I’ve wasted too much money paying for eBay ads that don’t sell as they should. I’ve tried auctions and “sell it now”, each with excellent prices on electronic and computer components (most at least 50% and some as low as 75% off for brand new, unopened items), and my success rate is only about 10%. I’ve tried the deluxe ad packages and have seen most of them fail also. I communicate well and know how to write an ad, but to return to my main complaint, I’ve just lost too much money using eBay.
I’m not looking to discuss alternative approaches to sell with them. I just wish to ask those who use alternatives to eBay to name them and discuss what they find to be superior to eBay and other systems. One thing I’m looking for is a system that allows a “sell it now” feature to stay up and listed indefinitely for a single, one-time, non-recurring charge. Another feature I’d like is an auction that hides the reserve price and lets bidders bid whatever they want and allows a sale only if the highest bid meets or exceeds the reserve (as opposed to letting them know immediately if they haven’t met the reserve).
Speaking as a buyer, not a seller, if I were looking to buy electronic or computer components, I’d be more inclined to buy from a well-known, reputable retailer than from a guy on e-bay. If you’re offering them for the same price I could pay elsewhere, why not shop elsewhere? But if you’re offering them for a lot less, I’ll wonder how you can afford to sell so low, and if it’s a scam of some kind.
This probably isn’t what you’re looking for, but my preference to eBay is not bothering. I gave up selling stuff on eBay about six months ago, frustrated by the way everything kept changing in such a way as to make it incrementally a bit more shit.
For quite a few years, I was a reasonably successful, though small-scale seller with good feedback, but it just felt like I was being elbowed out in favour of Powersellers and businesses, so I just packed up.
I’m spending my time on other things now, and I’m playing with a few other ideas to make pocket money - online video has been quite productive for me, so far.
We have a few free sites for selling and buying in the Netherlands. The biggest one, www.marktplaats.nl , allows indefinately free listing or items. There is no auction function; buyer and seller just contact each other however they see fit.
Money is made from people who pay to have their item at the top of the listing. But if you have a rarer item and people have searched for it, being down on the lsit doesn’t matter.
So, suppose you master another language (or use Babelfish) and shipping cost’s aren’t too much of a problem, have you considered listing your items on other sites in other countries?