times. I worked out that those sellers wre worth £1.8 million in sales to other sellers (Sellers are almost always buyers too).
I expect the advertising campaign is financed by the 10% Postage Tax that eBay have added to their customers' bills.

Many eBid sellers have come here to get away from eBay. I believe their rather nasty ways and sharp business practices are caused by the constant pressure to sell more, at almost any cost. This causes them to treat their paying customers like dirt, and would result in bankruptcy in any other service provider. For the time being, they enjoy almost a monopoly of auction sales, and exploit that position to the full.

Whilst we all might like more sales, I doubt any of us want that at any cost. Certainly not by becoming as greedy and grasping as eBay has become. In the future, eBay will overplay its hand, decline, and be replaced by other sites who offer sellers a better service. That is the natural order of things in business.

In the meantime eBid goes from strength to strength, growing in an organic way, providing a good service to buyer and seller. It will become better known as more people become dissatisfied with other sites - eBay are doing a good job with that project.

Advertisements are not known for truthfullness. However slick and enticing they are, they cannot disguise the true worth of the product, which always emerges at some time.

Better to be known by what you do, rather than what you say you do.

[squern]

Waste of time and hope.

" All Orders mailed to outside the USA are at the Buyers risk"

That would put me off buying if I was outside the US. You would have a claim against the carrier, but I would not.
I don't know how I could minimise my risk as a buyer.