If you’re an auction seller — on eBay, Amazon (remember those?) or any other site — you may want to take the new survey at AuctionBytes.
No registration is required. I just completed the survey, and it took me about five minutes. When the results are released I’ll post an item here.
I’m sure the results will be interesting, considering all the upheaval at eBay and Amazon these days. Specifically, I’m talking about the reduced viability of eBay Stores for booksellers, and Amazon’s recent vaporization of zShops. Seriously, it seems eBay’s fees are going up faster than college tuition and healthcare put together.
Apparently, our good friends in management at eBay and Amazon believe we are locked into their venues for life, no matter how high their fees, or how badly they cripple our storefronts. Perhaps, then, it’s no coincidence that AuctionBytes’ last survey found a huge, 253 percent increase in signups at Yahoo Stores — clearly a sign that sellers are looking for a fair deal — easy-to-use, branded storefronts that can generate traffic. I don’t foresee any reversal of this trend, although I’m sure Google Base will siphon off some of the growth at Yahoo.
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11 Comments
I have no comment but wonder if anyone has heard any updates on the progress (or lack of) for BuyBundle? I had high hopes but no sales. PB
Hey, I’ll take that survey when I get a minute.
As far as my sales, I have indeed been very disappointed in my ebay stores sales of late. I used to sell several books every day out of my store, and now I’m lucky to sell one a day. I don’t think it’s my inventory. If anything, my inventory is better than it was last year.
I’ve been doing better since I started placing a lot of auctions at 99cents, most of the time I do fine, but sometimes I take a loss. I’m perplexed why the sales are down so much….Hmm, I just got burned for the second time on ebay…perhaps it has something to do with folks getting ripped off? I purchased a lot of DVDs, going against my f/b rule (this person had no f/bs, had just signed up). I paid immediately with PayPal, and never heard a word. Filed a claim with PayPal as soon as I saw “this person is no longer a registered user” on ebay. This person initiated a refund on PayPal, but lo and behold…two weeks later the refund “failed”. I sure was glad PayPal refunded my money. Several years ago, I got burned to the tune of SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS, and nobody did a damn thing: ebay, police, fbi…I almost quit ebay altogether then. I didn’t touch the site for at least six months. Perhaps there are a lot of folks out there that just don’t feel safe shopping at ebay anymore. It seems there are a lot of criminals operating there.
I’m going to check out Yahoo Shops, maybe I’ll list some stuff there, and see how it goes.
Do you know anybody any more who shops on half.com?
Who shops on half.com?? Amazon dropshippers, that’s who…milde4, kalakuta, Lehman!, venturapacific, gretmedia, lavendarstar, book_barons, etc., etc…
Anonymous said…
Who shops on half.com?? Amazon dropshippers, that’s who…milde4, kalakuta, Lehman!, venturapacific, gretmedia, lavendarstar, book_barons, etc., etc…
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Yes, and I sell stuff regularly to milde4 and Lehman! and a few more. No problem, I make a buck, they make a buck and everybody’s happy.
NWBookman
I agree that Half.com is pathetically slow these days. I’ve got several books priced competitively on there, and I think it’s been a year since I’ve had a sale — maybe a year and a half.
Thanks for the question about BuyBundle, I will follow up on that soon.
Hi, I recently sold a book to milde4, and noticed their huge feedback and my curiosity and a search led to this site and the comment about them being an amazon dropshipper. What is an amazon dropshipper out of curiosity?
An Amazon dropshipper is one who lists books and media on Amazon.com that they do not have. Once an item is sold, the Amazon seller purchases on Half.com and has the Half.com seller “dropship” the item to the Amazon buyer.
Gretmedia purchased a book from me on half.com and attempted to cancel the order after I shipped it. Conveniently, gretmedia then claimed that he/she did not receive item and half.com quickly refunded their money. As an internet shopper, I have never had an item not arrive at my door. Nor have I ever had someone complain that they never received an item. Yet coincidentally gretmedia claimed just that! Meanwhile, I cannot leave feedback describing this interaction! I did a search of this buyer and discovered gretmedia has a history of doing this. Do not sell to gretmedia and please post all negative interactions with this buyer! Gretmedia must be stopped!!
Half.com has eliminated the opportunity for sellers to leave feedback in the interest of not scaring away buyers. Clearly half.com wants to insure that they continue to make money even if it means the sellers have no rights at all in the process! I did nothing wrong yet I've been penalized!
Do not sell to gretmedia and please post all negative interactions with this buyer!! GRETMEDIA must be stopped!!
Same here! I got ripped off by Gretmedia. If you ship to them without an electronic tracking number or delivery confirmation (costly!!!), they will falsly claim that they never received the book. Amazon refunds them taking the sellers money away. Both Gretmedia and Amazon profit from it, the seller has the TOTAL loss of the book and the shipping costs and cannot even leave negative feedback because they will retaliate. Amazon obviously supports this fraud making a lot of money.
Replying to the A-Z-Guarantee claim, I scanned my USPS receipt as proof that I shipped it the next day. The denied my claim saying I could not “deliver”. Obviously shipping doesn’t mean deliver to them.
I have been a Pro Merchant for years and just cancelled my $40/months subscription because auf this theft and told Amazon so. I don’t see why I should pay so much money to Amazon if they participate in this kind of scam. They don’t even allow sellers to block certain buyers.
SELLERS BEWARE of “Gretchen Hunt”, “Grethunt” “Gretmedia” “Gretchenmedia”, “New World Archive” (more info about them at this blog: http://www.pazzobooks.com/blog.htm/?p=464 ).
Delivery confirmation is 19 cents. Not exactly “costly”.
19 cents may not be costly for sellers that ship 10 -20 items a day. However, if you’re selling hundreds…. Hmmm