Power Sellers Unite

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

itsover4ebaysellers wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote") Amazon also has the highest com fees on the net 7-15percent and most of the people i know have little luck selling their.

I just moved 130 items (CDs) from half.com to Amazon, and have sold 17 in two days after selling only 2 in 60 days at half. I then added another hundred discs to the old half stock.

Now normally the high fees at the Amazon would have been a deal breaker, but that $3 shipping charge they hand over to me per CD (no combined shipping as far as I can see so far), will reduce those fees way down below ebay.

So the trick at the River, is to have hundreds of titles up, beat prices within your condition grade, and sell multiple items to single buyers. Then you get the shipping money which reduces your fees. That is what I am seeing so far. Sell two items to one buyer, and fees are within reason. Buyer gets soaked, but oh well, anyway they got deal on merch (before shipping).

Comics-Emporium · Joined: 09 Sep 2009 Posts: 53

quicksrt wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote") Buyer gets soaked, but oh well, anyway they got deal on merch (before shipping).

That's the problem. They probably won't ever come back paying out double shipping costs. Amazon needs to figure a way to combine shipping cost on multiple items bought. If they did that they would get a lot more customers. I have come across many items I would like to purchase but I'm not going to pay 2X,3X or 4X shipping fees, so they lost my purchases...

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

Comics-Emporium wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")quicksrt wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote") Buyer gets soaked, but oh well, anyway they got deal on merch (before shipping).

That's the problem. They probably won't ever come back paying out double shipping costs. Amazon needs to figure a way to combine shipping cost on multiple items bought. If they did that they would get a lot more customers. I have come across many items I would like to purchase but I'm not going to pay 2X,3X or 4X shipping fees, so they lost my purchases...

A seller must survive after being hit with fees, fees, and more fees, and then fee increases. Plus, I am in the used LP and CD market. The top (15%) rare collectibles are going up in value, and the remaining stuff is sinking like a rock, very hard to make any money on a 1.99, 2.99, or 3.99 CD.

Someone has to pay for those fees so that the sellers can bring out these items priced so low. And I think that Amazon's deal where item is paid for at time of purchase, and buyer does not get to get nasty with you if they do not like shipping price. The deal is done, or is not done.

If not for the shipping fee handed over to us sellers we would be out of business. I think Amazon knows this.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

I'm still seeing action going on late today/tonight at Amazon that was not happening at half.

I suspended all my half items. It's like suspending half for being linked to another account (ebay) indefinitely.

Thankfully we have the River while the bay is drying up at such a rapid rate. Praise gawd there is somewhere I can drum up biz. I was starting to worry there for a minute. And even if I have to lower prices or whatever in 60 days. 60 days is like a lifetime compared to an expensive 7 or 14 day run at the bay.

And I never would have a store at the bay, it just feels not right, you know that gut feeling.

campu2 · Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 334

"Amazon needs to figure a way to combine shipping cost on multiple items bought."

Amazon did combine shipping costs for multiple purchases
from the same seller.

They didn't stick with the discount for very long.
Seemed liked it disapeared shortly after I noticed it.

Half.com still offers the discount. Only $1.00 off
for each additional DVD, CD, etc. Not a big incentive,
considering that you can ship 10 DVDs media mail
for about $3.00

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

I think we need to accept the fact that shipping, handling, insurance and tracking all cost money and think of it like the money you are saving on the gas you would spend going to the mall to get this item. What's that they do not have this at your local mall? Then shut up and buy it or move on but you don't hassle the physical shops about their prices. I am tired of it and just say straight up in our listings we charge for everything. Either that or we are no longer in business.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

CC13 wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote") I am tired of it and just say straight up in our listings we charge for everything. Either that or we are no longer in business.

Exactly, I feel that if you deliver quality items, ship quickly & packed well, you should charge for it all.

Buyers need to be careful about asking for the cheapest shipping cost that they can get, because they might might just get the cheapest shipping (and packing) ever seen anywhere.

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

In the end when all is said and done. Do you really what someone that is so used to free shipping that they actually take it as an insult or personal attack that they have to actually pay for shipping. Tired of it as it is not worth the grief at all dealing with this fools. There are still good customers that understand and get it. Last 3 problems I have had on ebay have all been buyers with feedback under 10. Ebay feedback abuse is hear to stay and just reply back with an honest version of what happened when you get neg'ed is all you can do. I have people actually emailing me saying I do not want to waste my time reading your listing as it is too long and then ask me a question that is answered right in the listing. There is point blank zero - no correct that - NEGATIVE respect by buyers for sellers. Ebay sellers will not forget this. It's a small world after all and what goes around comes around.

Allen87 · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 32

CC13 wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
itsover4ebaysellers thanks for your insights. I was wondering though will my website get traffic from RSS feeds or my meta tags? I mean lets face it you are paying ebay and amazon for their traffic right? You can't just get that with your own website. What are you thoughts? Thanks!

Well, actually... yes you can. I pay Google and even Facebook (Huge fan of FB for their advertising) and I drive it ALL to my website.

With a website, you control the advertising. How much of your profit are you going to spend on advertising to further promote your product? It's probably less than what you are paying eBay and Amazon.

I used a multichannel selling tool to bring my thousands of eBay items to Amazon ( something I will never do again). In the process, I decided to put up my own website store. I paid a guy $300 to redesign my very basic eCommerce site that STILL allows me to sell on eBay and Amazon, and then I began researching advertising methods for physical products. Guess which one actually makes me more consistent money? It isn't eBay and Amazon. There's no side by side comparisons, sure Google brings up a couple similar items and prices, but it isn't nearly as bad as eBay's competitive listing algorithms. If someone e-mails me with bad feedback on my items, I come up with a good solution for the customer, and then I delete the e-mail. It doesn't linger to destroy my business. Plus I get to say I own *****.com which is always cool.

eBay has somehow convinced sellers that people are more comfortable buying through a selling platform like eBay or Amazon. Not true.

EVERYONE'S goal should be to point their customers to an actual website with their products.

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

To Allen87,

Thanks for that encouraging feedback! Can you give us any more details that you find useful? So basically you started your website and use Google Ad Words? Do you use Google Base or any other websites? You think $200 a month spent on Google Ad Words with your own website is more valuable than $200 spent at ebay or Amazon? Thanks!

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

I now have 950 CDs up on amazon and sales are consistently consistent.

About 20% of my stock is not even listed at amazon, no current title in data base. So these should do well for me once I load them in as well.

I sold 108 items in the first 30 days, and sales are gaining speed with 7 items in a day on certain days (as well as 1 item a day on other days).

I just sold a 39.99 CD, and two days ago I flipped a $50 and a $33 CD. Feedback is 100% with 23 buyers stating a 5 star transaction.

I'm feeling pretty good. And I also threw up 28 items on ebay during the final two days of the recent sale. So those will close Sunday.

Between the ebay items that close, and the last 35 days at amazon, I am having the best month I have had this year. The only thing I did differently the last 6 weeks was to pull my stuff off of half.com, and load it all into amazon, and then list only bigger tickets at ebay during the listing sale days. These two things I did kept my upfront fees down.

Now I am not getting rich or doing that great in the big picture, but I am going to get through this recession paying off my credit cards and not sinking deeper if I watch my spending.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

I've gotten four "Do Not Send" notices from amazon in last 2 days.

This means that buyer's credit card on file did not clear, or info needs updated with buyer.

At any rate, it is better than a NPB. But all four items were higher end titles, and I would like those sales. Hopefull, the buyer's credit cards get updated and my sales will go through. The last two of those that happned, one did complete, the other never did.

So we'll see.

salesonamazon · Joined: 23 Jul 2010 Posts: 15

The ongoing battle of Amazon vs. EBay is a perfect example of proactive, strategic planning needed to adapt to an ever-changing business environment while adjusting to internal and external customer needs. From years of personal experiences, Amazon has been more receptive to complaints and is more responsive to inquiries and complaints than EBay. Shipping is an example.

One experience, I waited two weeks only to find out that the seller had not shipped; expecting the product according to the shipping paid for. There were other misleading shipping claims where the seller offered 3rd or 2nd day shipping only to discover that it would take them 5 days to "process" and ship the order.

The item purchased was shipped by an independent truck operator driving a full sized tractor trailer which would never make it down any street in this neighborhood. The driver expected me to drive some miles to meet him to off-load the item and bring it home.

The seller never indicated shipment by freight. Also, EBay took about a week to respond to complaints about the seller. Trying to find a direct email link to the appropriate department was difficult. Payments made through the EBay site using PayPal could not be cancelled from Ebay.

Out of frustration, I began to play a similar game. Many vendors sell the same items at different prices, different shipping options, etc. I would bid on a number of them pay for the best deal. Needless to say, that tactic did not last too long since I have been barred but I don't miss it one bit.

They do little to protect the buyer or seller. As one blogger/seller puts it, "buyers and sellers are guilty until proven innocent" Not everyone has bad experiences with Ebay, but this is one example of the differences between Ebay and Amazon and one reason why Amazon has overtaken EBay as a preeminent Internet retailer.