Hi new Was selling on ebay want to know best alternative

**#16**

xbaystores wrote (View Post): › I do want to add one thing...
Not all auction site owners are out for themselves. There are a few cherry-picked site owners and admins who really do want the sellers to be successful. But, the majority of those I see are not interested in anything other than feeding their egos.

I do agree with this comment, however. SOME owners are out for themselves, not all... Surprised

as hard to imagine as that is. (Mo is NOT one of them, though, and neither is Kevin, Ray, or Amy. I don't think I know anyone who is though... with the exception of "feeeebay" Surprised

I've heard thru the grapevine that OvernightAuctions is coming back with new owners, AND they've already implemented ONA2 (overnightauctions.net) as well as the Community with Arcade at Overnightvoice.com. Very Happy

People just need to Judge for themselves how dedicated some owners are/will be, selfish or not. I truly believe like bossmandude that the new owners WANT TO BRING ONA Back, not for their own selves, but for the members who used to love the site. I hope so cuz I'm one of them as well! Smile

**#17**

I can recall walking down the "hot streets" during port visits in Asia and South America with the hawkers outside the flashy clubs all trying to out shout each other to get us and our money in their establishment.....

"Girls, Girls, Girls, HOTTEST GIRLS in here"

Welcome to the jungle Hylton...

**#18**

Hello,

I'm looking for something like blujay and ecrater, but looks nicer and more professional, doesn't have to be free.

Any ideas!!!???

Thanks!

**#19**

hylton, if you depend on your eBay income at all, you'll want to continue selling there while you create an exit strategy to establish yourself independent of eBay.

I don't recommend starting with finding "the best" auction site beyond eBay. I recommend setting up a store for yourself as a first step. PSU offers an inexpensive option for the intermediate to advanced tech type. BuyItSellIt.com offers a free option for the non-tech type. Yahoo offers stores, not the easiest to set up but millions use them. ZenCart and OSCommerce are free for the more advanced tech type.

Once you get set up I recommend using "alternative" venues for additional M&P. The reason is you're going to work 10X harder for 1/10th of the sales (if you're lucky) you got on eBay with the "alternative" venues. The "alternative" venues do little to no advertising, traffic is much lower than eBay.

Folks will tell you this venue or that venue is better for this reason or that reason but the majority seem to have between a 1% and 3% sell through rate. Essentially, if all the sales for the entire venue were counted most would not qualify as a Silver Powerseller on eBay. There are exceptions but nothing consistent, a big ticket item here and there might make the numbers look better for a month but the stats are a bumpy ride at best.

The alternative to eBay on an income replacing level doesn't exist unless you're willing to do the work that the fees you pay to eBay pay for, the marketing and promotions (M&P) - getting buyers to your goods. If you're willing to do the work, then I recommend investing in yourself first and then using the "alternative" venues as a means to increase your own M&P.

If you start by using venues first, you're going to invest a lot of time trying to make as many sales as most sellers make by accident on eBay...your own store will be hard going, too, but you won't be at the mercy of anyone elses changing business plan or some owner pulling the plug in the middle of the night without warning.

**#20**

You might have a look at Etsy.com or SilkFair.com for handmade goods. Etsy has been around a couple of years, SilkFair is a relative new comer.

hth!

**#21**

Loudfrog.com is easy and very eonomical to use. I get good page views every month and they don't mind off-site sales. Very Happy

**#22**

LurkeyLou wrote (View Post): › Folks will tell you this venue or that venue is better for this reason or that reason but the majority seem to have between a 1% and 3% sell through rate.

I'm very curious about how sell through rates are calculated. What exact period of time are they based on? Are they based on new listings that are added vs. sales, or are they just based on the total average number of existing listings for a certain time period? That makes a big difference because overall I've been selling more than I've been able to list for the last 8 months straight. I'm also curious about how the sell through rate is calculated with dutch listings. If say several items sell within a week or a month from just one listing, then it's possible to have a sell through rate of over 100%?? Does anyone know all the rules of how sell through rate is calculated? Inquiring minds want to know!

**#23**

Have you tried ioffer.com
made some nice friends over there.

http://www.twodollars.biz/index.php?a=533232

**#24**

Might want to check out chshops.com and have your own website, the way you want it to look....

**#25**

I'm lovin' Bonanzle!

**#26**

The Atomic Mall is providing excellent exposure for me, with several recent sales.

Seller Information
Buyer Information
General Information

**#27**

CDNM wrote (View Post): ›
OH COME ON!! Who are you anyway? Another "cloaked one" that we all know? Shocked

As for the phpProbid script, there is a lot of members who prefer that one over the RScript, and vice versa. The owners basically just go with the flow, demand of members, etc.

Leave Mo alone, please? There's a LONG story behind the leave of PH, and one I'm sure she doesn't want to re-hash or explain to everyone. It was her decision, and hers alone. Any members (such as I) who made the move to AS with her made the choice ON OUR OWN, not becuz she "took" us from PH. Shocked

I personally do not like PH, but I used to... nor do I like a lot of the newly implemented staff. I still list there "on demand" from customers who did not wish to switch sites, but not very often. It was a good site in its prime, but now... (zips lips) Rolling Eyes

I was merely stating the facts that were brought forth here about a particular site owner, who never returned to any online auction forum once her real intentions were exposed.
Her last post here:
http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?p=162501&highlight=#162501
That was the first mention of the new Alsoshop, and her last post on any non-Alsoshop forum. If so many trashed my reputation, I would think that if it wasn't true I would defend it. That's all I was saying. Besides, I was just giving my opinion based on the facts of each site. Not the rumors, but the facts I have seen and been told of by those involved.
And as for who I am (since you asked) I have been here quite a while and most know me, we may not always agree on what we talk about, but we get along through the disagreements. Everyone needs to be informed on where they choose to sell, and with the many, many sites I have tried (all of the ones on the list I posted plus more) there have been none worth staying and spending any more time on to have 5 sales a month.
Besides, I wouldn't be "cloaked."

Anyway, no hard feelings, I like a little debate as long as it stays nice. Smile

Angelsong777 wrote (View Post): ›

I'm very curious about how sell through rates are calculated. What exact period of time are they based on? Are they based on new listings that are added vs. sales, or are they just based on the total average number of existing listings for a certain time period? That makes a big difference because overall I've been selling more than I've been able to list for the last 8 months straight. I'm also curious about how the sell through rate is calculated with dutch listings. If say several items sell within a week or a month from just one listing, then it's possible to have a sell through rate of over 100%?? Does anyone know all the rules of how sell through rate is calculated? Inquiring minds want to know!

It all varies by person. Your sell through may be totally different than everyone else's. You can sell 20 items and consider it 100% if you only listed 20 new ones in the last month, even though you actually have 1000 listed. I (and many others) consider it to be a monthly sales:listings ratio, and I prefer it based on dollars, not items sold.

**#28**

I just registered at Bonanzle last night! What a very pretty site! I would be trying out my newer collectibles cookbooks, etc, like I have some Food Network chef books, Giada, Paula Dean, etc..and tons of wilton cake molds, (you know the ones they sell on ebay like Harry Potter, and Mickey Mouse?)
For the older stuff, I think I am going to try out Go Antiques...they are soon to be leaving ebay as the Live Auctions, so they have some experience with our community already..I found them when I was checking out oodle in my area...their seller's listings popped up. I looked in, and found a VERY impressive site!I made a comment on the boards here about it, so you can see for yourself anyway..

**#29**

xbaystores wrote (View Post): › You can sell 20 items and consider it 100% if you only listed 20 new ones in the last month, even though you actually have 1000 listed. I (and many others) consider it to be a monthly sales:listings ratio, and I prefer it based on dollars, not items sold.

In that case, my sell through rate has been over 100% every month since Dec. 2007. (Using dollars instead of items sold would make it much higher because my valuable stuff sells a lot faster than the less expensive items which tend to hang around a lot longer because they're less appealing to buyers.)

This would make sell through rate quite irrelevant (unless you're talking about eBay auctions where you're paying a buck or two or more for every listing). So sellers with established stores will just naturally have a much higher sell through rate than sellers who are starting from zero listings with no time invested in the business and building up a store. Profits matter a lot more than sell through rate, and for me, sell through rate is not what determines profits. Too many other variables in the equation.

**#30**

A general STR for all members for a given venue on a month to month basis. Not individual seller counts.

I've had personal correspondence with approximately 50 venue owners over the last 4 years. For a few of the sites, which have at one time or another been the "darling of the month", the STR during the better months was around 3% for the entire membership.

PlunderHere/Mo regularly published her stats. They're here on PSU somewhere. The better months might have 1,600 sales with a reported 40K - 50K items. Other than that, I will not provide stats as they were shared in private discussions.

Y'all go ahead and keep telling people to try this venue and that. Let 'em work their tails off only to discover that they should have invested in themselves first.

The bottom line is sales on these so-called alternative venues generally suck when the membership is looked at as a whole. The exception, of course, is WagglePop since there are a whole 77 stores. The STR there should be off the charts! ROTFLMAOPMP!!!!!!!!!!!