Power Sellers Unite

bravomikebravo · Joined: 03 Feb 2010 Posts: 5

I'm really glad I found your forum because I need some good feedback (and maybe a few new users). I have created four new auction sites that cater to specific markets. They are hobbiesauction.com (for hobby related items), aviatorsauction.com (for aviation related items), toolsforauction.com (for any type of tool), and harvestauction.com (for agriculture). Users can use a single username to access all of the sites. I started with the agriculture site and had no intentions of moving beyond that, but I heard so many people complaining about eBay that I saw the opportunity to expand into other markets. I am a long time user of eBay and half.com and have many of the same complaints as others.

The sites are 100% free and ad supported at the moment. I'm thinking about adding a feature that lets users pay a small insertion fee (maybe 50 cents) to remove the ads from their listings. So far we have 9 auctions going on only the hobby site.

Please take a look at my sites and let me know what you think. We are already working on a new way for sellers to find the correct category because I've already had a comment that it is a little cumbersome. I'm also looking for ideas on how to spread the word and get new users. I appreciate any feedback that you may be able to provide. Also, please let me know if you have any questions.

Best Wishes,

Brandon Bell

thegolfingdolphin · Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 617

You are on the right track. It is my opinion that you really can not compete with the big boys on a general product basis. Niche auction sites are the best trend out there.

Many niche sites are doing well and for good reason. You can promote your web-site by joining topic groups that cater to your interests. Many cities across America have hobby clubs, and certainly Avaitor clubs, so look into finding these and buy an ad or send them information about your sites. This is the best way to get right in front of your segment. If you think about it the buyer or seller at these clubs are already pre-qualified as having an interest that is directly in line with your web-site.

Look on Craigslist for hobby groups, Avaitor magazines, hobby newsletters, Star your own blog, contact vendors you have purchased from, Write a letter to manufacturing companies, and explain your interests and objectives.

There are many different avenues, that are not very time consuming, or expensive to entertain.

I do like your initative and visit other niche sites and see what they are doing and try to make them work for you.

bravomikebravo · Joined: 03 Feb 2010 Posts: 5

Those are some great promotional ideas that I hadn't thought of! Thanks for the help.

Best Wishes,

Brandon

Money_Auctionz · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 2084

Best success with your sites

Kat

dhearndon · Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 296

I wish someone would make a auction place for clothes and craft patterns. I have tons of patterns that I wish I could sell them on a site that just sells patterns. :wink:

bravomikebravo · Joined: 03 Feb 2010 Posts: 5

I'm out of time and money to make these sites successful, and I've decided them up for sale. The sites are www.hobbiesauction.com, www.harvestauction.com, www.aviatorsauction.com, and www.toolsforauction.com.

The sites are managed through the Joomla CMS and use The Auction Factory auction code from www.thefactory.ro. I am including the domain, all graphics and logos, and the Facebook page and Twitter account for each site. Many options on these sites can be customized; i.e. the sell option on the sites could easily be eliminated and could allow you to auction your own inventory (much like emovieposter.com).

It took 10 months and many many hours of work to get these sites where they are today. (Building a custom auction site from scratch is a lot harder than it sounds. This is not your $200 off-the-shelf PHP auction software!) One company quoted me $20,000+ for building just one of these websites. I'm hoping to recover at least some of the time and money I put into these sites.

Please post any general questions to the forum. You can send me a PM if you are interested in purchasing a site.

(Note: The ability to register and to buy and sell has been temporarily removed from the sites while they are for sale.)

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4782

So you're getting out less than one month after you went live?

With zero listings and sites stating that everything is free, you're setting someone else up with an untenable position.

By the way, the links you provided didn't work, except for the tools sites. I was able to look at the other three, through the links at the bottom of the tools site.

bravomikebravo · Joined: 03 Feb 2010 Posts: 5

Thanks for letting me know the links were broken-they are now working.

Due to limited resources, I only spent the time and money to promote hobbiesauction.com. I posted a link to the website on many hobby related forums and spent approximately $50 on Google ads. After one week the site was getting approximately 250 hits a day and had 11 auctions going on the site. I can't afford to work it anymore, but I have no doubt that someone with more knowledge, time, and money could make this successful. I really think an established hobby shop (or someone who has expertise in one of the other areas) would do extremely well selling their inventory through this site.