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11-02-2003 11:53 PM
Ryan
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11-04-2003 11:42 AM
I was talking with a guy a couple of weeks back who markets auction management software. What this stuff does is build and operate the auction from start to finish including inventory management, check-out, payment, etc and at the same time promotes cross selling by sending the successful bidder to your site upon check out with the option of buying complimentary goods.... do you use anything similar?
I guess the reason I bring this up, is that talking to this guy he said a 20% success rate on auctions is good. I am achieving this, but feel it is low....maybe others could indicate what their approximate success rate on listings might be (how many attract buyers).
(sorry, maybe a little off topic....)
Jeff
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11-04-2003 11:45 AM
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11-04-2003 12:00 PM
When we started in February, we were selling just over 75% of everything we advertised for the first 2 months with 100% bids on all our listings. At that time the Canadian dollar was weak (1.55) and there was no animosity between Americans and Canadians over the war in Iraq.
I can tell you that we now get 99% bidding on all our auctions. Over the last month we have been selling about 48% of what we list on eBay.
Of those items that are bid on but dont reach our reserve, they are within 80% of our reserve. That tells me that with the Canadian $ dropping further, we should increase our sales of advertised items to over 50% in November.
Possibly beacuse of overall low volume of sales, we dont use any auction managemnt software.
Sales
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11-04-2003 12:34 PM
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
Bill
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11-04-2003 02:16 PM
Okay here is another question.... Given the fact the Cdn$ has lost in excess of 20% value over the US greenback, are people adjusting their pricing upward to help offset this loss in exchange, or just biting the bullet and accepting a drop of +20% in margin?
Full of questions today now aren't I.
Jeff
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11-04-2003 02:33 PM
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
Bill
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11-04-2003 02:40 PM
Jackie...
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11-04-2003 02:56 PM
Bill
Bill
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11-04-2003 05:05 PM
This are definitely tougher now...the loonie rising, the bad feelings with the Iraqi war (I had an American customer who stopped buying from me because I was Canadian, and told me so...he was a marine)...there are times when I have to give my head a shake and wonder if I should really stay in the business, but it has a firm hold on me. I absolutely love doing it! And I haven't lost money yet, so I'm hoping for a turn around in the market.
American sellers are complaining too...I think that it has alot to do with the American economy...just not as much expendable cash, period.
Karen
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11-05-2003 04:35 AM
i noticed that november 1,2,3 and some items from november 4th closed quite low.
i am glad to see that we are NOT alone with the sales drop.
hope it will get better.
thanks,
john
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11-05-2003 07:07 AM
I read with interest your comments about sales. I'm in collectable toys - buy them in England (I'm from Blighty myself, lived in/near Montreal for two years) and sell them here.
Sometimes I feel it's possible to over-analyse what's causing rises and falls. The real joy of Ebay is the luck factor. Sometimes it's simply a case of having something that two people want badly enough to bid like crazy over.
I think people who sell things purely on a buy-it-now basis, in a market which is well served by the online community (golf, for example), probably have more cause to examine market conditions. Doubtless there's not a lot of golfers brave enough to thrash through snowdrifts during our lovely winters!
Meanwhile, I will stick for now to things that are not made any longer. Being a collector myself, I know how crazy they can be about pointless stuff. 🙂
But looking to the future, I think I will try to source new products to supplement the income. As several of you have pointed out, they only need describing, weighing, photograping once... Infinite patience is required when wrapping small metal figures in little patches of bubblewrap, believe me.
Ashley
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11-05-2003 07:12 AM
Jackie...
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11-05-2003 09:05 AM
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
Bill
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11-05-2003 09:16 AM
I have learned not to expect anything to happen outside of these hours. I guess it's when people are available. Summer Sundays are not as busy. No surprise there.
Slightly different note: I used to play a computer game called Railroad Tycoon. Whenever money arrived in the company's coffers, a little bell used to ring. I wish Ebay had a similar system, I'd love a bell to ring when I get a bid! Mind you, I don't need more reasons to sit in front of the PC all day... 🙂
Ashley
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11-05-2003 09:26 AM
Malcolm
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11-05-2003 09:50 AM
When we were all making 40-50% on exchange, this was in fact my margin.....now that exchange has dropped to the 28-31% range, obviously this is having a dramatic effect on my margins (I list in US$ on the US site). Probably many are similar. Now I am just inquiring, are people increasing their prices to reflect this drop in exchange and trying to increase returns as a result of higher selling prices and not just pure exchange rates (as was the case with me).
It is really catch 22.... I have been edging my opening bid or buy it now pricing up, but I think it is really affecting buyers.... as a result I am starting to review my entire Ebay strategy....ie is it worthwhile being here!
Sorry for the long oration......just blowing off some steam as the only place on Ebay it seems that it doesn't cost money to participate is here on these boards! ooops... better keep it quite or they might start charging a nickel a post (in US funds).
Jeff
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11-05-2003 10:05 AM
In the beginning (February) the exchange rate was our profit margin as well.
As the Canadian dollar improved, our profits didnt however Canadians started purchasing from us (we quote in US$ on ebay.ca). That helped as Americans slowed down in their purchases however our profits continued to fall.
We tried to adjust our reserves and BIN upwards to compensate for the difference however found that sales slowed. It is difficult to determine if it was due to the increase in our reserves or the time of year. While are products are not seasonal, there are historical peaks and valleys.
Our advatnage is that our cost to purchase some of our items has dropped as we purchase outside of North America so new inventories can be sold for a little less than what I sold my older inventories for in the Spring.
In otherwords, our cost of inventory dropped because of the strength of the Canadian dollar lessening the expense of our having to sell for less. A 20% change in exchange rate might therefore only have a 10% effect on my profits. It all depends on what inventory I am pulling my merchadise from.
Malcolm
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11-05-2003 10:13 AM
All of our suppliers are Canadian subsiduaries of American companies, that buy their inventory in US$'s. Therefore, I have had the discussions with them all year that their wholesale pricing structures should be lower (by a similar averaged or weighted amount of the drop in the US$)... but to date my talk has been a waste of time. To date all have stated they book and buy US$'s on the futures market so the effect of the US$ slide hasn't taken effect yet......hmmm wonder how far in advance they booked their US$????
Again Malcolm.... it appears musical insturments are better than golf stuff.....Kazoo's are on their way!
(As you read all of my posts on this site, you are probably getting the impression that I am a bitter, bitter person.... Honestly I'm not...actually as I was growing up I had such a warm and bright disposition, my parents called me sun sic...son ....groan!)...
Jeff
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11-05-2003 10:40 AM
You have to have a bit of a hard shell to survive as a vendor on eBay. That coupled with a soft and compassionate side makes one a powerful force.
I always like to tell people that when I get into a confrontation, I hit them with a brass knuckle inside of a soft kid glove. They feel the weight of the punch but it doesnt leave any long lasting marks.
In other words, you can get your point across without closing the door such that people will respect your position, maybe even eventually agree with you and you may do business with them in the future. At least the next time, they will know they cant pull the wool over your eyes.
Selling musical instruments is not easy at all. I dont sell name brands otherwise I am up against 4 million other retailers and subject to the price fixing by distributors that exists in the industry.
Nor do I purchase the cheapest instruments available, rather I have a realtionship with someone who carries his own branded products, most of which are made to his own specs from select manufacturers.
The difficulty of what I do is people are expected to lay out money having never felt or heard the instrumnent they are purchasing. The quality of craftmanship and sound varies immensley from instrument to instrument.
I must admit, that almost on a daily basis I think about and I cant figure how I am able to sell what I am selling on eBay. I am a musician and would probably prefer to purchase from a retailer after I tested the instrument I wanted to buy, especially if I was not familiar with the name.
Its no magic to sell a Gibson or Fender on eBay as people can walk into any music store and find an identical model to test and then return to the eBay listing and make a purchase.
In the same way, they can find 1,000 stores on the net giving feedback and a history and full specs of the instrument and comparable pricing.
What we all do on eBay is simply hard work and adjusting to increase or maintain our sales and profits. I have only been selling on eBay since February of this year but have made at least 6 major adjustments since that time to the way we market and price our products.
That includes our product mixes and what we elect to feature from week to week. I guess the fact that I am a business consultant with extensive experience in all aspects of running companies has helped me but my little eBay business is not so successful such that I could sit back and live off the profits, far from it.
On the positive side, it has been profitable from the first week and it is providing me with the opportunity to start one or two more businesses from it beginning in the new year.
Malcolm
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11-05-2003 11:14 AM
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
Bill
