For new newsgroup readers, these are not our forum posts. Any comments to the posters below should be made on the applicable thread, marked in bold below.
FYI apologist itspostingtime posts spin and damage control for eBay ...
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From eBay Store Forum
Questions about Yahoo Stores and ecrater....anyone know?
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000369100&tstart=0&mod=1179252666993
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 06:59 PDT
Just two quick questions:
1.There's been a lot of talk about ecrater lately, and I myself suggested ecrater would probably get the greatest benefit of the Yahoo Auctions closing (largely because ecrater is free). BUT....
ecrater is listed on the PSU "auction site count" list, the one that shows listing numbers, (so I assumed it must have auctions...why else would it be on the PSU auction site list). But I've spent some time looking at ecrater, and I can't find any indication that ecrater IS an auction site. Am I wrong about that? It looks to me like ecrater is only for fixed price merchandise.
Anyone know for sure?
(Bonus follow-up question: if ecrater doesn't host auctions, why is it even on PSU's list? I understand it's an alternative to ebay, but the list isn't billed as that...the list is specifically for "auction sites". Comparing ecrater and eBay using that list is like comparing an apple to an orange, no, at least they are both fruits...an apple to a rock.)
2. I haven't yet looked too closely at Yahoo Stores (I was pretty familiar with Y Auctions). My question here is: If I'm going to compare a Yahoo Store to ebay, do I compare the YStore to an eBay store, or is the more meaningful comparison to an eBay ProStore?
eBay stores are designed to be part of the overall eBay.com site (even if many feel they are slighted here) My impression (and I may be wrong) is that Yahoo Stores are basically stand alone stores: Yahoo helps you build the store, helps you market it (some free help, some at a price), etc.
But, most importantly, is there a way to search the inventory of ALL YStores at one time?
TIA!
10 replies Date posted Reply #
ric** (1614 ) May-15-07 07:12 PDT 1 of
Yahoo stores struck me as awfully expensive, even more so now that they will not be tied to an auction site.
One funny thing I did notice on the Yahoo auction listings is that often an ad for eBay would appear!
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 08:06 PDT 2 of
Yahoo stores are like Ebay's Pro Stores. They charge a small % of each sale (I Believe it was 1% not sure now as I haven't looked into it in several years)
Ecrater is just a fixed price format.
PSU lists all alternatives. Auctions per se are not considered the best way to go these days. They are pretty much dead in the water. I think most of the sites in PSU's list are FP sites.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 08:19 PDT 3 of
Thanks postcards.
So, you'd say comparing ebay stores and Yahoo stores is apples and oranges? Better to look at YStores and ProStores?
Do you know if all the inventory on YStores is searchable in one search?
Ecrater is just a fixed price format.
That's what I figured, but I kept thinking I must be missing something, since the PSU list is not entitled "ebay alternatives", it very clearly says "auction sites"
Of course, PSU can mislabel whatever it wants, LOL, but I do think PSU is doing sellers a disservice with that chart....from what I've seen, a lot of people are drawing conclusions from it that just aren't supported by the numbers PSU presents, and that's because PSU makes no real effort to fully explain the substantial differences. I think it can be very misleading.
ric** (1614 ) May-15-07 09:40 PDT 4 of
I'd say Yahoo is taking another nose dive.
buz** (72 ) May-15-07 10:26 PDT 5 of
It takes less than 5 minutes to create a Yahoo Group.
Fill your group with links to your eBay listings.
As your group membership grows so does your ranking in
Yahoo's group search.
As your search ranking grows and you build a group presence,
you can add listings to sell directly from your group. No fees.
Sellers can support each other by joining other groups
to increase members.
buz** (72 ) May-15-07 10:31 PDT 6 of
I am suggesting a gradual TRANSITION from listing/selling on eBay
to creating a web presence with Yahoo Groups. Not only individually
as each seller builds up their group with members and repeat
customers, but as a large group of sellers who can build up a
presence on groups where it evolves into a site for buying and
selling.
This is not a new idea. I did more sales on the DVD forum
this last year, than I did on ALL the alternative sites in the
last 3 to 5 years.
I purchased a large lot of comics and thought I had a disaster on
my hands when I could not move them on eBay. I listed them on
a comics forum/group and sold out within months.
These are two key experiences which convinced me of the potential
and advantages of using groups/forums instead of the "familiar"
auction format. The "alternative" sites have failed for 8+
years.
There are 6,000+ freecycle groups on Yahoo Groups.
The only difference with buy/sell groups is that you
are listing items for sale as opposed to giving away
unwanted items for free.
tinymobinfidel (0 ) May-15-07 10:53 PDT 7 of
OP - Just do a comparison of Pro Stores to eBay Stores. With the lack of exposure Stores are getting sellers are being forced to spend on outside advertising (Auctions) to drive business to there stores. Comparing eBay Stores to Yahoo Stores and even to Pro Stores is no longer an Apples to Oranges comparison. You get very little exposure for your 10% FVF in eBay Stores. Your therefore get more profitable sales in either Pro Stores or Yahoo Stores.
tinymobinfidel (0 ) May-15-07 10:53 PDT 8 of
there = their
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 11:06 PDT 9 of
I do appreciate all the responses, but I'm not really asking for advice on choosing an alternative, nor am I asking anyone to provide a comparison between YStores and ebay stores, etc.
(BTW, buzz, I haven't used YahooGroups to sell, but I've used freecycle and was pleasantly surprised to see just how much junk one can quickly unload with the tiny word "free" I would heartily recommend the freecycle sites to anyone who just wants to get rid of stuff, without regard to money.)
My question about ecrater has been answered: it is not an auction site. And the PSU stats are therefore easily and, I suspect, frequently being misinterpreted.
As to YahooStores, one question remains: is there any way to search the entire inventory of all YStores in one search?
Anyone know?
buz** (72 ) May-15-07 11:11 PDT 10 of
As to YahooStores, one question remains: is there any way to search the entire inventory of all YStores in one search?
The Yahoo Shopping search is similar to Froogle's search
(atleast from my amateurish observations).
I have no idea how the search"ranking" is determined
(on Froogle or Yahoo Shopping).
ric** (6740 ) May-15-07 12:09 PDT 11 of
I LOVE eCRATER
BUT I totally agree that PSU is not explaining the numbers and is comparing apples with cars!
eCRATER should be compared with Amazon they are more equal then comparing them to auction sites.
BTW, isn't this thread TOTALLY against ebay rules?
I always heard you can't talk about other sites here. I rarely ever do ebay forums but someoen pointed me here to the discussion about eCRATER so I had to look and reply.
WHY don't you ask the folks at PSU why they insist on including eCRATER in their chart? It makes NO SENSE to me either!
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 12:15 PDT 12 of
I think these discussions are only against the rules when they are aimed at getting people to move to a competitors site.
This is simply a discussion of the sites.
I could be wrong, of course. lol
Anyway, back to topic. I think PSU put the total with the other auctions because it was one of the fastest growing alternatives and they simply have not changed the heading to reflect site count vs auction count.
wlich (32 ) May-15-07 12:20 PDT 13 of
PSU has Blujay listed also, and that's a Marketplace site as well. I think most sellers know that. I think the list is just a general survey of who's growing and who is not.
It's difficult to take PSU seriously anyway, since so many PSU admins are involved in the very websites they're supposed to be analyzing. It's become pretty clear that they are not unbiased.
~~~~~~~~~
"Don't Go Away Mad - Just Go Away."
old** (2482 ) May-15-07 12:20 PDT 14 of
I am not certain that i agree that the comparison is is apples and cars --
A couple years ago probably --
In the last year maybe more like at apples and tomatoes - As ebay isolates stores from core more and more the comparisons are becoming not only more timely -- but also -- more apt.
Soon it might be argued that the comparison will be quite valid -- eBAY seems to be moving in a direction that not only isolates stores as a group -- BUT -- some recent moves appear to inclined to an effort to isolate stores from each other.
BUT -- for now the comparison is not valid --- FOR TODAY
carl
old** (2482 ) May-15-07 12:22 PDT 15 of
Linda --
It also seems that some things are allowable by a certain group -- AND NO OFFENCE IS INTENDED TO ANYONE - JUST A SIMPLE OBSERVATION.
I have aeen dozens of posts pulled on certain subjects as offensive to eBAY sensibilities -- YET some seem to continue to hang about without reaction.
Carl
oak** (3285 ) May-15-07 12:26 PDT 16 of
Depends if the post is knocking or supporting another venue
Oakstrom
oak** (3285 ) May-15-07 12:27 PDT 17 of
And as with all things it ain't what you know, but who.
Oakstrom
wlich (32 ) May-15-07 12:32 PDT 18 of
I think the moderators just don't read that much.
This one has a higher probablity of being yanked because the competition's name is right in the title, but other threads that have started out on a different topic and then ended up discussing alternatives stay because the mods just don't slog through every posting and no one reports them.
~~~~~~~~~
"Don't Go Away Mad - Just Go Away."
wlich (32 ) May-15-07 12:34 PDT 19 of
Unless they're doing searches for "bad words". I haven't really kept track that well of what stays and what goes.
Over the years, people have mentioned that we seem to get a little more leeway on this board.
~~~~~~~~~
"Don't Go Away Mad - Just Go Away."
old** (2482 ) May-15-07 13:07 PDT 20 of
And as with all things it ain't what you know, but who.
I think it is more flavor than favoritism --
AND
I also fully understand why that would be -- If I had a forum for my business I would be even more careful than eBAY about the "atmosphere" on it --- I would certainly not provide complete free speech --
Carl
old** (2482 ) May-15-07 13:12 PDT 21 of
I think I am just cantankerous the past few weeks cause of changes we are undergoing ourselves ---
Seems the new faces -- my 2 younglins and the promoted super believe that the LADY and I built this little business from scratch by luck and accident.
I get hit with why don't we do this or that -- and Why do it that way on a daily -- sometimes it seems hourly basis.
They are much freerer with the buck and taking chances it seems than the Lady and I were and are --- I do not mind that -- I do mind the freewheeling though.
Trying to give them some leeway without letting them get off point --
Sorry for the off thread -- BUT I am feeling cantankerous
Carl
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 13:15 PDT 22 of
The Yahoo Shopping search is similar to Froogle's search
(atleast from my amateurish observations).
I have no idea how the search"ranking" is determined
(on Froogle or Yahoo Shopping).
Thanks buzz! I'll take a closer look at that.
BTW, isn't this thread TOTALLY against ebay rules?
I always heard you can't talk about other sites here. I rarely ever do ebay forums but someone pointed me here to the discussion about eCRATER so I had to look and reply.
WHY don't you ask the folks at PSU why they insist on including eCRATER in their chart? It makes NO SENSE to me either!
It's always been my understanding that advertising is against ebay rules. I'm not advertising either YStores or ecrater, nor do I sell on either site. I haven't looked at the Rules in a long time, but I don't recall ever seeing anything in the Rules when I did look that prohibited merely discussing sites the way we are doing in this thread. If someone can point me to a specific rule that this thread actually violates, I will gladly self-report it.
I have never felt compelled to make veiled references like "the River" instead of Amazon....references which always confuse at least one person and, in fact, quite often I've been the person who has come onto the thread and explained the reference. Never been pink slapped for doing so. (Although perhaps I just jinxed myself by saying that....)
As to asking the folks at PSU about ecrater? I've never gotten around to registering over there....I read the Boards and look at the chart, but I'm not a member, and I think you have to be a member to post. Besides, it's their Board, if they want to mislead people, that's their business. LOL
I am not certain that i agree that the comparison is is apples and cars
Carl, Have you actually LOOKED at the chart? I have seen comments from people posted to the Boards and elsewhere that are clearly and repeatedly misinterpreting the PSU chart. For example, many people never notice the footnote that indicates that ONLY core listings are counted for ebay. For example, I've seen people talk about how ecrater is showing so much growth and ebay is showing decline (based on the PSU chart) . But you simply CAN'T come to any reliable conclusion from those figures, especially when comparing eBay's list (maximum amount of time for any listing to remain on the list would be ten days), with ecrater (longer store listings)
I have nothing against ecrater. But that PSU chart is misleading people, and I think that's a disservice to people who ARE looking for alternatives to ebay. People need FACTS, they need to be able to make reliable comparisons, and the PSU chart muddies the water.
If it were just a LIST of alternatives, I'd applaud it. But the numbers it provides, without any real context....I think that's prompting some people to draw erroneous conclusions and make business decisions relying upon those conclusions. Given PSU's position that it is intended to HELP people to make decisions about alternatives, I think PSU should actually try to put the numbers into a realistic context.
Now, I'm not saying PSU is trying to mislead people. I AM saying people are drawing unwarranted conclusions. Recently I saw a post, someone said he was surprised that Yahoo was pulling the plug on YAuctions, because Y had about 10% of the market based on PSU listings (Y, about a million, ebay, often around 10 million). That's a TOTAL misinterpretation of the chart. Not only does it ignore the fact that the ebay number doesn't include the millions more store listings, but it confuses listings with market share.
People are making business decisions based on a chart that makes very little effort to provide any insight or context for those people.
I do not think that is a good thing.
But, look, I didn't really start this thread to get into a discussion about the PSU chart, that was just an aside. As to ecrater, I merely wanted to know whether ecrater hosts auctions or only fixed price items.Since ecrater doesn't host auctions, I now figure that ecrater will get a nice bump from YAuctions' demise, but perhaps a somewhat smaller bump than I had expected.....
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 13:22 PDT 23 of
IPT...I think 99% of the people who visit PSU know exactly what each of the sites offer. And, they understand what PSU is all about.
The other 1% are free to ask questions on the forums and answers are usually provided very quickly.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 13:31 PDT 24 of
postcards,
I'm not saying, for example, that people who are considering ecrater as an alternative will not figure out that it only chart's name at first (mistakenly assuming ecrater includes auctions, since the chart is labeled "auction sites"), but they'll eventually learn otherwise.
My point is, and I've seen evidence of this in posts, many people simply will not consider how the difference between a store site and an auction site effects comparisons between the two sites. PSU really should at least provide some sort of guide to help people interpret the statistics in a meaningful way.
old** (2482 ) May-15-07 13:42 PDT 25 of
IPT --
YEP -- I have looked a few times -- BUT -- I would never use such unsubstantiated thirs party observations to make decisions so they never realing had any meaning to me outside of curiosity --
AND -- I also realize that PSU has an axe to grind to no small degree --
BUT --
My post was really not about the charts -- it was about as you stated the difficulty of comparing this place with a place such as ecrater or other such place --
MY POINT was that while I agree that there is a distinction between eBAY and other places -- The distinction is beginning to blur as eBAY continues to tighten and blur store visability -- and
I can see a not to distant day that the comparison will be more direct given the present course --
Carl
old** (2482 ) May-15-07 13:44 PDT 26 of
Maybe a better comparison for now would be to compare eXPRESS traffic with that of eCRATER ????
Might be an interesting excercise
Carl
wlich (32 ) May-15-07 13:50 PDT 27 of
Maybe a better comparison for now would be to compare eXPRESS traffic with that of eCRATER ????
The real difference in my mind is that , unlike eBay, eCRATER makes no pretense of delivering traffic. It's just a free, uncomplicated place to have a store if you're not quite up to having your own website.
~~~~~~~~~
"Don't Go Away Mad - Just Go Away."
min** (655 ) May-15-07 13:55 PDT 28 of
I was never mis-lead. When I went to ecrater, I was not looking for a replacement "auction" site..I was looking for a replacement "store" site.
Ecrater stores are free. You have to do your own advertising and bring in your own customers; but...due to Ebay's shenanigans, you have to do that with an Ebay store anyway..so might as well have a free store.
I do "auctions" on Ebay. I do store items on "Ecrater."
And...how well I do on either venue depends on how much work I am willing to put into it.
.
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itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 13:57 PDT 29 of
Carl,
I wouldn't expect you to put much reliance on the PSU chart, you are far too savvy for that. My point is, I've seen other people (some who surprised me) drawing conclusions from it that simply can't be drawn from the information it provides (as an obvious example, the guy who was clearly conflating market share with number of listings.)
But it's really the less obvious errors that ought to concern PSU , assuming, of course, that PSU really wants to help people make informed decisions. And I'm not only talking about people making comparisons between eBay and other sites, but AMONG the other sites as well.
I can see a not to distant day that the comparison will be more direct given the present course
You've lost me on that point.
Presently, ecrater is only store listings, and ebay (on the chart) is only ebay's core listings. The only way I can see the comparison becoming more apt is if the chart added in eBay's store listings and eBay transformed all core listings into store listings....and I don't think ebay is headed in that direction.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 14:08 PDT 30 of
I was never mis-lead. When I went to ecrater, I was not looking for a replacement "auction" site..I was looking for a replacement "store" site.
Like I said, I wasn't really looking to discuss the PSU chart, but here I am....LOL
Yes, people looking at ecrater or hearing about it will eventually grasp that it's a store , not an auction, site. I do realize that.
The real problem with the chart is the numbers it provides. Even if PSU correctly labeled the chart as "ebay alternatives with a minimum of (whatever number PSU uses) listings", it wouldn't alter the fact that people are often drawing unwarranted conclusions from the numbers, and relying, if only in part, on those conclusions when making business decisions.
And, to emphasize, no one needs to defend ecrater here. I'm not knocking ecrater. I AM knocking the PSU chart. ecrater just happens to be the site I first mentioned in my OP, so it's become my example when discussing the PSU chart.
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 14:12 PDT 31 of
I get it....you are saying to show a true representation then the Ebay total should be EBAY listings which include both core and store.
Especially since Ebay gives store very little exposure and in many ways they are now similar to any other web store. (except our hands are tied behind our backs and we have muffles on our mouths preventing us from listing many items and saying things we want to say about those we do list). That doesn't exist elsewhere.
But, again, you weren't defending either and you are correct. The comparison is in error and should show total Ebay listings along with total listings elsewhere. That would show just how far a lead Ebay truly has over the competition.
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 14:13 PDT 32 of
But, i do appreciate your making me think it all over.
It made the decision between Pro and Presto an easy one. I forgot those handcuffs and gags that Ebay throws over us for everything we list.
I think I'll take the freedom approach and list where I am free to do as I please.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 14:15 PDT 33 of
Hmmm, OK, since I have some ecrater people here....I guess I do have another question about ecrater. If I list an item in an ecrater store, how long does that listing remain up? 30 days, like a typical ebay store listing?
Or is it Good Till Cancelled/Sold?
Or.....?
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 14:17 PDT 34 of
Good till sold or cancelled.
The main thing I dislike about ecrater is the fact they have no inventory control. When an item sells you have to go in and manually delete it.
Unless sales are few and far between (in which case, why bother) I don't believe I would want to do that.
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 14:18 PDT 35 of
I did open an ecrater store but never stocked it.
wlich (32 ) May-15-07 14:18 PDT 36 of
It's forever and NOT good til sold...yet.
It's been promised (quite recently), but there is no inventory control. You have to cancel the listing when you are sold out. You can control how mant widgets your buyers purchases in one shot, but that's all.
~~~~~~~~~
"Don't Go Away Mad - Just Go Away."
wlich (32 ) May-15-07 14:20 PDT 37 of
Postcards, inventory control is coming, the owner announced it a few days ago.
~~~~~~~~~
"Don't Go Away Mad - Just Go Away."
oak** (3285 ) May-15-07 14:20 PDT 38 of
Seems the whole post is basically a knock against PSU, and those who run it.
I'm not a member either.
But it is interesting to see how other SELLING SITES are faring.
Like the O it seems to be dieing, Given there heavy ad campaign, did the buyers not go there or did the sellers not like the rules there ? Or a combo of the two or something else entirely?
The list is a start point, like most comparison lists.
Oakstrom
pol** (Private ) May-15-07 14:21 PDT 39 of
FYI eCRATER announced implementation (09 May 2007 08:30), soon, of inventory control.
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 14:22 PDT 40 of
Thanks wlich. That's why I saved my store name over there. Just in case they came up with inventory control I could open up and keep my name.
I'll be watching them to see when they go live with it:)
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 14:25 PDT 41 of
Like the O it seems to be dieing, Given there heavy ad campaign, did the buyers not go there or did the sellers not like the rules there ? Or a combo of the two or something else entirely?
O started out on bad footing. That silly endless email stuff trying to get others to get you to join turned me off right away.
Then, when that settled down they started changing their site with the trusted merchant program being the only hope anyone had of success there.
Now, I thought I heard they were scrapping the auctions completely (but again, could be wrong).
I was disgusted with their entire approach I haven't been back to the site to even shop the overstock main site (which was always inflated prices as far as I could tell...cheaper stuff could be found anywhere).
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 14:25 PDT 42 of
postcards,
I get it....you are saying to show a true representation then the Ebay total should be EBAY listings which include both core and store.
No, not really, that's not my main point. To PSU's credit, PSU does include a footnote at the bottom of the chart indicating that store listings are no longer included for ebay, and that, when they were listed, they generally added another 40 million or so to ebay's total. (I don't recall the exact number). True, it's quite obvious that many people who look at the chart never read the footnote, but it IS there.
If PSU only wants to show core numbers, since PSU is making clear that that's all it's showing, I'm OK with that.
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 14:27 PDT 43
Then what was the point. I seem to have gotten lost along the way. lol
old** (2482 ) May-15-07 14:31 PDT 44 of
The only way I can see the comparison becoming more apt is if the chart added in eBay's store listings and eBay transformed all core listings into store listings....and I don't think ebay is headed in that direction
The key word you used before the above was PRESENTLY --
BUT no i do not think eBAY is headed that way either (combining core and store listings) -- I think they are headed in the diection of removing storew entirely from fom core -- At that point we will have a situation that is comparable and measurable -- Traffic to different congregations of stores.
In fact the very displacement of store listings from core listings is none of the underlying "reads" that give clues to eBAY direction.
There is no question at all that eBAY is so far in the lead in Auction Traffic that it is a waste of time to even contemplate another auction site for other than niche sellers (IMO of course) -- (unless the cost equation for an individual is an offset to the traffic opportunity).
BUT ---
eBAY is no longer the only Gorilla when it comes to a store purchasing experiance -- and with the ongoing fragmentation of customer base they are becoming in slow increments a less important venue in that marketplace for sellers who wish to get real serious and invest some time and money. That incremental backstep is accelerating and will continue to do so --- AND --
As stores become more prevalent with all those little collectables that are not profitable to eBAY -- or to sell on eBAY -- that two step will turn into a fox-trot --
I have seen this whole scenario more than once in other industries --
Nothing new has been invented to change basic fundamentals -- In 5 years and most likely less eBAY will still own 95% of the auction business -- BUT -- The auction business will have returned to the mere pimple on commerce it has always been -- a very small segment of the marketplace that is suitable for a very select type of offering -- Market Dumping of unsuccessful products -- Inventory escape -- cleanouts -- quick if costly cash flow -- and a select few valuables that are rare or very unique.
In other words eBAY has set in place the very forces that will drive ITS core business into exactly the position it claims it does not want to go.
Carl
itspostingtime (2 ) May-15-07 14:41 PDT 45 of
oak,
No, this whole thread wasn't even supposed to be about PSU! LOL I had two questions , one about ecrater, and one about YAuctions. My PSU comment was just an aside, but, as so often happens with these threads, somehow it became a focal point of the thread.
I don't know the people who run PSU, in fact, I have no idea who the individuals are.
I do NOT think PSU INTENDS to mislead people with the chart. I just think that the chart is constructed in such a way that it is very easily misinterpreted, and I've seen it misinterpreted pretty often.
postcards,
This is my tenth and last post for the day (wow! That was quick LOL) and I'm too tired to get into the math right now. I'll try to come back tomorrow and explain in more detail why I think the chart can be so misleading....
sal** (264 ) May-15-07 14:43 PDT 46 of
I posted this as a separate thread yesterday:
For several months I've had a store on the moon for my handcrafted jewelry only, sarajane. I've had lots of hits and several sales.
This weekend I opened another moon store, universal-expressions, where I started listing jewelry bought for resale, e.g. Native American crafted. Already I found this new store on Google and am getting lots of hits. The cost? My time and zip $!
pos** (4234 ) May-15-07 14:43 PDT 47 of
Thanks. I would like to see more.
ban** (398 ) May-15-07 18:51 PDT 48 of
sallycp - I'm the same. Love the moon - had several sales there in the last few days.
PSU is also great - they have fabulous information on there, I also like how they have all the latest industry news on EBay.
BTW, I wouldn't open a ProStores OR a Yahoo store - they're too expensive and have NO benefits above a regular website, you still have to do all the work to get traffic to your store.
sal** (264 ) May-15-07 21:26 PDT 49 of
Hi bangkokbint,
I considered Yahoo several years ago but they required a merchant account, more money. I like PSU and have a website with them, myhandcraftedjewelry. PSU offers a lot for only $9.95 per month. I'm still having problems with it and need to work it more.
eCrater is so easy and so free and gets on search.
sal** (264 ) May-15-07 21:29 PDT 50 of
BTW, I tried Prostores, lots of work and no sales. IMHO, a waste of time and money.
homedecorstudios (3 ) May-15-07 23:54 PDT 51 of
Yahoo store are basically like any other website. It just uses templates.
You are listed in Yahoo shopping but like ANY website you will have to submit to search engines & promote your site.
I just opened my 3rd yahoo store. It took all of 3 days to list 675 products. It's already in google base & yahoo shopping. & since Sunday I've gotten 8 orders.
I use adwords, MSN & Yahoo marketing to drive traffic to the site Along with Squidoo, affiliate programs & print ads.
I spent about 100 hours on the ad campaigns to get $1500 a day in sales. I plan to keep working on it & tweeking it too. I spent maybe 1000 hours on the websites in the last year.
I considered Yahoo several years ago but they required a merchant account, more money.
It's set up for paypal...Most customers won't order from you but you can offer it.
The WWWW customer base is not the same as ebay's. Buyers want to pay with a credit card.
I offered paypal for 4 months & out of 4300 order 2 customers used paypal.
Bottom line you can set up a website anywhere but it's up to you to get it in front of customers. You cannot just pop it up with an few hours work & get millions of customers.
the_voices_in_your_head (0 ) May-16-07 05:21 PDT 52 of
As to YahooStores, one question remains: is there any way to search the entire inventory of all YStores in one search?
No.
Yahoo Shopping is not a search engine for Yahoo Stores. Yahoo Shopping is a PPC shopping comparison engine, like Shopzilla and Shopping.com. Anyone can pay to get into Yahoo Shopping. Ebay buys ads and places Ebay items there. I have found my own Ebay items listed in Yahoo Shopping.
I also have a Yahoo Store, and I pay for my store items' inclusion in Yahoo Shopping.
app** (155 ) May-16-07 05:32 PDT 53 of
I spoke about my experience with eCrater (good) and someone reported me and one of the pinks pulled my post. I got some lame email saying that you could not promote ANY other web sites in these boards. What a bunch of carp.
Judy
itspostingtime (2 ) May-16-07 06:05 PDT 54 of
voices,
As to YahooStores, one question remains: is there any way to search the entire inventory of all YStores in one search?
No.
Yahoo Shopping is not a search engine for Yahoo Stores. Yahoo Shopping is a PPC shopping comparison engine, like Shopzilla and Shopping.com. Anyone can pay to get into Yahoo Shopping. Ebay buys ads and places Ebay items there. I have found my own Ebay items listed in Yahoo Shopping.
I also have a Yahoo Store, and I pay for my store items' inclusion in Yahoo Shopping.
Thanks. I spent sometime last night looking at Yahoo Shopping and came to that same conclusion, and was surprised to see how many eBay items turned up in my search. from what I can tell, if you have an eBay store and want the items to show up in Yahoo Shopping , you can submit your stuff (PPC)
But clearly, items other than Yahoo Store items show up there....there may be a way to filter out non-Yahoo stores in the search, but this does seem to confirm my idea that YStores are really intended to be stand alone websites, more like an eBay ProStore than an eBay store.
Thanks again for your reply!
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Urban Myth or Fact? eBay Express Is Popular, Part 4 One Year Old
eBay Express was officially one year old on 14 June 2007.
eBay Corporate proclaims that eBay Express is a popular success.
http://internet.seekingalpha.com/article/32757
eBay Q1 2007 Earnings Call Transcript
April 18, 2007 5:00 pm ET
But despite the glowing praise, and after over a year of promotion to the world, is eBay Express really popular? Or is this a Corporate eBay Urban Myth?
To answer this, let's use the free Alexa (www.alexa.com). There are always questions of accuracy with any tool, and Alexa is no exception. While there exist several subjective reports regarding Alexa's measuring methodologies, there are NO objective reports or hard proofs showing Alexa's lack of accuracy. Each reader will have to judge whether findings from Alexa meet their own criteria for usefulness.
Keep in mind that if you want Professional numbers, you have to pay Professional prices. Alexa is FREE.
Sites will be pulled from the often referred to Auction Site list from Power Sellers Unite. And we'll throw in some extras and ringers. The ringers provide a means to compare like sites, and to show the accuracy limitations of Alexa.
For the number of items on eBay Express, let's use eBay Corporates' assumption that everything on eBay.com is on eBay Express. We'll leave out the ongoing contribution from Half.com, given eBay does not provide those numbers. eBay Store counts are left out because eBay provides no day-to-day counts, and as of the end of April 2007 eBay began pursuing an aggressive policy of reducing the visibility of eBay Stores products.
Ultimately, as can be seen from the charts below, the number of items available is not necessarily proportional to the number of potential buyers. Or as put by the old saw, 'size doesn't matter.'
Here are the terms and the raw data chart.
Reach:
Reach is typically expressed as the percentage of all Internet users who visit a given site. For example, this means if you took random samples of one million Internet users, on average 19,400 of them visit eBay.com
Page Views per user:
The page views per user numbers are the average numbers of unique pages viewed per user per day by the users visiting the site.
Statistics quoted as of 16 June 2007
............................................... Page Views ...... Reach per
.............. Number of ... Traffic Rank ..... per user ........ million users
............... Listings .... Now . 3 mos AVG .. Now . 3 mos AVG . Now . 3 mos AVG
eBay ......... 11,486,992 ..... 20 ....... 19 . 14.3 .. 14.9 ... 19,400 .. 20,240
eBay Express . 11,486,992 .... n/a ... 49,658 .. n/a ... 1.7 ...... n/a ...... 35
Bidville ...... 1,049,214 .... n/a ... 83,845 .. n/a .. 10.7 ...... n/a ..... 8.6
eCRATER ......... 572,505 . 12,004 ... 13,003 .. 6.3 ... 5.3 ....... 80 ...... 81
uk.ebid.net ..... 532,266 . 15,494 ... 20,655 . 29.3 .. 14.7 ....... 30 .... 30.5
Blujay .......... 174,511 .... n/a .. 117,485 .. n/a ... 2.7 ........ 9 ...... 11
Tazbar .......... 151,023 . 73,229 ... 50,160 . 11.2 .. 16.2 ....... 10 .... 11.5
ePier ........... 127,203 . 86,224 .. 129,260 .. 5.5 ... 2.1 ....... 10 .... 10.5
Wagglepop ........ 94,198 .... n/a .. 131,138 .. n/a ... 7.5 ...... n/a ..... 6.5
Yahoo! ........... 66,426 ...... 1 ........ 1 . 13.7 .. 14.5 .. 250,500 . 253,500
AuctionQuests .... 54,502 .... n/a .. 112,093 .. n/a .. 11.3 ........ 7 ..... 5.9
HiBidder ......... 37,599 . 77,150 ... 55,659 . 27.7 .. 34.9 ........ 6 ..... 8.2
PlunderHere ...... 30,827 .... n/a ... 69,762 .. n/a .. 47.1 ........ 7 ..... 5.4
Bid-Alot ......... 28,014 .... n/a .. 221,684 .. n/a ... 2.4 ...... n/a ..... 5.6
Overstock ........ 21,344 .. 1,162 .... 1,187 .. 7.0 ... 6.3 ...... 630 ..... 630
StuffPals ........ 18,397 .... n/a .1,183,176 .. n/a ... 4.0 ...... n/a ..... 0.4
WeBidz ........... 17,621 .... n/a ... 66,734 .. n/a .. 19.5 ...... 7.5 ..... 8.5
Lowbid ........... 11,344 .... n/a .. 451,411 .. n/a ... 6.6 ...... n/a ..... 1.3
Ewaey ............... n/a .... n/a .. 609,259 .. n/a ... 5.9 ...... n/a ....... 1
Amazon .............. n/a ..... 32 ....... 31 .. 5.5 ... 5.8 ... 17,050 .. 16,995
BestBuy ............. n/a .... 531 ...... 527 .. 6.3 ... 5.8 .... 1,350 ... 1,345
Buy.com ............. n/a .. 1,409 .... 1,402 .. 3.7 ... 3.8 ...... 730 ..... 697
CompUSA ............. n/a .. 3,157 .... 2,209 .. 4.9 ... 4.8 ...... 305 ..... 398
eBay ProStores ...... n/a .. 9,275 ... 11,288 .. 6.8 ... 5.2 ...... 100 ...... 90
WalMart ............. n/a .... 509 ...... 431 .. 6.2 ... 6.1 .... 1,400 ... 1,565
** Per conflict of interest notice, we have in the past or currently have items on or have bought from eBay, eBay Express, Yahoo!, Bidville, eCRATER, Blujay, Wagglepop, Overstock, Ewaey, Amazon, BestBuy, Buy.com, CompUSA, WalMart, Google. All shares of eBay stock were sold in the summer 2004.
Let's move measures of popularity, Page Views and Reach, leftward.
Remove Yahoo! as they have closed shop on auctions. They're still Number 1 anyway.
Organizations have good and bad days. Let's use 3 months data to average this out. Round up everything. Order lists according to Page View and Reach.
3 Month Average
............. Page Views .. Reach per .. Number of
.............. per user . million users . Listings
PlunderHere .... 48 ............. 6 ....... 30,827
HiBidder ....... 35 ............. 9 ....... 37,599
WeBidz ......... 20 ............. 9 ....... 17,621
Tazbar ......... 17 ............ 12 ...... 151,023
eBay ........... 19 ........ 20,240 ... 11,486,992 <=
ebid ........... 15 ............ 31 ...... 532,266
AuctionQuests .. 12 ............. 6 ....... 54,502
Bidville ....... 11 ............ 9 .... 1,049,214
Wagglepop ....... 8 ............. 7 ....... 94,198
WalMart ......... 7 ......... 1,565 .......... N/A
Overstock ....... 7 ........... 630 ....... 21,344
Lowbid .......... 7 ............. 2 ....... 11,344
Amazon .......... 6 ........ 16,995 .......... N/A
BestBuy ......... 6 ......... 1,345 .......... N/A
ProStores ....... 6 ............ 90 .......... N/A <==
eCRATER ......... 6 ............ 81 ...... 572,505
Ewaey ........... 6 ............. 1 .......... N/A
CompUSA ......... 5 .......... 398 .......... N/A
Buy.com ......... 4 ........... 697 .......... N/A
StuffPals ....... 4 ............. 1 ....... 18,397
Blujay .......... 3 ............ 11 ...... 174,511
ePier ........... 3 ............ 11 ...... 127,203
Bid-Alot ........ 3 ............. 6 ....... 28,014
eBay Express .... 2 ............ 35 ... 11,486,992 <===
eBay Express is dead last in Page Views per user. eBay should reconsider touting to the Press that Page Views is an all important statistic of site performance.
3 Month Average
.......... Reach per .... Page Views . Number of
......... million users ... per user .. Listings
eBay ......... 20,240 ....... 15 .... 11,486,992 <=
Amazon ....... 16,995 ........ 6 ........... N/A
WalMart ....... 1,565 ........ 7 ........... N/A
BestBuy ....... 1,345 ........ 6 ........... N/A
Buy.com ......... 697 .........4 ........... N/A
Overstock ....... 630 ........ 7 ........ 21,344
CompUSA ......... 398 ........ 5 ........... N/A
ProStores ........ 90 ........ 6 ........... N/A <==
eCRATER .......... 81 ........ 6 ....... 572,505
eBay Express ..... 35 ........ 2 .... 11,486,992 <===
ebid ............. 31 ....... 15 ....... 532,266
Tazbar ........... 12 ....... 17 ....... 151,023
Blujay ........... 11 ........ 3 ....... 174,511
ePier ............ 11 ........ 3 ....... 127,203
HiBidder .......... 9 ....... 35 ........ 37,599
WeBidz ............ 9 ....... 20 ........ 17,621
Bidville .......... 9 ....... 11 ..... 1,049,214
Wagglepop ......... 7 ........ 8 ........ 94,198
PlunderHere ....... 6 ....... 48 ........ 30,827
AuctionQuests ..... 6 ....... 12 ........ 54,502
Bid-Alot .......... 6 ........ 3 ........ 28,014
Lowbid ............ 2 ........ 7 ........ 11,344
Ewaey ............. 1 ........ 6 ........... N/A
StuffPals ......... 1 ........ 4 ........ 18,397
In Reach per million users, eBay Express is less popular than Overstock, eCRATER, and it's sibling ProStores, and barely more popular than the much smaller sites.
3 Month Average
............... Traffic .. Number of
................ Rank ..... Listings
eBay ............... 19 . 11,486,992 <=
Amazon ............. 31 ........ N/A
WalMart ........... 431 ........ N/A
BestBuy ........... 527 ........ N/A
Overstock ....... 1,187 ..... 21,344
Buy.com ......... 1,402 ........ N/A
CompUSA ......... 2,209 ........ N/A
ProStores ...... 11,288 ........ N/A <==
eCRATER ........ 13,003 .... 572,505
ebid ........... 20,655 .... 532,266
eBay Express ... 49,658 . 11,486,992 <===
Tazbar ......... 50,160 .... 151,023
HiBidder ....... 55,659 ..... 37,599
WeBidz ......... 66,734 ..... 17,621
PlunderHere .... 69,762 ..... 30,827
Bidville ....... 83,845 .. 1,049,214
AuctionQuests . 112,093 ..... 54,502
Blujay ........ 117,485 .... 174,511
ePier ......... 129,260 .... 127,203
Wagglepop ..... 131,138 ..... 94,198
Bid-Alot ...... 221,684 ..... 28,014
Lowbid ........ 451,411 ..... 11,344
Ewaey ......... 609,259 ........ N/A
StuffPals ... 1,183,176 ..... 18,397
Compared to the previous reports (see bottom), eBay Express has been slowly sinking in this ranking. But by Traffic Rank eBay Express remains fair compared to other substantially smaller competing sites.
To comprehend the magnitude of these numbers, let's use Yahoo! and Google in this last list.
3 Month Average
............ Reach per .. Page Views . Number of . Traffic
.......... million users . per user .. Listings ... Rank
Yahoo! ....... 250,500 ...... 15 ........ 66,426 ...... 1
Google ....... 238,850 ....... 7 .... EVERYTHING ...... 3
eBay .......... 20,240 ...... 15 .... 11,486,992 ..... 19
ProStores ......... 90 ....... 6 ........... N/A . 11,288
eBay Express ...... 35 ....... 2 .... 11,486,992 . 49,658
Is eBay Express leading the competition? According to the metrics, mixed results.
Is eBay Express popular?
What do you think?
This article is a followup to:
See also addendum:
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Posted on 16 June 2007 at 00:36 in Amazon, Bidville, Blujay, Commentary, eBay Express, eBid, eCRATER, Ewaey, Google, Yahoo! | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
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