Come on US ebiders - we need more listings !

[ictransistor]

It would be interesting to know if the view ratio to orders is the same for everyone. I need to think about the ramifications of asking this related to categories , to listings that compete in here and between listings that compete on other break away sites.

Buyers tend to graze together and if another pasture has something different to offer they will move over to it.

A shop can have a dozen televisions in a sale at 90% off and a hundred people will still queue outside. A market trader can describe the contents in a cardboard box without opening it up and if one buys another hundred will do the same. A wholesaler can move into the area of another wholesaler and take all the custom away by offering a free breakfast despite having less choice and being several percentages dearer. A web site famous for one type of product can revamp by increasing its product range and the buyers will switch over to it accepting lengthy deliveries and carriage charges they would never have tolerated elsewhere. A car boot table piled high with unsorted junk will take more than a neatly laid out similarly priced high quality table nearby. A trader setting up in motorway services will make a good living on recommendations alone despite the goods being fakes as long as they are acceptable as fit for purpose. - herding > the feel good factor of operating within the herd even if the other herd members are prone to pushing, shoving and biting.

The herd will only move over to this pasture when they are reduced to fighting for the last blade of grass in their present pasture

The sellers are moving over because their revenue is being squeezed
and if they are still there selling at low prices with free shipping I doubt they realise this
Buyers will move over if the category they are mainly interested in is squeezed

[Juliebabe25]

South africa Julie , always.

I am getting MORE views here , than on the other sites but no sales?

its a bit odd tbh....

I don't think I have seen another South African on these forums.
I wonder how many South African members we have ?

[shlayma]

ye...that would be interesting , I use a local south african auction website , and with what im selling , for every 10 views I get I get about 1 sale.

on this website it seems the people who look at my item are buyers , over here I have over 100 views and not a single sale? Im really not used to this!

[Juliebabe25]

I just had a quick look and found that there are 20 Shops in South Africa
and a few of them are VERY empty.
There are 20 shops in New Zealand

[ictransistor]

It takes time to build up sales

1 in 10 is about the ratio it should be
1 in 100 is where the items are presumed to be available elsewhere and the buyer convinces themselves this has to be true

My view is when the potential buyer has to give the site something free (name and address etc) they are reluctant to do it. If their interpretation can be changed to completing the registration to directly give the seller the sale they are more likely to oblige.

The buyer thinks "do I want to join this site and commit myself to returning" NOOOO and "do I want to complete this transaction and see how it goes" YESSSS

The vast majority are here because they developed a business practice based upon sorting out the problems afterwards (old ways) and those buyers and sellers that are elsewhere are there because they are used to measuring the transactions in terms of trial and error (new ways).

[florida33549]

The 'view' counters have never been exactly correct on this site, so I don't pay much attention to them. I can look at one of my running items in the morning and have 10 views...then look at the same item later that night and have 0 views.

IMHO, the biggest thing that will bring buyers to this site and keep them returning is having a variety of items. So get listing!

[Juliebabe25]

@Ictransistor

So are you saying that all the views I get (and I think I get a lot of views) are mainly from people that have seen my product on say Google and have clicked on it and come to ebid, and thought "I don't want to give my details to ebid" so I won't join ?

If that is true I have missed out on thousands of sales !

[ictransistor]

Julie

I 'm unsure where your views are coming from though your product is useful and the sales should reflect this.

When I first downloaded, the views I had seemed to be based upon curiosity. When I deleted the items and relisted them the number of views plummeted which sort of proved the suspicion. When G started to index items the views dramatically increased and judging by the items selected they are typically real with an underlying intent to purchase.

The vast majority of sellers are here because they developed a business practice based upon sorting out the problems afterwards (old ways) and those buyers and sellers that are elsewhere are there because they are being influenced into measuring the transactions in terms of trial and error (new ways). If the sellers here had also been buyers elsewhere they would have realised the trend and corrected their business practices.

The more a conflict is added to in complexity, the more the participants become embroiled in it and unable to escape. The embroiled buyer wants to walk to the checkout with the goods, pay for them and formulate an opinion on the suitability afterwards (new ways). The buyer is dissuaded from discussing the purchase with the store before making a commitment to buy, where there is no turning back once the sale is made (old ways).

Have a look at two comparable site front pages and you may realise why

This one is saying heres the item, heres the shop assistant, make friends and buy it if you wish - others are saying heres the item, the shop assistant isn't selling it, the site is and if you buy it you cannot lose. This is the reason why buyers are reluctant to return faulty mechandise to the seller because in their mind the seller never supplied the goods in the first place. This is the reason why actions don't work as well as they once did elsewhere and why they are being discouraged in favour of risk free buy it nows. This is the reason why the sellers with the longest queues are being interpreted by other sites as being their longest queues not the sellers. This is the reason why a buyer with shortcomings prefers to ask the public at large for reassurances through the other sites rather than directly ask the seller for one.

The buyers know you are a 5 star stores with 5 star items but what they don't know is whether the site is 5 star so they don't book it.

Think of this in terms of a travel agent and the hotels on offer. Others may have a better selection but the reason you stick with the one you know is they make the choice for you by working through your preferences. The hotels haven't a clue where they are going wrong because the guests who stayed there previously reported back to the travel agent and not to the hotel itself. The hotel might be 5 star but if a few guests report missing their breakfasts it won't be chosen despite this being an opinion and not the fact that the majority of them slept in because they were merrymaking on the excellent dance floor into the small hours.

Here I can see several categories of hotel splattered across the front and three million more if I dig deep enough.
What I cannot see is many recommendations and assurances.

I can see how many sellers (items) are moving to ebid and I can see an offer to sellers
Yet two thousand of my items haven't moved from anywhere and many of them are totally original to the net let alone the site itself
What I cannot see is how many buyers are moving to Ebid (certainly increasing) and any offers for buyers (theres a good stamp category and others worth promoting)

Apologies for rambling

[ictransistor]

Julie

One of my items - not trying to promote it - proving a point that in G the listings can be excellently placed and equal to and sometimes even better than the competition which is what attracted me in the first place.

IC Socket 40Way
or IC Socket 40Way 40Pin

[Juliebabe25]

@Ictranistor

Did a Google search from here in NZ

Found that product from several electrical wholesalers, and NZ auction sites (item closed did not sell) and ebay (cgi) on page 1. On page 2 ebid (your listing is near the top.

By the way if I was looking for one I would buy it from you as your price is much lower than the 3 others I looked at.

Looking at your listing did make me think (once again) that ebid should not show the number of views to the buyer. Yours showed 11 views, mine would be showing up to 200 (after 10 re-lists). To the buyer this could mean that 200 people looked at my product and did not think it was a good buy as they did not buy it.

PS thanks for your kind thoughts about our product.