Question
As the year draws to a close, I have been reviewing my plans for 2005. eBay has been a major player, but I am trying to figure out where they are headed.
What do you think?
Larry
Answer
Sure, make me think
I am not sure where thye are headed but I knwo when we laid pout this years plan, ebya is a smaller proportion of it than normal, it is a tool, to be used but not 100%
at one time it was 100%, and it was just having a plan of how to maximize ebay, now it has to be treated as a business again, no more free easy ride ....remember the days..........
list it
sell it
pack it
use a wheelbarrow to get all the money to the bank.
Answer
The big change I saw on eBay this year were the many enhancements to eBay Stores. Examples include:
- the custom store header which can automatically be added to all auction listings
- improved sales reports
- inclusion of Store items in keyword search results when there are few auction-only results
- store promotion boxes
- easy of including store listings to froogle
- vacation setting
I also noticed an increase in the number of special promotions for fixed price listings this year. I think the goal was to encourage sellers who normally list in auction format to try listing in fixed price format.
My guess is that eBay is trying to encourage sellers to set up or maintain an eBay Store instead of selling from their own web sites and that this effort will continue in 2005.
Answer
For us, I think we will probably be making some changes in the way our auctions look.... More attractive use of graphics and new templates and photos. Things to draw folks into feeling comfortable... sort of like setting up some sort of ambiance for buyers... We will not be listing as many regualr auction items at any given time, but will probably be using the Ebay store more. We increased our usage of the store format in 2004 and it worked extremely well for us. We used a "lead in" for each category and tried to word things clearly and provided links to our Ebay store within the regular auction item descriptions. We do all we can to make it as easy as possible for the buyer to ask questions and get answers quickly and to be able to make the purchase as easy for them as possible. We keep our inventory up so that there are no major delays in shipping unless of course Mother Nature interferes...
LL
Answer
Focusing more on ebay store than auctions. Reducing expenses via that way. Loading that puppy up and then somehow advertising it. ...And trying to get back to Tanya via that web page ...we talked about a long time ago.. silly me... never got back to her. Doh'
Answer
My problems with eBay selling:
1. Slow periods, sometimes months-long.
2. To make enough money you pretty much have to stay glued to your computer and shipping facility.
3. Idiots.
My solutions for 2005:
1. Sell more of my writing.
2. Take temp jobs that pay just-OK, but get me out of the house and into other opportunities.
3. Ignore the idiots.
I don't give a gerbil's hindquarters what happens to eBay in 2005.
fLufF
--
Answer
Will continue to do what I did in 2004, and that is maintain most of my focus on my eBay store and run minimal amount of auctions to help drive traffic to it. It's worked for me this past year, in fact I still get store sales even when not running auctions.
Answer
Continuing the efforts I've made in 2004 to work eBay store & website venues to the maximum effect.
Will be adding my 2nd ebay store on Saturday so I can specialize my stores for the 2 markets I sell in better.
I'm adding more larger $ ways to sell, and new products of course.
My #1 concern right now is trying to estimate what kind of fee increase is coming January/February and how much to budget for it.
Right now I'm planning on a $5/month increase in stores monthly subscription fees * basic level and increases in FVF rates.
Answer
I have no idea where ebay is headed. I think others are right that they are trying to get more fixed price and store listings and I think ebay is trying to keep sellers in an ebay store rather than opening their own website. but what if any major changes they plan to make this year, I'm clueless but feel like after 8 years on ebay nothing significant is in the works on ebays end.
I don't really expect any price increases from ebay but won't be surprised if there is. if they increase auction fees, I hope they increase fvf and NOT insertion fees. I pay enough for non sellers as it is.
Answer
We will continue to use a limited number of reserve-price listings to feed customers to our Ebay store, which now generates over 90% of our Ebay sales at way less cost than regular listings.
We will finish the customized checkout/PayPal linked/database record keeping system that I am part way through programming for our website to save some order processing time (which is our bottleneck now) and will actively seek to convert Ebay customers to website customers with discounted prices available there for previous customers.
We hope (but don't expect to happen soon) to 'wean' ourselves away from Ebay as much as possible in the future as, frankly, selling on Ebay is becoming more and more of a costly pain in the *ss and will no doubt eventually become intolerable...