Power Sellers Unite

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17240 Location: Texas

eBay is running a free auction promotion on Thursday, January 12 - sellers can list up to 50,000 listings in the Auction-style format and pay no listing fees. The Buy It Now option may also be added to these listings at no charge. It's the first listing promotion of the year, following on the heels of a similar promotion that ran December 27 - 29, 2011. Unlike the current promotion, eBay had run most of its fall promotions on Tuesdays.

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y12/m01/i12/s01

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

Interesting! Now the promos are for Thursday not Tuesday. More traffic testing in eBay. :wink:

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

Well it seems to have worked for them as they added 10 million new listings yesterday, which by my reckoning is just about their biggest day ever!

things4u · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1332

yea all the slugnutties came out of the wood work and went nuts posting products some entire pages of their wares wonder if they have that much inventory to cover what they posted and why e bay lets them continuously top post all day long is another question that e bay won't answer even though they say that it shouldn't be done.
these promos are hurting sales for the smaller sellers on ebb more than they help IMHO, just glad that I don't have to use ebay and put up with the hoops, loops, rules and BS.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

I took advantage and loaded up an additional 25 items on both my accounts.

The free 50 items and then the additional free listing days really help me out over a month of fees. My items often take 2-4 listings before they move, as I have a small market, but one that is international and has money.

My fees are actually lower with the new ways they raised fees. I can't believe it myself, but it's true. I can keep trying to sell an item over and over again, and then bingo it sells. This is why Amazon is really the better place for my items, you get a longer run of exposure.

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

yes I think that it was the introduction of the 50 free listings that saved ebay as many people were going to the alt sites, and have now found that 50 free listings suits them quite well, as they only pay if the item sells.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

I was dropping nearly a hundred a month on fees when I worked it hard with lost of items. And after two tries, it was not worth trying again a third (fees adding up). Now it is worth it to wait a month or six weeks and try again.

Now I am paying $35 to $50 a month in fees (I'm not a power seller full-timer). Never more than that.

I love that when I am tired and not into writing descriptions during a given week, I can just spend 15 or 20 minutes, and relist a ton of old expired listings, and out of that, a few bucks will shake out at the end of a week.

So not only lower fees, but less work, and less times spend always trying to list new listings. There is some money left in those older expired items sometimes. Sure they are not going to fetch top dollar, but to give up after two "one week" runs is just being a sad quitter.

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

If you don't sell in eBay long time ago just drop some items in the free promos.

Digmen1, I sell in the Alternatives. I will not quit to return to eBay. But seriously this year using only the free/penny promos I made more sales than all the time together in the Alternatives.

I saw it. Not every seller in eBay is ready to face a life in an Alternative site. I was buyer of one in an Alternative that in 2 years made near 80 transactions and checked in eBay he does the same monthly.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

elpereles,

For me the alternatives are something I am going to in stages. Step by step each year I have worked the other venues or places, and I cut my ebay way down for several years. I am back at ebay 50% of what I used 6 or 7 years ago.

So part of my lower fees is less listings, and not simply ebay reduced fees. I still get good prices for what sells, but might be having fewer sales now like everyone else in these times. Less listings and fewer sales at ebay will lower fees.

So anyway, I'm taking baby steps slowly to get out from under ebay I think is best, unless you get kicked off and have no choice.

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

I'd say that just about everyone who was on ebay has that same strategy now. (as well as may be their own website)

They are listing some stuff on the alts hoping they will pick up. (year after year)

And they are putting most of their good stuff on ebay on the free listings and making a few sales here and there.

That is why ebay is still succeeding and growing.

If ebay started charging listing fees, then with the poor sell thru rate, people would list more on the alts.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

Besides Eb, I have Amazon, Ecrater, Sell.com, and a forum dedicated to listening to and collecting music. If the items are not worth too much work, like only $3 to $14 items with a few higher tickets mixed in to make it look well rounded, I can spend a day typing a list of a hundred or so LPs. Makes scans of a dozen of the coolest looking covers and labels, and toss this list in the Classifieds at that forum and generate at least $400 in one days sale.

My forum sales are "live" in a way, I post the list in a new thread and stay online the entire evening closing sales for 2 to 5 or 6 items per person. I have a following of buyers who like my items, and it builds excitement before the list is posted. I'll start a thread saying tomorrow night Sat 6PM Pacific a new list of old LP is being posted.

But that was my first blush with st. elsewhere, that music forum. I've gathered a couple of deep pocketed buyers at other forums as well. I gotta admit that paypal was handy to get that cash rolling in live, and also the next day. You can go from the poor house poverty to prosperity in 16 hours with paypal. hahahaha

luckyalive · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 590

"But that was my first blush with st. elsewhere, that music forum. I've gathered a couple of deep pocketed buyers at other forums as well. I gotta admit that paypal was handy to get that cash rolling in live, and also the next day. You can go from the poor house poverty to prosperity in 16 hours with paypal. hahahaha"

Wait unitl you have a chargeback and the buyer takes you for several hundred dollars, your items, shipping, and insurance and ebay and paypal stand back and do nothing but give you the middle finger.

quicksrt · Joined: 26 Oct 2009 Posts: 401

I just had ebay rule in my favor, a buyer filed 3 claims against me. I think this buyer expected me to cave at first demand for refund. And my listings say 7 day money back. So had buyer simply stated that they wished to return items for refund, I may have gone along with it. But this was the bitter type who planned on copying my rarest LPs to CDR and then returning them.

The final ruling just came in on last of the three cases filed by this jerk. I feel kind of good, and ebay did right this time.

But my forum fans do not pull any BS with me. It's like friends over there.

caljackscollectibles · Joined: 08 Feb 2011 Posts: 251 Location: California

luckyalive wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
"But that was my first blush with st. elsewhere, that music forum. I've gathered a couple of deep pocketed buyers at other forums as well. I gotta admit that paypal was handy to get that cash rolling in live, and also the next day. You can go from the poor house poverty to prosperity in 16 hours with paypal. hahahaha"

Wait unitl you have a chargeback and the buyer

takes you for several hundred dollars, your items, shipping, and insurance and ebay and paypal stand back and do nothing but give you the middle finger.

And the point of this negative response is? I think all sellers are aware that a chargeback is always a possibility and one of the possible risks of doing business. It still doesn't take away from the positive successes people have.

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 1007

yes if people keep mentioning Paypal and chargebacks then you are just giving other people ideas.

It probably hardly ever happens on a percentage basis.

And if you use ebid.net you are much safer, as they remove bad sellers and bad buyers.