Power Sellers Unite

terryp · Joined: 06 Sep 2006 Posts: 540

have i missed something, the ebay listings count is showing a 50.8% increase of
13,925,517 6973764 50.08% October 12, 2006 6:16 pm

:shock:

coastalgifts · Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 57

I was just thinking the same thing. Seems like e-bay adds to the count everytime it gets to low. Guess the big fish are afraid of the gators.

8) Staying Cool In Florida

Terry

TenPerCent · Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 142

I think it must have been some glitch yesterday, for a short time....eBay view charts 6,951,753 -6684843 -96.16% October 11, 2006 12:16 ....there was a big drop... I did think ......mmmm \/\/0\/\/.... I hope thats for real....but it was'nt, what a great day it would be to see so many dump ebay all of a sudden :twisted:

Eastwood4460 · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 235

Yes it would. There is a glitch in the site count from time to time. Numbers will likely rise as Christmas shopping picks up and then a big drop off after that. It will be interesting to watch in the next few months.

vermonter53 · Joined: 31 May 2005 Posts: 206 Location: Vt. Where Else??

:roll: Or maybe it was counted correctly :?: :?: :?:

Seems funny to me that there is sometimes a lot of controversy over the auction count on certain auction sites but then when people are supposedly fleeing greedbay in droves that there count has gone up considerably since the fee increases
:roll: :roll: :roll:

Don't jive in my book :!:

AlterEgo · Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 560

Hi vermonter53,

I just Posted the other day a post that sort of answers your question why eBay numbers have not droped dispite lots of people leaving. It seems that their numbers are most likely going to be up thoughout this holiday season, but next year is when you will start seeing the inpact of the Ebay Stores Fee increases.

Ebay only gave Store sellers a One Month Notice on 21 Jul 2006 that ebay will majorly raise Store Insertion and Final Value fees on 22 Aug 2006. A lot of store sellers were caught/trapped holding a lot of inventory.

According to PSU on eBays Chart
*Ebay started to include store listings as of 02/10/06 which increased the approximately 14,000,00 listings to 55,000,00
*Ebay removed the store listings again as of 04/07/06

So it appears that Stores have about 40 Million items.

A lot of Store sellers are not happy with eBay (want to leave) but are sort of trapped with inventory and because of the holiday season are going to sell some items in Core Auctions (Fixed or auction). So listings are increasing because of this. But the Key Point a lot of these Store Sellers have totally lost faith in eBay and are NOT RESTOCKING thier inventory.

It will probably not be until Q1 2007 or Q2 2007 until you see the real impact of the exodus of ebay’s Store sellers leaving ebay. Most Store sellers were also Power Sellers with 100's and 1000's of sales with very high Feedback Ratings. Ebay is going to loose a TON of highly experienced sellers. Also these Power Sellers are also major buyers too (especially the collector people).

In Q1 2007 ebay is going to add Half.com items to ebay. So ebays listings might go up.

Ebay also seem to be believes that if a seller leaves ebay two will take their place. Ebay (a defacto monopoly) also just recently, at least in my community, and I have heard of others saying the same in their community, were giving free presentations to the public with USPS (a government subsidized monopoly) on how to sell on ebay and ship via USPS. So it is sort of like they are feeding newbie sellers into the eBay machine to make up for exodus of experienced sellers leaving. A lot of these newbie sellers are going to make a lot of newbie mistakes (poor Customer Service, Ship too late, price incorrectly, etc.) and thus offend buyers. Some are going to have to leave because their Feedback rating got too low. I think most will, probably stop selling after 20-100 sales (or 2-4 months) realize how difficult and time consuming it is to sell on ebay and make a profit above minimal wage (after paying Ebay Inititial and FVF and Ebay-Paypal fees).

So in conclusion:

It seems like ebay is sacrificing Long Term for the sake of Short Term. Also, ebay can probably keep it listing numbers up with bringing in Half.com people and Newbie sellers.

Just my opinion…

AlterEgo

PS: Sorry if I reposted another post, I haven't yet figured out how to hyperlink directly to another posting yet (I think I have seen PSU do this a few times)...

newstart · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 12

I was up early this morning and noticed (with a happy smile while anticipating a great day) that eBay's auctions were down approx 60%. Of course, I thought right away it must be a hoax or some kind of mistake. Oh, well, one can hope.

I closed my store today. Haven't had any traffic for over a week. Still listing a few auctions, but since the screw up with the search functions, no one seems to be looking at those either. It's beyond my belief that eBay willingly would create so much chaos among seller and buyers. Many Powerseller can no longer make the cut, myself included. I am sliding down that hill of zero revenue, despite having a lot of great merchandise. It's very dangerous to list auctions right now if there is no bulk of bidders to raise the bids.

This is a great opportunity for some other auction site. I'm wondering why no one seems to be interested. I have a feeling there would be an exodus if a good alternative site was out there.

terryp · Joined: 06 Sep 2006 Posts: 540

AlterEgo..you are 100% right in my book. :thumbsup:

ebay are going to feel the pain starting Feb 07. :butt:

Far too many sellers have been getting stock etc ready for this busy time of year (the Christmas rush)..I know a few ebay traders who only use ebay for this next 3 months (over the past 5-6 years) & this is their last year…purely down to bids ending too low and fee’s being too high

The big problem I see is that there are absolutely NO contenders to take ebays place…possibly no one wants to (“the times they are a changing”)
:type:

LurkeyLou · Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:01 am Post subject: Re: Ebay listings total?

I think a lot of venues want to give eBay competition. Times are changing, though. My off-eBay revenues this year are better than they were in 2005. However, I don't forsee any auction venue replacing eBay.

I believe that success for most sellers will not come in the form of a different auction venue, but instead, in a different method of selling.

Two stats bear this out. Approximately 75% of PayPal's revenue is derived from non-auction sales. 60% of eBay's sales are BIN purchases, while 40% are auction. Somewhere between 60% & 75% (some PayPal purchases are services) of buyers want it now, they don't fool with auctions.

I don't believe we need to reinvent the wheel. I think we need to reposition ourselves on it. Buyers, by their actions, indicate that they prefer immediate purchases. They may go to eBay, but they want to buy it now.

eBay has made it clear that their CORE is auctions. What is the point of continuing to fight for a share of 25% of buyers? It's not logical. It's part of the reason 99.9% of the alternatives make negligable headway. This is the reason so many of the alternatives do >95% S2S business.

Success lies in fulfilling consumer demand. You can fight for a piece of the 25% market share, or you can fight for a piece of the 75% market share. While some sellers attention is being diverted with "auction issues" and trying to hang on, eBay's getting ahead of the curve with Express and Pro Stores.

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

Welcome to PSU newstart - and best of efforts with your online activity!

I also agree that times are changing and the real effects of the most recent fee increase will be be felt and see after the selling season. In most recent years, February has traditionally been another 'fee adjustment' month for ebaY - Q1. I do speculate they'll again tweak the fees, but haven't decided the 'next course' of action.

What is most interesting is the store fees for store owners are MRC for ebaY (monthly recurring charge), thus a projectable figure - in theory. As the move to 'minimize stores' unfolds, I feel for those who work in the forecasting and finance functions at ebaY - I suspect the creative accounting methodologies are alive and well... :roll: 8)

I predict that more and more sellers of all sizes will re-evaluate their business model(s) when the selling season ends, and adjust accordingly. Many will reduce inventory in their stores for next year, but I do project that many will begin to see that they can have their own web-site for similar/less expense.

The key will be - can those who go out on their own - actively market and be successful? If they 'see the forest for the trees', they will probably do as many here do - build a website and then market it by driving traffic in a variety of ways (ebaY auctions, other auctions, googlebase feeds, etc.)

I believe 2007 will be the year that 'pure auctions' will truly decline and 'buy it now' sales formats will become the norm. In the meantime, again - will be very fun to watch! :D 8)

:D :D

vermonter53 · Joined: 31 May 2005 Posts: 206 Location: Vt. Where Else??

As I see it the problem with any alternative site is they are not as well known as greedbay :(

Fact: If the average person was going online to look for something at "auction" :roll: ebay is a household name

No one else at this time has that!

People imho that leave ebay w/o having gradually built up something some where else are going to be disappointed no matter where they go. We simply are not going to have the volume of potential buyers that ebay has. Eventually we will have at other sites but not now.

I sell at onlineauction.com and like the way they do things "BUT" certain items that I sell IE. commercial mower related items I list on ebay because I know they will sell there simply because of the volume of buyers or people that might be looking for this kind of item. I personally have bought quite a few pieces of equipment there because they are listed there but no where else for the same reason that I would list them there myself.

As far as the ebay numbers go on the count, I don't feel they have any credibility, but that's just my opinion :)

vermonter53 · Joined: 31 May 2005 Posts: 206 Location: Vt. Where Else??

I also agree with Lou. We live in an instant gratification society especially in this country

axsstech · Joined: 06 Sep 2006 Posts: 85

LurkeyLou wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")I think a lot of venues want to give eBay competition. Times are changing, though. My off-eBay revenues this year are better than they were in 2005. However, I don't forsee any auction venue replacing eBay.

I believe that success for most sellers will not come in the form of a different auction venue, but instead, in a different method of selling.

Two stats bear this out. Approximately 75% of PayPal's revenue is derived from non-auction sales. 60% of eBay's sales are BIN purchases, while 40% are auction. Somewhere between 60% & 75% (some PayPal purchases are services) of buyers want it now, they don't fool with auctions.

I don't believe we need to reinvent the wheel. I think we need to reposition ourselves on it. Buyers, by their actions, indicate that they prefer immediate purchases. They may go to eBay, but they want to buy it now.

eBay has made it clear that their CORE is auctions. What is the point of continuing to fight for a share of 25% of buyers? It's not logical. It's part of the reason 99.9% of the alternatives make negligable headway. This is the reason so many of the alternatives do >95% S2S business.

Success lies in fulfilling consumer demand. You can fight for a piece of the 25% market share, or you can fight for a piece of the 75% market share. While some sellers attention is being diverted with "auction issues" and trying to hang on, eBay's getting ahead of the curve with Express and Pro Stores.

excellent post!

Woody · Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 11:41 am Post subject: Re: Ebay listings total?

Watch out for the NEW kid on the block being launched 19th October.

FREE listings in a market place, a shopping mall AND on an auction site with ONLY 4.25% on 1st 50 Euros (scaling down to 1.5% thereafter).

They ARE seeking power sellers to open shops AND there IS a fantastic customer loyalty bonus scheme for introducing new customers (no catches). Lets your customers get free holidays for introducing more customers - tis a great deal.

You can do a bit of pre-searching for info at http://dubli-uk.com - and yes there is a business opp and a networking benefit but ONLY for those that want it. Shut your eyes to that - just look at the shop and the info on that and see what a fantastic platform it is going to be at ONLY 49 euros one off payment for the entire first year providing you get in early.

I am going to open a shop, and YES I personally have opted to become involved in the biz-opp but like I said THAT should not close your eyes to the benefits of the shopping mall, the market place and the auction site.

This WILL be the challenger to eBay as soon as it launches, they already have a MAJOR ebay power seller onboard and once it launches next week I am sure a number of you will identify them! I have little doubt they will
be attracting many more over the coming weeks too. Ebays actions over the past couple of months could not have come at a worse time for them once dubli goes live on the 19th.

Just in case - my link will be http://www.dubli.com/2329 from 19th October and I will be delighted to have any other members open up a shop under that link. I will also keep them fully informed of developments concerning new techie stuff coming on line early in the New Year.

Should anyone be interested in the biz-opp side - then please feel free to contact me and we can have a one to one cos there is a lot to it to understand. Taken 3 years to get to launch date and they have millions of dollars investment backing the launch and the growth and are thus NOT dependent upon the network side.

Warned you Carol - can't stop going on and on once I get started !! lol

terryp · Joined: 06 Sep 2006 Posts: 540

To see the real state of ebay uk etc take a look at this link...you can enter which site you would like to see the stats for also

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=ebay.co.uk