eBid mentioned on EcommerceBytes

[tony41]

Unlike most others, I did not come to eBid from Ebay but from Delcampe with whom I was quite happy until they radically changed their fee structure.

[EalingBob]

Delcampe have changed there fee structure more since, they are now more expensive than Ebay, I am currently moving my stock here from both sites, I dont mind paying for my goods to have more exposure but I dont like getting robbed, I have created a page on Fachbook and post some of my items there directing people to them here.

[rocks2dust]

But, all things considered, I still think ebid does quite well for me, when I can put so little effort into it.

That is also a big consideration for me. Some collectible and OOAK items take longer to sell, as they appeal to smaller audiences. Ebid's auto-relist and run-until-sold options make that much easier to maintain, and without piling on listing and monthly fees which would quickly explode any possibility of a small profit or even breaking even. It must be wonderful to pay obay or another site $4 over x number of listing tries on an item that sells for $3 - but that easily happen (again, not even considering the original cost of the item, factoring in postage losses on returns, etc.).

As for promoting via "social media": that can simply take the form of adding links to your ebid listings in the signature you use on various sites, in your emails, and even here. Once done, that takes no extra effort at all. I do little beyond that. Those links add to your visibility both to human and search engine bot eyes.

[purplestevie]

Managed to get a lapsed ebid buyer (from facebook) to purchase 4 items from me yesterday Think its time to get more stock listed and advertise that i sell at ebid more. Tip rotate your stock dont have the same stock year in year out.

[theElench]

That is also a big consideration for me. Some collectible and OOAK items take longer to sell, as they appeal to smaller audiences. Ebid's auto-relist and run-until-sold options make that much easier to maintain, and without piling on listing and monthly fees which would quickly explode any possibility of a small profit or even breaking even. It must be wonderful to pay obay or another site $4 over x number of listing tries on an item that sells for $3 - but that easily happen (again, not even considering the original cost of the item, factoring in postage losses on returns, etc.).

As for promoting via "social media": that can simply take the form of adding links to your ebid listings in the signature you use on various sites, in your emails, and even here. Once done, that takes no extra effort at all. I do little beyond that. Those links add to your visibility both to human and search engine bot eyes.

It has to be RUS for me but as Sandrafirebird just said I don't mind paying for my listings to be seen. I certainly can't grumble about paying 10p an item for permanent exposure to anyone browsing for glass.

I think selling collectables must by it's nature be erratic, with most items taking time to sell. With most sites there must be a lot of luck required to sell anything at all, IMO. You rely on having just the right item listed, at just the right time that someone is looking for it. RUS weighs the odds by taking the "just the right time" out of the equation. If someone is looking here, it will always be there to be seen. One thing I don't understand with RUS listings here, is why they are added to the bottom of the pile.

Inexorably the listings that don't sell move upwards. The top of the list will inevitably fill up with the unwanted and possibly unsalable items. To me it would make better sense to add new listings to the top. If they don't sell, they sink down the list. Regular additions of new listings at the top would make the search results look more attractive to browsers, while someone looking for a specific item might be more inclined to search further down the pages. ?????

Yes, you are right, I should do something about adding links. My only excuse not to have done so is that I'm sure links off-site are banned on the other site and here there seems little interest from members in what I sell. There are few other sellers. Most of those have many more listings in other categories and who have listed a few pieces, presumably unwanted personal oddments. I've made most of my sales to zero FB buyers with recently opened accounts. I've never been sure who (or what)looks at my Plug Your Auction thread and am even more unsure as to why recently the views have increased dramatically from 20s to 40s then 60s, with last weeks getting over 90 views. None of which has led to any sales.