We have pages and pages of similar postings. But, the people who are pushing the success of each site seems to jump in and get very defensive of anything critical that is said as well as posting pages of glowing remarks about the site in question.

I cannot keep up with 5 sites. I tried. I get very little done on any of them.

So, I need to pick 1 ebay alternative and these are the ones I'm looking at. Please keep the comments brief. I don't care about page views. I only care about actual sales. I've given an example to start you off since I do have experience with a couple, and I do hope I get some responses.

1. Ecrater:

Positives: Free, Easy to use and easy to set up, Great Google placement.

Negatives: No HTML, font is hard to read, sales are slow but steady

2. BISI:

Positives: Free or very low cost, nice looking website

Negatives: Very slow, Owner may be over-extended as IF, Plumdrop and BISI seem to be suffering the same issues. Somewhat difficult to set up and too many pages to go through for each listing. No sales for the two months I tried it.

3. Tias:

Positives: Good Traffic

Negatives: Very expensive, restrictions on use. Have not activated store so do not know about sales.

4. Atomic Mall

5. Bonanzle

6. Etsy

I would like similar experiences from users of the following sites...PLEASE, just one post per person telling their experiences (brief positive and negative) of each.

Again, PLEASE limit it to one post and BRIEF comments

I can give you a review of Atomic Mall from my own experiences...I can't speak for everyone who sells there....

Postive:
I am making sales and most of the customers are finding my product through Google or other serach engines....not "seller to seller" sales although I did make a request for some books and another seller listed them for me so I could buy from AM).

When I do a search for items of which I sell (I use generic terms, not specific) my items always rank well in Google and Google shopping...at least 1 listing will show up on the 1st page and usually 2-3 listings....

The fees for selling are the best of any site out there that is getting results....and not many sites outside of eBay get steady results....

Another positive is that the owner is "on top of it"...if there are problems he is available...while you might not like the answer he gives he does give direct and honest answers.....it was the owners involvement that drew me to AM....the results are what keeps me there....

Negative:

The site is still too small.

Although the site is growing pretty fast compared to most other sites (Bonanzle being the exception) it is still relatively small....while people are finding our products through Google it just isnt big enough yet to bring shoppers directly to the AM to start shopping like they do with Google or eBay....if it wasnt for the search engine exposure, there would be very few sales at AM and fewer reasons for buyers to go to the site.....I am hoping that next year at this time more sellers will have found success at AM and the site is at the 1/2 Million mark at least....variety of items is what will keep the buyers coming back...

If you ask me, I prefer auction sites with lots of items and buyers, because that's how items get sold. I don't like to just let items sit in the store and wait. But none of those sites fits that requirement. And I'm definitely anti-feebay, don't get me wrong. Sorry, I don't have a specific answer for you.

OK, taking a break from listings, so I guess I will take a stab at this.

1. eCrater: Well, I can't get the darn bulk file to load, and I'll be damned if I will list a couple hundred items individually. Plus, I haven't really heard anyone say they are having good sales there. Why waste time on a site just to have stuff sit?

2. BISI: only works if your store looks professional. If your logo and graphics stick out like a sore thumb (whatever that means) you won't get sales.

Don't waste time listing items individually. Use the bulk file. It is super easy. If you list individually, do a save and edit and then copy listing. However, learn the bulk file and you will be all set. If you are wondering what to enter, enter a few items and then do an export. Then all you need to do is delete column A (the assigned item # column) and insert a column after E for the image urls. Copy and paste options for your other items and get to it. Weight is in pounds, so an ounce would be .06, 2 ounces .13 and so on for first class items under 1lb.

3. Tias (never used them)

4. Atomic Mall: Just wait until they switch over. So many people seem to be having a problem that use IE, so I don't know what the deal is. They offer great exposure, but I'm still getting more sales at my BISI store, so I just don't know. I know my items were getting views, but after a few sales, that was about it. In their defense though, I haven't listed as much there as in my store. The fees are better than eBay, but they do start to add up with only a few sales.

5. Bonanzle: It's a nice site, but will take niche stores awhile before they start to see any sales. The layout takes time to get used to and store setup really isn't friendly to stores with lots of items. I'm constantly having to change to 100 items per page if I dont' want to sit there and page through everything. I've sold to other sellers, but that is about it.

I think one of the issues with Bonanzle is that there is not a real friendly way for buyers to look around. Have you looked at the categories page? I've been trying to shop around there, but it's tough. I'm constantly going into booths with 5 items in them then having to back out. It's kind of like if Craigslist wasn't divided into cities. If you can't handle the bulk file though, Bonanzle is easy to list at.

6. Etsy: (never used them) I've heard it's a good place for crafts.

1. Ecrater:

I'm using eCrater but sales through the
site are infrequent at best. While it is easy
to use and post to, the lack of HTML, even
the most basic, limits what wares I can post
there effectively. The Google exposure is
nice, but without a good item description
to make the sale, I'm afraid that exposure
is pretty much wasted.

And, yes, I hate that tiny grey text they use.

2. BISI:

Tried to register on several occasions but
never received a confirmation email. Wrote
about the matter but never received any
response.

3. Tias:

Not familiar with this one.

4. Atomic Mall

Pretty easy to list items to, have had several
sales there so far, and am hopeful as the site
grows they will be able to handle more complex
item descriptions and HTML. The lack of that
ability has limited what I list for sale there.

My experience with their customer service has
been excellent and fast.

I have high hopes for Atomic Mall as time goes
on -- enough so that I already opened a second
account there. Once they can handle more
complex HTML item descriptions I'll be ready to
start posting.

5. Bonanzle

Finally got my booth there open this week
so haven't anything to report about sales. To
get the HTML in my item descriptions to post
properly is a bit convoluted and very slow, but
at least I can get it to work on Bonanzle unlike
AtomicMall or eCrater. The site is very well
set up and thought out to enable sellers to get
the maximum exposure through search engines
as well as through direct email contact with old
customers. There's lots to like there and I'm
encouraged by what I see so far.

If I had to choose a single site from the ones
you listed, Bonanzle would be the one.

6. Etsy

Etsy is a site not suited to my wares so I've
never registered there. I have two sisters who
both sell there and like the site, but I've had
no personal experience with it.

Atomic Mall is unfriendly to dial up users. If they could fix that more would attempt to buy and sell there.

Northern Nights wrote (View Post): › Atomic Mall is unfriendly to dial up users. If they could fix that more would attempt to buy and sell there.

Just curious as to what issues you're having
with Atomic Mall that you think is due to being
on a dial-up connection.

I'm on a dial-up connection using AOL and have
been able to list and browse there without any
problems.

1. eCrater: No Sales there in 3 months

2. BISI: Haven't tried

3. Tias: Haven't tried

4. Atomic Mall: Self-Naru'd weeks ago.

5. Bonanzle: Love it, sold quite a bit.

6. Etsy: Registered haven't used it ever.

I'll try to help - and keep it simple!!

1. eCrater - been there for a while now and my sales seem to ebb and flow. At first, I also did not like the lack of html; I've now gotten used to it. I do love the one page listing process and the ease of the selling process and the buy process. I'll 'stay' - it works alright for me!!

2. BISI - I did set up an account, but struggled with my logo for almost 2 days. It made my head spin, and while I'm html-capable, I've never had so many head-aches over setting up a place. I tried to start listing, and it was slow for me and too many pages/steps to list....so - it's on the back-burner for now.

3. TIAS - no experience.

4. AtomicMall - been there for about 60 days +/-, and don't have much inventory. However, I'm pleased to report that I've made 20 sales, and the average of my sales here are much higher than any other site. All of them have been to 'new customers' - no marketing, promoting or 'sellers buying'. I've had 4 international sales, so the exposure is grand!

I'm slowly getting inventory there. My 20 sales was with inventory at around 175 thru 280....not too bad sell-thru for a new site and my new store.

5. Bonanzle - I joined there about the same time as AM. I began to add inventory and then started looking at the site as a buyer. I found it confusing and hard to navigate as a buyer. Since I buy as much or more than I sell online, I do know if it ain't easy, it ain't happening. So - I've got 50+/- items listed there, and have stopped efforts for now - like you - can only do so much in 24 hours.

6. Etsy - does not fit my items/stuff!

Good luck and may all the info. you get help you find success!!!

1. eCrater: 1 Sale there in 3 months

2. BISI: Haven't tried

3. Tias: Went with Ruby Lane, and glad I did. Sales are great.

4. Atomic Mall: Excellent Google Exposure, 16 sales in around 6 weeks. Use IE7 with Dial-up and works great for me. Just as good with Firefox if you want.

5. Bonanzle: Just started a week ago, still waiting for the sales to start.

6. Etsy: Plate is already full!!!!

1. eCrater: sign up but never listed...

2. BISI: Haven't tried

3. Tias: Who? Never heard of it...

4. Atomic Mall: Excellent Google Exposure, fastest sales I have had on an a venue besides ebay, The owner is always there to help along with others, The owner will tell you like it is, you may not like it, but he is honest with you and does not "mask" the truth.

5. Bonanzle: Well if I ever have time to sit and wait for the site to load, I may have stayed. But they promised it would be fixed and was fix but 2 weeks later I still could not get the pages to load in under 2 minutes and I use broadband.

6. Etsy: Haven't tried

I say go with AM.

Thank you all.

Tias (for those who ask) is a site like Ruby Lane. Difference is that they charge a flat monthly fee and 10% FVF. I have way too many items to pay per item listed. Sales seem to be slow for those I have checked but a couple are doing several thousand a year. (sales that is)

I like Atomic Mall for how easy it was to grab the ebay listings. I guess (based on all the above) I will keep working on that one. I felt more comfortable with ecrater so had been working harder on it, but the sales are so slow I was checking to see if there might be a better alternative.

Maybe I'll keep a few things on EC and move most to Atomic Mall.

I don't find any of the sites "buyer friendly". It is hard to browse any sellers listings and I hate only seeing a few listings per page.

Blujay definitely has the best buyer setup (maybe because I am so used to the way Ebay used to be) but I haven't heard anyone being very successful there, and the shipping matrix doesn't work well if you get multiple sales. So, I just left it off the list.

Thank you again for the honest responses.

I don't think I will be selling much until after Christmas. My items are not gift types and everyone is running out of $$ and credit these days. But, I would like to have an alternative filled with things just in case sales start to pick up the first of the year.

Good luck to everyone here. I hope you all find great success where ever you settle.