Hate Ebay? How you can help me.

Pembroke

This is all very nice and as a seller you seem to be gearing your site to me but if you can't put my products in front of lots of buyers then you won't last very long. Can you tell us how you plan to market your company ?

Have you carried out any sort of buyers survey to find out how they buy items on the internet ? Do they use search engines ? or do they just think that it will be on Ebay or Amazon and go straight to those sites. If they go straight there then no amount of SEO will help.

If buyers go straight to the big two how do you propose to attract buyers to your site ? Will you advertise on Radio, TV, Newspapers and Magazines, billboards ? or are you just going to rely on the internet ?

Crowqueen

First of all good luck with your new site, I think we really need an alternative to ebay, a monopoly is never a good idea.

If you sell media goods, eBay isn't the only place - Amazon and Play actually get more of my custom from a buyer's point of view simply because I don't have to wade through masses of listings all with different terms and conditions. The only reason I don't sell there, and talk mostly about eBay, is that I don't have a credit card and can't sign up for Amazon, and I have selling experience on eBay, albeit becoming slightly outdated as a practical concern.

Otherwise, agree with your post. DSRs...well, sometimes it takes me a lot to get worked up about how they are used. I like them, they keep me on my toes, but since I don't sell as a pro and don't often get muppets buying, I can't see what the problem is and maybe I'm missing something. However, as a buyer, having the ability to mark someone down for dispatch (in my case it's usually that one that gets knocked) but still give them a positive is something eBay needed tbh.

I think the main problem with OP is he wants to charge buyers to buy, not sellers to sell (that sounds like MadBid etc.). Unfortunately I think that's a non-starter. A bona-fide startup like CastOff got my attention because they seemed to understand how they needed to operate. I think the OP's bee in the bonnet about buyers is what is going to prevent him from getting going; the NPB issue is largely solved by having a proprietary system that either charges the user's card when an item ends, or dispenses with the auction format altogether and goes with a fixed price only solution with a central credit card and money disbursement system along the Play/Amazon lines, where payments to sellers come in in a lump sum after a fixed period. Charging at POS may encourage buyers to take responsibility for their purchases, but will only annoy people who aren't used to buyers' fees at offline auction houses, and since you are competing not only with eBay but with the whole panoply of e-commerce sites out there (including individuals' own sites), you will end up chasing people away. The only benefit I can see to not taking money automatically as an item closes out is flexibility over payment methods, but it's not really necessary for most things that are sold online any more because so many people are now used to electronic payments and the big two media sites don't IIRC take cheques or POs any more.

There are very much simpler solutions out there and to work it's got to be positive and focussed on achieving what you want to achieve, not formed out of jealousy of what someone else has managed to achieve.

jake2010

It would be nice to have a few big competitors out there, but ebay is so big the amount of people that buy & sell ore even just browse is crazy. The money you would need to put in to advertising is going to be very high, and that will just get a few % knowing that you exist, and even getting a few people selling on you site will be hard, why list things on your site and not ebay, i know ebay has fees but also lots of people using it.
I have seen a few small sites come and not make an impact, i do try yo use them to give a fair chance.
Well wish you all the best it will be a hard & expensive few years

laying4profit

Ok many thanks again for the comments of support so far .. It all helps to get an understanding.I will try and clear some things up.

My auction format can run from 1 day - 2 months.This will be lowered to 1 month max once there is more auctions on the site.

About the Buyer FEE.
I have taken this from an ebay calculator for a comparison.;)
If you were to sell an item on Ebay for £100, have 5 photos and no other add on's it would cost you. £1.78 listing fee and £10.00 FVF. Also if using paypal it would cost and extra £3.60. So overall profit £84.62. it has cost you £15.38 to sell this item.
The exact same thing on my site would cost NOTHING. So you could sell your item for £98 and you still would have made more than on Ebay.You could even add on the Paypal fees and you still make more.
Buyers would be far more interested in Lower priced items if you think about it. Everyone wants a deal don't they. This is what i am aiming at.

Payments
All buyers would have to pay the fee if they bought an item. If they do not pay the fee they are suspended until the fee has been paid. After all if they are not going to pay the small fee then what chance do you have of getting paid.
We have various payemnt methods available to us but we will be using Paypal for our fees.

Advertising
As i have already stated, All income generated from the site will be put toward improving the site further and advertising. The advertising will be in the media and later on adverts on Tv.
There will be a Voucer code that will give a Credit to an account to entice buyers & sellers.(This is still ongoing)

Auctions
Every buyer has an option to get out of the contract.This is called Retract bid. If the buyer then buys the item the fee is payable. This fee is NON refundable as well. This also stops scammers from bidding on own items.

Complaints
All complaint will be dealt with on a case per case basis. We realise there will be people who will always try and play the system.This is why we want our clients to talk to us, even if you think you could be wrong. let us look at it. Suspected scammers will have the account suspended until we are happy. We want to protect both the buyer & the seller.

Multiple Accounts
This should not happen as we have ways of checking. But again if you suspect someone let us know. It takes just a few momnets to check and reassure you.

Feedback
Feedback can be left on the site and its like ebay used to be. You can state in your advert buyer with less than 10 feedback have to ring you up. But everyone has to start some where.;)

Selling items on my site would require you to adjust your asking price. You would not need to factor in Ebay fees at all.You would therefor be able to offer the item for LESS on my site.
A buyer will look and know EXACTLY what the fee will be before he bids. What people are forgetting is most people will be looking for the best deal. if Ebay,Amazon,Play had an item for an average of £100 and my site had it for £80, where do you think the sale will be made???
The seller can cover themselves on postage by using a recorded service. Use paypal to pay for items as well.
You would have taken photos to list the item (items sell better with photos) And this is your proof of the item and its condition. IF it gets damaged then you the seller would have to refund the buyer and then make a claim with the courier. No different to Ebay really.only you wont have to ask for relisting fees back.

I am a realistic person and realise that this might not be to everyones tastes.I am also realistic on the timescale of getting this off the ground.
At this present time i am e-mailing companies to list items on the site.What i am aiming to do is get some businesses to list some items on there to bulk out the site before it goes live..

Remember places like Amazon,Play all started from nothing..:D


keep them comming.. Thanks again.:beer:

floralaura

laying4profit wrote: »

Hello,
will either Warn them or Suspend his/her account if done more than twice.(*only for enhanced things as listed)
We get the Buyer to pay a fee.For example if you sold an item for £1000 the cost to the seller is nothing.The buyer pays a fee of £2.00.
We feel that knowing exactly what you will pay for both sides helps a speedy transaction.
Buyer retraction

That right there would put me off, possibly even put me off from registering and even looking around.

terra_ferma

laying4profit wrote: »

About the Buyer FEE.
I have taken this from an ebay calculator for a comparison.;)
If you were to sell an item on Ebay for £100, have 5 photos and no other add on's it would cost you. £1.78 listing fee and £10.00 FVF. Also if using paypal it would cost and extra £3.60. So overall profit £84.62. it has cost you £15.38 to sell this item.
The exact same thing on my site would cost NOTHING. So you could sell your item for £98 and you still would have made more than on Ebay.You could even add on the Paypal fees and you still make more.
Buyers would be far more interested in Lower priced items if you think about it. Everyone wants a deal don't they. This is what i am aiming at.

Let's be very clear, whatever you call it buyers fees, sellers fees, ebay fee, postage costs, stealth fees (e.g. paying higher fees to ebay because of fixed postage cost, or push towards free postage) etc,
in reality there is only one figure that matters to the buyer, that is how much money is going to be taken from their card for the transaction.
Everything else is irrelevant.

If you charge a fee to buyers it will please sellers, confuse buyers, and not change the final result.

For example if I want to sell my item for £10 and it costs me £3 to post, I then add all the fees and sell say for cost + postage + fees. The buyer pays say £15.
In your example I charge £13, you charge £2, the buyer pays £15.
Can't see any difference to be honest, fees always come out of the same pot of money, ultimately the buyers wallet.

Buy if you make it explicit that buyers pay they may be put off and not even come and look at our prices to find out the final price is the same.

Crowqueen

It's the psychological issue involved. It's like the problem I have with VAT. It inflates prices, decreases merchant takings, and acts in the same way income tax would anyway. As a tax on consumption rather than earnings, it actively discourages people from shopping, rather than encouraging people to buy something and then taking a proportion of the income at source.

I know VAT is a necessary evil in terms of raising government revenue, but if you directly "tax" the buyer, the psychological impact will be a business failure. Amazon and Play didn't build up their businesses by discouraging consumption, and you are competing with people who don't charge their buyers entrance fees, so people will just move on to a site that doesn't appear to charge them to buy.

The e-commerce market is becoming saturated - you either need to go with what the successful models do or die.

laying4profit

floralaura wrote: »

laying4profit wrote: »

Hello,
will either Warn them or Suspend his/her account if done more than twice.(*only for enhanced things as listed)
We get the Buyer to pay a fee.For example if you sold an item for £1000 the cost to the seller is nothing.The buyer pays a fee of £2.00.
We feel that knowing exactly what you will pay for both sides helps a speedy transaction.
Buyer retraction

That right there would put me off, possibly even put me off from registering and even looking around.

Thats your opinion. I know it will not be for everyone.But if you were looking for an item you would want to get it as low as possible wouldnt you?
So the sellers on my site would have the prices lower than on Ebay,Amaazon ect as they would not incurr the fees.
And the BUYER still gets it cheaper.

laying4profit

terra_ferma wrote: »

Let's be very clear, whatever you call it buyers fees, sellers fees, ebay fee, postage costs, stealth fees (e.g. paying higher fees to ebay because of fixed postage cost, or push towards free postage) etc,
in reality there is only one figure that matters to the buyer, that is how much money is going to be taken from their card for the transaction.
Everything else is irrelevant.

If you charge a fee to buyers it will please sellers, confuse buyers, and not change the final result.

For example if I want to sell my item for £10 and it costs me £3 to post, I then add all the fees and sell say for cost + postage + fees. The buyer pays say £15.
In your example I charge £13, you charge £2, the buyer pays £15.
Can't see any difference to be honest, fees always come out of the same pot of money, ultimately the buyers wallet.

Buy if you make it explicit that buyers pay they may be put off and not even come and look at our prices to find out the final price is the same.

yes you are right. But the buyer would not be confused at all. The fees are clearly listed on the site in full view. What you have forgot to work out is this. yes you may be correct on the £10 +£3 + fees but what if you raise this selling price. On Ebay your FEE increases. On my site its the same.
The MOST you will pay in any transaction is £20. This is if you sold an item for £10,000+ thats 0.2%. What would your fees be on ebay for selling the same item?

terra_ferma

laying4profit wrote: »

floralaura wrote: »

Thats your opinion. I know it will not be for everyone.But if you were looking for an item you would want to get it as low as possible wouldnt you?
So the sellers on my site would have the prices lower than on Ebay,Amaazon ect as they would not incurr the fees.
And the BUYER still gets it cheaper.

the buyer would still get it cheaper if you charged the seller instead of the buyer.