Rare, Out Of Print First Editions!!!

[PaulsBooks]

Just curious if any book sellers are having any success selling first edition books. I see *bay has quite a few but their fees are just to high. Any help would be greatly appreciated-

Paul

[jimihorizons]

Ive just been here a couple of weeks, but the items I have up for bid, would be overwhelmed with Ebay bidders right now..Plenty of looky lou's here but I havent seen any serious buyers or bidders...I have some items that over 80 people have viewed, but NO bids...It's frustrating, I doubt I would encourage anyone to leave Feebay and come here..I'm actually having better luck at Overstock, weird huh?...Just my opinion..

[HannaHolly]

Hi Jimi. I'm curious, you've been here a couple of weeks now. I assume you buy on line as well as sell. Have you bought anything here on ebid yet?. If not - why?
I'm not trying to single you out, i'm genuinely curious why lots of new ebid members come here expecting to sell, but don't seem to want to buy?. It is possible to make regular sales here on ebid ( probably harder in the US because it's newer- but worth staying for the longer term i think) but to be succesful the clever seller will do some research, take advantage of all the 'help' tips on these forums, use a mix of sites to sell from.

I don't know what listings you have on at the moment ( please add a link to your listings in your forum signature so people can find you) but for rare books i'd recommend setting some on at least 10 day auctions ( with auto repost up to ten times) with a 'buy it now' price set so that the listings get automatically submittted to google products.
Have you told your old customers where to find you now?

[HannaHolly]

Bump. in case previous poster has overleeked the response.

[jimihorizons]

Hiya Hanna..I have been looking at lots of items here on Ebid, but I have very specific items that I look for and so far I havent bought anything here..I am watching a couple of items though. I came here to buy and sell, if I find the right items here, I will definately buy them, but I deal in vintage books and signatures and it appears that there is not that big of a selection, in the categories I'm interested in...As far as selling,I have one book thats gotten over one hundred views, so apparently, I'm getting the traffic, but so far not a single bid...I havent checked into Ebid's history, is it an Overseas auction, I notice a lot of the members are from England, Scotland and other countries? I think most newcomers here, probably have been to and on Ebay,without having to add additional links, and expect the same basic system here so they assume a lot of things, that might not necessarily apply to Ebid..I think I have noticed that they have regular "for sale" items mixed in with the auction items, I personally think the auction area should be for auction items only..Anyway, if you have anymore advice, I sure will appreciate it..Thanks so much for your attention...Jimi

[kedo]

I deal in vintage books and signatures and it appears that there is not that big of a selection, in the categories I'm interested in...As far as selling,I have one book thats gotten over one hundred views, so apparently, I'm getting the traffic, but so far not a single bid...I

You're right, the vintage book section is rather small at the moment. I was having a look through it yesterday and I was thinking exactly the same thing. I haven't had time to add much to it myself as I've been concentrating on other areas. Oddly enough I did have a sale from the category last night though so I'll probably be paying it much more attention.

For 'hits without sales' check out the ambitious sales thread. There are things you can do to improve the situation. I've found that since I implemented what was discussed there my sales have improved (plus I'm almost constantly on the top eBid Buddies chart on the front page)

[jimihorizons]

Hiya kedo..I try to sell higher-end items, First editions, signed rare books and memoribilia, maybe thats the problem I dont have any "cheapies", but like I said, anywhere else on the auction planet, if you get 50 to 100 views it will relate to a significant number of bidders and so far on Ebid, I dont see that happening..I just dont understand, because as I've said before, I was so hoping that Ebid would be a viable alternative to Ebay..I appreciate your help..Thanks and have a great weekend..Jimi Harper

[HannaHolly]

Jimi I know you're new here, but it's a real misuse of the 'ask a question' feature to try and get people to look at your auctions. I have removed your 'ad' from my auction!

[jimihorizons]

Hiya again Hanna..I apologize if somehow I have made a mistake, it surely wasnt intentional..What exactly did I do wrong, like you said, I'm new here and perhaps I dont have a complete understanding of what I can and cant do..Thank you so much..Jimi Harper

[hartmann219]

Jimi - I list with a couple of the large pure book listing sites, but sales there are slowing and they are becoming expensive for what they offer, a la feeBay.

I tried selling books without any luck on Bidville (currently up for sale) and have now moved over here to eBid by signing up for a Lifetime membership.

So far I enjoy the site. The software infrastructure seems pretty good and I like the free store.

It will take quite a long time for book buyers to appear perhaps at any of the good alternative sites. I would suggest patience is necessary. As the traditional listing sites (Abebooks, Alibris, Amazon) become more expensive, more booksellers may be interested in trying new venues such as eBid.