Power Sellers Unite

drleadbasedpaint2 · Joined: 19 Aug 2009 Posts: 24

I sell computer parts, so I've listed some of my CPUs on Amazon. It's not going as well as I thought it would. The biggest problem I see is that Amazon itself is selling what I sell. So every time someone searches for my item, Amazon comes up first. What is the best way to deal with that?

Ideally, we would have to sell for a lower price than Amazon's, but that causes problems because the selling fee and Amazon payment fee is so freaking high. So, the best that seems possible is a break even scenario, which of course is not going to keep the lights on at my place.

RatherRuss · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 135

This is one of the conundrums of the famous Amazon. Everytime I used to list a CD on Amazon at the lowest price, within minutes there would be a lower priced copy....once, twice, happenstance, everytime?? I figured it was a software program with an Amazon shill throwing down on my sales.

The second conundrum to be aware of is, I got so many negatives because a used CD case had a scratch (not the CD, just the case, many of which were brand new because I learned quickly to replace....didn't stop the negs. I actually hate Amazon (full disclosure)...Bozo and the Amazons have killed book stores, music stores, along with most retail establishments that aren't wal-mart....not to be a Luddite, but I actually like to converse, teach and learn from and with my customers, rather than poorly written automatic software. But then, I'm an anachronism anyhow....just be careful of Amazon. Like their counterpart, Ebay, they are not your friend...RatherRuss at www.dedicatedfool.com.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17237 Location: Texas

drleadbasedpaint2 wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")I sell computer parts, so I've listed some of my CPUs on Amazon. It's not going as well as I thought it would. The biggest problem I see is that Amazon itself is selling what I sell. So every time someone searches for my item, Amazon comes up first. What is the best way to deal with that?

Ideally, we would have to sell for a lower price than Amazon's, but that causes problems because the selling fee and Amazon payment fee is so freaking high. So, the best that seems possible is a break even scenario, which of course is not going to keep the lights on at my place.

Overstock.com did the exact same thing to it's auction site sellers. The retail site started dumping overstocked merchandise on the auction site and ran most of the unique auction sellers off. Small/unique sellers could not compete with the O's shipping policy and pricing. :roll:

jjj525 · Joined: 08 Apr 2009 Posts: 354

This is what I always tell about Amazon.

Samething happens if you accept checkout by Amazon.

If your product is not made by you the data will be used to market product directly on Amazon cutting of the small seller.

So if you have a golden goose, a best selling product not sold by many or only you don't sell it on Amazon, choose any other venue.

Only Amazon does this because other checkout systems like paypal or GCO doesn't sell products directly.

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

You are correct. When I buy electronics on Amazon I shop exclusive with Amazon only for bigger to medium ticket items.

I would suggest a niche. Fully prepped and ready to run machines. Custom Machines. Don't do what everyone else does.

CS

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

Craigslist is a better place to sell computer parts.

No shipping and you can accept cash, so no fees.

myddf · Joined: 15 Aug 2006 Posts: 81

I sell sheet music on Ebay and many of the popular storefronts...its all music that i have created myself (i am a former music teacher)

i was checking on amazon...it doesn't look like i would be able to sell there?

does anyone have any tips for me on this? as i have been reading that amazon is doing better than ebay

Angelsong777 · Joined: 31 Dec 2006 Posts: 2309

You can give it a try. You will need to get a Pro Merchant account @ $40./month.

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

One thing you want to watch out for, is duplicating your listings on multiple sites. Google doesn't like finding duplicate listings, and they have a tendence to drop the listings altogether.

So you might find that the only listings showing on Google base or products are for one store only or not found at all.

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

Have you listed your items on Craigslist?

Perhaps offering to create custom sheet music would bring in some extra money, especially if you are able to provide the tablature for guitar.

For that matter, there are some free classifieds advertised here on PSU.

myddf · Joined: 15 Aug 2006 Posts: 81

i looked into Amazon and it looks really expensive....i'm just trying to find the best place that will "fit" with the type of music i offer and ebay so far has been but we all know how difficult it is to make even the slightest profit with all their fees...i get the feelling amazon would be the same way

i've tried a few different places....

1) Bonanzle no sales
2) Ioffer no sales
3) Blujay...a couple of sales

I think i will stick with ecrater but i've had such crappy March...hopefully April will pick up

Yes i can do Guitar Tab as well...do you think that would sell?

Angelsong777 · Joined: 31 Dec 2006 Posts: 2309

myddf wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")ebay so far has been but we all know how difficult it is to make even the slightest profit with all their fees...i get the feelling amazon would be the same way

It can be. But one thing you can try is to add the cost of the fees on to the price of your items and see what happens. If you can sell a lot more items on Amazon even at the higher price, then it's worth it. Saving money on fees is not saving money if you're losing sales that you would otherwise be profiting from on the more expensive sites.

portocall · Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 156

The fees on Amazon are high, but my items (mostly media - books, mags) sell best there and for much more than I used to get on ebay for the same items. I left ebay about two years ago because of the changes. Remember that Amazon collects the payment from the buyer, so you don't have to worry about Paypal, personal checks etc. So, in that respect, it can be a little easier.

ebay is modeling many of it's changes on Amazon, so the rules are fairly strict at AM. DSR like feedback system. I haven't had any trouble yet, but Amazon buyers can be finicky and they hardly ever leave any feedback, negative or positive, so a neg can really hurt your score.

My next best sales venue is eCrater. It's a little tricky at first, but once you're up and running it's really fast and easy.

You can have your books (and I assume sheetmusic) published by Amazon (and Barnes and Noble). On Amazon I think you get around 30% of the book's sales price - but Amazon does all the work, printing, shipping, collecting payment etc.

myddf · Joined: 15 Aug 2006 Posts: 81

i was browsing through amazon and got the feeling that in order to sell in the united states...you have to have an american bank account and address

i live in canada and at least with ebay and ecrater i can sell world wide

sucks being canadian!!!!

dmtaylor247 · Joined: 07 Feb 2010 Posts: 25

Mate what can I say it's not easy for online sellers anymore. I was going to try out Amazon, but selling $800 plasma's I don't fancy getting scammed with no chance of getting my item back for inspection, if it turns out with a fault.

I would suggest like on ebay(competitive), use loss leaders and try and tempt people to your store through them, present well and build your own site and milk feebay and amazon for all the traffic you can get!!!

eBay and amazon really are great sites, they give people the chance to start their own business, but that doesn't stop me from hating their guts!