Any Ebay Alternatives That Work?

lovinituk

bxboards wrote: »

I get people fine my site through Google and I've never paid penny in search fees. Many hosting services offer a decent google adwords incentive.

Webhosting is so cheap, that is seems incredibly defeatish to dismiss it, because it might not work. Let's assume you do 10,000 pounds business a month, say 5 to 8 fees to Ebay, and another 2.5% Paypal (merchant rate) - that's a grand in fees right there.

Well worth a little effort to put that saving in your pocket rather than Ebay or Amazon...

The point I was making was that you will not get the same level of traffic as you would on eBay. And you also won't get the same level of trust from buyers as you do on eBay.

I have my website, I don't spend anything on SEO and I do ok. I do much better on Amazon and eBay though. Its not rocket science!!

choille

I sell low value bits & bobs - sending tracked would be really a no no. I do keep proof of postage, it just seems that there seems to be more people trying it on since they put up the ad about refunding money if things didn't arrive or weren't as they expected. I have 100% feedback & do get really nice repeat customers, but it does seem as if my 'visibility' has gone down.

I'm not getting many page views & I usually sell for the starting price - no bidding wars happening of late. I am putting really reasonable prices on & only sell things that are in really good - excellent mint condition.

I was pretty peeved with the free listing by invite only that happened at the weekend. I thought that was very unfair.

patman99

THIS guy seems to be doing rather well on ebid. Mind you, he sells mainly craft stuff & knows how to SEO his listings to make sure they appear higher in Google searches than any ebay listings for the same type of item.

Personally, I find ink carts sell well on ebid (2x what I was getting for them on ebay) but other stuff just sits there.

choille

What's SEO?

Flyonthewall

choille wrote: »

What's SEO?

SEO is search engine optimisation. Basically advertising and getting your site high up in the search engines so your site is one of the top results and therefore getting more traffic.

Flyonthewall

Going on the suggestion of your own website, most businesses who have their own website still use other platforms for selling on. In some cases their websites are information only to drive customers to their items. Others sell through their own websites as well as elsewhere.

Selling elsewhere shows how much you can trust them as a seller as you can see their feedback and buy through a trusted site first rather than trusting a website you've never heard of or used before.

The problem with your own site is that you need at least some understanding of SEO and advertising. There are free ways to advertise and some sites do alright with little or no advertising, but often that's more down to luck than anything else.

There is also the added cost of building it which can take up time if you don't have a clue where to start. There are free options (e.g. Wordpress) but it all depends how good you are with computers. If someone else has to build it costs can quickly rise with added features, such as a shop. Then you have to pay to host it.

You'd need to research whether it is worthwhile having your own site and, if so, if it's worthwhile selling on there or whether a basic site would be best to boost sales on other platforms.

choille

I do have a blog which I have allowed to lapse - can be accessed from my home page.

Would that do?

Flyonthewall

choille wrote: »

I do have a blog which I have allowed to lapse - can be accessed from my home page.

Would that do?

It could be used, yes. But it's not suitable for selling items through, least not directly. If writing about a specific item you're selling then you could link to that item on other platform where it is for sale. You could also use it to advertise and link to your own site or another site.

Depending on how the blog is set up nd how you use it and everything, what might be worth considering it is building that into a website. So you can then use the blog to add any updates or talk about items or related events etc. You'd then have the main website for selling and/or an about page and perhaps some other general information.

soolin

patman99 wrote: »

THIS guy seems to be doing rather well on ebid. Mind you, he sells mainly craft stuff & knows how to SEO his listings to make sure they appear higher in Google searches than any ebay listings for the same type of item.

Personally, I find ink carts sell well on ebid (2x what I was getting for them on ebay) but other stuff just sits there.

You may want to repost your link it doesn't work. As for ink carts, last time you suggested that I went and checked and there were barely any successful sales at all. Looking now I can only find one or two completed successful sales- I do not consider that as doing well at all.

pinkshoes

I gave up selling on ebay. Local Facebook selling groups are much better.

I get the same selling price, no fees, cash on collection, and often collected within hours of posting!

I still buy on ebay though, as too much hassle searching for specific things on Facebook.