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These are general, “I’m just curious” questions… I can certainly understand why sellers are PO’d at Ebay and won’t be doing business with them anymore….anyway:
Do you think most of your bids come from fellow Forum members, non-members, or a healthy mix of both? Considering all of the new eBay fees, do you think selling on the Forum exclusively would keep you in a more profitable position?
The only problem I have with people selling on the Forum, is often they don’t have a starting “bid”. It makes it hard to know if I’m insulting the person with my offer. I’m not a cheap person, but it’s hard to know what a person might find insulting.
Any thoughts?
lamortefille wrote:These are general, “I’m just curious” questions… I can certainly understand why sellers are PO’d at Ebay and won’t be doing business with them anymore….anyway:
Do you think most of your bids come from fellow Forum members, non-members, or a healthy mix of both? Considering all of the new eBay fees, do you think selling on the Forum exclusively would keep you in a more profitable position?
The only problem I have with people selling on the Forum, is often they don’t have a starting “bid”. It makes it hard to know if I’m insulting the person with my offer. I’m not a cheap person, but it’s hard to know what a person might find insulting.
Any thoughts?I sell on ebay, and the prices sometimes are better. I do have Windstone bidders that are not forum members. Also, it takes away the bad feeling when I have to tell someone “no” when I feel their offer is too low. Bids are certainly less confusing than sorting thru PMs and posts.
The thing about a starting bid when here on the forum is that I dont want to feel dumb if my starting price is too high. Also, folks will ask for payment options, tell you they will pay on a certain date and then dont, Expect shipping to be in that price so then I feel bad when asking for shipping, Give sob stories and ask for a lower price, so once again I feel bad when saying No, saying they are interested and not following thru, waiting for peoples responses before being able to answer another interested party, etc etc. On Ebay, there are no issues like that. Those are just some of the downs to selling on the forum, though when you need a quick sale, I find it very useful.
I’ve never tried selling on ebay. I see all the fees and go ouch!
I agree with Ski about selling on the forum. It’s good for a quick sale, but, it’s very confusing and time consuming. Plus, if too many people respond (it happened to me a few times) then the PMs get knocked out of my inbox.
I always feel bad about saying no. Even if the offer isn’t good. I don’t nomally put how much I’d like for an item since I was told that my prices were way too high, the first time I tried to sell here. But, from dealing with kijiji and other free classified websites, it’s easier to deal with people here. Plus, at least for Windstones there is normally more interest here.
Personally, I always offer to the forum members here first, because ebay can be fairly unpredictable at times, plus I prefer to dodge the fees when I can. If someone offers me less than I need for a piece, I’m never insulted, I’m flattered they offered at all, and just apologize that I cant take their offer at the moment. 😀 Since alot of what I offer for sale is stuff I’ve painted or sculpted, I’m always tickled to get ANY offer. 😀
I have a suggestion for avoiding losing PMs; if you think you’re going to get too many PMs, you can request to be emailed.
As for selling on ebay… I really don’t sell a lot. I sold 1 piece on ebay, and a forum member ended up getting it, and I sold a piece on the forum, so I can’t say, really. Personally, I’d rather sell on the forum.
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http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmThings I sell on eBay are things like clothes, shoes, Beanie Babies, etc. I rarely sell Windstones on eBay – only when something retires, and I happen to have it in stock. I will probably continue to do this, but I’m closing my store. The monthly fees are killing me, and I have too much stuff sitting around my house, waiting to be sold. I can’t stand the piles anymore. I want it gone!
I buy a lot from ebay, but I usually sell or trade through the forum.
If you have a net work of people you trust, there can be many things traded or sold, just through PM’s.
I have sold things through the forum that I noticed that people wanted and I had an extra. So I PM the person, tell them I have a certain item and this is what I would like for it.
It has worked for me….and it is less stressful than ebay and I don’t mind doing lay away…
emerald212 wrote:Things I sell on eBay are things like clothes, shoes, Beanie Babies, etc. I rarely sell Windstones on eBay – only when something retires, and I happen to have it in stock. I will probably continue to do this, but I’m closing my store. The monthly fees are killing me, and I have too much stuff sitting around my house, waiting to be sold. I can’t stand the piles anymore. I want it gone!
I’m sorry to hear you’re closing your store. Now who will I order my Windstones from? (I know, I didn’t order much, there’s always too many LPs….)
I’ve done both ways too. I prefer to sell thru the forum because people understand why shipping isn’t $5.00 and less fees. Ebay can hit or miss. I have some beautiful griffins that didn’t sell on ebay, and then I’ve had peices go for ridiculous amounts of money. I wish there were a better place to sell stuff like this. Maybe something like Ebay, but more artsy geared. Maybe there is and I just don’t know about being new to this…Something like MHSP is too model horses….
lamortefille wrote:These are general, “I’m just curious” questions… I can certainly understand why sellers are PO’d at Ebay and won’t be doing business with them anymore….anyway:
Do you think most of your bids come from fellow Forum members, non-members, or a healthy mix of both? Considering all of the new eBay fees, do you think selling on the Forum exclusively would keep you in a more profitable position?
The only problem I have with people selling on the Forum, is often they don’t have a starting “bid”. It makes it hard to know if I’m insulting the person with my offer. I’m not a cheap person, but it’s hard to know what a person might find insulting.
Any thoughts?
I have the same problem when I make offers for the items here. I’m afraid that if I offer too little, the artist is going to get insulted. Usually though, it’s just a little back and forth barter until both parties are happy.
Romeodanny wrote:emerald212 wrote:Things I sell on eBay are things like clothes, shoes, Beanie Babies, etc. I rarely sell Windstones on eBay – only when something retires, and I happen to have it in stock. I will probably continue to do this, but I’m closing my store. The monthly fees are killing me, and I have too much stuff sitting around my house, waiting to be sold. I can’t stand the piles anymore. I want it gone!
I’m sorry to hear you’re closing your store. Now who will I order my Windstones from? (I know, I didn’t order much, there’s always too many LPs….)
Oh, no! You misunderstood. I’m closing my Ebay store. I’m still running my website and Emerald’s Emporium. I will still be selling Windstones. That hasn’t changed. I just won’t be selling clothes, etc. on Ebay any more. I’m done selling clothes on May 1st. I’ll be selling Windstones for as long as possible.
asinnamon wrote:I’ve done both ways too. I prefer to sell thru the forum because people understand why shipping isn’t $5.00 and less fees. Ebay can hit or miss. I have some beautiful griffins that didn’t sell on ebay, and then I’ve had peices go for ridiculous amounts of money. I wish there were a better place to sell stuff like this. Maybe something like Ebay, but more artsy geared. Maybe there is and I just don’t know about being new to this…Something like MHSP is too model horses….
Try http://www.etsy.com. That’s a bit more artsy.
Thank you for all of the viewpoints and comments. 😀 eBay is getting out of control and it’s good to see some back and forth about other options.
The public really needs an eBay alternative. My husband searches for new venues all of the time b/c he hates eBay and PayPal. It seems that all of the new good sites get closed (bought up by guess who.) 😡
emerald212 wrote:Romeodanny wrote:emerald212 wrote:Things I sell on eBay are things like clothes, shoes, Beanie Babies, etc. I rarely sell Windstones on eBay – only when something retires, and I happen to have it in stock. I will probably continue to do this, but I’m closing my store. The monthly fees are killing me, and I have too much stuff sitting around my house, waiting to be sold. I can’t stand the piles anymore. I want it gone!
I’m sorry to hear you’re closing your store. Now who will I order my Windstones from? (I know, I didn’t order much, there’s always too many LPs….)
Oh, no! You misunderstood. I’m closing my Ebay store. I’m still running my website and Emerald’s Emporium. I will still be selling Windstones. That hasn’t changed. I just won’t be selling clothes, etc. on Ebay any more. I’m done selling clothes on May 1st. I’ll be selling Windstones for as long as possible.
😆 I thought of that afterwards…. 💡 “Oh, I think she was talking about her ebay store….” 😆 I just never thought to edit the post. 😆
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