Power Sellers Unite

Baconsdozen · Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 771

This is by a long long way the worst month I've ever had on Ecrater.two sales and neither really worth getting excited about.
Is anyone else finding it heavy going?.

elpereles · Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 1478 Location: Puerto Rico

You aren't the only one. I don't have a sale since September.

I added two referral sites to the store (.tk & the blog) and added more than 50 items. It increased the traffic some points, but nothing more. Also in this moment zero questions or sales from the UK version.

Baconsdozen · Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 771

Just to rub it in I just had an email from the con artists know in the UK as the "Royal" Mail.
They have just decided to double the already extorniate amount I need to spend with them to qualify for a discount and to use their magnificently hopeless computerised booking system for parcels going abroad.
My alternative is to walk down the road in the rain and stand in the slow moving queues at the understaffed post office counter and pay more to use their inefficient overpriced service OR use someone else and pass the cost onto the customer.
Decisions,decisions.

elpereles · Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 1478 Location: Puerto Rico

It is really bad. The small sellers never get a really good deal with the mail postage.

The problem with the increase of postage fees is that ours buyers/customers never understand that we aren't Walmart, Office Max/Depots, etc that can offer low (or free) Shipping & Handling cost, but they have good deals with their carriers.

This week, I had a buyer asking to "lower" S&H. For me is so sad to see that buyers don't care taking time to read the FAQs/Terms or understand Shipping prices. I said clearly that I don't negotiate S&H cost.

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

Yes increased postage/shipping charges do not help online selling at all.

In many cases the cost of shipping is higher than that of the item they are buying !

The post offices will have to start looking at say 3 days delivery rather than 6.

Baconsdozen · Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 771

It penalises the small seller,the big sellers are courted by other big businesses and offered huge discounts.Ebay and the mail services for example give box shifters a big advantage over the small mom and pop stores.
My market is specialised (tools for classic cars and bikes) so in some ways I'm not affected as much.But I'm thinking of running down and retiring anyway so people will have to buy soon before I leave them to the tender mercy of the bigger sellers who as soon as they get a monopoly put their prices up again anyway.

www_dr-accutron_com · Joined: 17 Feb 2008 Posts: 506

I had listings on Ecrater a couple of years ago, and sold one item in a years time. I sold hundreds of items on my web site and the other selling sites I am currently on during the same time period. I think it was that they weren't feeding Google very well back then?

Do you guys have better sales elsewhere? Are your items showing up pretty high in Google shopping?

elpereles · Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 1478 Location: Puerto Rico

Digmen1, I have that problem with some items. Shipping is higher than the item. The only buyers I found that aren't worry to spend money in S&H are the UK buyers.

www_dr-accutron_com, I tried some alternatives. I signed the same time in Blujay and eCrater. The 1rst year I believe that my store in Blujay will become stronger then the eCrater, but I was wrong. In Blujay I don't have sales since November 2008.

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

Slightly off topic, but there i some bad news on Ina Steiner's websiste that the US and Australian post office are imposing a $9 surcharge on some parcel s from Australia into the US.

This is obviously to cover secuirty costs at airports and customs etc.

These Al Qaeda terrorists are costing "the west" a HUGE amount in airport security etc.

elpereles · Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 1478 Location: Puerto Rico

Yeah, I read about it.

csbargainoutlet · Joined: 23 Mar 2010 Posts: 5

Hi I just started a Ecrater store last week although we do have a another online store we pay a monthly fee for, So I thought I would set up a free online store and sell somthing diffrent and maybe get more sales and traffic to both stores. But After reading this and setting up Ecrater store maybe not such a good idea. But I did get about 60 products in the ecrater store. So now I am not sure if I want to continue with ecrater or maybe find another free site.

C S Bargain Outlet

Online Store C S Bargain Outlet
http://www.csbargainoutlet.com/

We decided to close the ecrater store

www_dr-accutron_com · Joined: 17 Feb 2008 Posts: 506

The thing about the alternative sites is that they have a good Google feed. Not many have allot of customers coming into the site to search so unless you have a good feed you may not get many sales. Check google shopping and make sure your products are showing up and that they are getting a fairly good ranking. This will be where you will get your sales from.

For me I have Google crawl my website so this gets me the good results in natural Google search. I then have my items on Bonanza where they are feed to Google shopping and give me exposure that way.

I also list a few items on eBay, but I use this mostly to steer customers to Bonanza and my web site.

Be careful when listing on multiple sites that you don't duplicate listings. This is especially true when they have Google shopping feeds, as this can cause them to drop all your listings. It is not a problem with me as my web site doesn't feed to Google shopping, just the natural search.

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

Sorry its a bit off-topic

But yes Dr Accutron
I just made a very good sales on Bonanza as they found me on Google Shopping.

As you say this is an advantage that the top 3 alt auction sites have over ebay.

portocall · Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 156

Hi CS

The alternative sites you choose really depend on the items that you sell. I list on ecrater and sell a few items each month, same on blujay. Not many sales, but they're totally free sites. So, if you can upload your listings in bulk or even cut and paste them to save time, there's no charge for leaving them at ecrater, blujay or some other sites.

ecrater is good for getting things listed on google search and they just opened the ecrater site in the UK too. You can have both the USA and UK stores for free, if you want to ship to UK.

You may want to look at the art/handmade sites for your handmade jewelry - artfire and etsy. You can sell on artfire for free if you want, or you can become a member and get a few perks. Similar on etsy I think. They both will let you list "vintage" items, which can be antiques and collectibles, toys, etc. You can also sell books on both sites.

Unfortunately, most sellers don't get nearly the sales on the alternatives as they used to get on ebay. Some still sell on ebay and do well and for others sales have completely dried up over there.

Amazon may be an alternative too. High fees, but more traffic and shoppers there tend to pay more.
:)

elpereles · Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 1478 Location: Puerto Rico

csbargainoutlet, I always speak about my experiences, but I will not tell fantasy/fairy tales. eCrater is good, but not perfect. I know that some sellers are doing fine in eCrater. And like some members said: "It isn't a loose of money posting items in free sites." In the "Alternatives" sometimes you must understand that not every one works for every seller.

www_dr-accutron_com, you are right. The ugly true is that the "Alternatives" don't have a base of buyers. Many just found us in Google or others search engine.

portocall, off-topic about Amazon. I'm very surprise and confuse with sellers and buyers over there. Because is true. Buyers over there pay 2 or more times for the same items found in eBay/Alternatives. For sellers the fees are higher. :shock: