eBid

Now over 10 years old eBid at least in terms of size is the only serious rival to eBay. True it’s still not going to get you the hordes of traffic and interest that eBay does but with no listing fees and extremely competitive final value fees this has to be one of our top eBay alternatives of all time. When we first used the site back in 2004, it wasn’t much but it’s moved on leaps and bounds since then (we love it’s facelift) and continues to give it’s listings great exposure on google thanks to it being an official google products search partner.

Amazon Marketplace

Another heavy weight and although not an auction site it’s a behemoth in terms of market size. Like eBid you listing items is free but that’s as far as the similiarities go. Amazon isn’t on the cheap side due to it’s extremely high final value fees which can be as high as 17.5% (that doesn’t even include the completion fee, around $0.99 or £0.86).

Note that if you’re selling casually you’ll be limited to products that are already in the Amazon catalogue so if you’re looking to sell something more unique or something that isn’t in the amazon catalogue you’ll have to consider an Amazon Pro Seller account which as you’ve guessed comes with some extra monthly costs. Ultimately it won’t be cost effective to go for a pro account unless you sell more than 30-40 items per month, so consider this before you signup.

Unlike eBay and something which is a positive is that you’ll be using Amazons own payment system so you won’t be footing any of the cost or problems that eBay users normally have with Paypal and the fees associated with it. Amazon is getting more and more popular every year and for those of you who tried it some years ago you’ll need to give them a second shot as they’ve really come forward leaps and bounds in the last 2 years.

PlayTrade (Play.com)

PlayTrade is a true niche marketplace in that it only deals with games, cds, dvds and books. It’s similar to Amazon in that it only lets you deal with products that are already within its catalogue but other than that you’ll find it far more cost effective and affordable than selling on both eBay or Amazon. It’s got a flat 10% final listing fee and a £0.50 completion fee and our personal experiences with listing on play.com have been that whatever we’ve listed always gets sold pretty rapidly.

Other good points include its built-in payment processing system which means that just like Amazon you won’t lose any fees for using paypal or any other payment processor. The only thing to note on the payment side however is that if you use your earnings against purchases on play.com you’ve got no further costs but if you withdraw to your bank account you’re looking at a 5% cut. Take this into account if you’ll be doing the latter.

If you’re mainly selling games and cds you’ll get some really quick results on play.com. It really is one of our top recommendations for selling games, cds and books online.

Gumtree – Also Owned By eBay

Yes it’s owned by eBay but we need to mention it because it’s 100% free to use. No listing fees, no completion fees and no final value fees. It works like a local classifieds site but with much better results thanks to it’s visibility and popularity online. Gumtree may not be the best place for established businesses and new products but it’s ideal for getting rid of junk and second hand purchases which you would normally have to pay fees on with eBay. We’ve sold beds, bikes and old games consoles etc with no problems at all.

Overall a good solution for selling second hand and old stuff at no cost but probably not the best solution for established sellers of new items.

Ecrater

One of our favourites and one that’s 100% true to it’s free model. Ecrater as it claims is a no frills attempt at offering you a free ecommerce solution and online market place. There are no listing fees, final value fees or anything else for that matter, you even get to use their ecommerce store builder for free. Some may question it’s ability to survive with no fees but we’ve been using them for a couple of years with no problems at all. Definitely worth a look and they even have an eBay import tool so you can import all your ebay listings pain free.

Bidtopia

A nice little auction site which was making headway before it dissappeared in 2010. We’ll do a full report on what happened to the Bidtopia guys later this month. Very unfortunate indeed but highlighting the importance of us reviewing all the eBay alternatives every single year.

Game Gavel

Previously known as “Chase The Chuck Wagon” it was later rebranded to Game Gavel which we all think much better represents it’s target niche “video games”. The site deals specifically with the video games market and in particular retro games and related memorabilia. Definitely a top site if you’re into selling (or buying) games. Once again the site is 100% free to list on and the final value fees are much cheaper than eBay making it a real rival within its niche. Give it a shot you’ll be surprised at how good it is.

CQOut

The last site to get a mention is probably one of the oldest international auction sites ever to exist. Again no listing fees and with final value fees starting as low as 1% to a maximum of 5% you have a true eBay alternative sitting right here. True the site isn’t the prettiest and it costs you £2 to verify your account before you can even start using it but if it works for you then you’ll be saving a hell of a lot of money by trying these guys out.

Final Words

Well there you go, another yearly review of eBay alternatives finishes and another year of what we hope to be users benefitting from the sites we’ve talked about. If you have any feedback or comments about these sites or benefitted from using them then do take the time to drop a comment below telling others of your experiences. Good luck!

10 Counts Of Wire Fraud

The matter is obviously still ongoing but in short Shawn was accused of cookie stuffing, a technique that is considered illegal and more so immoral. Adding to the problems the FBI in July 2010 indicted him on 10 counts of wire fraud and criminal forfeiture.

This is a guy who was not only at one piont making over $1,000,000 per month from the eBay affiliate program but was even featured in Wired magazine for his courageous stand and victory against the RIAA just 2 years prior. This guy was hailed as a hero and to many he’s a role model for internet success. So what exactly is going on here!

Shawn’s Comments

For many this issue is old and forgotten but Shawn recently posted his own view and perspective on the whole clash and it’s in an interesting read to say the least. I’ve always been a Shawn Hogan supporter but after reading his own account taken from his blog, I have to say some serious questions come to mind.

For example buying the affiliate manager a $50,000 car and other accessories is not normal in any circle. It’s always going to look like a bribe especially when you’re insisting you were doing things illegally in the first place. And yes that’s even if you claim eBay was asking you to do things illegally which also sounds even more bizarre.

During the lengthy account another problem area for me is his insistance that he wanted to get out. He kept saying that he felt pressurized into staying with the program but for a guy who many respected for standing up to the bullies (e.g. RIAA case) why would he be bullied into staying on a program which he was free to leave at any time. Maybe the real reason was simply that turning down the millions of dollars he was making was simply too difficult to do.

Make Up Your Own Mind

Other questions have come to mind but for now I will keep silent on them. For now take a read of his own blog account and come to your own conclusions.

On a parting note however, I will say is that this whole fiasco is no laughing matter for eBay or Shawn as both sides stand to lose a lot of money and reputation. If found guilty it could mean serious fines and for Shawn that could even extend to some serious prison time.

The new owners also experienced eBayer’s maybe more experienced than myself took over the site a few days ago and as you can probably already see they’ve gone and done a complete facelift and cleanup of the site (always good to see). I have high hopes for the new direction the site will be going and I’ll drop by from time to time to see how things are going. You never know I may even come back and guest post.

On that note I want to say my official goodbye and hand the site over officially to the new owners, who I’m told have some amazing plans for the site. Good luck eBayhabit.com!

And, while that is mostly true, how much customer service is too much?  How forgiving can you possibly be before it’s too much?  Should you forgive every transgression?  Every bypass of policy?  If you don’t stop somewhere, what’s the point of having policies in the first place?

An example.  I recently sold a camera with a lens that wouldn’t autofocus.  I knew that it wouldn’t autofocus.  I tested the camera with a lens that I knew worked, and it worked fine.  So, the lens itself had the issue.  I listed the camera with the lens (I could have easily just listed the camera) and clearly stated in the auction description that the lens would not autofocus, so any focusing would have to be done manually.  No problem.

About a week after the item sold, and shipped, I get a message from the buyer.  In short, he can’t believe that I would sell a camera that doesn’t work.  It won’t autofocus!  My return policy is pretty simple.  If the item doesn’t perform as advertised, I refund the money.  No questions asked.  However, in this case, it performed exactly as I described.  Exactly.  I pointed out to the buyer that the auction description clearly stated that the autofocus would not work on the lens, but that it was only the lens and the camera was fine.

In return, the buyer admitted to not having read the description.  But, still only claimed to be half at fault.  I’ve done the same thing.  And when I have, I know it was my fault if I didn’t get what I wanted.  At further expense to myself, I could have let the buyer return the camera, and resold the camera.  Hopefully, to someone who would bother to read the description of what they were buying.  But, I won’t.  Because, there is nothing wrong with the camera as advertised.  Very few merchants will take an item back for return just because the buyer bought something that was exactly as the box stated.

Am I wrong?  Should I have refunded the camera or a portion of the price for the sake of customer service?  I don’t think so, but maybe you have a different opinion.  My thoughts are that if you don’t read the description, it’s not my fault if you end up with a Microwave antenna instead of a microwave oven.

Be sure to ring in the new year tonight and then set to meeting your goals for the year right away.  The quicker you get them started, the faster you’ll meet them.  While you’re working on them, take a look at the resources on the right hand side of this site.

What is going to be the hot toy this year?  I’m sure there will be a couple of Elmo toys available.  I just saw an ad for a set of Tickle Me Elmo hands.  Little gloves that the kids put on and use to tickle their friends.  I’m sure they do some fun sounds and maybe even do the tickling for them.  GI Joe is making a comeback after the movie came out.  And Transformers are still pretty hot.  Barbie just released a line of African American dolls.  If you can get your hands on any of the above, you’ll likely make money on them.

There are plenty of electronics that will be hot as well.  The old standards of iPods, iPhones, Blackberry phones, and some new ones like the Amazon Kindle, and the Barnes and Noble Nook are sure to be good sellers.  Of course, you’ll likely have to get them all second hand and sell used, but that’s just as good.

This season will be a very good year for second hand sellers on eBay, eBid, and Amazon.  People will be looking for all kinds of bargains and deals.  Like years past, I believe there will even be a few eBay coupons out in the wild.  Try and take advantage of that.  Start stock piling your inventory now.  Every minute you wait is another minute that your competition is getting ahead of you!

A couple of highlights on the announcement.  No more average DSR’s.  They’ll be using a more seller friendly count of the low (1′s and 2′s) star ratings.  Also, some changes to the requirements for PowerSeller status that should make it a bit easier to get in.

I’ll save you the in depth look here, as there will be plenty of that going around the blogs in the coming days, but if you really need to have a bit of analysis you can take a look at what Scot Wingo thinks of all the changes over at eBay Strategies.

It’s called, simply, eBay and Paypal fee calculator.  It’s a great little tool.  Very useful.

If you want to learn and avoid some of the hard knocks that some encounter, may I suggest a product?  It’s called Big Bucks Flips.  It’s a “simple, step by step guide to rescuing vintage items from yard sales and garage sales then selling them for incredible profits on eBay!”  In it’s pages, you’ll find ways to identify the things that will bring big bucks.  You’ll find the best ways to sell those items and the research you’ll have to do to get top dollar.

Big Bucks Flips is not a cure-all guide.  There aren’t any of those out there.  At least none that I’ve seen.  What Big Bucks Flips is, however, is a consolidated guide on buying and selling items that you find at garage sales, auctions, and estate sales.  It’s a pretty cheap guide (only $19.95 at publishing) and might make you that much or much more in the first garage sale weekend of the year.  What are you waiting for?  Get it, read it, then pick up the paper this weekend and start hitting a few garage sales.  As you go, you’ll learn even more and you’ll watch your profits soar.