Power Sellers Unite

myauction · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 277

My question is why if people are protesting eBay are they
running over to Yahoo which eBay just partnered up with
and who knows maybe they merge someday or Yahoo
buys up eBay as some have rumored.

The same with Craigslist or any other sites that eBay is
involved with. Ebay I believe owns like 1/4 of the Craigslist
stock.

LurkeyLou · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:36 pm Post subject:

Why not sell on Yahoo and/or CraigsList?? It doesnt't cost one penny - which means eBay derives no income.

It's one thing to want to pound nail in the coffin of the monlopoly, but another entirely to pound a nail into the coffin of your own business and income.

The eBay/Yahoo partnership is a advertising partnership. They're not merging corporations. Meanwhile, Yahoo auctions are free to list and no FVF, has steady traffic and sales. eBay does not gain income from sellers using the either Yahoo or CraigsList - what, exactly, is the issue?

myauction · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 277

Hi,

yes, that is true right now they are free but
I thought I heard rumors about Craigslist
heading in the fee direction and if the rumors
about Yahoo and eBay merging or Yahoo
buys up Yahoo those will not be free anymore.

But agree right now it is still ok. But long-term
if they get many more members joining and
then things change just really disappoints a
lot of people. But guess that can happen
with many other places too.

Thank you for your reply.

LurkeyLou · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:54 pm Post subject:

You're welcome, myauction, and welcome to PSU.

CraigsList does charge for some ads. There has been a cost to place and ad for employment in the San Fransisco area for a few years. Last year, empolyment ad charges were instituted in Los Angeles - before eBay became involved w/ CraigsList.

And who knows, eBay and Yahoo might merge. I've learned: Never say never!

But, what we have is right now and sellers who need "Fee Relief", so we have to work with what's available.

We have to accept that things are going to change. Period. So long as sellers are dependent on other businesses as a sales platform, our options are limited and dictated by the whims of these corporations.

The choice is staring sellers right in the face: continually modify our business plans to meet the changes we have no control over - or - get out of this position by becoming independent; independent of venues for the core of our income.

eBay counts on sellers to have a knee-jerk reaction and jump ship. When they realize that they have to work twice as hard for even less sales, they get tired of treading water and go back.

So, rather than cut off our noses to spite our face, we need to use sites that have sales while we build successful independent stores. Then, if eBay buys Yahoo and then MSN buys eBay/Yahoo and Amazon - it won't have the impact on our business that even a small shift is having today.

Diversify by any means. Sellers can be off of the eBay tit by the 2007 Annual Sales Season. Just be smart about it.

myauction · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 277

Hi again,

What a very well written reply. I appreciate
your frank and well thought out answer.

Have a very nice day!

howrude · Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 90

I'm not familiar with Craigslist. Is it restricted to people in San Francisco?

myauction · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 277

One can list for many cities. If you look on
the right I believe that is where they show.
And even once saw other less main city
ones but they were not in that list.

nopaypal · Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 2008

a more inneresting question is: why do they say they hate ebay but continue to use paypal...which is something like 40% of ebay's income...
:?:

cglcollect · Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 53

nopaypal wrote: › docWrite("quote")a more inneresting question is: why do they say they hate ebay but continue to use paypal...which is something like 40% of ebay's income...
:?:Hi NOPAYPAL.

Since I am new to this site, what is an alternative to PayPal. I never really liked PayPal, but it seems eBay made everyone feel it was the only, and best payment method in town..Thanks

myauction · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 277

If not using eBay some sites maybe accepting
Google Checkout but need to check with their
terms first or contact them but I imagine most
do.

There is also ProPay and 2CheckOut but I
imagine higher fees than Google Checkout.

And if taking money orders I believe it is
best to say USPS money orders only as then
can take them to your post office and they
give you cash and you don't have to worry
about getting ripped off with a fake money order.

myauction · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 277

nopaypal,

the same with Skype. Google has one too
but may not have all the features but am
sure there are some that do. Can also add
the talk to the Google one.

nopaypal · Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 2008

welcome, cglcollect!
:D

i like bidpay, altho since it's a new revised version, there's some question about it being accepted at all sites. they say they are accepted at all auction sites, but not necessarily at market sites. i expect this will change with time, tho. it's a nice simple program.
:)

i also accept alertpay, but they tend to be a bit expensive!
:?

myauction · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 277

I had read that some believe that eBay gets
a cut of the money from BidPay now that
another company bought out the original
owners. That was set up to have the buyers
pay for a money order. Now they do not
do money orders so it is just like PayPal
from the looks of it and might be a bit more
expensive. Maybe the company who bought
BidPay already was associated with eBay.

So a question is since they were a new untested
service why was that allowed by eBay but
they ban Google CheckOut?

nopaypal · Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 2008

Quote: › docWrite("quote")I had read that some believe that eBay gets a cut of the money from BidPay now that another company bought out the original owners.
some can believe anything they want...doesnt mean they're right!
:lol:

Quote: › docWrite("quote")So a question is since they were a new untested service why was that allowed by eBay but they ban Google CheckOut?
well, that's an inneresting question. i can only ASSume ebay either was going on name recognition...or more likely doesnt think they're much of a threat to paypal!
:?:

envirobay · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 624 Location: Boise, Id

I believe Mr List (Craig) has vowed to never charge fees to individuals. CL charges business (as in the help wanted ads). They have to make money somehow. Ebay has also vowed not to interfere with CL's goal of being a free online classified site. I don't trust ebay's promise for obvious reasons, but I believe as long as Craig is involved/running the show, the site will remain free. I see no harm in listing on CL. Same with Yahoo. If it is working and it is free, where is the harm?

Lerky is right, why drive nails into your own coffin? Sell where you have success. As long as it works for you, do it. If ebay is getting to expensive to use, it is time to move on. If you can still handle the fees on ebay and are still making good profits, continue to sell there... Why not? Why say no to money?

That being said, diversifying is always a good idea. Ebay's greed is nowhere near it's end. Fees will continue to rise and I am afraid this is only the tip of the iceberg. I will soon be hitting a point where I need to rethink my business direction. Ebay's fees will continue to rise, and I don't know how many more I can handle. However, my sales on other sites are way too low to support me. I have to keep using ebay for now because it is still working. I will try my best to diversify in the coming years, just as I have this past year. And with ebay's help (by raising fees twice a year) other sites will grow and be worth listing on. Other sellers will diversify when they realize the big picture. With less sellers on ebay the buyers will be bidding items higher, thus getting less of a deal. The buyers will most likely follow sellers to other sites.

As for the googlecheckout ban, I think ebay banned it solely to hang on to paypal's dominance in the online payment arena. If googlecheckout was allowed as a payment method, feepal would be devistated.