‘Great Articles for Mom’ titled “Selling Online – Alternatives to eBay” by Pamela Bruce is reprinted here. [Read the Article]


‘Great Articles for Mom’ titled “Selling Online – Alternatives to eBay” by Pamela Bruce is reprinted here.

Selling Online – Alternatives to eBay

If you are new to the world of online auctions, you might have formed the impression that there is nothing but eBay. While eBay is massive and constantly advertises the fact that you can find “it” on eBay, there are many other services available. Whether you are just setting out as an online seller, want to switch sites, or diversify your sales channels, it might be worthwhile to look at these alternatives.

You should be aware, though, that using eBay has its advantages. It is much larger than its competitors (see http://www.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php), which translates into an enormous amount of customer traffic. And it is a recognized brand that spends a lot on marketing.

However, eBay also has some disadvantages. The fees for sellers (both for listing and once you sell) are relatively high, many categories have fierce price competition, and there are recurring technical glitches and dubious “improvements” that are often introduced without sufficient testing.

Where can you find alternatives? Here are some URLs to get you started:

# http://auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/sitepricing

# http://theauctionboard.com/onlineauctions.html

# http://www.powersellersunite.com/about7.html

As you can see, there are numerous other venues out there. Before signing up with one (or several) of them, though, you should ask a few questions:

1. How long has the site been in business? Who stands behind it?

2. What is its fee structure, both for listing fees and final value fees? Is there a monthly fee?

3. Which forms of payment can you accept on this site?

4. What do sellers say about the ease of use and the customer support (look for a relevant discussion forum)?

5. How much activity is there in your product category?

The last question is particularly important. A low-cost or even free site will be useless for you, if there is little traffic in your category. Even a free listing costs you the time you need to create it!

Once you have answered these questions, you may decide to go with one of the established competitors (yahoo.com, overstock.com), choose a smaller site (bluejay.com, ecrater.com) or go for a niche site that specializes in such items as pinball machines (pinballmachines.com), handmade items (www.etsy.com) or bead jewelry (justbeads.com). Of course there is always the option of building your own web store to sell your items.

Pamela Bruce lives in Austin, TX. She is the owner of Love Beads Unlimited and sells the sterling silver and Swarovski crystal bead jewelry she designs and creates on her website at www.lovebeadsunlimited.com, where you can also download the free e-book “A Consumer’s Guide to Buying Bead Jewelry Online”.

Article Source: http://greatarticlesformoms.com

*IMNewswatch would like to thank Great Articles for Moms for granting permission to reprint the article.

 

 

 

 

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