Power Sellers Unite

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

I have taken it upon myself to start a new site for people who are looking for other venues to sell and how to do it. I know Powersellersunite does this as well, but I would like to offer a little more than just auction sites. The site I have started is also aimed at helping the novice who knows little or nothing about starting their own site and shopping cart can find answers or actually know where to go.. I have included links to many places to help the lost and confused. As I have travelled around on the boards the last few months I see plenty of people who are eager to leave Ebay, but dont know how or where to go... I welcome all of you to check out the site and see where Im going with it.. The site is very primitive at the moment, but as I explain there I have been hit with alot of questions and was tired of explaining the same things over and over again. Plus I feel it just needed to be done.. www.lifeafterfeebay.com is the site...

mojavelyn · Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 3:40 pm Post subject:

Good for you!!! there is life after ebay!!!! Taking those first steps are scary!!!

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

Great idea, great site and best of luck to you with your efforts!!! :D :D

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

Thanks for all of the support.. I did an update to the site just to give it some color and a little better header. Could have done more, but with the Free Hosting that is being used I am limited as to what I can do with positioning and CSS. It will be improved upon soon.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17241 Location: Texas

Best of luck to you lhhgbh!!

There are hundreds of alternative online auction sites to ebay out there but few if any have the traffic ebay has. Why?
They've not been around in the market near as long as ebay so most online buyers have never heard of them :(

I'm still hopeful there's an agressive alternative out there somewhere who has the major $$ to promote, and support a buyer/seller friendly online auction site without fraud

Thanks for joing PSU and best of luck!!!!

Please keep us updated as to how well your new auction site does :D

Untamedhawk · Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 22

Well, I've been reluctant to say too much until I get enough read time in. I'm an ex ebay dartboard as well, and have been looking and joining anything that looks good.
I've noticed that Yahoo Auction is about the next best thing to ebay.....yet, no auction action. I've listed items on ebay hoping for a good sale, but within hours my sales went crazy!!! Items I only wanted $15 -$20 for were selling for almost $100.
In my 'Quest' for the next best thing, I've gotten lost in all of the sites of silence. I guess my question is/would be, "Does anyone have any advice on an auction site for rare Elvis Presley Items?"
I make certain rare items available to the fans that want the Collection without the High Cost of collecting. As well as some Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Any advice would be a whirlwind of excitement to me, I can almost hear the crickets chirping in my head once I get online to sell. I'm sure we all know the feeling of staring at the monitor in a daze expecting it'll do something on its own.
Hawk

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

I cant really relate to rare items because we sell t shirts that fit more in line with a store type service so for us having a website, and joining the few other sites besides Ebay gives us enough to do well and cover the fee increase thats coming... as for you the only thing for fast sales especially with your merchandise would be Ebay.. this is a sad fact, but its the truth.. as for alternatives some people have some luck with Yahoo, but Im not one of them... I think it depends also on the type of product you have... Have you gone to OLA and joined them? Check them out and speak with them because there are some collectors in there who are having some luck with collectibles and their fees are a flat $8/mo.. they are an up and coming star and i think they put more energy into their site than Yahoo does... I would also go out on a limb here even though im sure some will disagree with me by saying with Ebay and Yahoo joining forces recently I wouldnt surprised if the Y doesnt eventually get out of the auction game or at least slowly phase it out.. At least to me they dont seem to be putting alot into it so why bother with them?

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

Untamed hawk:

Assuming collectors of 'unique' items such as yours are 'internet saavy', most likely before they pull the trigger at the bay, the prolly do the good ole round the horn search - google/froogle/yahoo/shopping.com/other...

I do agree that ebaY will most likely be your best traffic generator! Absolutely, especially if you're established. I've seen some decent bids on unique collectibles on Yahoo - however...it might be hard as a 'new seller' with no feedback... :wink: :cry:

I won't join OLA - even tho $8/month is a great deal for what's offered, they do NOT submit to froogle. They have no exposure to any search engine - I believe the strategy is .... for $8/month, sellers can do their own promoting.

You might try an alternative site/two that feeds to froogle, or place your items in a store at one of the sites and then use auctions at ebaY to draw traffic.

You've got a very unique item with a very specific audience - your 'challenge' is a bit harder than those of us who sell 'every day things' to a larger population!! Hope this helps you - best of efforts !! :D

Untamedhawk · Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 22

I know you're right about them not gicing a flying fruitloop about their site. I'll go check out OLA, I've come to spend alot of time on this site looking for advice quietly. I guess it's time to start participating - although I'm not as knowledgable on most of the topics. I'm just a music mogle basically, and looking for that special place to sit and play. Thank You
Hawk

Untamedhawk · Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 22

I've joined Hibidder, and Deal Gates, along with Epier and Wagglepop...... I was suspended from ebay for selling illegal material due to an accusation from a non buyer twice. I asked them about reinstating me....lol They want me to mail them I.d. Info, along with a home bill.
I told them, "I use Paypal to pay my bill, I don't ask you to prove who you are when I do -so my payments should be all the proof you need."
Lastly I asked them to send me an e-mail of banned if my requests were too assuming.
I had great feedback on ebay....... I guess the search goes on. Oh! Thanks for listening to the whine.

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

I would also try out bidville for the simple reason that they are doing some major changes now with them being bought out by Ubid.. Im not actively involved with OLA yet.. They are releasing an update in the next 2-3 weeks and they promise some new features and they are starting to work to get more buyers as well. everyone is requesting that they tighten up on getting sellers and they are starting to take note...

my plans are as follows.. For the next 3-4 weeks finish putting my products on my shopping cart/website... then i will start listing my stuff on bidville since im now a member there and feel better about them only because of how smooth their site is and they have a bulk lister.. then im heading to OLA to do list all of my shirts there... My website will be attached to Froogle/Google Base and so I will get some traffic there.. Bidville also submits to Froogle so that will certainly help out.. OLA has vast potential and I think they are starting to realize it.. They are on track to hit the 2.4 million listings mark.. Now I know many of you in here say BIG whoop-dee-doo because you can list limitless, but the thing i find most interesting about OLA is their open communication with everyone... they really do want to try and make a good run at Ebay.. I predict they will start getting their stuff together in the next 6 months or so... Using OLA and BV together costs $13/mo... ($18 if you do the upgraded option on BV) For $18/mo I will give them a chance and try to pick up a combined extra 10-20% in sales a month.. I honestly think that with a little time and monitoring this can be accomplished... If OLA shows signs of fading you can quit.. BV to me is pretty exciting with this latest aquisition... Depending on OLAs update and how well implemented that goes and how much they really do try to get buyers will make or break them i think.... Im at least excited to know that there are some cool things to look out for....

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

Your plan sounds logical and sound - I wish you the best! My hope for you at the end of the day is that you do 'the best sales' from your site vs. the others...Happy sales folks!!

TTFN! :D

Untamedhawk · Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 22

I forgot that I had joined bidville, I keep checking back at my listing, but....... nothing. What do you mean it only costs so much a month? I thought it was per listing/sell that dues were owed (?).
Joined: July 18, 2006
Status: Active
Zip Code: 42567, United States (Look Up Zip)
Registered Seller: YES (Must have CC/Bank on File)
VIP Member: YES (What is VIP?)
Feedback: Pos 0 Neu 0 Neg 0

Am I missing something else? I guess I'm just looking for someone to show me the money hahahaha

Untamedhawk · Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 22

http://www.bidville.com/myads.asp?id=Untamedhawk

I hope you all don't mind me playing in this post, it offered a link to my site, and I wanted to see what it looked like somewhere.....

Untamedhawk · Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 22

? :-( I thought it would at least be something other than HTML...... Do you ever just sit and wonder why people talk to themselves? I'm doing it as I type...... I need a life LOL