EBay Vs Tazbar Auctions

But the costs of buying and selling on eBay are spiraling upward and the value and fun we used to have on the site is now replaced by laborious searching and a hard nosed commercial attitude rather than any sense of community.

With eBay again raising the commission charges it imposes on sellers it's just a matter of time before the 'shipping and handling' costs levied on sales step up another notch and the buyer value falls even further. eBay no longer have their feet on the ground when it comes to real people looking to trade with each other. It's all about "powersellers" and flogging cheap chinese imports at fixed prices now.

So it's time for the regular Joe's to find an alternative and the purpose of writing this article is to highlight a site I've adopted as my new place to trade collectibles, Tazbar.

As a seller on eBay I got used to losing over 10% of the final price in fees but now I've found a much cheaper alternative. On Tazbar I simply pay $8 or £4 per month and I can list up to 2,000 items completely fee free. No individual listing fees and no final value fees. 2,000 items!!

So is the site as good as eBay? You bet it is! They are careful to check and verify who members are by using an automated phone call in addition to credit card verification. This makes me think the scams you hear about at eBay are less likely on Tazbar. To tackle the problem of phishing they do a kind of password swap where Tazbar show you their password before you enter yours. Very sensible.

But once you get inside Tazbar a whole new world opens up. I can use Google Checkout in addition to Paypal. I can start and end auctions when I like without paying scheduling fees. I can use auctions with reserves, do instant purchases. In fact I can do everything I could on eBay and more.

Tazbar is smaller than eBay and, as a result, you still have that old community feeling. No "trolls" in forums to maliciously report your listings or insult you. Just friendly folk willing to help or pass the time of day. Do you remember how eBay was many years ago?

There's less to browse as a buyer, although the numbers are growing fast. The users are all english speaking - mainly from the UK and US. You can choose to trade in British £ or American $. People buy and my listings are uploaded into Google Base and get indexed by the search engines too. It's a slower pace true but, as eBay seems hell bent on turning people off now, I can see the kind of folks I like trading with finding Tazbar soon.

So, if you sell on eBay now, I seriously do think a presence on Tazbar will pay off for you soon. If you buy then you will love the realistic shipping costs and many low start auctions already appearing every day!