eBay

keziak · ‎08-03-2017

Despite low success lately I have continued to list stuff at auction in the hope of improving overall sales. The last batch, down in flames. I guess I need to cut back and only list auctions that I really really think have a shot at a buyer, and put the rest in the Store despite slow sales there too. (talking about book lots, I already list my single books solely in the Store). I get sales of book lots out of the store at the rate of about one a day, or less.

timemachine777 · ‎08-03-2017

@keziak wrote:
Despite low success lately I have continued to list stuff at auction in the hope of improving overall sales. The last batch, down in flames. I guess I need to cut back and only list auctions that I really really think have a shot at a buyer, and put the rest in the Store despite slow sales there too. (talking about book lots, I already list my single books solely in the Store). I get sales of book lots out of the store at the rate of about one a day, or less.

Just open another account just for auctions, and call it Crash n Burn.

keziak · ‎08-03-2017

@timemachine777 wrote:
@keziak wrote:
Despite low success lately I have continued to list stuff at auction in the hope of improving overall sales. The last batch, down in flames. I guess I need to cut back and only list auctions that I really really think have a shot at a buyer, and put the rest in the Store despite slow sales there too. (talking about book lots, I already list my single books solely in the Store). I get sales of book lots out of the store at the rate of about one a day, or less.
Just open another account just for auctions, and call it Crash n Burn.

I have a second non-store account and used to run auctions there. It got super tedious to have to toggle between the two sites though.

luckythewinner · ‎08-03-2017

@keziak wrote:
Despite low success lately I have continued to list stuff at auction in the hope of improving overall sales.

I don't see auctions improving overall sales unless the items are well-suited for the auction format - i.e. items with little or no competition and strong demand that exceeds that available supply.

IMHO if there is competition or low demand for an item, all an auction will attract is bottom-feeders.

timemachine777 · ‎08-03-2017

@keziak wrote:
@timemachine777 wrote:
@keziak wrote:
Despite low success lately I have continued to list stuff at auction in the hope of improving overall sales. The last batch, down in flames. I guess I need to cut back and only list auctions that I really really think have a shot at a buyer, and put the rest in the Store despite slow sales there too. (talking about book lots, I already list my single books solely in the Store). I get sales of book lots out of the store at the rate of about one a day, or less.
Just open another account just for auctions, and call it Crash n Burn.

I have a second non-store account and used to run auctions there. It got super tedious to have to toggle between the two sites though.

I have so many accounts everywhere that I can't keep track of them half the time. What surprises me the most is that I use really really long an jumbled passwords, and I can remember all of them. I wrote them all down in a book years ago, and I recently created a few more accounts on another venue, and I can't find my book to add the account info to it. A lot of good that did.

timemachine777 · ‎08-03-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
@keziak wrote:
Despite low success lately I have continued to list stuff at auction in the hope of improving overall sales.
I don't see auctions improving overall sales unless the items are well-suited for the auction format - i.e. items with little or no competition and strong demand that exceeds that available supply.

IMHO if there is competition or low demand for an item, all an auction will attract is bottom-feeders.

Last year some guy from MD posted here. He was bumming. He list a few really nice China cabinets for a penny and free pick-up. They sold for about that. No body really bid. If he were up my way, I would have given him a 100 each for them in a heart beat. Nice pieces, no bidders.

pantlandia · ‎08-03-2017

@keziak wrote:
Despite low success lately I have continued to list stuff at auction in the hope of improving overall sales. The last batch, down in flames. I guess I need to cut back and only list auctions that I really really think have a shot at a buyer, and put the rest in the Store despite slow sales there too. (talking about book lots, I already list my single books solely in the Store). I get sales of book lots out of the store at the rate of about one a day, or less.

Honestly, I think your prices are too high for lots. People want to buy lots of books for cheap. I don't think anyone is going to pay $2 or $3 or $4 per book in a lot of 4 or 5. Just my opinion from someone who buys a lot of lots 🙂

7606dennis · ‎08-03-2017

Auctions are not a format that should be used everything. Unless there is some interest in the item from a certain group of collectors there is probably not much point in listing in that format.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

keziak · ‎08-03-2017

Thanks for your input. There are instances where I start the auction at about $1 each. But generally $4 for 4 books, for example, doesn't seem worth it. I did sell a lot of "Unfortunate Events" for about that but in other cases I ask more.

I think shipping is probably a major issue, even with media mail rates.

coolections · ‎08-03-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
I don't see auctions improving overall sales unless the items are well-suited for the auction format - i.e. items with little or no competition and strong demand that exceeds that available supply.

IMHO if there is competition or low demand for an item, all an auction will attract is bottom-feeders.

It baffles me that many posters do not understand that and complain about doing auctions. Auctions have always since the beginning of time succeeded when there is demand, low supply and a start price worthy of attracting bidders.

gramophone-georg · ‎08-03-2017

@coolections wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
I don't see auctions improving overall sales unless the items are well-suited for the auction format - i.e. items with little or no competition and strong demand that exceeds that available supply.

IMHO if there is competition or low demand for an item, all an auction will attract is bottom-feeders.
It baffles me that many posters do not understand that and complain about doing auctions. Auctions have always since the beginning of time succeeded when there is demand, low supply and a start price worthy of attracting bidders.

It baffles me that so many people fall for the eBay propaganda that auctions are dead, gone, passe.

Chaos is NOT an "industry standard".

sg51 · ‎08-03-2017

Some things still do great at auctions.

Not as many as once did, but auctions are not dead.

postingid7659 · ‎08-03-2017

I can buy books everywhere for cheap, unless they're rare, like the last volume of a series that only got printed once, or a first printing, I don't know why you'd sell them here at all. I have boxes of books that were my sister's and my mothers and you can't give them away in person.

coolections · ‎08-04-2017

You are right auctions are alive. It's those sellers who list items not in demand and too high a start price that auctions are dead.

keziak · ‎08-04-2017

@postingid7659 wrote:
I can buy books everywhere for cheap, unless they're rare, like the last volume of a series that only got printed once, or a first printing, I don't know why you'd sell them here at all. I have boxes of books that were my sister's and my mothers and you can't give them away in person.

Well, of course most books are not worth anything (just like everything else is my guess). Right now I am selling a lot more on Amazon than on ebay and it's frustrating because this is a recent development. I am the first to admit that I am probably not in tune right now with what will sell in a week at an auction, unfortunately. Many things sell out of the Store, taking longer, and I"m impatient because I am not meeting my selling goals overall right now.