eBay no longer wants certain types of sellers on their site... Where to Go?

With all of the recent turmoil in the eBay community, mainly derived from comments expressed by the "new" powers that be within eBay, it is no wonder some long-time sellers are expressing more than a little angst over the quick use of terms like "retail experience" and "buyer experience" in conjuction with new performance-based discounts tied in with detailed seller ratings and feedback. It is not as though they were minor adjustments which should be obvious to everyone involved with using the eBay site for the last 10 years or so.

Lorrie Norrington - President of eBay Global Marketplaces - recently stated in a keynote speech: "....However, if you cannot, or will not change business practices to provide a great customer experience, then eBay is not for you."

Good sellers recognize the value of the bargain image that eBay nurtured for many years. In contrast, high volume sellers appreciate the retail experience language, while low volume or one-of-a-kind & consignment sellers have a harder time with this particular message. Is there a place for everyone to be comfortable? Apparently it is no longer going to be eBay.

Mr. Donahoe, who has been running the company since his appointment to the top spot was announced in January 2008, wants the company - the Internet’s largest eCommerce site - to operate less like an unruly flea market and more like a strip mall where buyers are guaranteed to have a comfortable and predictable shopping experience. See NY Times Article

If this message of change is affecting your online business plan or if you are unaware of other venues available to sell the types of goods you feel eBay was built upon (yet now seems to no longer want), we have assembled a short list of alternate venues for your to explore. Some of these marketplaces offer a venue for your online sales of unique and one-of-a-kind items and others could be more appropriate for the types of inventory no longer wanted on eBay.

1. OnlineAuction.com - Fixed flat rate yearly or monthly price to sell , 13 million listings live on the site.
2. eBid - $49.95 lifetime price to sell, international sites. Less active listings than OLA but growing.
3. Etsy - Free to list, 3.5% transaction fee if items sell, dedicated to hand-crafted & arts merchandise. Etsy has 870,000 registered users with 160,000 individual artists listing 1.5 million hand-made creations.
4. Yahoo Stores - Not an auction venue, but a great place to set up an online store if you do not want to build your own website with a shopping cart. $39.95 a month + 1.5% transaction fee for the basic package.
5. BuyitSellit - Buy It Sell It is an Ink Frog product. Many eBay sellers will be familiar with the Ink Frog eBay listing software solution. The BuyItSellIt basic package is free, but there are upgrades available including a digital delivery option for $9.95 per month. BuyItSellIt offers to also feature eBay listings alongside the shoping cart listing created in a merchant's BuyItSellIt Store.
6. Amazon Webstore - While the fees are higher here - $59.99 per month plus a 7% transaction fee - Amazon Webstores provide the Amazon experience to buyers and allows merchant specific branding. In addition, the merchant may operate multiple niche-specific Amazon Webstores all under one account for no additional fees.

Amazon Webstores Details

All credit card processing and transaction fees. There are no other hidden fees such as hosting, payment gateways or merchant accounts.

Payment Fraud Protection for you. WebStore by Amazon uses sophisticated fraud detection tools in use on Amazon.com. This allows you to benefit from Amazon’s world-class fraud protection services and experience.

Purchase protection for your customers. Customers who shop on your WebStore will feel more confident buying from your site knowing they are protected by the same A-to-z Guarantee that protects shoppers on Amazon.com.

Creating multiple WebStores within your account. Each WebStore can be a customized and independent Web presence for no additional monthly fee.

The option of adding Amazon products to your WebStore. Offer items from Amazon.com through your WebStore and the Amazon Associates Program allows you to collect a referral fee when such items are sold!

Every merchant must make his or her own choices when it comes to multi-channel selling. Using a multi-channel listing service which can feed inventory to many venues is also an option. This option is often the most expensive way to get product online and many small businesses cannot take advantage of the services of a ChannelAdvisor or Infopia multi-channel management solution. But if convenience and automation are your goals these are the types of services you should look into. Merchant Advantage is another service worthy of investigation if you have a large inventory and are interested in placing it in multiple online venues.

The point here is that there are multiple options to explore. eBay is not the only marketplace, yet it is also not a marketplace to be ignored or abandoned. Using eBay in a smart and informed way is the best solution. Doing that while exploring the other solutions mentioned above (or many more) is a smart business plan for the future.

Diversify, reduce costs, raise efficiency. These are not just terms for large corporations - they will apply to any business. See what you can do to make them apply to your business.

Scott Pooler