eBay Deals

[dipmicro]

There is a deal today for mini tripod on front-page. The ad was up little over 2hrs and sold 1095pcs. Then I refreshed after few minutes and went up to 1114.

If it sells with the same rate of approx 500pcs/hr not even counting the last-minute spike, this seller is in for $50k sales today just from this item.

This is some heavy-duty selling !!!

[dipmicro]

Never mind the user rating on Buy's website, which suggests that this is probably a dollar store item.

[dipmicro]

And never mind that China sellers are selling ALUMINUM tripod for little over $1 including shipping.

This gives us an idea of the profit margin Buy has on this item selling it for 9.99 discounting for 3.99.

Gee. Some marketing, eh ?

[surplusdealdude]

Well, when it works, it works.

Sure hope they're set up for that sort of volume - if they wind up selling 12,000 items, they also have to SHIP 12,000 items and PAY FOR the shipping for 12,000 items if they're new sellers.

Two words - cash flow.

[surplusdealdude]

They are up over 3,100 now.

Absolutely atrocious shipping terms, though;

ALASKA AND HAWAII SHIPMENTS HAVE AN ADDITIONAL $10 SURCHARGE AND INCLUDE ONLY EXPEDITED(TWO DAY) OR OVERNIGHT(NEXT DAY) SHIPPING OPTIONS.

WE DO NOT SHIP INTERNATIONALLY. WE DO NOT SHIP TO CANADA. WE DO NOT SHIP TO PUERTO RICO. WE ALSO DO NOT RECOMMEND USING A FREIGHT FORWARDING SERVICE AS WE ARE UNABLE TO INSURE PACKAGES AFTER THEY REACH THE SHIPPING ADDRESS PROVIDED.

WE DO NOT SHIP TO PO BOXES OR APO/FPO ADDRESSES.

We may ship each product separately from different warehouses. We utilize over 80 warehouses across the Continental United States. We do not ship to or from overseas.

We cannot ship on weekends and we do not offer Saturday, Sunday or holiday delivery

We cannot select which shipping company will deliver your product. This might affect you if you live in a rural community that does not accept deliveries from any specific shipping company.

[surplusdealdude]

And I'll bet they're using a drop-shipper;

We utilize over 80 warehouses across the Continental United States.

This could be a disaster if their supplier runs out.

Only been around a couple of months, too.

[sunrunnerultra]

Click on their shipping info link in the description, then scroll to the bottom of that page, over 1 million feedback....

[surplusdealdude]

It looks like they created the buy_deals ID just for this sale.

Maybe their negs and neutrals were too many to get into the deals section?

[pjcdn2005]

And I'll bet they're using a drop-shipper;

We utilize over 80 warehouses across the Continental United States.

This could be a disaster if their supplier runs out.

Only been around a couple of months, too.

Buy. com has been around more than a couple of months and I don't think they are using a drop shipper.

[recped]

This could be a disaster if their supplier runs out.

The requirements to snag a Daily Deal spot are pretty stringent, if you can't supply the anticipated volume you'll never get selected.

You need to be a GOLD or better powerseller, offer free shipping, ship within 24 hours, capable of handling 500 orders per day minimum (over and above current volume) and finally you must offer the item for the lowest price currently available ANYWHERE online.

If you meet the criteria you can ask your account manager to submit a proposal for you.

Absolutely atrocious shipping terms, though;

What's atrocious? Obviously they ship via UPS or FedEx, thus the surcharge to AK, HI and no PR, APO/FPO or Canada.

It looks like they created the buy_deals ID just for this sale.

Yes it's an alternate id for BUY (.com), they are a Diamond of course and would have absolutely no problem handling this level of business. Since they started up on eBay last Fall they have been averaging about 4,000 transactions per day and eBay is just a supplement to their own online sales.

They are up to almost 4,000 sold now.

[recped]

This gives us an idea of the profit margin Buy has on this item

Even if they make nothing it doesn't matter, the whole point is to harvest users and direct them to buy.com for subsequent business.

[surplusdealdude]

Absolutely atrocious shipping terms, though;

What's atrocious?

ALASKA AND HAWAII SHIPMENTS HAVE AN ADDITIONAL $10 SURCHARGE AND INCLUDE ONLY EXPEDITED(TWO DAY) OR OVERNIGHT(NEXT DAY) SHIPPING OPTIONS.

That $10 is 250% if the selling price. The thing can't weigh more than 2 lbs, Priority shipping to Honolulu is only $8.70.

And their shipping terms are all about what they cannot do - too many negatives for a listing.

However, it works, and there's no arguing with success. If they make $3 on each item, that's $12,000 profit so far for a days work. Not bad.

[dipmicro]

the whole point is to harvest users and direct them to buy.com for subsequent business

I believe there is still profit for Buy. Perhaps not a half of the sale, but a $1 from each sale at least.

The 4k + sales (I overestimated, initial sales on this item slowed down) are result of an marketing bomb eBay dropped to millions and millions mailboxes. I was tempted to get one myself only then realizing I can have it on eBay for much less shipped from China. Considering millions and millions of emails, 4k conversions is fairly lousy, eh? 😉

[surplusdealdude]

Considering millions and millions of emails, 4k conversions is fairly lousy, eh?

No, I'd say it's pretty good.

It's still $16,000 in sales for a days worth of listing with one product.

I could handle that anytime.

[dipmicro]

Today Buy is doing even better with the MP3/MP4 player. Pretty good deal, but I will pass as have no need for such gadget and after initial excitement would end up in the drawer.

I am grabbing those Spiderman Walkie Talkies for my kids, though 😉

[dipmicro]

The MP3/MP4 player sold out, they capped it at 2900pcs.

It's still available at Buy's website for slightly more, actually they claim if you use their VISA, you save additional $30. Insane. What is their wholesale purchasing price ???

[surplusdealdude]

You never know.

I imagine they have professional buyers IN china looking for the deals.

They'd pretty much have to to sustain the sales that they feature.

[bcbeautiful]

The canadian daily deals have not been very good at all, IMO.

[pierrelebel]

"canadian daily deals have not been very good at all"

That may be because eBay.ca has consistently refused many of the listings I suggested! 😉

Every-so-often they send a letter inviting suggestions from Canadian sellers. However, they are not very efficient in acknowledging them and advising when and why an offer is not accepted. 😞

[dipmicro]

I just tried to buy that USB cable set from Buy, but he does not let me despite having US address. The problem seems to be my Canadian PayPal account.