Alternative auction only website/app
Hi All,
I used to use eBay a lot when younger as I loved the exciting auction action, however it now seems to be taken over but dropshippers, Chinese product sellers and scams left right and center.
It seems this is a knock on effect from buy it now and multiple quantity listings, however there are many alternatives (probably better in some aspects) to eBay, to do this. It’s become convoluted.
So I am here to ask if the auction format is still something people use and enjoy, or would like see again in an alternative application? Pure auction listings, like the OG eBay.
Any other thoughts and ponders welcome.
Thanks
2 comments
tobaccocardyahoo
·3 years agoThe buyers have moved on.
Unless you are offering uncommon items which have collector's demand, the auction space is occupied by high end auction houses' online auctions and small auctioneers trying to compete with online auction houses.
Based on my observations, many of the items listed by auctioneers on LiveAuctioneers or Invaluable are not selling. And many of the sales are to sellers on other marketplaces for use as fixed price listings.
I bottom feed on those sites, and get either underpriced treasures which are out of favor, or large lots of ordinary items which have extremely fast payback.
Before the Internet I would go to 3 or 4 in person auctions per week in 3 states. There was plenty to buy, and lots of ways to sell them.
When Ebay came along, many people became addicted to Ebay buying, business was great if you had the merch or you knew more than the average bear.
Then the fit hit the shan. Tons of far eastern copies of American collectibles were listed on Ebay. Lousy copies like the Chinese copies of Roseville Pottery. Buyer were highly irate when they knew they were had. Ebay did nothing to stem the flow.
The blush was off the rose.
Today, I only use Ebay auctions for ungraded sports cards. There is enough interest by other sellers in buying these cards and having them graded and encased in plastic forever to turn them quickly. And I have no interest in adding additional steps to my selling process - being Old, lazy and cranky.
maxine*j
·3 years agoI
I don't know how many years ago you're talking about, but the main reason for the excitement and enthusiasm in the early days was simply the novelty: Internet usage by ordinary people was rather new, eBay was new, the very idea of on-line auctions was new, collectors were seeing things they'd never seen at their local antiques/junque stores. It was all quite thrilling entertainment.
Now, buying on-line is just the way people shop. routinely. Who wants to wait for days to find out if they're going to get what they ere shopping for and how much it will cost?
As for the collectors, what most of them found was the stuff they thought was scarce, if not downright rare, was available in multiples on eBay, worth only a fraction of what they thought.
Through the years, innumerable on-line auction sites were born and died, while eBay trundled along, with auctions now accounting for less than 15% of sales on the platform.
Is there still place for auctions? Sure. There are eBay sellers who post here who still use auctions successfully. And if you Google on-line auctions, you'll find several listed. Is there room for yet one more? All I can say is that I wouldn't invest my money in one.
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