Do books sell on ebid?

[johnwash1]

Sorry.. I give up I AM already logged in and I can't follow.. I'll just leave it I think as I can feel the red anger rising and I feel like throwing the darn thing THROUGH THE WINDOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess you either get this computer malarkey or you don't and I DON'T!!!!!!!!

Spot, don't put yourself down, and don't give up. Some of the advice you get may not be relevant. Tell us what kind of computer and operating system you're using, e.g. Windows Vista, or Apple OS X, or Ubuntu 12.04, and what web browser you're using (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, ...).

[Spot50]

Well I'm approaching 3000 items listed and sales are still very, very slow. To see if Ebay was still worth using, I've been using the 20 free listings and as they seem to be getting a little desperate recently, they've been offering 4 day 100 or 200 free listing periods as well, I've been putting items on at start prices of £5.00 (compared to the same items on Ebid at £1.00 or £1.99 start prices) and loading the P & P prices to include the extortionate 10% fee they charge and I've sold more in the last 2 months there than in 6 months on ebid. I can't express how disappointed I feel that ebid just doesn't seem to be working for me and will give it until January. If sales don't pick up I feel I'll have to close my account.

What's even more annoying is that more changes on ebay are driving more people away so you would hope that ebid would pick up some of that in the way of more buyers. Although that could explain why I'm selling more there (less competition as sellers leave) I intended to do loads of car boots this summer but with one thing and another it didn't happen I may need to MAKE it happen soon to get rid of some of the 1000s of books still left to list.

Does anyone else feel a little let down by ebid's performance as a selling platform?

[cerealmunkee]

oh no...i suppose this thread will go the way of all of the others that ask such a similar and straightforward question, to answer your last question Spot....the answer is ....yes.

3 - 2- 1....deleted.

[pastime]

Hi Spot,
You say that you may close your account in Jan, if no improvement in sales. If I was a business seller I would be chewing the carpet in frustration at lack of sales.

But, I assume that means you will list only on TOS. The bay seems to be entering a stage of terminal decline and the new 'paid returns' make it even more a shop window for scammers. You could find someone demanding that you pay return postage on a book that they have read and decided they like their money back (especially with the new paypal rules) - not likely, I'll admit, scammers will have their eyes on bigger targets, but you would only need to get burned a couple of times for it all to seem like a complete waste of time.
The bay would now seem to have become a dangerous place to sell. I've spent the last 8 years wishing it would go back to the way it was, before Best Match default and a fair showing on the listing, but it seems that is never going to happen. The IT system is creaking and the split from p'pal going forward debt-free does look as though fees will have to increase to cover.

We are all waiting for the tipping point - hang in and promote eBid as much as you can. You can't have low fees and massive advertising campaigns. None of us wants eBid to start manipulating sellers to extract the maximum profit from us all.

This is an excellent site - we need to do as much as we can to get the name out there.

[peterpunto08]

Agree 100% with pastime (post 154)

And having made initial £49.odd payment to eBid.......nothing to lose and everything to gain!

List here first....if no sale after a while try various classified sites.....then use TOS as last resort

But deff give ebid first crack of the whip every time

[deanosaur1972]

Hi Spot

One of my pet hates is the gaps between the bid and buy it now price and something I am increasingly seeing on eBid.

Just let me give you an example:

Monty Python and now for something completely different.

The bid price is £1.99 and the buy price is £4.99.

Most sales come through the buy price. But with that gap, for a lot of people, you have an inactive buy price. You have made it almost impossible to use the Buy it Now because I know that you would sell the item for £1.99 and therefore I am not going to pay an extra £3.00.

So we are left with the bid price of £1.99. Now for a customer who has just arrived on eBid and doesn't have an account - are they going to join up to place a bid and then wait 10 days to see if they win the item? As the item would be posted 2nd class by the time they receive the item it could be a total of 2 weeks since they placed the bid. In most cases the answer would be a no, they wouldn't join up to place a bid on an item. So in many cases you have created an item that someone couldn't bring themselves to buy and also couldn't bid on.

Be extremely careful with the gaps between the bid/buy these are not rare items and the bid/buy price has to work for each other - the bid price (if you really need to use one) should be at a level that doesn't make the buy price almost impossible to use.

Keep it simple.

[Spot50]

Hi Spot,
You say that you may close your account in Jan, if no improvement in sales. If I was a business seller I would be chewing the carpet in frustration at lack of sales.

But, I assume that means you will list only on TOS. The bay seems to be entering a stage of terminal decline and the new 'paid returns' make it even more a shop window for scammers. You could find someone demanding that you pay return postage on a book that they have read and decided they like their money back (especially with the new paypal rules) - not likely, I'll admit, scammers will have their eyes on bigger targets, but you would only need to get burned a couple of times for it all to seem like a complete waste of time.
The bay would now seem to have become a dangerous place to sell. I've spent the last 8 years wishing it would go back to the way it was, before Best Match default and a fair showing on the listing, but it seems that is never going to happen. The IT system is creaking and the split from p'pal going forward debt-free does look as though fees will have to increase to cover.

We are all waiting for the tipping point - hang in and promote eBid as much as you can. You can't have low fees and massive advertising campaigns. None of us wants eBid to start manipulating sellers to extract the maximum profit from us all.

This is an excellent site - we need to do as much as we can to get the name out there.

Thanks for your response, I agree wholeheartedly with your statement about *bays self-inflicted decline. They seem to think the best way to put out a fire is to pour more petrol on IT!! the fact they've decided to separate the two arms of the business indicates they have accepted that's all is not well but instead of returning to the original core business with it's methods and values they seem to be abandoning it altogether.

I also agree with your comments about Ebid, it is a much more user friendly site but if it doesn't work NOW then it never will i.m.o. I will just add that I would certainly be prepared to pay more in fees if it leads to a lasting and ongoing increase in business.

I do WANT this site to work! I've invested a lot of time on inputting and as soon as anything is ordered (rarely I'm sorry to say) I ensure a fast despatch to try to encourage future orders and communication with the buyer to keep them fully informed.

We'll see what happens with the rest of 2014 before I make a final decision on my future here.

[Spot50]

Agree 100% with pastime (post 154)

And having made initial £49.odd payment to eBid.......nothing to lose and everything to gain!

List here first....if no sale after a while try various classified sites.....then use TOS as last resort

But deff give ebid first crack of the whip every time

Thanks, the items I'm listing on *bay, I'm also listing here at cheaper prices with lower P & P charges (as soon as the item sells I delete from whichever site it's still listed on) The books I'm putting on there tend to be hardbacks or harder to find paperbacks so as not to use up the limited free listing offer.

[Spot50]

Hi Spot

One of my pet hates is the gaps between the bid and buy it now price and something I am increasingly seeing on eBid.

Just let me give you an example:

Monty Python and now for something completely different.

The bid price is £1.99 and the buy price is £4.99.

Most sales come through the buy price. But with that gap, for a lot of people, you have an inactive buy price. You have made it almost impossible to use the Buy it Now because I know that you would sell the item for £1.99 and therefore I am not going to pay an extra £3.00.

So we are left with the bid price of £1.99. Now for a customer who has just arrived on eBid and doesn't have an account - are they going to join up to place a bid and then wait 10 days to see if they win the item? As the item would be posted 2nd class by the time they receive the item it could be a total of 2 weeks since they placed the bid. In most cases the answer would be a no, they wouldn't join up to place a bid on an item. So in many cases you have created an item that someone couldn't bring themselves to buy and also couldn't bid on.

Be extremely careful with the gaps between the bid/buy these are not rare items and the bid/buy price has to work for each other - the bid price (if you really need to use one) should be at a level that doesn't make the buy price almost impossible to use.

Keep it simple.

Mmm. I prefer (and always have) the auction facility, I only offer a B.I.N., price because it's there. if people don't want to wait until the auctions finished them I'm sorry but perhaps auction sites are not the sort of places they should be looking on. many of my items have watchers so it can't be putting everybody off. As for the difference between the prices..ISN'T THAT THE POINT! if you want it now you pay extra for A) potentially not having to bid against others. B) getting the item NOW rather than waiting for the auction to end. As for your suggestion that people won't wait, surely the fact that I'm selling as AUCTIONS ONLY on the other site proves your not correct, they will bid and wait...

As I say I strongly disagree with your conclusion on the bid/buy situation and nearly 7000 sales on the other site over 6 years gives me the strength of my conviction to disagree with you. , but I thank you for your reply and appreciate you are trying to help in a way that seems to work for you.

[MPS16]

Mmm. ..... if people don't want to wait until the auctions finished them I'm sorry but perhaps auction sites are not the sort of places they should be looking on......

I tnink you will find that the majority of items that are sold on eBid are at Buy It Now prices.

So it follows that the majority of buyers and sellers do not consider eBid to be an auction site.