Number of listings shrink categories increase...........

[PetBazaar]

This site is what it is.
It's never really changed at all.
For over a decade it has kept a very low profile. I have no idea why, and can only guess.

Only using the documents available on line to base my assumptions on, my guess is a lack of staff and a lack of funds. I'd be entirely unsurprised to find out that eBid is run from someone's bedroom or garden shed.

10 pence per listing per month is not going to break the bank.

One word... No! In fact, No! No! No! No! No! Still technically one word, just repeated a lot.

I sold here in the past, and in roughly two years barely made back my signup fee. In the last couple of months after re-assessing my approach to online sales I've been considering coming back but a listing fee would kill that stone dead. Assuming that sales levels haven't changed that much (and forum comments would suggest that to be the case), I'd be looking at a ~£1400 loss every year.

That said, I'd have no problem with an increase in FVF. 5% would be perfectly acceptable to me and I'd be willing to consider upto 10% if sales volumes made it worthwhile.

As for listing ~ the amount of listings means nothing, nothing at all.
As a listing is just an item that has not been sold.
So how is bragging that there are 10 million listings any use?
That is 10 million UNSOLD goods sitting there.

Not so from the point of view of a business seller selling everyday items. If I sell 100 items, I'd still have 100 listed as I have more in stock. Maybe that's the case if you're a private seller or someone selling rarities or collectables. But from a buyers point of vie, if I want to buy a dog collar (that I can get anywhere), with all other things being equal I'll go to the place with the variety (10 million) rather than the place with a severely limited selection (10).

If you list 1,000 items and still have no sales, then why would you bother with another 1,000?
Just to fill up a shelf? For appearances sake?
How are people to know there are 1,000 or 10 million listings, in the first place?
Why should they care? They just want to buy one or two items.
And there is not a site anywhere that will stock everything.
.

I guess you have to look at it from a buyers perspective... If you go to a shop and all the shelves are empty, you may be less inclined to come back. And the more empty shelves there are, the greater the chance that those one or two items are conspicuous by their absense. The problem is, that once the seller starts seeing that the buyers aren't coming back, then they may be less inclined to list and a vicious circle is in danger of forming.

Given that it wasn't long ago that there were 4 or 5 million listings (or whatever it was), I'd guess that that may have already started to happen.

Word of mouth? Why not just get the tom toms out?
If you want word of mouth, then stand in any post office queue, and asked the 10 people in front of you, if they have heard of Ebid.
If they haven't, ask yourself, how are they going to buy my goods listed there.
Yes, you've told 10 people about the site, but how many will rush home and use it?
What reason would they have to use it?
In short what are they getting out of it?

Agree 100%. I've told many, many folk about eBid, I followed a lot of them up too. With very few exceptions the reply I got was along the lines of "I didn't bother looking, I can get [whatever] at [wherever]."

Picking people off one by one just isn't going to work. There has to be some sort of eBid advertising.

To begin with the inexpensive type should be a starting point. The packing tape, perhaps even branded boxes and packaging. The bus/tram/train/subway/taxi adverts in the bigger cities or metropolitan areas (in the UK - London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow. etc). The Metro newspaper. Radio advertising on local stations. Finally, if and when money allows, targetted TV advertising in specific ITV areas. If Candy Crush Saga can do it, I'm sure eBid can find enough coppers in the piggy bank.

To begin with it's UK only - sorry rest of the world, but if we can't sort this in the UK, we've got no chance of doing it anywhere else.

My intention is to start selling here again. I would like it to be before the end of this year, however, when I see the same complaints over and over again I delay my return just that little bit longer.