I Aint Gonna Use Ebay No More!

This article is an adaptation of a recent Pheebay forum submission.

My experience when trying to sell on an alternative site to eBay a few months ago was far from good. I did a test listing of items that invariably sold on eBay at the start price used. In truth I would have expected, if not 100%, at least 90% to sell on a first time listing at eBay. The reality was that I only sold 10% of the test listings on the 'elsewhere' and, worse still, this was after several relists. I was using a fairly large and better known site by 'elsewhere' standards.

So herein lies the big problem for the 'St Elsewheres' in my opinion. Serious sellers that NEED regular income from their sales have little serious alternative to eBay until sufficient buyers are attracted 'elsewhere'. A smaller margin at eBay is better than a load of free listings going nowhere 'elsewhere'.

Now the debate in my mind for the 'elsewheres' is what attracts buyers? The sites or the sellers? Or is it a broader combination of factors?

How do sellers influence the 'elsewhere' experience for buyers?

In the categories I like to trade in I find the strength in depth of listings, and resulting competition, simply isn't there on most eBay wannabees (I class a wannabee as a site accepting listings in as broad a range of categories as eBay).

On these sites I find a large percentage of sales listings are done on an 'Instant Purchase' basis at inflated and unrealistic prices (to a knowledgable buyer). Why? Because it costs nothing to list by sellers who have no financial pressure to perform day in day out. They are happy to see free relist after relist go by knowing if only handful of items sell they will have done OK on those items.

This makes browsing to locate potential purchases a terrible experience for me. It feels as if my time is being stolen, wasted, undervalued and taken for granted. Obviously this is my own experience in the collectable categories I like to trade in but I wonder if this is repeated to such an extent on other types of inventory?

Apart from the sellers, how can the sites influence the buyer experience?

As a ready, willing and able buyer, the minute I see free listing for sellers available, I go cold. Why? Because of my experience detailed above. I know if it's free to list I will have to wade through too many unrealisticly priced items and I'm no longer willing to do that. As a buyer I can find good quality items at keen and competitive prices being sold all day long on eBay.

I know it's not fashionable to say such things on Pheebay too often, but that's the truth. I'd love it to be different and will try to help 'elsewheres' however I can because eBay needs competition but there's an awful long way to go yet in my opinion.

So top of my advice list to 'elsewheres' is, get real and charge to list. That way sellers have the incentive to be competitive and must sell to make their time and effort viable. Then you have a high percentage of listings that will appeal to buyers and the browsing experience improves dramatically. So what if your listing numbers halve? At least you may see a worthwhile percentage of the remaining listings sell.

I remain a strong opponent of many actions and directions at eBay over the past year. However I also find myself becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of marketing ability there seems to be among most of the 'Elsewheres'.

I stress at this point that advertising is not marketing. Advertising is only a part of marketing. All too often a poor marketing strategy will waste fortunes in high profile advertising and the owners/Directors are simply left counting the cost.

In my opinion many aspects of marketing an elsewhere can be achieved quite cheaply and very effectively before feeding the advertising agencies fat cheques. Before turning to TV or radio to spread the word they need to make sure they are advertising something people will buy in to again after they've tried once. If they don't then that campaign will prove a short term but expensive lesson learned at best.

So my next plea to the free to list 'Elsewheres' is to stop looking at listing numbers as some kind of measure of success. If it costs nothing to list then how can that number mean anything at all to anyone? Start looking at completed sales numbers, income revenue, profit/loss margins. Then concentrate on the marketing angles that work positively for those meaningful numbers.

Anyone reading this post can grab a script, a book on PHP, a few bucks worth of hosting and spend a week banging thousands of listings up. Hit the return key a week later and whoopee! You're an eBay! But that was the easy part. Now where are the sales coming from to reward your time, pay your bills, feed your kids? Most people that try it will be back on the PAYE treadmill within a month.

Marketing is a vast subject and the most crucial aspect of any commercial enterprise. Whether you're a newsagent on a street corner or a Director of a PLC, you live or starve by your marketing. And it's exactly the same if your business trades online.

So where does all this lead?

I guess I've criticized a few site owner members of Pheebay. Please take it as meant constructively.

I guess I will also have annoyed a few loyal flag waving sellers for various sites. Please take my words as intended constructively.

But the real question I'm rasiing is this; When will the much needed eBay competitor appear? I've still not seen it or anything that, given time, looks like it could be it.

Simple maths tells me that few 'elsewhere' sites will have a significant valuation attached to them, at least not a value to the liking of their owners. This makes the much needed mergers or takeovers difficult to envisage, never mind achieve.

So we are left with the likes of Jack Ma, an enthused Google or Microsoft, a revamped Amazon or even a capable offline business talent emerging as our only hope of a genuine eBay competitor. Don't hold your breath and if you have bills to pay, don't burn your bridges at eBay.

By all means complain about eBay for what they do to upset you, that's natural and a right we all enjoy when we live in free countries. But make sure you don't go so far that you actually bite the hand that may, one day, be the only one that will feed you.

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