Ebay competition

[RichardsAndReneesGifts]

Ok here is a good question I hope someone can help. I have a lot of suppliers that I deal with and they have some great products that I want to sell but at a retail level, no wholesale. The problem is, when I did a quick peek at Ebay I have noticed the same, similar and/or like products being sold at fraction of what the sellers are buying them for. In other words ABC Widgets suggested retail price is $250.00 but the seller only pays $49.50 for the product. On Ebay they are listing ABC Widgets at $52.50 for only a profit of $3.00. How in the world can a person like me compete against that? Even more frustating is when they have the same product being bidded on and the starting bid is only $1.00. I don't mind competition in fact competition is healthy but how can a retail store compete when everyone is selling the same, similar, and/or like products way cheaper?

[zickit]

Not sure what your question has to do with selling on eCRATER.com


But I will answer this part -

[thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat]

Do searches both there and here to see how many people are selling what you want to sell and what their prices are. No sense trying to sell something on ecrater for $250 when the next picture on the page is offering it at $50.

Also remember that if 100 people are selling resin angels on ecrater, the site looks boring to a buyer and they will decide the item is not very unique after all and change their minds about buying any.

[joyfulsleep]

I view ebay as an advertising cost. Part of my strategy is using ebay to build name recognition. All of my packages go out with my own website and contact information. That's the case with all of my promotional activities. I never promote my ebay store, but need ebay at least for now while I build my business slowly from the ground up.

Ann
www.joyfulsleep.com
www.joyfulsleep.blogspot.com

[partsanthings]

[Strikefoil]

How can you make profit when ebay's fees are high from the get go. If someone says they are making a profit they are pulling your leg. I know they have a book called selling on ebay for dummies. You would have to raise your price and reserve to make a profit or break even.

[keaneprints]

I sell on ebay under the i.d. of vintagealley. I have a lot of items that I am moving to eCrater. I can feel another fee hike coming and frankly I am sick of the fees. They really do cut into the profits.

www.keaneprints.ecrater.com

[zickit]

[kimskorner]

[bacpro]

I agree with whats being discussed here.

I have been on ebay since 1998 ! I've
sold stuff off and on. I had a store a couple
of times. But in the entire time I guess I spent
more on fees than anything else. Yes ebay
is the market place of the world, but each year
its getting harder and harder to compete. Most people
now on ebay are big time power sellers with deep pockets.

If your selling stuff on ebay and are successful, I comment you
because its hard to make a buck anymore....

My input!
John (bacpro)

PS: Don't fall for those infomercials selling HOW to become rich on ebay, they are all scams or don't help at all....
Look it up before you jump in. Here:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/default.asp

[kimskorner]

You can see for yourself if you put a little time into it how successful some ebay stores are.

Take mine for example: LDBMART

You can see the number of listings.....see the number of feedback for a certain month.

Knowing ebay fees you can figure out approximately what we pay each month in fees and looking at the feedback can get a rough estimate of how much is sold every month. Keep in mind not all buyers leave feedback.

We also have customers that after an ebay order or two then call us directly to place orders.

Now if we just put a few items on every now and then I would assume we wouldn't do well at all.

[zickit]

It's all about HOW MUCH TIME you are willing to put in
same with your store here.

The days of list and they will buy are long gone.

You must have a presence on ebay and a following. Same here.

[Strikefoil]

Okay Mr Big and tall/kimskorner proove it to me as to what you are saying about ebay. This I have to see to believe it. I am not convinced. I think someone is pulling a fast one on me. I feel another hike coming too. I think of half those infomercials are scams anyway.

[poopsheet]

If you know what to sell and how to sell it you will make money. That's obvious and that goes for any venue.

[ZanesPlace]

Well, to give my input on this topic, I used to make an average of $3,000.00 a month on Ebay back in 1997. If I listed a pair of vintage inlay cowboy boots for $25.00 the bids went up to as high as $350.00. There were maybe 5-10 other pairs. Now, there are 50-1000 other pairs and I'd be lucky to get $25.00. I realize that the economy was far better back then but Ebay was new and truly gaining in popularity and really a safe place to buy. Now, to me, with the shipping charges and to win a bid you need to have either the software to bid at the last minute or be there to bid at the last minute. I find that I can buy most items cheaper in a store than on Ebay. The shipping fees on Ebay set to cover listing fees, delivery confirmation, insurance and PayPal fees has also made it more economical to just buy it at the store. I sell a little on there only to inform buyers of eCrater. I look at it as advertising and not profit.

To me, Ebay is no longer fun and I think a lot of people feel the same way. If eCrater turns into an SMC outlet, I guarantee it won't go far-seriously. Just ask those who started the Overstock Auction site. I was making more on Overstock when they started out than I was on Ebay with lower fees, easier to list set up and better customer service than Ebay-you actually spoke to a person without being put on hold 24/7. Then, the dreaded drop ship SMC flooded the auction site, listing resin statues under antiques and the collectibles category turned into 90% SMC fountains, resin everything. Long time buyers would email me that they no longer enjoyed the site, that they would check back on my listings but were no longer going to bother with Overstock. Eventually Overstock began removing the SMC stuff but it was too late. They lost too many customers. They closed it, revamped and it never came back. The same can be said for Livedeal when they started. At first it was fun and there were sales but it was a free listing forum and soon came the 50 million resin statues of SMC and it wasn't but a few months and buyers quit bothering. I know I am probably getting SMC people annoyed but in all my 13 years of selling online I have found two things, you sell where the people go and they don't go where SMC is the majority of the listings.