Leaving Ebay-Review of Bidville, Blujay, and Wagglepop
I opened an Ebay store in 2005 because I wanted I place to sell some of my artwork and other items. It went well. I enjoyed it and was pleased with my sales. Earlier this year, I closed my store because I planned on taking a new job, and felt that I'd be too busy to run my store too.
This month I decided I'd like to start selling online again. I read the Ebay Stores boards regularly, and knew that many people were leaving Ebay, and many were advising others to start listing on other auction sites and selling venues.
I wanted to see for myself whether or not the stores "blackout" was true, so I reopened my Ebay store. I also planned to explore selling on other sites.
I did not make any sales from my Ebay store this time, and my traffic was way down from what it used to be. To be fair, I must say that I didn't leave my store reopened for very long, only about a week, before I hit the "close store" button. Still, when I opened my store the first time, I had traffic to my store right away. It wasn't long before I had made my first sale. This time, there was no traffic, and there were no sales.
On the Ebay Stores boards, I paid close attention to where people mentioned that they were going to try selling. I kept an eye on the auction stats listed at Power Sellers Unite (http://www.powersellersunite.com) too, hoping to learn where the best traffic and chances for sales might be.
I'd heard a lot of people saying that Bidville (http://www.bidville.com) was a good location. I went there and signed up to sell, but in the looking around that I did, I didn't see many bids on anything. I haven't done any listing on Bidville at all.
The next place I tried was Blujay (http://www.blujay.com) because I noticed that quite a few people were trying that site. They were also climbing on the Power Sellers Unite chart. First I went to Blujay's discussion forums to get a feel for the site. The atmosphere there was friendly and helpful. I signed up to sell there. Each seller is given a "store", and listings are in more of a classified ad format, rather than an auction listing. Because Blujay submits to Froogle, I heard people talking about receiving lots of traffic to their listings. I listed several of my own items and, while I do have traffic to the listings, it's not huge traffic, and I haven't made any sales there yet. It's very easy to list there though, and free as well, so it won't hurt to keep the items listed just to get additional exposure for any links that I might include.
The third place I tried was Wagglepop. To me, Wagglepop is a very silly name, but it might be just silly enough to catch people's eye. I hesitated about signing up at Wagglepop because they were open once about a year ago, and closed up quickly and without notice. According to what I have read, many were caught off guard, and there were some bad feelings toward the site's management.
However, according to what I've been reading on the Ebay Stores board, and on the Wagglepop forums themselves, changes have been made, and people seem willing to give this site another chance. Wagglepop is climbing steadily on the PSU chart too, and the number of people opening stores there seems to be multiplying rapidly.
I prefer selling in a store format myself. As a buyer, I do not like waiting for an auction to end. I prefer to be able to purchase my items immediately. I'm not sure yet whether or not I'll take a chance and open a store at Wagglepop. I did sign up to sell there, and put up one listing, but haven't done anything more with it yet. I'm still undecided.
The most important thing I've noticed at these other sites so far is that the number of people complaining about non-existent sales is very noticeable. If you go to these sites and look for completed sales, you have to scroll through a LOT of pages before you find them. I've seen completed sales here and there, but not enough to get me excited about any one of these other sites yet.
In the end, it may come down to what so many are saying on the Ebay Stores board: Use Ebay as the advertising that will draw customers to your own website, and don't depend on the other "venues". Since we all have to direct our own traffic anyway, why not direct it to our own site in the first place, and cut out the "middleman"? It's something to think about.
Published by Rebecca Fairbanks
Rebecca Fairbanks lives and writes in the Green Mountains of Vermont. View profile
- Buyer Beware; Don't Fall into the "eBay Trap" Never trust a seller who claims his item(s) are going for a ridiculously high price "on eBay." There are prices people are asking, but they are not the prices buyers are paying. Learn to know the difference to be a sm...
-
How to Close Your Ebay Store
Ebay can be a good place to sell if your have the money to invest. But for the little people who have found themselves squeezed out in the last year, you can follow this quick...
-
Buying a Wedding Dress on Ebay
Who in their right mind would buy a wedding dress on Ebay? Me! Read about all the things I purchased on Ebay that helped me make my wedding day a huge success.
- Ten Reasons You Should Not Buy Things from EBay Several not well know reasons that eBay may not be all it's cracked up to be.
- Selling and Buying Things on EBay Ebay has saved me hundreds of dollars on items that I either wanted or needed, and I know it will continue to save me money. Without eBay and my seller account, I wouldn't have been able to make as much money as I ha...
- Ebay - What You Need to Know About Groups & Selling Adult Items
- Ebay - the First Steps to Getting Your Very Own Account
- Basics of an Ebay Seller Account
- Buying a Used Car on EBay
- What to Beware as Buyer or Seller on Ebay Auction: For One, Check Feedback
- Tips for eBay: Buying and Selling, Shipping and Handling and Feedback
- Ebay - What to Do when You Have Won an Item You No Longer Want
|
|
- Many sellers are leaving Ebay over increased fees and decreased store exposure
- The media category on Ebay has lost many of its powersellers this past month
- On Ebay it is no longer profitable to sell items for four dollars or less
14 Comments
Post a CommentHello. YOu didn't say which two sites you are using and how well you like them......
Can you divulge them?
Thanks,
Pat P
Well, Wagglepop is closing. Glad I never wasted my time on that dump.
http://www.blujay.com/steves_tool_shack
Three months ago I decided to close down my ebay store and auctions. Due to the high costs and the un-fair feedback system ebay have introduced, We moved on. Searching the net for somewhere to put down roots, I found blujay.com. Not an auction site, but a store site, like a great big Mall. The great thing about this site is it is FREE. No listing fees, no final valuation fees. so you can pass those savings on to the buyers. People have already set up a list of where and how to promote your site. If you list a product in your store, it will stay visible for 180 days. PayPal and Google Checkout are also linked to your store, so safe payment methods are in place.
You are, I am sure wondering if it works, All I can tell you is that, compare to Ebay, I dont have to worry about finding those large listing fees, and my profit has been increased. Sales are steady at the moment, no better or worse than ebay was.
So if your looking for a place to set up. Try it. It"s FREE
Steve
I am a former ebayer and I am mainly into buying/selling vintage baseball cards but I do have a small collection of GI Joes. I signed up for this new website which will be offering storefronts (secure buy/sell via BIN/Best Offer).
Its basically a myspace meets craigslist and ebay. Unlike other networking websites this one is really easy to use. I've been able to easily upload pics, videos etc. The best part is the buy/sell feature that will be up in 2 weeks. It is totally free.
the site is www.mybizarea.com
I am a former ebayer and I am mainly into buying/selling vintage baseball cards but I do have a small collection of GI Joes. I signed up for this new website which will be offering storefronts (secure buy/sell via BIN/Best Offer).
Its basically a myspace meets craigslist and ebay. Unlike other networking websites this one is really easy to use. I've been able to easily upload pics, videos etc. The best part is the buy/sell feature that will be up in 2 weeks. It is totally free.
the site is www.mybizarea.com
I have sold/bought on Ebay for almost 10 years. In the beginning it was great, as time has gone it almost pathetic. The amount of traffic and number of bidders is only a fraction of what it use to be. I don't shop on there anymore since its hard to find a good deal. With Ebay fees and USPS' shipping increase people can't list the items at the same prices. I'm giving bidville.com a chance for now, I have seen some great deals on there so I plan to do my auction shopping on there as well. I'm just going to focus on my own website, http://www.bellajewelz.com
I have tried all these alternative sites as well with very minimal results, and am not willing to spend time on listing items on sites that are not effectively giving me a return. I now have my own site maxwellvintage.com in hopes of building on that. Thank you for the information and Best Wishes.
thanks for the information. I have tried other sites and can only agree that the sales were minimal compared to my sales on eBay. I now have my own website and hopefully this will take off favorably. Another site not many people know is Overstock.com auctions, where for very little money you can post your auctions. May be worth checking into. I have and I did sell some items.
i am in the same boat the way they acted in the emails, as if they were doing me a favor then jacked the price up like 70% shows me they don't respect me as a customer. it makes me so mad i had about 400-500 bucks going their way each month and that isn't good for them!!!!!! all they do in host a damn site!!!