Ebid and advertising.

[Juliebabe25]

Everyone knows that Advertising works.
But what do we mean by advertising ?
Google Ads
Facebook Ads ?
Ads on Buses or trains ?
Bumper Stickers ?
Newspaper Ads ?
TV Ads ?

I assume that most people think tv advertsing would be the best.

Advertising is very expensive.
I have challenged people to come up with a budget many times - no one has.
Not only that but the advertising would have to be in the UK and the USA.

And more importantly is Advertising "cost effective ?"

None of us know if thew owners of ebid want to expand
They may be happy with the current membership and sales
They may not want millions of users (and hassles)

W do not know how much spare cash they have for an advertising campaign.
It is a private company so none of us know their income or balance sheet.

I am with Bykimbo.
Before ebid made a major push for new members a few things need tidying up.

We all know that ebid is very well set up and its layout and general feel is great.
Eg compared to say ecrater and bonanza which are both "shop based"
Ebid is browser / listings based so its the most ebay - like site without the drama of ebay.

Here are my major item that need fixing.

Membership and registration
You can join ecrater and bonazna for virtually nothing.
To join ebid is it 75 pounds, or 75 dollars or is it 49 pounds or 49 dollars ?
That is a lot of omney fro someone who sjust wants to sell a few books or tea cosies.
It is a fair commitment for a large sellers who wants to test the system.
You "can join" ebid for virtually nothing but are then forced into RUS listings which as we all know are not the best for most users.
New members find the free listings for life message incorrect and confusing as they really have to pay the 2% fvf

Dump and Run
There are also too many dump and run sellers which give new buyers a bad experience
So we really need some system of stopping this
Either a required sign in every month or
Run and Till sold need to be re-listed say every 3 months

Variety
There is no where near enough variety on here
There are far too many empty categories
We need to find out what are the major items that sell on ebay and see how many sellers and listings of those we have.

Eg Lego toys
A year ago there were 400,000 listings of lego on ebay and about 250 on ebid.

I could go on, but i'll leave it for now.

[MagnetsAndHangers]

If the site is already attracting an influx of people who are trying to get away from a fee hike (however justified this is in either location) it would an immensely stupid moment to announce a fee increase here. "Sorry you've got sick of fee increases elsewhere, welcome to our site, we're putting our fees up to capitalise on your misfortune".

Fair comment - can always wait until they are sucked in, then do it at a later date.

[adruml]

This is the way that E**y started their own problems. Just a little hike so they could hire a few more people to handle the advertising---and then a few more to handle the problems caused---and a few more to make more rules--then a few more to cover the advertising---then another raise in fees so they could do a little more advertising.

I personally don't want this to become a top heavy site where the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing. I don't want it to lose site of what it started out to be. An affordable alternative for small sellers.

If you need more income than you get on this site then you do what I do and list in several places.

Say what you will about ebay and the way they did things. Although it has gotten way out of hand and they need to be punished for their actions the fact remains they are the biggest and sales are plentiful on that site.
The key is ebay got out of hand which doesn't mean eBid will.
Through reading the forums when everyone gets excited about an "influx of ebay sellers coming over" I was under the impression everyone here was all for it. Posts stating eBid is an affordable alternative for small sellers indicates eBid may want to remain the alternative for small sellers.
Ebay may destroy itself I see absolutely no reason why eBid shouldn't help it along.

[bykimbo]

Fair comment - can always wait until they are sucked in, then do it at a later date.

Ah... so you *did* think a fee increase was reasonable, but if we put if off a wee while it would *become* evil? Right. Fine. Um...

[MagnetsAndHangers]

Ah... so you *did* think a fee increase was reasonable, but if we put if off a wee while it would *become* evil? Right. Fine. Um...

Not at all - I just think it is inevitable at some stage or other.
The current fvf structure is older than you m'dear - even older than Linda too!! (hard to believe huh!)


And putting it on the back end, eg fvfs, might just allow the initial joining fee to remain the same for a lot longer.

[Juliebabe25]

Many people on ebid are satisfied with a few sales a week or a month.
(that is fine for someone who is retired and just wants a bit of fun for some extra cash)

That will not satisfy the new people that come over from ebay.
They tend to be people that make all or most of their income on ebay.
They want many sales a DAY !

[Pink_Panther]

If the site is already attracting an influx of people who are trying to get away from a fee hike (however justified this is in either location) it would an immensely stupid moment to announce a fee increase here. "Sorry you've got sick of fee increases elsewhere, welcome to our site, we're putting our fees up to capitalise on your misfortune".

The thing is that ebay or ebid for that matter cannot be all things to all men.

If you are a full blown business then the bay, though expensive is the place for you.

If you are a hobby seller, part time seller etc then ebid is a good place to be (Niche)

So while ebid suits many of us 100% there are a few who want to use it in a different way to the majority.

I think the vast majority of ebidders sell or have sold either books, postcards, stamps, coins, craft items, used china collectables etc etc.

Ebid may get a lot bigger and develop in a different direction. Personally I hope the fees stay the same and it builds real muscle and not get inflated by advertizing and hype.

[adruml]

The thing is that ebay or ebid for that matter cannot be all things to all men.

If you are a full blown business then the bay, though expensive is the place for you.

If you are a hobby seller, part time seller etc then ebid is a good place to be (Niche)

So while ebid suits many of us 100% there are a few who want to use it in a different way to the majority.

I think the vast majority of ebidders sell or have sold either books, postcards, stamps, coins, craft items, used china collectables etc etc.

Ebid may get a lot bigger and develop in a different direction. Personally I hope the fees stay the same and it builds real muscle and not get inflated by advertizing and hype.

Well stated.
This is truly why we can't expect the disgruntled sellers from ebay to come over and pick up where they left off 2 different types of sites. If we do expect them to cover and have a reason to stay then yes advertising is in order.
I wish I knew more about $$$ amounts sold per month on both sites but looking at it as somewhat of a guess I can't see why our fees would have to be raised due to eBid advertising. Yes I know because it costs money but if a tremendous increase in sales is acheived the 2% Final Value fee becomes huge and will continue huge.
Pink has stated what I believe to be the true issue some sellers do not understand. Right now eBid is more for the part time seller although it is a tremendous site for any seller the exposure is not there. Over time yes eBid will grow but not to the extent Full time, income making sellers need.
We as sellers should not have to spend our time worrying about advertising or marketing. Self promoting here at the moment is required and I'm pretty sure everyone spends the time doing it.

[Pink_Panther]

Just to put things in a little more perspective:

I have just over 300 listings over a third of them books.

And yet I have over 62% of ebid listings for cake stands thats 62% of 32 items offered in UK.
I also have 34% of listings for Pyrex offered in UK 34% of 114 listings.
Colclough China I have 41% of listings 41% of 24 items (another member has about ther same!)

It just goes to show how far ebid need to grow before they even contemplate fee hikes or advertizing!

[Juliebabe25]

The thing is that ebay or ebid for that matter cannot be all things to all men.

If you are a full blown business then the bay, though expensive is the place for you.

If you are a hobby seller, part time seller etc then ebid is a good place to be (Niche)

So while ebid suits many of us 100% there are a few who want to use it in a different way to the majority.

I think the vast majority of ebidders sell or have sold either books, postcards, stamps, coins, craft items, used china collectables etc etc.

Ebid may get a lot bigger and develop in a different direction. Personally I hope the fees stay the same and it builds real muscle and not get inflated by advertizing and hype.

Well said