Free auction listings for private sellers 18th-19th June

24 Responses

1. I really don’t understand ebay’s logic with all these free listing weekends for private sellers. OK it might get more users accessing ebay, but do we really want the categories flooded with products which only ever get listed on free listing days because the seller has nothing to loose, and having accumulated lots of positive feedback as a buyer they look legitimate.

   If I was a private seller I could list hundreds of rubbish products in a few hours with a bit of cut and paste. They might not look very tidy (about normal for these free listing days), but what have I got to loose?

   But more to the point what has ebays buyers and business sellers got to loose.

   Buyers might think they are getting a bargain – but find they have been sold a crock of **** with none of the business seller safeguards.

   Business sellers find their products being lost amongst a hoard of listing which have copied your image and text.

   Now taking into consideration that many decisions by ebays management seem to be seriously flawed, does anybody think free listing days are a good idea?

2. In the catagories in which I have an interest what is very noticeable is that stuff is being listed at unrealistically high start prices, remains unsold, and then is subsequently relisted at a lower price, remains unsold again, relisted, unsold and the cycle continues until there is one bid.

   These are not auctions. In reality they are BIN’s.

   Are ebay happy with the ammount of relisting that is going on every 2nd weekend?

3. The other point is that the marketing department may be happy in terms of increasing listings and new business (questionable if it is actually new?).

   But what about the disputes department?

   How much are ebay having to compensate buyers on the back of the dodgy quickly prepared listings and how much are they recovering from sellers? And how much extra work and eBay overhead is being created in the disputes department?

   Maybe this is why eBay say you have to have a certain DSR rating before you can list free so there is some recognition that free listings (and maybe private listings generally) can present proportionately more issues for eBay to sort out.

   As such why should business sellers subsidise private sellers?

4. There is no doubt that FLD affect some business sellers on their own sales.

   I find that i am having to tactically list auction items to end (1st page visabilty) on certain days to get a few extra bids on them.
   The ‘Buy it now’ items can still hold their own especially if you are a TRS with good DSRs

   I also find it difficult with the frequency of the free listing days, they appear to be every 2 weeks now to which affects my hours at the computer.

5. I am one of the despised private sellers who list things on free listing days. I use them as a tool and have a right spring clean when one is coming up, then list everything I no longer need or use. I do not have “crocks of ****” in my home, nor do my listing look “untidy”. Since I am a genuine private seller, I try to be honest in my description and inform anyone wanting to look. I make sure I let everyone know that I do not load P&P prices either, as may seem to do, nor do I charge for my time or my diesel as my time is free and I wait until I have to go into town anyway and just take the parcels with me. Don’t be too quick to slate private sellers who list only on free listing days, we leave the rest of the days to you business sellers, and whatever we sell makes us only a few quid, which we then tend to spend back on ebay, presumably with business sellers.

6. I fully accept that we all have different values and that one mans rubbish is another’s treasure. I have listed items previously as a ‘punt’ and been well pleased to see them sell as a good price.

   So the divide between rubbish and treasure isn’t always easy to identify.
   When you mention that ‘they may relist it a few times, but if they know it really is rubbish they will finally lose interest in it and dump it”, I was wondering at your source of information, or is this just opinion?

   I was also wondering how many times you think an item should be relisted before being classified rubbish and dumped and do you think this is what actually happens?

   The reason I ask is that it appears that many of these items are listed every Free listing day time after time and never sell. I make this statement by reference to the pages and pages of unsold auction items at the end of a free listing promotion.

   I also question the argument that those successful private sellers who make a sale will use the profit to make purchases from other ebay sellers. I suggest that by the time the successful seller has paid all their fees and postage costs the amount of spending cash isn’t actually going to be that high. Many of the successful sales are won on a single bid which is often low to attract interest.

   Auction selling can be great fun and I still get a kick out of watching an item get bid up, even if only by pennies, so I’m not against the auction format. What concerns me is the shotgun approach to auction listing on Free listing days i.e. if I list enough some of it will probably sell.

   A fee even if only a nominal amount might just make some sellers think ‘Is it worth it?”
   I suggest that it is in everybody’s interest to have accurate product descriptions in structured categories. By removing the ability to use listing tools such as Turbo lister the seller who wishes to list lots and lots on a free listing day will be using copy and paste and even if a two day promotion they have a fixed amount of time.
   You have to wonder why ebay banned listing tools for Free listing days. Perhaps because some sellers were building massive lists and simply uploading every free listing day because they had nothing to loose.
   I believe that without a consequence to listing ebay are encouraging those that would be reckless to be reckless.

7. Rules?

   Who the heck plays by the rules?

8. “Who the heck plays by the rules?”
   Valid question – who does play by the rules?

   Clearly some individuals purporting to be private sellers when they are not are not playing by the rules.
   So we end up where we started – Are free listing days being used by sellers who don’t really care beyond the immediate gain and who can disappear and resurface with a new id if they choose, or business sellers with multiple IDs.

   Personally I don’t think anybody wants these types of sellers in the market place and I go back to my original question “does anybody think free listing days are a good idea? “

   Genuine private sellers and I’m sure most are genuine don’t need to wait for a free listing day if they have any faith in their items. Surely a private seller listing 4 or 5 items to gain experience of selling and learn the ropes so to speak, is what ebay should be encouraging.

   The more buyers who have successful experience of selling the better. (Hopeful a successful selling experience will highlight some of sellers concerns about feedback and DSRs which these new sellers will consider when buying)

   If that same seller has successful sales – great – move on and list some more.
   If the 4 or 5 items or 10 or 20 item don’t sell then consider why not and experiment with different selling options.

   However the seller who lists 100, 200 or more items in the hope that some will sell and those that don’t can be relisted again next free listing isn’t really enhancing the platform.

   But there again – I have been wrong about so many things so many times I will say no more.

9. I agree that you can have as many negative experience with business sellers .

10. Are there any private sellers left?