Online Auctions – had their day?
Posted by MattE on 24 Aug 2005 at 04:18 pm | Tagged as: Marketing, Web
As part of my scan for previously untried on-line marketing methods for Caricature King, I have just completed a quick review of a number of on-line auctions sites. The results show that while plenty of people are still posting items, almost without exception, NO ONE is bidding.
I was very surprised to see that even on the Yahoo auction site, in the seven categories I saw only two bids. On another 8 sites visited, I did not find one single bid.
Are on-line auctions dead? or is it just that eBay is seen as the one place that everyone visits.
I did try two auctions on eBay – neither of which raised a bid, but did generate one email. My complaint about eBay is they charge too high a fee, especially when the majority of other auction sites charge nothing. I don’t mind paying if I sell, but not just to list. The difficulty in getting people to buy is also reflected in eBay’s affiliate program where they think (by paying affiliates) that anyone who makes a purchase is worth A$20 – yep send someone to eBay from your link, they join, then they buy, then you get $20. Not sure of the cookie period however.
So it appears that on-line auctions as another element to the marketing stable may have to remain off the track. If I find an on-line action site that has some life in it, I’ll let you know.
Meanwhile, if you know of an active action site that does not charge a listing fee, let us know via comments
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Hi,
I have just visited your site : Caricature King. It’s really great idea. But, it seem like you copy all concept from D—rt.com. Have you ever visted this site before ?
The only similarity is the provision of themes onto which the artist draws thew caricature. This has been provided to help minimise the cost for consumers – doing full body caricatures adds significantly to the amount of work required for the artist. This template style is not uncommon.
Matt – Oztion (www.oztion.com.au) is a new auction site that does not charge a listing fee.
I have gone over to Oztion after getting thoroughly sick of eBay’s constant gouging on fees.
At present, though, Oztion is running a poor second to eBay Australia, as far as traffic and
sales goes. Maybe they just need more disillusioned eBayers to head over there, and build the
numbers. I hope they give eBay a run for their money, eventually.
I would be a lot happier with improved contact details on that auction site. Plus i encourage any prospective bidders to read the FAQ carefully in relation to bidding fees.