Ebay waiting for uproar to disappear

[ojleap]

Hi all.

Just wanted to let you know that I have been reading the Ebay posts with interest. As a seller with good feedback over there, it will affect my business in a not so good way, as many other people.

However, what I have noticed is this.

On Thursday and Friday, there was absolute uproar on Ebay. Every man and his dog were posting complaints. Pinks were busy... Even the man Doug McCallum, who sent the email about the price increases was active on the forums on Friday (albeit with standard stock responses).

Since Friday afternoon, guess what... nothing. No pink responses, no Doug returns. Nothing.

But, also, the amount of responses have been reduced massively.

I think Ebay are "hiding their heads under the blanket" waiting for the storm to pass. And guess what, it will, and, ok, they will lose some shop owners, but the rest will simply hike the prices up and Ebay will have higher returns.

What I feel sorry about is that nobody at Ebay seems to care. The faceless organisation, with the worst customer service in the UK (yes, even worse than a computer company whose name rhymes with Hell), don't give a stuff about their most valuable assets - their sellers, the people who feed them... why? Because Ebay has the monopoly and sites such as Ebid and other smaller Auction sites do not have the investment to react to an event such as this.

What I would like to see is Ebid make some gesture to try to intice buyers (to me, they seem to aim on sellers). I have posted in another forum as to what Ebid will try to do to back us Ebay sellers up coming over here, but the forum members say it is our responsibility as sellers to bring the customers... trust me, this is not a simple excerise, but we need some backup if we are going to do what we can. Please, don't take any of this as criticism, I just feel that the longer the situation goes on without Ebid doing anything, the opportunity to get new customers gets smaller.

Ebay sellers will not stay here if they are not getting custom... they will go back to Ebay and pay the price hikes.

Guys - help us to help you. Give us some backup and help us bring the customers here... without which, we don't sell and don't generate any income for you, or ouselves.

ATB
OJ

[BunjeesPiggiesPoochins]

Well said!

Lets just hope ebay dont try to buy ebid. Ive often wondered about that!

[Apollo2003]

Nice clear head on your shoulders ... probably one of the best posts I have seen on this forum related to Ebid/Ebay in a long while.

I don't post much here these days but when something arises I like to give input. I totally agree with you about Ebay having a monopoly in online auctions and also know your words are very true about people jumping ship to find that things aren't as rosie on the other side when poor or none existant sales. For years I have wondered why Ebid hasn't really worked, then I looked at my own buying habbits to find the answers.

Online auctions were fun, a way to find a bargain, but these days if look hard enough around you can find some things cheaper in shops & and online shops, yes there are bargains to had in online auction sites, but you have to dig deep to find them.

Over the past few weeks I have bought some fairly high priced items, most of which have come from Ebay ... why ? because whatever I am looking for I can find it there and they are auctions and not buy it now's. Thought it was an auction site not just a shop window and that is where Ebid is lacking ... everything seems to be BIN with a auction price of a penny less. Sellers can't take a risk of a starting price of a pound because no one can afford to lose money with the lack of buyers, but Ebay on the other hand you can take much more of a risk because the chances are you will sell it for a reasonable price.

If you want people to start taking Ebid more seriously then sellers have to take a risk, sadly this will never happen and people will flock back to Ebay as they may beable (if Lucky) to buy the bread but won't beable to buy the butter.

IMO Ebid is stagnent, not moving on and not capitilzing of Ebay's misfortune the way they could, I am not even sure the servers would take a mass influx of newcomers, the site has been straining since Ebay's price hikes.


Sellers price their goods on Ebay, come to Ebid where no fees, no commission but still ask the same price as they did on Ebay ... so what encouragement do the buyers have to swap ship ? They know Ebay, they love Ebay !

I must admit I love the sponsored google adds, I go hunting for items in Ebid and can find the items far cheaper with no P&P price hikes or even free postage cheaper than buying from some one in Ebid, and probably run less risk of receiving the item than an auction site. I guess Ebid gain by me clicking on these adds but the seller loses out as I take my custom elsewhere.

Personally over the past couple of years I find the bottom falling out of auction sites, fewer bargains to be had, P&P hiking to unbelievable levels to save on the fees Ebay charge(understandably from the sellers point of view), the people who are looking to rip others off buy stealing accounts and making a killing until they are found out, just think how the fees will increase over the next couple of years with Ebay, but unfortunately Ebid will still be in the same stagnent state they have been for the past 3-4 years, lots of sellers just not many buyers.

Shame really as when I found this site, I thought they could be a genuine threat to Ebay, it has just never materialized

[shezz]

I've said all along that ebid needs to do something Now.


allo Apollo

Nice to see ya

Hope You and Tam are fine

[ojleap]

I must admit, its confused me as to why people decide to stick with the same price when they bring their items across from Feepay.

I, for one, have simply reduced all of my items by 50p (some by £1 on the higher value items), as I am not in the market of ripping customers off... no fees = I can pass those savings onto the customers.

Must admit, I thought we might have heard something from Ebid as to how they are going to try to get some of the market whilst it is unhappy, not seen anything yet. Are they relying solely on unhappy sellers coming across?

[Pete27]

I know the fee increases have put a lot of sellers off feebay, but yes your right, many will just hike their prices up to cover the fees. Something your forgetting though is that many items on feebay are getting very close to retail prices and some are even beyond. Buyers used to be able to get great savings on feebay even after postage, but the more feebay put up their fees the higher prices will go and so the end result will mean buyers going elsewhere which is not good for sellers and ultimately not good for feebay.

[ojleap]

Yes, and thats the problem EBay are now faced with, perhaps this is an angle that has not been investigated in the uproar?

EBay see that RM are putting the prices up. This means the prices are now reaching high street prices. They see that this could mean a loss in business, and to compensate for this, raise the prices to cover the loss....

Is it me or is that a fiendishly devious plan?

[Pete27]

I dont know about a "fiendishly devious" plan....

More like a dumb@ss plan created by a bunch of planks after smoking pot... :D

[donkeyote]

I dont know about a "fiendishly devious" plan....

More like a dumb@ss plan created by a bunch of planks after smoking pot... :D

Never a truer word said, never a truer word said mate!!!

I think it's really down to numbers - once Ebid reaches a critical mass of sellers and auctions, buyers will be able to find anything they want here. If most of the powersellers from Feepay also list all of their stock here, who would prefer Feepay?

Also, as OJLeap said, we should all reduce our prices compared to our Ebay ones, there's no reason not to. It encourages buyers to come over here, and if we can make Ebid competitive with Greedbay, we will all gain. Buyers get items for less, and we pay less fees (if any at all).

There's something very unsatisfying about selling on Ebay - when you find out how much money you had to pay them and Paypal, and find you aren't left with much.

The great thing is that all of those powersellers can come over here and list all of their stock for absolutely nothing, with no risk whatsoever. They can list 2,000 items and if nothing sells, it hasn't cost them anything at all. How much would that cost on Feepay?

[mfkirke]

"They can list 2,000 items and if nothing sells, it hasn't cost them anything at all."

That's why I am listing every variation of my stock on here and telling my ebay customers that there is more here than there (well, I will do that when it is true!)

[underthebox]

The fact that you keep on paying for things even when they don't sell is the real killer with the ebay fees. For many categories you need to have a wide selection of items always available so that people can choose exactly what they want. I usually have about 400-600 items in my ebay shop and eventually almost everything sells, but it needs to be there all the time to do that.

So when you have to pay fees for things which haven't sold that month it soon adds up. And that has to be built into the prices I charge along with the final value fees (which on the value of the items I sell will be ruinous) and then the fees we'll have to pay to list things on the main site now shop listings won't show up in searches and on top of all that most people still prefer to pay by paypal so you have their cut as well which on a small item is huge!

Ebay have got it all ways at the moment, but I cannot afford to subsidise them.

But here I have been able to reduce my prices considerably precisely because I will only pay fees on what I sell (and then at a much lower rate than before). I really hope all our efforts publicising ebid to our buyers, and everyone else we come across pays off by bringing more buyers over here.

[punch71]

We're bringing some of our ebay stock over to ebid too, and we're lowering our prices a little as ebid is cheaper to list, but only by 10p or so as most of our items are very cheap.

Also we're sending out a flyer in all our ebay parcels telling our customers we also have a shop here, so then they can choose where they shop in the future.

We'd like to see ebid succeed if only to give ebay something to think about. Our ideal scenario would be for both shops to perform as well as each other and for ebay to maybe, just maybe, realise what they've done and have a rethink on their fee structure etc.

[nysablaze]

I will be moving almost all my stock over eventually as I have no intention of keeping the eBay shop open once the new fees come into play. So just moving things a bit at a time at the mo.

I will keep a small presence on there but nothing like what it is and will send a note out with any items saying that I am closing and why.

[onlinegifts]

Hello
My Ebay shop will also close as soon as the current listings end as I will not pay 10% fvf.
I will be listing around a thousand plus items all at lower prices than on ebay as I there is no listing or fvfs.
postage will be altered with the changes but most will be the same depending on size.
I hope Ebid does try to move some buyers over as ebay sellers will not stay if there is no sales...I am starting ebid now and giving it untill oct (date current shop listings end) if sales are poor than I will have no option but to hike the price up and stay with ebay :>(.
please bring in the buyers ebid as this site is so much better for buyers and sellers as the customer service is high.

[chiquita]

Well said!

Lets just hope ebay dont try to buy ebid. Ive often wondered about that!
Thats funny you should say that Lorraine. I mentioned to a friend recently that Ebid is getting bigger and could one day be the equivalent to what Yahoo auctions were, and she said 'Yeah, and thats when E*ay will buy them out.'

[Sandmich]

Greetings!

I am noob to the online auction selling experiences. There was one time in kindergar....wait..wrong place! lol Anyway, the only place I have attempted to sell my baseball card collection was on Ebay. I came up paying and not getting a penny in return. HUGE MISTAKE... i never listed anything again.

Then I came across Ebid. I don't remember where but when I checked you guys out EUREKA!!! Actually something that doesn't take something for nothing!

You can take it to the bank that I will now get off my butt and get things listed on Ebid.

How can we make a presence and get peeps to come and buy from us?

[satsumamoon]

Boycott ebay! If theres anything you want to buy on ebay, email them and tell them that if they the item on ebid- you'll buy it!
Then send them a sign up to ebid link (from your buddy point section of your ebid hq to get some buddy points.)
Please add to this post to keep it bumped up !
Selling is only half the answer!
Its up to us to make ebid a success- EVERY SELLER needs to bid on things- at least a few items a week - and keep it up for a couple of months. Bidding is better than buying because it shows bidding activity. If you cant find anything to buy (thats getting more difficult now) look for xmas pressie stock, or get ebayers to list the goods you do want here (as above)

[satsumamoon]

Greetings!


How can we make a presence and get peeps to come and buy from us?

Boycott ebay! If theres anything you want to buy on ebay, email them and tell them that if they the item on ebid- you'll buy it!
Then send them a sign up to ebid link (from your buddy point section of your ebid hq to get some buddy points.)
Please add to this post to keep it bumped up !
Selling is only half the answer!
Its up to us to make ebid a success- EVERY SELLER needs to bid on things- at least a few items a week - and keep it up for a couple of months. Bidding is better than buying because it shows bidding activity. If you cant find anything to buy (thats getting more difficult now) look for xmas pressie stock, or get ebayers to list the goods you do want here (as above)

[ojleap]

Hi all.

Just to highlight a point here, apart from Soapy who seems to have had some initial success here on Ebid, has anyone thats made the transition completely from the dark side had any luck?

I for one have not... I had an auction buy this morning which was duly cancelled by Ebid - I have asked for an explanation and not had one... apart from that, well, nothing. No purchases, nowt...

Ebay members are still in uproar over there, and the Pinks are doing their best at ignoring everyone. Which is now becoming quite amusing or quite annoying (depending on your viewpoint) as they seem to be shouting into the ether.

The thing I have found odd is people have said that buyers do not buy from sellers with 0 feedback. Hmmm, I got +48.

My advice? Keep everything on here. Do what I have done and lower my prices here than on my original Ebay prices. Put your prices up on Ebay and get your own website (if anyone is interested, I can set up unsecure OsCommerce websites for a good price). But ultimately, get ready for the long haul, as unless Ebay take a step down, its gonna be tight on the run up to Xmas.

[gib136]

Hi all.

Just to highlight a point here, apart from Soapy who seems to have had some initial success here on Ebid, has anyone thats made the transition completely from the dark side had any luck?

I for one have not... I had an auction buy this morning which was duly cancelled by Ebid - I have asked for an explanation and not had one... apart from that, well, nothing. No purchases, nowt...

Ebay members are still in uproar over there, and the Pinks are doing their best at ignoring everyone. Which is now becoming quite amusing or quite annoying (depending on your viewpoint) as they seem to be shouting into the ether.

The thing I have found odd is people have said that buyers do not buy from sellers with 0 feedback. Hmmm, I got +48.

My advice? Keep everything on here. Do what I have done and lower my prices here than on my original Ebay prices. Put your prices up on Ebay and get your own website (if anyone is interested, I can set up unsecure OsCommerce websites for a good price). But ultimately, get ready for the long haul, as unless Ebay take a step down, its gonna be tight on the run up to Xmas.

So far I've sold 2 DVDs on here, both in the lasr week or so. I've also bought a few things, a couple of which I would have normally bought on Ebay or in my local stationer. Buying a few odds and ends helped with getting rid of the 0 feedback, something I found disconcerting after getting used to my Ebay feedback of nearly 450... lol

It's slow at the moment, but with every sale I make on Ebay I put a compliment slip into the packet, telling peeps about this place. Hopefully this will drive a few of them here.:)

On average my prices here (on new DVDs) are 50p cheaper than on Ebay, and selling the cheaper second-hand DVDs is a viable proposition here, something that's now not the case at Ebay.

Give it time, and I'm pretty confident this place will rock;)

[debbieslittlestars]

i have sold a few bits on here but i offer free p+p because i have very small charges here i have kept my prices the same to compensate

i hope this site takes off and i tell lots of people about it friends and customers at my clothes partys-it is amazing how many people dont know about this site

fingers crossed

[madelaine]

Last time ebay really annoyed sellers and a number migrated here (2003), there was a false dawn though a few people have made real success here. I was one of those who arrived last time.

Since then a number of things have happened.

Ebid has overtaken QXL (184,603 items listed over there as opposed to 214,758 here).

More people use online shopping of every kind

More of ebay is fixed price BIN - which is rather easier to bring over here than auctions (less risk for the seller).

Ebid is genuinely international (and I have sold to both the US & Australia from here).

I also detect a will among the sellers over here - I may be wrong but I am certainly more determined.. when I return from my holiday I shall email every ebay customer over the last 2 years to introduce them to my ebid shop (and as a result the whole site). I will have more items listed here than there.

Rome wasn't built in a day but we can do it!

[just4gfgem]

I am really encouraged by all your comments.

I only have a handful of items listed at the moment. I always have over 500 items to list in my Feepay Shop but it will take time to get my listings built up over here.

I also intend to do my fair share of marketing, drawing attention both to my own products and to the better bargains to be had generally over here.

If I can bring any buyers over here, either for myself or for someone else, I will be really pleased as I think we will all benefit from each others success.

As soon as I get enough listings I will be emailing all my buyers too, especially my regulars. Just need to get more listings as they are a bit shameful at the moment, as I had a fairly big presence on Feebay.

It would be great if Ebid can help us with the marketing but being realistic, we need to start getting the buyers here first. Once we are able to help them earn some income from us, they will have some money to invest.

[gib136]

It would be great if Ebid can help us with the marketing but being realistic, we need to start getting the buyers here first. Once we are able to help them earn some income from us, they will have some money to invest.

It's only a small thing, but another thing I'm doing on all my auctions is to make sure I use Gallery.

I paid for a lifetime's Gold membership a couple of weeks back, which means no FVFs EVER (fantastic value IMO) for a standard auction.... but if I use gallery, and anything sells, the guys at least get 10p from each successful sale;) . Still fantastic value for money anyway.

I guess it all helps the Ebid cause:D

[just4gfgem]

It's only a small thing, but another thing I'm doing on all my auctions is to make sure I use Gallery.

I paid for a lifetime's Gold membership a couple of weeks back, which means no FVFs EVER (fantastic value IMO) for a standard auction.... but if I use gallery, and anything sells, the guys at least get 10p from each successful sale;) . Still fantastic value for money anyway.

I guess it all helps the Ebid cause:D


That''s probably the nicest thing about being here. I agree with you. On Greedbay, I feel as if I have just been mugged when I pay my fees. On here, I feel as if we are helping to build something and I can't wait to sell something so that I can hand over some money LOL.

[nysablaze]

On Greedbay, I feel as if I have just been mugged when I pay my fees. On here, I feel as if we are helping to build something and I can't wait to sell something so that I can hand over some money LOL.

I feel the same way, my eBay shop was closed for the first 2 weeks of last month and I still had fees of about £80. Was selling here same 2 weeks and fees were £1.15, now I find myself using 60 minute and happy hour auctions, so I don't feel quiet as guilty for not having listing/fvfs. :D

No way would I pay to have an auction appear on the front page of eBay.

[thehoneyant]

:rolleyes: I'm normaly not that slow, but I have just noticed the header change on the Front Page. :D

Still paying Listing, Reserve, BuyNow & Store fees? Join the online auction revolution today.

[gib136]

:rolleyes: I'm normaly not that slow, but I have just noticed the header change on the Front Page. :D

Still paying Listing, Reserve, BuyNow & Store fees? Join the online auction revolution today.

lol

Yep... looks like the gloves are coming off in the Ebid/Ebay wars :D

Next thing you know it'll be wet kippers at 50 paces.. lol

[thehoneyant]

lol

Yep... looks like the gloves are coming off in the Ebid/Ebay wars :D

Next thing you know it'll be wet kippers at 50 paces.. lol

LOL Joe, you can't beat a Craster Kipper. ;)
http://www.kipper.co.uk/images/box.jpg

[thesoapycauldron]

Well eBid has my full backing, I've been using the frontpage and 60 minute auctions, very tempted by the happy hour ones too!

*runs off to list more stuff*

The Soap Dragon xxx

[madelaine]

Soapy, what are SLS? I don't have anyone who needs special soap in my household but I have a nephew with ecsema (sp? hopeless!). sister-in-law doesn't always communicate but I can send her a link.

[Lovetosell]

I wonder if anyone at greedbay have realised yet that by making sellers shops less visible, not only will sellers close shops or move to other outlets such as eBid, but those that stay will sell less anyway so that even with hiked up fees greedbay will probably loose out in the end.

[madelaine]

You can be quite sure that if that happens, their statistics will tell them it is happening and they will react accordingly. What they will never know is how much they have lost by upsetting so many sellers.

[xx_posh_xx]

I still have my shop on feebay and realistically cannot close it yet as it does get way more custom but I am emailing past and present customers in the hope that they will at least take a look on here and give it a chance.
:)

[thesoapycauldron]

Hi madelaine,

SLS is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, an industrial de-greaser and it is sooo harsh on the skin. Most Cold-Process commercial soap also remove the Glycerin as a byproduct which is sheer madness as it is a natural Humectant (draws moisture to the skin) though thinking about it, it would boost sales of moisturiser LOL

My tubby-bubby (below) has excema on his little chubby arms, I use the SLS-free Honey and Organic Oatmeal soap and Bathbomb in his bath. It works a treat and I cannot see the point in putting extra chemicals onto chapped, broken and irritated skin. It's all soft and pink- not red- by morning, so it does work!

The Soap Dragon xxx

[bccinderella]

Hi all.

Just wanted to let you know that I have been reading the Ebay posts with interest. As a seller with good feedback over there, it will affect my business in a not so good way, as many other people.

However, what I have noticed is this.

On Thursday and Friday, there was absolute uproar on Ebay. Every man and his dog were posting complaints. Pinks were busy... Even the man Doug McCallum, who sent the email about the price increases was active on the forums on Friday (albeit with standard stock responses).

Since Friday afternoon, guess what... nothing. No pink responses, no Doug returns. Nothing.

But, also, the amount of responses have been reduced massively.

I think Ebay are "hiding their heads under the blanket" waiting for the storm to pass. And guess what, it will, and, ok, they will lose some shop owners, but the rest will simply hike the prices up and Ebay will have higher returns.

What I feel sorry about is that nobody at Ebay seems to care. The faceless organisation, with the worst customer service in the UK (yes, even worse than a computer company whose name rhymes with Hell), don't give a stuff about their most valuable assets - their sellers, the people who feed them... why? Because Ebay has the monopoly and sites such as Ebid and other smaller Auction sites do not have the investment to react to an event such as this.

What I would like to see is Ebid make some gesture to try to intice buyers (to me, they seem to aim on sellers). I have posted in another forum as to what Ebid will try to do to back us Ebay sellers up coming over here, but the forum members say it is our responsibility as sellers to bring the customers... trust me, this is not a simple excerise, but we need some backup if we are going to do what we can. Please, don't take any of this as criticism, I just feel that the longer the situation goes on without Ebid doing anything, the opportunity to get new customers gets smaller.

Ebay sellers will not stay here if they are not getting custom... they will go back to Ebay and pay the price hikes.

Guys - help us to help you. Give us some backup and help us bring the customers here... without which, we don't sell and don't generate any income for you, or ouselves.

ATB
OJ
You may be correct...Time will only tell. But I think you're probably righter than wrong.
Check out this news blog. Just another string of eBay Boycott news hitting the waves. but interesting to follow.

http://www.appscout.com/2008/02/power_sellers_extend_ebay_boycott.php

[conniescloset]

On Thursday and Friday, there was absolute uproar on Ebay. Every man and his dog were posting complaints.

ok... I admit I just gotta know... what was the uproar all about?

(Sorry bubbles :rolleyes: )

Connie*

[EmporiumOn5th]

According to the dates, this thread originated in 2006?! :confused:

[merlin]

yup the last time ebay made a mistake of a massive nature

[conniescloset]

Didn't even look at the dates so....

"Pardon me, my age is showing" (too) :(

Connie*

[conniescloset]

poor connie...age its time you got to bed says bert my therapist

It's about 3:30 in the afternoon here and I just got up about 3 hours ago (I work nights - when it's quiet) so I won't be going to bed anytime soon.

And, I have to say your Bert scares me just a little - :eek: Don't think I'll turn my back on him just yet. LOL

Merlin is a smart one!

Bubbles: I love your posts and your pics. Even tho I don't understand half of them (Yank here) I still love them.

Connie*

[soapsandkits]

hi connie as you can see the posts are dissapearing so fast that its getting people to wonder why they just dont say who takes them off for no reason...all i will say its a person who lives south of the border so get to read this one quick..lots of laughs