eBid hits 1,000,000 auctions milestone
By Ed | July 23rd, 2008 | Category: TazBar, eBid |
The July newsletter from UK-managed auction & stores network eBid is in, and the achievements are impressive.
The site hit the critical-mass one million active auction listings during July and are correctly trumpeting it proudly - this moves them from the “small fry” into the “big fish” pond, and leaves self-proclaimed competitor TazBar flapping in the shallows. Of course, eBid still have a long way to go to catch up to eBay or even some of the middle tier US-only sites, but with a million listings in the search engine results, it’ll drive traffic, sales, and additional listings. That’s something the site are pushing hard for, with twice monthly uploads of the whole (eligible) inventory database to GoogleBase certainly helping, with a reported 25% increase in GMV, month-on-month, between May & June 2008.
Pushing hard to capture volume from the eBay negative press, eBid are still offering Seller+ lifetime membership at only £49.99. This means sellers get up to 5 stores FREE, options for FREE listing, FREE photo inclusion and NO Final Value Fees, depending on how you list, and that’s FOREVER!
Right now, everyone who upgrades to Seller+ will receive a FREE eBid T-shirt. Check out their selling fees to find out how much you could save with a Seller+ Lifetime account compared to sites like eBay and Etsy - click the banner over there on the left margin.
As requested by US sellers, they have launched their shipping calculator allowing buyers to work out shipping costs by just adding their zip codes to auctions. See the LYI (List Your Item) form and click the “Calculated” button. USPS is currently the only working service but more will be added soon including UPS, DHL and FedEx.
Also on the international front, eBid is continuing to spread its wings and embrace the global marketplace at a time that eBay continues attempting to divide and fragment it. Whilst smaller rival auction sites are bought up, split up, or shut down, eBid is expanding into Portugal, Belgium, Sweden, and Denmark in the coming months, adding four new territories to the existing 14 country-sites they operate now.
While this site seems to be doing quite well for UK sellers, it is a total waste of time and money for US sellers. The sales are few andd far between, and when they do occur, it is most likely an international trade, and the buyers seem to have an issue with paying the calculated shipping rate, never mind any shipping fee, at all. I even provide the package weight and a link to the USPS calculators so that these buyers can see for themselves that I charge the actual rate with no shipping and handling. I can’t remember having the kinds of problems with UK sellers on any of my other sales venues or my own site, but something about ebid makes them think they are entitled to fee international shipping??
All in all, I would say that if you are a US seller, apply your $50 to something a bit more rewarding. Ebid is certainly not worth the cost, never mind the time and effort you will put into setting up your shops just to watch your items sit untouched month after month.