Online auction sellers fall generally into one of two camps: those who like eBay, and those who hate Feebay with a passion. Those of us in the first camp – and I’m happy to stand up and be counted here – sometimes make the observation that we go where the buyers are, and the buyers are all still on eBay. The response to that is generally that we don’t know what we’re talking about.
Now Trevor Ginn, head of Auctioning4U, has given us some real listings to look at, and interesting looking they certainly are:
Over the last few months have sold many Harpers & Queen Brown Cowhide Briefcase Joyanatura so we decided to try idential listing on other auction sites. Over the period of the trial we have sold 17 for an average price of £27 (ranging from £12.50 to £63) on eBay. Data for the other sites is as follows:
- CQout: No Bid, 15 viewers
- eBid: No Bid, 6 viewers
- QXL: 1 Bid at 99p, 102 viewers
- Tazbar: No Bid, No Data
Admittedly, it’s one product, but really, how conclusive can you get?
6 Responses
I’m still watching Tazbar with great interest. Out of all the alternatives (I hadn’t appreciated how many there were until recently) this venue stands out. Admittedly, 90,000 listings pales in comparison to eBay, but the number is rising steadily.
A good number of other sites seem to have identikit boiler plate templated interfaces. The Tazbar site makes a refreshing change. Thank you for allowing comments by the way 😉
I think you are telling people what they already know… significantly more items sell on eBay at the moment than elsewhere.
It would be interesting to know how many sold through eBay express in that time. A good comparison with a new site such as TAZBAR.
Then perhaps a comparison of the sales fees had the item sold… that would also be interesting.
Rozsr: “what people already know”: the point being that this time, there are actual data from actual listings across several sites, rather than people just speculating from the point of view of their own particular favourite site.
A comparison of the fees *if* the items sell is pretty irrelevent if the item doesn’t sell. It’s like those buyers who say “such-and-such is cheaper, but they’ve sold out” – if you can’t avail yourself of the cheaper price, then the cheaper price is meaningless.
I think this is actually a very good illustration that reasonable pricing makes for a more dynamic site.
As for eBay Express… don’t agree. I think the whole idea of eBay Express is flawed, and will never work because it’s aimed at the wrong buyers. But that’s another post 😉
Aquarius: We *have* always allowed comments, though sometimes they’re a bit slow to display… that’s Blogger, not us, and I’m happy to say that we’re moving to WordPress shortly, so there shouldn’t be a problem any more.
It would be interesting also to know if all the sites in the test were based on a like for like basis. ie: a zero feedback seller.
Also did they supply the handbag to the QXL buyer for 99p. If so they would be a happy member!
I trade on a number of sites including Tazbar. The above post hasnt really got any new information in it. From what I have just read it says that eBay is huge, and smaller and newer sites dont have the traffic to generate the sales many have come to expect on eBay.
I have stopped selling on eBay because of the very poor customer service but I will spare the glowing report on Tazbar as it appears that the OP wouldnt really be interested in that.
For statistical purposes, picking out one product and then making comparisons accross very different venues doesnt really make a great deal of sense to me.
@ Sunny Martin: No, it’s not really news that there aren’t many buyers on Tazbar. You might like to pop over to the UK Powerseller board and read the thread on there where numerous sellers are saying they’ve had things listed on Tazbar for literally months, without a sale. If you would like to post a glowing report for Tazbar, by all means, feel free to do so, but in my experience, people like Tazbar for things OTHER than sales. Frankly, I need to earn a living, and listing on a site where I’m made to feel fluffy and loved but which doesn’t bring me any buyers is wasting my time. If you’re one of the people who sells for a hobby, then I appreciate your mileage may vary.