eBay Alternative
The e-commerce landscape is changing. eBay may have been the only game in town when it came to online auctions eight years ago... but there are now a raft of options out there for you to choose from. Now all you have to do is go out to these sites and sell for profit!
That's not to say that eBay didn't have any competition way back then. There were several online auction houses and classified sites to choose from in the 1990's but they just couldn't compete with eBay when it came to traffic. eBay was also being nice to its sellers then.
But that was then and this is now. Other e-commerce sites are starting to take some market share from eBay. One reason for the seller and buyer drift from eBay may be caused by eBay executives sudden case of power intoxication. The eBay board has recently put in place sweeping changes to policy and practices, changes many sellers think were made to:
- Squeeze more money out of the sellers using the site
- Push the little guy from the site
- Just irritate the sellers on the site
Here are just some of the changes eBay has put into place in the last five years:
· Numerous increases in fees
· Sellers are no longer able to leave neutral or negative feedback on buyers accounts
· Pressure in Australia, the UK and now the US to get PayPal as the only electronic payment system on the site.
· Higher volume sellers get discounts and added benefits for staying with the site
· eBooks and other non-physical items can no longer be auctioned
· Selling limit for selling outside USA
Other part-time sellers have also commented on a spotty customer service record and tendency to cancel accounts with no disclosed reason and make it difficult for the person to re-open them.
That being said there are still few better places to bring traffic to your own e-commerce site or online shop as there are a still an incredible number of people shopping on eBay.
If you're looking to boycott eBay or get out of eBay completely (just because you think that eBay sucks and not for the eBay boycott), Or you want to put your eggs in some other online auctions baskets then here is a list of more than 10 sites that you might want to check out:
The site that needs no instruction.... If eBay was the alpha male of the eCommerce community then Amazon would be the community member always competing for top-dog position. And if recent examinations of spending figures are to be believed it's making some ground on its claims to the ecommerce throne. For those people living under a rock it was set up in 1998 and it owns the popular traffic volume monitoring application and site Alexa. It has also recently launched its very own cart system.
However, this site is very much US-Seller centered and, if you are an international seller, there may be certain categories you can sell things under.
A free auction and ecommerce store creation service that was set up in 2001. There is a bit of buzz around this site. They use the Google checkout system and say that they are partners with Google in this regard.
A new US-based online auction site started in February 2008 Auction Ad City is an auctions and classifieds online marketplace where everything can be listed, including businesses and individuals.
It costs 50 US cents to list in the classified section, for which you get the right to have five pictures and permanent 'parking'. Other enhancements cost between 10 US cents and USD$10
It is free to list on the site, with various listing enhancements being available, with a similar cost to classified enhancements.
An auction site that was started in 2001 it gets better than average traffic, most of which comes from the US and the UK. They don't charge to list but have a 3% fee for a successful sale.
The site also has a subscription payment plan which allows sellers to list as much as they want for free, provided they have subscribed.
There is not too much listed but there is still more than some other start ups.
Yet another US-based eBay copy that's been around since 2004 (but was registered in 2003) and which seems to make most of its money from banner advertising and doesn't charge its users.
Sella came in as the 20th busiest New Zealand website. Looking back and comparing the activity on the site in February 2010 to February 2009. They’ve seen increases in activity of more than 500%
Bids increased 411%
Watches increased 520%
Questions asked increased 832%
Buy now purchases increased a whopping 4,765%!
Transaction feedback increased 2,270%
An ecommerce site that's been around since 2001. It gets a large part of its audience from the US but a large proportion also from the rest of the world. It touts itself as being an ecommerce community where people can negotiate prices for things. You can even swap things if you want. There's a final listing fee of 5% for sales and one US dollar each for successful swaps.
Sell.com offers a wide variety of classifieds with several options for both the seller and the buyer. Sellers choose whether they want to price their ad at a Negotiable, Fixed-Price or No-Price rate. There is also a selection of ways to have your ad posted so it stands out from others. Sell.com focuses on allowing the buyer and the seller to have direct contact.
An Australian-run auction site that's been around since 2001. It gets a reasonable amount of traffic. Most business happens in the automobile section. Listing fees are between 40 US cents and one US dollar with sellers paying an end commission of 3%-3.75%.
Craigs list has the name recognition of Amazon or eBay. It's perhaps the local classified site known the world over. Launched in 1998 Craigslist doesn't have that great a page ranking but its Alexa rating is through the roof. EBay owns 25% of Craigs list and the two have wrangled in the courts as recently as 2008.
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