Having experienced the honor of being thrown off ebay due to my cussing out a woman who smeared me with undeserved feedback, (see my late September post "Powerseller executed by ebay after email dispute with buyer"), I have been looking for alternatives to ebay----as have many of us on here. I read a lot about Bidville, Overstock, etc., but at least for art/antiques category, remain completely unimpressed with them. They don't have the muscle behind them to push aside the ebay barbarian. One name that DOES have the potential muscle behind it is Yahoo; yet, the auction site there is also presently quite lame. I gather that it has been totally without listing/final value fees since at least July of this year, yet, the listings remain lame and the action remains MORE lame. I am averaging MAYBE one PAGEVIEW per day per item! Not a bid, a pageview---a hit. That won't sell anything. right now I have 115 items listed, some for 5 days, and don't have a single bid. The site is quite navigable and setup is familiar to anyone who has sold on ebay. I am puzzled as to why yahoo doesn't put more effort into promoting this and grabbing a big chunk of business from worst-dressed Meg Whitman and ruddy-cheeked Bill Cobb and company. Yahoo has the name recognition around the world, the resources of a major company behind it, etc., yet the auction site leaves a lot to be desired. It seems from the boards here that so many people are ready for an alternative to Nutmeg, and they're looking at the relatively obscure startups and other small entrants into the online scene----while overlooking the one company that can blow ebay to kingdom-come! Has anyone had success selling on yahoo, and, can anyone explain to me why the auctions there are so weak? It seems to me that with proper promotion, fees lower than ebay's, and even a smidgen of customer service, yahoo could blow ebay sky high! They wouldn't necessarily have to be free to do this!

bidville is dead.
don't waste your time.
yahoo does not put effort into their auctions for reason.
they don't feel they have to. they already have neame recognition.
i have lokked at all of them, in several aspects.
the best i have found is IOFFER. i get lots of hits, and am making sales, many from england, and europe.
i do not take paypal, or any other electronic payments, and they are buying. at my price.
it is free to list. nominal final value fee. you can list for 30 days.
the site is the easiest to list on i have found.
and...this really impresses me... stuff i list today, shows up on internet search engines like google, and dogpile, within 24 hours, so, they are hooked in well.
i am very pleased with them.
once bidville falss, and it will happen.... IOFFER will be in the number 2 position.
they are now #3.
check them out.
click the link below to view the site.

We are currently listed on ebay, yahoo, ioffer, bidville, epier, ecrater, blujay and others. Most of our business comes from feebay. We have had 1 sale from yahoo and 1 sale from ioffer in 3 months. The other sites have not paid off yet. I wish Yahoo would do something to promote more business too! I really hate the current software at yahoo auctions. It is not very seller friendly and it doesn't always display html correctly. I don't know what is going to happen with the sites I'm on, but I will continue to list in as many spots as I can find to increase the possibility of a sale. If I'm not there when the buyer is looking, then I deserve to lose the business.

Originalvintage:

Thanks for the tip but I just checked their "art and antiques" area and found exactly one page of brand new prints. This is not what I am looking for. I sell original listed art, old paintings, from $100 to $2000 each.

I've done very well with Ruby Lane. Have sold four items, total sales over $3,000, in just the past few weeks. It's not an auction-------the basic platform is similar to ioffer, it appears. Many of the sales to Europe----they have all the money right now, while the Americans are digesting the new car payments under which they've buried themselves (those "irresistible" employee discount programs!!).

Can't yahoo promote the auctions part of their site and thereby make money from listing and final value fees? That isn't worth their time? It's still puzzling to me, why they just don't seem to put any effort into it.

you're welcome.
yahoo, as big as they are in other things... the email, and all kinds of business hosting, web hosting, etc, is big enough that they have an attitude, just as ebay does, and any suggestions made to them go to cylindrical file.
they are beyond the little guy.
"we didn't get as big as we are by being stupid... WE know what we are doing!"
i'm surprised ebay hasn't sued yahoo for directly copying ebay's attitude.
replies to comments, questions, and suggestions i have made to ioffer have been prompt, and courteous. they actuall have on their "contact us" page, a section to make suggestions.
i like the site, and happy with them.
good luck in whichever site you choose to use.

I'm at Yahoo!, and am having some success. I've had quite a few views and some sales. I would love them to advertise their auctions more - no doubt, but am willing to stay there as for my items, it's doing better than the smaller sites.

I find Yahoo! to be one of the easiest to list at. I also use html (very, very simple templates) and have had no issues. The listing info. is all on one page, and there are some "quirky things" that happen if you need to edit, but I like the listing process/system part.

I also have gotten help when I've needed it - not as timely as some of the newer sites, but faster than when I needed help @ the big guy, and there is a community "group" which is friendly, helpful and watched by the Yahoo folks.

So - for now, it's working for me - easy to list and free!! Best of luck to all - I need to venture back over and visit ioffer - haven't been there in a while!

One of the things that turns me off listing @ Yahoo is every search page is completely loaded with sponsored links, most times they far outnumber the items available on Yahoo.

Sheesh, If I want to search the entire web, I will use Google or Froogle

To answer your question: Give Yahoo! Auctions time!

People often have unrealistic expectations of Yahoo! Auctions because it has been around a long time.

But - to be fair - you really must look at Y! Auctions and judge it as a four month old start-up site. Because for the past 2-3 years the auction site was on auto-pilot and in a totally mothballed state - where no upgrades and improvements were being added. And before that Yahoo! Auctions management made some very unwise decisions that took an active, viable selling venue and plummeted it into a downward death spiral.

Yahoo! Auctions has only been fee-free again for four months! Their change of philosophy and renewed interest in the auction venue is encouraging - and some sellers are already seeing positive results. I'm hopeful that it can return to the place it was in 2001 before fees were introduced and build from there.

I don't agree with one person's statement here that Yahoo! isn't listening. Our experience has proven that they DO listen to their sellers and our sellers' group has put forward a number of suggestions that have been implemented.

There is no doubt that Yahoo! Auctions needs some upgrades to get the auction platform running smoothly and efficiently. I also know that they are currently working on those things.

The integration of Yahoo! Auctions back into Yahoo! Shopping is proving to be an effective tool in increasing traffic on the site. My "test" items on Yahoo! have also been getting good placement in the search engines like Froogle.

I sell in the "art" category too. So I've been monitoring it closely over the last four months and your assessment of that category is correct. It has not yet seen much improvement in page views, traffic, and sales and certainly is lagging behind many other categories on Y! Auctions - where a lot of increases have been seen in those areas.

I think that is a consequence of several things. The art category on eBay is traditionally a category with the lowest sell-through rate as well. The effect of higher energy prices on the economy is first seen in those categories where a purchase comes from totally discretionary money that a consumer has and Americans are tightening their belts right now.

The bottom line is that the "art" category is not a good category to judge the overall effectiveness and viability of Yahoo! Auctions as a venue to sell at the present time. But I'm hopeful that the "art" category will catch up as the site continues to build traffic and interest.

George

Yahoo! Auctions Seller's Group

I think alot of sellers are hesitant to hop the Yahoo train simply because they got screwed by them before. Many people don't give second chances, especially when their livelihood is at stake.

well put.
i think most feel that way.

Well, I'm with gawooley on this one. I think most people and companies deserve a second chance as long as it seems as though they learned something the first time around, as yahoo seems to have. I'm listing there again and will be adding more. Where do you think it's worth it to sell these days Original?? After taking everything into account (fees, traffic, management, security, seller-friendly)??

ebay sure doesn't think like that.
right or wrong...one infraction and they ban you for life!

Earthfragments.com wrote (View Post): › I think alot of sellers are hesitant to hop the Yahoo train simply because they got screwed by them before. Many people don't give second chances, especially when their livelihood is at stake.

I can't disagree with that. One of the first things that I told the Yahoo! staff when contacted by them is that they needed to rebuild "trust" within the online seller's community. Their wishy-washy past in dealing with online auctions is a stigma that can only be erased with time and PROVEN results. No words can erase that history - and I, being among those "screwed", must always maintain a degree of skepicism about what is coming next.

But I'm also pragmatic. I see no other auction venue that holds the promise that Yahoo! Auctions does in cutting into that monopoly that eBay has and the stranglehold that eBay has on independent sellers.

Competition is good and independent online sellers are hurting because of the lack of it. It's going to take a venue with traffic and the economic clout to actually become a viable competitor for eBay. As much as I've supported these third tier upstarts in the past, I've finally accepted the fact that none of them are going to be able to become more than a tiny sticker in eBay's hide. They don't have the funding, they don't have the traffic, and the sellers are only going to give them a small fraction of their time and interest before they go on to the next "great third tier" start-up - searching for another eBay with more palatable fees.

I'm not an advocate of putting all your eggs in one basket and never have been. A seller should use all tools available to them.

To me, the support and success of Yahoo! Auctions is important to the longevity of independent online sellers and ultimately THEIR success. But by support I mean devoting a percentage of your items and time to see if Yahoo! Auctions will work for you. I'm not advocating forsaking all other venues in favor of Yahoo!. I sell on Amazon and eBay and will continue to do so.

George

Yahoo! Auctions Sellers' Group

George: You sound like a bright fellow and your thoughts are presented very well. Good job.

Yeah, you're right, a viable competitor to Evil Bay must be well funded, must have a well established name out there. The little startups don't make me feel confident. I want to build a nest where the branch won't fall down. Yahoo, if properly managed, has a golden opportunity right now to send a 155 mm howitzer or rocket propelled grenade right into Evil Bay's San Jose fortress. I hope they don't blow it. I hope they realize what they can do if they put their mind to it right now.

My first feeble steps on yahoo haven't been encouraging but I'm not easily knocked down. A lot of auctions of fine art ended today with literally NOT ONE PAGEVIEW in ten days! Zero! The AVERAGE number of hits is about TWO!!! Out of 115 auctions, the $8 cigarette lighter remains the only sale! On Evil Bay, each item would have had a minimum of 50 hits with an average near 100 (in the old days of four years ago, each item would have had 200-300 hits). But I'll re-run things and be patient, and in the meantime, my Ruby Lane site is bringing in high quality buyers of fine art (see Jon Berg Fine Arts). I have close to $100,000 worth of art on Ruby. Meg, if your organization weren't so screwed up, I'd be giving you a fair chunk of business. I just did my taxes and calculated that I spent about $2,300 on fees to Evil Bay last year. Meg, I'm glad you were so appreciative. The idiot in Italy who got me kicked off is a buyer of $20 and $6 items. Maybe you'll make the money from her, Meg! Good luck, George. Let's hope for the best.

George - glad to see you stop back by! I agree with all that you've said, and have been at Yahoo (first time) since it went free in June.

I've been pleased with my results - esp. when you consider I started with no feedback at all.

There are things I'd change if I owned it, but I'm very pleased with what I've seen since my joining. The seller's group is friendly, helpful and we all share our experiences as we can. The Yahoo system folks do monitor it and I've seen some improvements -- which I can associate with the group's discussions/recommendations.

I view Yahoo as a start-up since they've changed the fee structure. I'm hopeful they continue to serve the community, improve the site and offer a "name" to compete with ebaY. I'm also listings at other places, as I'm a firm believer in sharing my wares!!!

As a "seller" and a "buyer", I can tell you I'm listing at 8/9 sites. I've sold on several, but Yahoo is the only one that:
- I've sold to "unknown" market members
- I've had repeat business from them
- I've sold items valued at more than $8

Most of my sales on other sites since branching out have been to other sellers/buyers. I truly appreciate each and every one of them - but the ones on Yahoo are market members who don't know me from selling, boards, or other! I'll stay there -- no doubt!

Happy selling to one and all...