Trading Post Auctions - Initial Feedback
Trading Post launched their auctions 2 days ago now. Since then I have spoken to lots of sellers, from small to very large. What do they think fo Tradingpost Auctions so far? Will they list?
There are a number of Powersellers already listing hundreds of products. I haven’t heard of many sales yet, but there is some promise. We have manually listed a few items to test the water as well, and have received a good number of visits, watchers and bids too.
At the moment though, it is a bit of a painful process as TradingPosts’s TraderPro application is still being tweaked to work properly.
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Sensis’ Tradingpost Launches Auction Site To Compete With eBay!
This morning tradingpost.com.au has become the newest Australian auction site, to compete head on with eBay Australia.
Tradingpost.com.au (owned by Sensis) is a strong brand name with Australians and been around for many years as a classifieds print publication, and for some time now a website too.
I have never much liked the tradingpost.com.au search and display results (the whole site needed a pretty major rework to be honest) and they have certainly done that now!
The tradingpost auctions site has been a long time in the making, obviously. So, what can we see from this site change this morning?
Fees
In summary,
- free to list!
- bold titles $1.95
- Short desc (shown in search) 50c
Free listings (quantity of listings will be limited by previous month’s sales) will be a big draw card for sellers. Apparently the Traderpro application from trading post will accept turbo lister data (although at the moment it isn’t working too well).
First Impressions
The site is good rework from the ‘old’ tradingpost, with a lighter look and an interface that isn’t quite as clumsy. It still takes a few too many clicks to see ‘listings’, but that might change.
Search seems to be improved a little.
There are very few auctions yet, this will take some time, and the site is extremely slow (probably getting quite a lot of curious traffic today!) so they will need to work on that before the ‘official’ launch.
Will it work?
Only time will tell. Tradingpost claim 2 million visitors per month, but are not known for auctions or as a place to buy from larger sellers (tradingpost has always been home of the single classified listing from individual sellers, with a strong focus on used vehicles).
What I do know is Sensis has planned a large advertising budget for this site, and with the current sentiments of eBay sellers due to eBay Australia’s PayPal only decision and other feedback changes there could be a large influx of listings from businesses keen to spread their eggs around.
But will there be enough buyers? Lets hope so.
In other news, eBay announced recently that starting yesterday they are offering half price insertion fees for 10 days…
2008 - Year of the Australian Online Retail Summit?
Summits coming up that you might be interested in attending:
“The eBay Seller Summit, by eBay sellers for eBay sellers”, June 12th
I think that one could be related to eBay? The ESS08 summit is being held in Sydney on Thursday June 12th, 2008 at the Bankstown Sports Club in Bankstown, Sydney.
This event will give an opportunity for all sellers to learn more about how to successfully sell on this ever-growing and ever-changing online platform.
* Discuss the new changes on the eBay Australia website.
* Learn how to take advantage of all the opportunities available for online sellers
* Interact with representatives from companies that complement online sales
* Solutions to take your business to the next level
Its only a one day conference, but attendance seems to be good value at $30 (+$20 for the cocktail party), with sponsors including eBay, PayPal, Australia Post, AuctionBlox, the ATO and ChannelAdvisor.
The Retail World Management & Technology Summit, June 17th - 18th
Although based more around bricks and mortar retail there are a few speakers from online retailers attending and the list of keynotes is pretty impressive including executives from Wal-Mart, Tesco, Carrefour, Myer, Harvey Norman and more. I am sure online retailers can learn a lot about retail and branding from the big B&M guys…
Attendance is $1,395 + GST, but the schedule and speaker list make it look like it would be an interesting few days.
ChannelAdvisor Catalyst (Australia), July 2nd to 5th
ChannelAdvisor’s first ecommerce summit in Australia is being held on the Sunshine Coast this year. Hoping for a strong turnout of sellers, ChannelAdvisor has a list of well known players in the industry attending including Scot Wingo, CEO who has a fantastic blog on eBay and online strategy and news. Always insightful.
Yours truly might be presenting some stuff there too and I am really looking forward to getting into some sunshine away from Melbourne!
Registration for the 3 days is $249.
PeSA Australia will be looking to hold more events soon too. As soon as I get some more information I will post an update.
bang4bucks.com.au - A New Australian Auctions Option
A little while ago I received an email from the owners of bang4bucks.com.au. It is a new auction site with a view to growing quickly thanks to the ongoing frustrations sellers seem to be having with ebay.com.au.
It is still a small site, but with over 360 sellers registered the listings are building, and from what I can see browsing around, so are a few sales. Just looking at the clothing category I can see a eBay seller with about 4 or 5 items due to finish tomorrow with bids. In any case, it is a long and winding road to become a real competitor to eBay but they are getting some press and are off to a good start.
Bang4bucks.com.au uses a bulk lister tool which can import items from eBay’s Turbolister and they have some consistent marketing running at the moment in order to drive more traffic.
Still, it hasn’t taken long for listings like this to appear ‘VERSACE Sunglasses ? Not…but still so hot!’
Keyword spamming and other techniques that eBay deals with will be hurdles that any other auction site will have to face too.
The site is also run by Powersellers and ex-Powersellers apparently with a strong knowledge of the auction market. Apparently they kocked back interest in funding early on to ensure the site didn’t get too’ corporate’.
Good luck to them. It is always good to have a market with competition in it. Another player has entered the game, will more?
links :
Want to start your own auction site? (seems this software powers bang4bucks.com.au)
Yes Please PayPal. Pay Me Later!
Paypal has released a new product in the US, called Pay Me Later.
According to the press release on May 15 2008,
Starting today, eBay buyers in the United States can take advantage of Pay Later’s financing offer of no payments for 90 days for qualifying purchases between $50 and $199.
With Pay Later, buyers now have more ways to pay for items at checkout and can use Pay Later even if they don’t have a PayPal account. The streamlined application can be completed in 30 seconds and provides a buyer with instant access to credit.
Sellers also benefit through increased sales and higher selling prices. According to a study conducted by Northstar Research Partners commissioned by PayPal, 56 percent of PayPal users are more likely to purchase from a merchant if a PayPal deferred payment option is available.1 Pay Later purchases are the same as regular PayPal purchases: the sellers are paid quickly, and standard PayPal fees apply. Sellers who accept PayPal on eBay will automatically offer the Pay Later payment option.
I well and truly put my hand up to accept any new product opportunities like this, especially with all the market changes going on.
For higher priced item seller and product like this could be great in Australia. Australian TV is awash with ‘No money down, pay nothing for 4 years, interest free’ commercials for whitegoods, computers and furniture. It is a popular marketing model here and a product like this for Paypal users can only help to boost ASPs and conversion rates on eBay (and on our own websites!).
I hope it arrives in Oz soon…
My Personal Experience with the eBay.com.au Feedback Changes
OK, so the feedback system on eBay.com.au has now rolled out.
The world is taking notice too, with some heated discussion on Ina’s blog AuctionBytes, and I am sure elsewhere too.
Let me start by saying it’s never going to be a perfect system. Of course there was always going to be opportunity to abuse the system, by using feedback extortion or other pressures, retaliatory feedback and so on.
But to now count a neutral as a negative? I find that a bit hard to swallow.
Has Your Feedback Score Worsened Recently?
If your eBay seller feedback score has dropped, don’t be too alarmed as many other sellers will notice the same thing in Australia.
eBay has just rolled out their feedback changes, now counting neutrals ‘as negatives’ when calculating your feedback, and ignoring feedback older than 12 months.
See the full list of changes here.
Most of our account ratings have fallen a little, and I did some quick checks of other sellers around too. Most others have fallen too.
There will be plenty of sellers concerned now that they are unable to leave negatives for buyers. With a popup box appearing on the Australian eBay site now stating
Buyers, you can no longer receive negative or neutral Feedback from sellers. You should leave honest and accurate Feedback without the fear of receiving negative or neutral ratings
will buyers leave more negatives from before, hurting feedback ratings even more?
I know this change is designed to reduce retaliatory feedback from sellers, but I have seen so few instances of this that I can’t believe it is that large a problem.
Here is a tool to compare your feedback in old and ‘new’ system courtesy of AuctionBytes.
Also of course, Mutual Feedback Withdrawal is now no longer an option.
After much consideration, we’ve made the decision to remove the Mutual Feedback Withdrawal process. The reason is that - under the new rules - it opens sellers up to extortion. As part of this decision, Mutual Agreement from third-party Feedback mediation services, such as SquareTrade, will also no longer be accepted.
The marketplace continues to change in some big ways … I notice even eBay describe them as ‘bold changes’.
Release : ChannelAdvisor Catalyst Conference Coming Soon!
I got sent this press release information from ChannelAdvisor today regarding their upcoming conference at the Sunshine Coast in July. The early bird discount rate is nearly over, so if you are considering attending to learn more about online business, how to grow and improve it then you might like to consider attending.
Yours truly will be attending (I will be sitting on one of the panels), along with many sellers that I know. It should be a great conference with a lot of fun networking. It would be great to see some of you there!
Press release below:
“ChannelAdvisor is about to hold our first Asia/pacific major conference aimed at the top online retailers in the Asia Pacific Region July 2-5. Around 400 of the top online retailers from over 10 countries will descend on Twin Waters for three days of intensive networking, top speakers and international strategy.
ChannelAdvisor (US) hosted their second annual Catalyst conference this past April. Previously, ChannelAdvisor hosted two annual conferences, ChannelAdvisor Marathon in the spring and ChannelAdvisor Summit in the fall. Catalyst is a combination of those two conferences, focusing on the needs of retailers of all sizes. After seeing the success that has come from the US Catalyst conference, ChannelAdvisor AU has decided to bring the Catalyst conference to our online retailers.
Catalyst is a fantastic opportunity for online retailers of all sizes who are looking for strategic and tactical information to grow and take their online businesses to the next level. Comparison shopping, search marketing, fraud management, alternative payment vendors, and multichannel management experts will be presenting real-time actionable information.
- Registration is only $199 and includes:
- All Conference sessions
- Lunches, Dinners, Receptions, and Refreshments throughout the day
- Golf tournament with Awards luncheon
- Welcome gifts and sponsor gifts
Bring the family! Spouses and business partners are welcome to attend all conference sessions with paid registration. Childcare will be provided by Club Dolfi and paid for by ChannelAdvisor!
Representatives from ChannelAdvisor, Trading Post, eBay, PayPal, Shopping.com, and GetPrice will be in attendance and will be available for one-on-one discussions in addition to their keynote sessions.
The ability to network with other sellers, buyers and industry experts will prove invaluable to the success of your business.
Registration is $199 until May 15 and includes FREE golf with lunch at Pacific Harbour Golf and Country Club.
http://www.channeladvisor.com/catalyst/AU/
eBay faces the angry mob in Melbourne last night
I have been catching up on the news this morning about eBay’s public meeting in Melbourne regarding the Paypal only changes coming in June.
I wasn’t surprised to hear that there was quite an angry mob asking questions of Simon Smith, Andrew Pipolo and Alistair MacGibbon.
I got invited to have an informal Q&A sessions with Andrew, Alistair and a few others before the general meeting. It was a small group of sellers, maybe 12 of us. The discussion was good, and we learned a little about the attitude of Paypal towards the change. It was actually floated as an idea in August last year by Simon Smith and Alistair and from the sounds of it, met with surprise by Andrew Pipolo.
Australian Auction Site Oztion Sees Registrations Surge
Since eBay Australia’s announcement that Paypal will be the only allowable payment method on the site (apart form cash on pickup, and credit card via Paypal), competitor Australian auction site Oztion has seen a large jump in daily site registrations.
According to Oztion,
… daily new member registrations has jumped by more than 250% since eBay’s recent announcement. Our internal data shows that 79% of buyers per month use direct deposit as their payment method.
A 250 % increase in your daily user registrations is pretty large. Although Oztion is a much smaller site compared to eBay Australia they have seen steady growth and are now more commonly discussed as an alternative selling platform by Powersellers.
I believe they could really capitalise in the short term thanks to eBay, and boost their seller and buyer base enormously.
Oztion’s resgistered member count now sits at about 250,000, well short of eBay Australia’s millions, but is still growing.
To be honest, I was surprised when Oztion told me their data showed 79% of transactions occurred with direct bank deposit, but in Australia bank transfer or bank deposit is easy and convenient with online banking. eBay’s payment percentages will be skewed because of international payments whereas Oztion is heavily Australian focused I feel.
So, if you are a seller or buyer, and like to use bank deposit then Oztion might be another place to try. Best to have your eggs spread around in a few baskets, and more competition in the marketplace is required I think.
