Archive for December, 2007
written by Lanae
Internet Retailer Magazine recognizes the Internet Merchants Association (IMA) to give reviews in their ‘9th Annual Recognition of Leading Retail Web Sites – Hot 100 Best Retail Web Sites.’
Alongside various retail and e-commerce consulting firms, IMA gave its reviews on a number of the Hot 100 websites. These ranged from technology to gift baskets, and hardware to housewares. Among the Hot 100 are Amazon and CafePress, both of which are quite familiar to many of our members.
Not only was it an honor for the IMA to contribute, but it can also be a learning tool for our members…each one of us could learn something from those that make up the Hot 100. As noted in the magazine it is about knowing your customers, utilizing new concepts, and creating great shopping experiences. Perhaps one day we will see some of our own members there.
The list can be found here… Internet Retailers
December 24th, 2007
One day my curiousity got the better of my common sense. I decided to find out if running only Ebay auctions with low shipping would put me higher in the ebay search, and increase my sales. So I started a brand new Ebay selling account, and tweaked some things.
The new account has core auction listings only. I lowered my shipping from $4.00 to $2.75, and offered free shipping with the purchase of two items. I ship items the day after they are paid for instead of my normal two days a week. Otherwise, the level of communication is the same, and the auction format is the same. In other words, I made sure I was doing everything in the recommended Ebay 5 star way of thinking.
I found out that my placement in search is not better. My Detailed Sellers Ratings (DSRs) are lower on the new selling ID even though I am offering better service and lower shipping. And Ebay needs to work on the tools available to new sellers.
Why isn’t selling manager free! The only way a new seller can send a free automated shipping notification through Ebay is if postage is purchased through Ebay???? It seems pretty clear that selling tools should be free especially if DSRs, and buyer happiness are important. Why not make every selling tool free to new sellers, so they can increase buyer ecstasy?
And what is with the DSR ratings????? They can’t have any validity if the incredible service I am giving combined with super cheap shipping gets 4’s more often than 5’s. What gives?? I have to laugh when significantly lower shipping charges result in a lower DSR rating for shipping and handling charges.
The sell through rate is about 35-40% which is the exact same sell through rate for vintage jewelry on my old selling ID. I have had my new selling ID for a little over a month, and it is very obvious to me that I need to find a new product line that I can sell on Amazon. The new ID keeps the numbers right in my face. I calculated my costs, and found that I am making a whopping $2.50 per hour selling vintage jewelry on my new selling ID. So, unless the profit increases with my feedback, Amazon here I come!
I have to admit though that I got a thrill when I received my first star, and I felt a tingle up my spine when I got the e-mail from Ebay congratulating me for passing 25 feedback rating. So the magic in selling on Ebay for the first time is still there. I estimate that I will be getting a coveted “Meg Whitman” signed bronze powerseller certificate in the next month or so. I think I will have this one framed since it is sure to become a collectible.
Overall, I found this experience to be liberating. I have found out that tweaking the small things like shipping charges, and shipping time make no difference to buyers. And it makes no difference to placement in search. It does however create repeat buyers which has become the key to core auction success on Ebay in my opinion.
Jennie
December 6th, 2007
I recently discovered that the Walmart employee who developed the statistical analysis packages that put Walmart at the top of the discount retailer heap, is working on the same type of statistical analysis for Ebay. This started me thinking about comparisons that can be made between Walmart business policy and Ebay business policy. What is the same about both corporations, and what is not?
For starters, both corporations are concerned with profit above all else, and bringing products to the consumer at the cheapest possible price. Both have a reputation for offering products at rock bottom prices. Walmart is known for taking advantage of manufacturers to get the best deal.
I got that far, and an interesting comparision came to mind. Suppose Ebay saw all the sellers on their platform as manufacturers? Say we Ebay sellers were considered the same commodity to corporate Ebay as the manufacturers of goods are to Walmart? Walmart is known to have broken many a manufacturer by refusing to sell their product until they lowered their price. Walmart can get away with this because they have gained control over so many small town retail markets. It hurts not to have your product sold at Walmart.
So how can Ebay break us unruly sellers to make us lower our prices? By implementing a new search that puts the cheapest product, being shipped at the cheapest rate, ahead of everyone else in search? By creating a secret algorithm that allows them to place any seller above all others in search? Will the sellers with the cheapest priced products always be first in search after Finding 2.0 is implemented? I don’t know the answer to any of those questions, but I do know that Ebay goes out of their way to encourage me to lower my opening auction bids.
I get e-mails telling me that if I start my auctions at a lower opening bid, I will get higher overall auction sales. I have buyers who don’t bid the first time I list an item waiting for me to relist my items at a lower price. Ebay allows sniping of auctions at the last minute which lowers final sale prices. And there are many more examples.
Why do both Walmart and Ebay believe that offering products at the cheapest price is a good business practice? Wouldn’t it be wiser to offer quality products at a price that keeps your manufacturers/sellers in business? Ebay could try to raise their profits and reputation by implementing practices that raise buyer awareness of realistic pricing and shipping costs. It would be an interesting Ebay world where they spent more time teaching buyers why products are worth more, rather than training sellers to expect less.
Jennie
December 1st, 2007