I think it is now well documented regards the recent Ebay Boycott by many sellers on that site.

This has heighlighted many issues which goes to show just how much the internet Auctions and E Commerce industry is in disarray. In no way is this blog attempting to ridicule any person or internet seller or site owner, but these issues have to brought out into the open and discussed for the benefit of all.

I will be covering the three most important factors here. Sellers, Auction Sites and Marketing. However to understand why i have chosen these three areas is to highlight how the industry has allowed itself to be controlled by just one Site, which is a household name across the entire globe. EBAY!!!

Are they the Ogres many call them to be. No they are not. They have created a market place which they dominate, and are exploiting that market to the very limit., This is business in the very contents of the meaning.

Now on to the 3 main areas of discussion starting with sellers!.

Seller is a name adopted by people running full or part time internet sales. This word is inappropriate. They should call themselves what they are, “RETAILERS, for that is what they are doing, retailing there products to the buying community.”

The present upheaval over Ebay has been instigated by the new changes brought about by Ebay and the sellers objection to this. Should these people actually object and is a lot of what is happening now due to lack of a business plan and accumen by those taking action at this time. In my opinion this is the case. So many of the Ebay sellers have become wholly reliant on Ebay to the extent they would very quickly declare bancruptcy if ebay closed its doors or reduced the number of sellers it allowed to use the facility it provides.

Reading the many open forums during this weeks ebay boycott i am amazed at the number of sellers who openly admit they cannot carry on in business without Ebay. They have no other sales outlet and in fact even though there are many good alternatives to ebay these sellers have had to actually post in these forums and ask for other recommended auction sites, as they quite clearly have no idea just what good and viable alternatives there are.

Reading other posts its clear these sellers have no business acumen, or very little at best. I have lost count of the number of posts i have read from sellers stating they will have to “Reduce” there prices to increase sales in order to cover the increase in costs by Ebay. Do these people not realise the entire world economy is going through a period of rising “Inflation” and not decreasing “Deflation” Do these people also not realise there retail prices have to go up, NOT DOWN, to cover these increases.

Internet trading is different from the real world. So why have many sellers decided to put all there eggs in the one basket. The honest answer is lack of business knowledge and the easy ride Ebay have offered them. In fact Ebay have made it so easy many sellers wouldnt and dont know how to open up sales in another venue. I think many are going to have to learn retailing and business very quickly or suffer the consequences. That is the plain and simple fact.

New Alternatives to Ebay.

Over the last 18 months there has been a very marked increase in New Ebay Alternative launches. Many of these have already disappeared and many more will folow soon. WHY!!?

Again, the simple answer is lack of business knowledge, no business plan, and lack of direction. How many times do you read on open forums announcements of the new Ebay. John Smith wishes to announce the launch of the next Ebay. We are a totally free site with absolutely no fees ever. Come and join us now. Just what in all honesty does that tell you. Nothing other than the person making that announcement has no business plan, no marketing plan, no direction and no apparent means of financing the increasing costs of running a auctions site and the high cost of marketing that site. In fact all they do offer is a basic auction script come site, a blank statement of success with nothing whatsoever to support it.

All they are doing is wasting theres and sellers time by means of a false and unattainable promise that cannot be met. And in the process they are giving the internet auctions industry a bad name. So to any future and prospective new ebay, heres some hints and tips to help you.

1.. You will not be, and there never will be another Ebay. Its a one of a kind. Dont announce your site till you have a sound business plan with good sensible marketing plans and a sustainable way of financing your venture.

2.. Define the market you wish to capture for your sellers and set your site out for that market. Just dont offer them a basic out of the box script to work with. Add all those extra features you know sellers will require to succeed in selling on your site.

3.. Never, and i repeat never offer your site or its services as a FREE site for life. Too many new wannabees have tried that, failed and put sellers off from using your site.

4.. Be prepared to spend around $5000 to install and offer a suitable venue that can fullfill your promise of success. Be prepared to spend many times that on advertising and marketing your site. And, be prepared to spend many countless hours working on your site and keeping it up to date at all times.

5.. If you cant fullfill the 4 above, then dont even entertain starting and running a auctions site. Instead become a retailer and make a business from that.

Now we come to the real crux of auction site selling. “Marketing”

Simplified, marketing is about making unkown persons aware of your existence, and nothing more. Marketing takes many forms, mostly highly priced options out of reach of all but the very biggest of online venue providers. So can you actually, as a seller or site owner, market yourself without incurring huge costs. “Yes you can”

The supposed and cheapest obvious way is by using what the internet has to offer. But is this really as effective as many claim it to be. “No it certainly is NOT” If it were, then every seller and every site would be hugely successfull and all making a mini fortune. The basic truth is there are only a very minute few top placings available for countless millions of search engine listings. It is well spoken about that every site should have a excellent SEO. Yes they should, but if you all did, then you can still only get 10 listings on nearly all pages in search engines. Out of the first 5 pages (Top 50) and your hardly ever going to be noticed. So dont fall into the myth that SEO is all that is required. Its is only a very small part of marketing yourself and extremely limited due to the sheer numbers of identical listings.

Pay per click. Much advocated by many. Is it any good and is it cost effective. Anything that is open to heavy abuse and fraud is not worth the effort. Taking that apart, you can get a very small and limited success rate from this providing you aim your ads at a specific area only. Go for a general ad and you have very little or no chance of getting a return for the investment you make.

TV and Radio Ads. Yes the best way, if you have £/$ 1/2 a million to spend. Your not ebay so its not for you. Newspaper ads. Far too expensive for a good 1/4 page or even 1/8 page advert and limited to the newspapers circulation.

So how are you going to market and advertise your site and or listings. “Community Marketing is the answer”

If only site owners and sellers would put away there handbags and work together on this, the most cost effective means of marketing is community marketing. Getting your site and listings out directly to the people that matter. “The Buyers”

For just a couple of hundred pounds or dollars you can dirctly advertise and market your site and sellers to countless numbers of people. How. Very simple. And lets take the easiest and cheapest way here. Run off on your printer 5/10000 attractive brochures/flyers and distribute those to your sellers. Ask each seller to place say 100 in a place where they can be easily seen and read by the general public. Notice boards, church halls, local clubs, your local pub (Most have a notice board) any where where you can in fact place one. These will be read by many people and you will get results.

You may wish to go one better and start to publish your own site magazine come sellers catalogue. Again these can be distributed, by your sellers and yourself in any place where people have to wait and need something to read.

It must be noted that everytime a brochure or booklet is distributed in this way it is read by many people. You are all working not only for yourselve but for all who use your chosen site. 10000 brochures or booklets read by just 200 people has made your site and your sellers visable to 20000000 (Million) prospective buyers. And the cost. A mere few hundred pounds or dollars.

So having looked at the ins and outs, the good and the bad, is there really a way forward for the internet auction industry. “Yes there is” How??

By learning to work with and for each other with a sound business plan and direction.

Auction sites or E commerce stores.

Both have there merits, however can the two be successfully merged into one contained unit. I think not!

E commerce stores are about selling products at a set and pre-determined price. The modern trend is to sell at well below market value in order to gain a share of the much overpopulated e commrece arena.

Auctions are about selling a product at a price the market or buyer is prepared to pay. Usually this is much higher than a fixed priced sale.

On this basis, how can a auction site run auctions and also run integrated fixed price listings for the same item. In business terms, they cannot and they should not. The two are completely different sales outlets and wholly contradictory to each other. My first arguement here is.. Can a auction site that whilst running auctions call itself a auction site when it places a emphasis on fixed price stores and listings. To my mind the simple answer is no it cannot. By giving a emphasis on stores, those sites should call themselves shopping malls, with the added attraction of auctions for those sellers who wish to sell by auction only for the highest price possible.

A similar agruement must also apply to auctions. A true auction site should not allow e commerce stores or have any fixed price listings whatsoever. It can and should encourage a  reserve price and after closing date, if the item is not sold, allow a purchase at that set reserve price if a buyer is prepared to match that price in full.

Is this contradiction  having a adverse affect within the auction site community. In my view, yes it is and more so than many may think. A recent survey showed that overwhelming support from buyers was there for the return to plain old fashioned auctions. Simply put they miss the fun and unknown associated with auctions. Casual sellers also miss the opportunity to sell unwanted items for a market decided price. Just how much a adverse effect this is having can be seen on different websites. Those that favbour and encourage fixed price listings are not, by all accounts, having a great deal of success. BUT, those sites that run pure auctions are coming into a mini boom. The largest, and we all know who they are, still have a ratio of 70% auctions to 30% fixed price listings and they continue to grow, which says it all really.

So what is the answer to all this. My view is site owners have to decide which way they want to go and organise and promote there site accordingly. But to try to run the two togwther as one is not working as all can plainly see.