Hello. I am trying to decide if I should stick with free auctions or create a store?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vintage Jewelry Chest on June 26, 2012 at 4:07pm

Hello,

In my observation my auctions have always gotten more views than my fixed price listings. I did like having fixed price listings as it gave me that shop feel. Also I felt like I got more multiple orders in this manner because people could browse the fixed price listings for a while. There were a few small perks that came with having a store. Markdown manager for creating sales and some stats.

All that being said I myself am not a huge fan of eBay right now and have actually closed down my shop. I'm only using the free auction listings right now.  The reason is a glitch last August that somehow killed the vintage jewelry category. My sales dropped 75% overnight and have never recovered even though multiple vintage jewelry sellers have complained to eBay. In my case paying the store fees wasn't worth it with the decrease in sales I had.  However I admit that back when my sales were good paying the $50 store fee actually saved me money as my 1000 fixed price listings were only $0.05 cents each as opposed to $0.50 cents each with out a store.

I guess there are benefits to both options and I'm sure everyone's experience will differ based on what they sell and so on.  My best advice would be to test it out and see how it goes. You can always easily cancel if it doesn't work out as you'd hoped.

I hope I didn't confuse you more! I myself get confused by all the advise in the discussion boards and there's always debate on this topic=)

Permalink Reply by BWs Vintage Collectibles on June 28, 2012 at 10:25am

Good day, and thank you very much.  I haven't made up my mind yet.  I am trying Amazon but that is awfully user unfriendly and time consuming to post.  The final fees are outrageous.  I have stores on two sites, webstore.com and us.ebid.net, but the traffic just doesn't buy.  I have a friend who is pushing me hard to get into a store but the way I see it, it won't be profitable.  Unless you are selling electronics from China.  I will try to friend you!  but if I fail, I'll find you on this forum!!!

-=brenda > BWs Recollections

Permalink Reply by StandOut Vintage on July 28, 2012 at 1:50pm

Hey guys!

While I know this is an old thread... Ive been asking myself the same question... I made the mistake the other day of  upping my listing cap and bumping myself  from free 50 listings a month category up to the 100 a month with 50 cent fees.

Im pretty small time so I think i might ask them to reduce my limits so I can go back to 50 a month and get a break. They are beating me up with listing fees and final value fees.

When I looked up how much it would cost to make a store it seems like you just get charged the extra money for a store on top of the standard fees. Not much of a bargain? Maybe I read something wrong. Id be more than happy to pay $15 a month and have 5 cent listing fees.

-Amber

Permalink Reply by BWs Vintage Collectibles on August 1, 2012 at 11:44am

Hello, I have had one month into Ebay and have been successful since I haven't advertised yet either. I did bump from my basic of $15.99 to $49.99 so I could list at 5 cents.  Listing  in the basic store for 15.99 and 20 cents for each listing was just too expensive.  If you are trying to figure which is your best option, go into the  fees calculations" area and try a few calculations for your personal situation.  

Of course, one month isn't enough to make a final decision on the businesses bottom line.  

-=brenda

BWs Vintage Collectibles (formerly BWs Recollections Wholesale)

 

Permalink Reply by StandOut Vintage on August 1, 2012 at 12:33pm

Thanks for the feedback! Im still trying to figure eBay out and I didn't know they had a calculator. Doing well so far...

Amber

Permalink Reply by BWs Vintage Collectibles on August 8, 2012 at 8:03pm

Hello, just checking back with you!  My second month and I am very happy with Ebay at this point in time.  It is the fee for the shipping that just sends me to the moon.  Hopefully, the lawsuit will be settled this year and the judgment will be that Ebay has to refund our fees. I'd love that....but then if you are a seller who advertises as "free ship", they won't get a dime back cause they put the "shipping charges" into the price....I am keeping my shipping separate in case we win a refund return....I think that would be very nice.  take care.   -=brenda   BWs Vintage Collectibles

Amber - StandOut Vintage said:

Thanks for the feedback! Im still trying to figure eBay out and I didn't know they had a calculator. Doing well so far...

Amber

Permalink Reply by StandOut Vintage on August 9, 2012 at 8:59pm

Yes lets hope the lawsuit ends in our favor!

After using the calculator it seems I should stick with what I have going.

Things are going well, I cringe after I lose my free listings every month. :(

That and those bid and ditch folks make me so upset. I just got a message from ebay stating they are now making the buy it now (not for 30 days or till its good) free. Im so glad.

Permalink Reply by Fred Werner on August 11, 2012 at 8:25pm

Hi Brenda!

A Lot depends, I believe, in what you sell.  For example, we sell only unique, vintage collectibles.  For us, I find the store does better than just auctions.  Over the past year I decided to experiment and for 6 months, closed the store and ran only auctions, but also had a web portal/storefront that listed items that did not sell after being iisted two times at eBay.  Then, I opened the eBay store again and closed the webportal, pointing my domain name to the eBay store.  So, all the eggs in the eBay basket again.  My findings.. I'm selling more through the eBay system alone than I did using auctions and a storefront elsewhere...and my overhead costs are lower <shrugs>  I don't list auction style anymore; I just put everything up as Good 'til Cancelled and research REALLY well to find a decent retail price for the catalog. 

I'm also playing around with Ebid.  I have a Selller+ account with them for life, so to list items there costs me nothing.  My new idea is to list on eBay for say 2 months and if the product doesn't sell there, I'll push it to Ebid as a permanent store catalog but with added exposure through here and Bonanza.  That way it costs me little to nothing to keep inventory available for the public to see and it still gets some exposure. 

But, I do know folks who sell a set inventory.. 5 or 6 items and that's it.  They don't need a store and sell Auction style and make a great living at it. 

To me, with what we sell, a $16.00 a month cost isn't too bad to absorb and the fixed listing fee is only 20 cents a month.  I know there's all the talk about placement in search results, but again, since I sell a lot of unique items.. it's different.  Certainly not the same as if I were selling an Xbox 360. :)

Hope that helps :)

Fred

Permalink Reply by BWs Vintage Collectibles on August 22, 2012 at 11:18am

Hello, just an update.  I am in my second-third month on Ebay.  I closed down my Ebid and Webstore.com, although only on vacation mode.  I have to say, Ebay is the site which buyers use most consistently.  With that said, profits are not very good, working my tail off and getting literally pennies on the dollar each month after excluding all business supplies and inventory buys.  I think I broke even after purchasing inventory, ink, paper, tape, etc.  So, I can sell on the other sites with no money coming in or sell on Ebay and share all the profit.  If you raise your prices, you won't sell.  If you lower your prices, you are going to feed the Ebay Trolls and bring home a penny or two.  So, I have resigned myself to the original thought I had when starting this:   my hobby is my hobby and I am not in this to make alot of money.  So, it's ebay for me compared to doing nothing in turnover on the other sites.  I'd like to hear more stories!!!!   Let's encourage each other with ideas and praise!  -=brenda   BWs Vintage Collectibles (formerly BWs Recollections Wholesale)

Permalink Reply by BWs Vintage Collectibles on March 2, 2013 at 8:25pm

I have a store on webstore.com and ebid.net.us, and neither one ranked out well and for over a year, I think I sold 4 things?  even though they are both on vacation and I can start them up at any time, neither one can beat the social network Ebay has along with Pinterest and Facebook, oh, yes, and TVV.