Jeff, it depends on what you sell...
I do use AuctionWorks for another of my selling ID's. It's fine but it does not "build business" as they like to suggest. The templates are too confining and you really wind up looking like everyone else that uses it. I prefer to build my own templates (as simplistic as they are).
The AuctionWorks StoreFront is reasonably good but gets very low traffic. Buyers prefer to shop within the eBay stores if they are interested in combining items. About 40% of my buyers for that other ID use the AuctionWorks "ClickOut" link provided but few make additional purchases despite the cross merchandising.
In the business you are in you understand what a good POP merchandiser can do for you if you are offering items that a buyer will spontaneously purchase (golf balls, gloves, towels, etc.). That's why you don't see many POP displays for major expenditure items or for very focused products (those with a very targeted buyer or limited appeal).
I really just use AuctionWorks for products that sell over and over with unlimited inventory ('cause I make 'em myself). It also provides me with a 100 mb of image storage and automated emails and feedback.
I would only recommend auction management services to sellers that are offering the same items over and over again with no variance in appearance or condition.
As for sell-through percentages, again, it really depends on what you sell. Some sellers offering vintage audio routinely hit 90%+. With my hodge-podge of products I average about 25%. It will really depend on your products and the mix, price point, degree of competition, new or used, shipping costs, payment options and the tides. :>)
Bill
I do use AuctionWorks for another of my selling ID's. It's fine but it does not "build business" as they like to suggest. The templates are too confining and you really wind up looking like everyone else that uses it. I prefer to build my own templates (as simplistic as they are).
The AuctionWorks StoreFront is reasonably good but gets very low traffic. Buyers prefer to shop within the eBay stores if they are interested in combining items. About 40% of my buyers for that other ID use the AuctionWorks "ClickOut" link provided but few make additional purchases despite the cross merchandising.
In the business you are in you understand what a good POP merchandiser can do for you if you are offering items that a buyer will spontaneously purchase (golf balls, gloves, towels, etc.). That's why you don't see many POP displays for major expenditure items or for very focused products (those with a very targeted buyer or limited appeal).
I really just use AuctionWorks for products that sell over and over with unlimited inventory ('cause I make 'em myself). It also provides me with a 100 mb of image storage and automated emails and feedback.
I would only recommend auction management services to sellers that are offering the same items over and over again with no variance in appearance or condition.
As for sell-through percentages, again, it really depends on what you sell. Some sellers offering vintage audio routinely hit 90%+. With my hodge-podge of products I average about 25%. It will really depend on your products and the mix, price point, degree of competition, new or used, shipping costs, payment options and the tides. :>)
Bill
Jeff, I had been edging my pricing upwards but had been holding the line on S/H increases. I have now started to edge those upwards in anticipation of the CP increases in January.
It really comes down to a comfort level with margins. Some sellers are not happy unless they can make 200 - 300% markup on their items while others are perfectly happy with a 50% gross. Again, it probably should have more to do with the type of product you are selling.
It's been my experience that the grocery stores do not accept profit percentages but prefer cold, hard cash. In other words, a 300% mark-up on a $3 cost item doesn't impress me as much as $50 profit on a $100 cost item.
You are in a pretty tough game although I understand that a lot of the manufacturers and masters are also anxious to move some inventory. I always look for end of line/season specials to give me that little bit of extra margin that I need from time to time.
The loss of $.20 against the USD has been hard on a lot of CDN. sellers. Fortunately we have Jackie's "muahahahahahaha's" that have been found to have a detrimental affect on the CAD. :>)
Bill
It really comes down to a comfort level with margins. Some sellers are not happy unless they can make 200 - 300% markup on their items while others are perfectly happy with a 50% gross. Again, it probably should have more to do with the type of product you are selling.
It's been my experience that the grocery stores do not accept profit percentages but prefer cold, hard cash. In other words, a 300% mark-up on a $3 cost item doesn't impress me as much as $50 profit on a $100 cost item.
You are in a pretty tough game although I understand that a lot of the manufacturers and masters are also anxious to move some inventory. I always look for end of line/season specials to give me that little bit of extra margin that I need from time to time.
The loss of $.20 against the USD has been hard on a lot of CDN. sellers. Fortunately we have Jackie's "muahahahahahaha's" that have been found to have a detrimental affect on the CAD. :>)
Bill
Keep it up Jackie. All Canadian PS'ers are depending on your sinister laugh skills to improve their bottom line. :>)
Bill
Bill
Welcome Ashley!!
When sales go quiet PS'ers tend to huddle together arounf the oil drum fire and share cheap whine and each other's misery. Yes, we probably do over-analyse but when we haven't got customers to complain about there has to be something we can jointly whine about (hey, I'm including myself in here).
Having said all that... did I miss the email and is eBay closed this week? After a great weekend I can honestly say that, in 3-1/2 years, I have never seen it this quiet.
Cheers!
Bill
When sales go quiet PS'ers tend to huddle together arounf the oil drum fire and share cheap whine and each other's misery. Yes, we probably do over-analyse but when we haven't got customers to complain about there has to be something we can jointly whine about (hey, I'm including myself in here).
Having said all that... did I miss the email and is eBay closed this week? After a great weekend I can honestly say that, in 3-1/2 years, I have never seen it this quiet.
Cheers!
Bill
Jeff, I do understand a little about the golf biz as my wife has been directly involved with it for the past 15 years. Other than my Glow-in-the-dark golf balls I have resisted the opportunites to get into reselling golf close-outs because it is a very tough game. You have loads of competition and it has been a tough season for manufacturers and resellers (including pro-shops).
Many of the items sold by the big names in golf are imported by container load from offshore. Golf bags, gloves, carts, etc. are all produced much more cheaply in the Far East. Much of the clothing and footwear sold in pro-shops (with a few notable exceptions) are also manufactured off-shore. That necessitates advance pre-booked orders by the manufacturers to get the product made to their specs, shipped by boat and trucked from the port to them so that they can ship to you in advance of the golf season. Product shipped to you in February, March and April this year was likely manufactured in the Far East in the summer and fall of 2002. So it stands to reason that the fall of the USD has yet to impact the value of their inventories or what they can sell to you at.
We are all being affected in some way by the drop in the USD. On the plus side we are not paying eBay.ca $.45 CAD for a minimum insertion any longer. On the minus side inventory that entered Canada last fall and winter is now being sold at minimal margins to just move it and create space for new inventory purchased for far less in CAD.
It's a tough hump for a lot of sellers. Malcolm said it well "You have to have a bit of a hard shell to survive as a vendor on eBay". It tends to be either feast or famine on eBay so keep pluggin' 'cause better days lie ahead.
Cheers!
Bill
Many of the items sold by the big names in golf are imported by container load from offshore. Golf bags, gloves, carts, etc. are all produced much more cheaply in the Far East. Much of the clothing and footwear sold in pro-shops (with a few notable exceptions) are also manufactured off-shore. That necessitates advance pre-booked orders by the manufacturers to get the product made to their specs, shipped by boat and trucked from the port to them so that they can ship to you in advance of the golf season. Product shipped to you in February, March and April this year was likely manufactured in the Far East in the summer and fall of 2002. So it stands to reason that the fall of the USD has yet to impact the value of their inventories or what they can sell to you at.
We are all being affected in some way by the drop in the USD. On the plus side we are not paying eBay.ca $.45 CAD for a minimum insertion any longer. On the minus side inventory that entered Canada last fall and winter is now being sold at minimal margins to just move it and create space for new inventory purchased for far less in CAD.
It's a tough hump for a lot of sellers. Malcolm said it well "You have to have a bit of a hard shell to survive as a vendor on eBay". It tends to be either feast or famine on eBay so keep pluggin' 'cause better days lie ahead.
Cheers!
Bill
