Alternate Venue: Report From Sports/Movie Poster Seller
storm888
Posts: 11,701 ✭✭✭
Several months ago, Bruce's strife with EBAY was widely reported in the national media.
Here is today's update on the saga.
Looks like 100% FB-sellers can do well no matter where they are selling.
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Life after eBay: Will I have to come crawling back, as was predicted?
emovieposter.com (75182 ) View Listings | Report Sep-21-08 05:40 PDT
It has now been 6 months since I began auctioning in another way, and 4 months since I left eBay altogether. I wonder if any of you have any interest in an update on how it is going for me? When I first posted about leaving eBay at the end of January, some reading that looked at the numbers I had posted on eBay (and my 100% feedback rating) and either predicted I would never leave, or if I did, that I would soon come "crawling back"!
Consider the following:
1) Four times each year I hold a "mini-major" auction, where I sell "better" items. Just before I left eBay in April, I held one entirely on eBay. The results of that last eBay set of auctions were as follows:
Tuesday, Apr 8th to Apr 15th, 2008 : 664 mostly linenbacked items in Part I of our April mini/major auction (COMPLETED $146,885.90 in sales)
Tuesday, Apr 15th to Apr 22nd, 2008 : 118 mostly linenbacked items in Part II of our April mini/major auction (COMPLETED $63,343.61 in sales)
Last month I held another "mini-major" auction, this one entirely auctioned in a different way (no connection to eBay whatsoever). The results were as follows:
Tuesday, Aug 12th to Aug 19th, 2008 : 445 mostly linenbacked U.S. posters in Part I of our Summer Mini/Major Auction (COMPLETED $103,820.00 in sales)
Tuesday, Aug 19th to Aug 26th, 2008 : 298 linenbacked posters in Part II of our Summer Mini/Major Auction (COMPLETED $52,660.00 in sales)
Thursday, Aug 21st to Aug 28th, 2008 : 210 linen & paperbacked posters in Part III of our Summer Mini/Major Auction (COMPLETED $66,126.00 in sales)
NOTE THAT I DID SELL MORE ITEMS (because, as has been true for ten years, I keep finding it harder and harder to get the "creme de la creme", so I have to sell a greater number to make up the difference), but the results were VERY similar.
2) In 2007 I sold $3 million dollars on eBay, and in the first 4 months of 2008 I sold one million on eBay (the same pace). IN THE SECOND FOUR MONTHS OF 2008 I SOLD ONE MILLUION ENTIRELY OFF EBAY, MEANING I KEPT ENTIRELY THE SAME PACE AS I HAD THE PREVIOUS FOUR MONTHS (and this was during the slowest selling time of the year, and during a clear economic recession)!
3) Other encouraging signs! I have signed uo over 3,700 registered bidders, and my weekly e-mail club has swelled from 1,800 members to over 4,100. BEST OF ALL, I AM GETTING BRAND NEW BUYERS AT A PACE EQUAL TO THAT OF WHAT I WAS GETTING IN THE LAST HALF OF 2007. (I attribute this to the adwords I buy on Google and Yahoo, and the free publicity I have garnered since leaving eBay).
I have a lot of new consignors! Before, all sellers who were considering consigning to me could say, "Why should I give something to Bruce, when I could just sell it myself on eBay just like he does?" and while that was never really true (because they weren't selling "just like I do", because I had a very large following they would not have) now of course, that is no longer true at all, and it seems lots of people are seeing the difference more clearly, and I am positively FLOODED with new consignments (while doing no advertising to attract those new consignors).
I know my way is not for everyone, because of the differences in what we sell, but I just wanted to point out that leaving eBay entirely and selling in another way CAN be done.
Oh, and it is impossible to describe how incredible a feeling it is to get "Big Brother" eBay off my back! And did I tell you that my overhead has gone down drastically (no eBay fees) and that I am still able to give my customers lower shipping and more free gifts, so that absolutely everyone does better now (except eBay, of course!).
More to ponder: I was paying eBay around 4% of my total sales. I estimated that would have gone to 5.5% to 6% in January (assuming I probably would have gotten a 5% discount at best), and likely much more with their latest round of increases.
I now pay around 1% (at most) for the direct costs of selling and around 1% (at most) for adwords.
Even after special "no eBay" shipping discounts I now give, and the cost of the extra bonuses I now give, I am still WAY ahead (as are my customers, who pay less and receive more).
And no one tells me I can't sell a poster that in any way refers to Nazis (even the hundreds of illustrious anti-Nazi movies), or a poster that is called "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (apparently because the company sued eBay over jewelry), or a poster from "Pretty Baby" (an internationally award winning movie), and on and on.
And I don't live in fear of the dreaded "knock on the door" (heard in totalitarian countries, where they take you away without any trial and you become a non-person). In the world of eBay, they don't deprive you of your liberty, but you DO disappear without a trial, and your ability to make a living from eBay disappears, and it is an equally Kafka-esque world to that of totalitarian countries.
And low level employees don't have the ability to tell acknowledged experts that they know more than they do, and cancel one or all of their auctions at a moment's notice.
But here is the greatest thing of all (from an e-mail recently received from eBay):
"Hello Bruce Hershenson (emovieposter),
Your monthly eBay invoice is now available to view online for the period from August 1, 2008 through August 31, 2008. Balance (No Payment Due): $0.00"
This is compared to the $12,000 or so I used to pay them each month!
I hope a lot of eBay sellers would like to know that at least some people are very successfully completely transitioning off eBay.
Bruce
Here is today's update on the saga.
Looks like 100% FB-sellers can do well no matter where they are selling.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Life after eBay: Will I have to come crawling back, as was predicted?
emovieposter.com (75182 ) View Listings | Report Sep-21-08 05:40 PDT
It has now been 6 months since I began auctioning in another way, and 4 months since I left eBay altogether. I wonder if any of you have any interest in an update on how it is going for me? When I first posted about leaving eBay at the end of January, some reading that looked at the numbers I had posted on eBay (and my 100% feedback rating) and either predicted I would never leave, or if I did, that I would soon come "crawling back"!
Consider the following:
1) Four times each year I hold a "mini-major" auction, where I sell "better" items. Just before I left eBay in April, I held one entirely on eBay. The results of that last eBay set of auctions were as follows:
Tuesday, Apr 8th to Apr 15th, 2008 : 664 mostly linenbacked items in Part I of our April mini/major auction (COMPLETED $146,885.90 in sales)
Tuesday, Apr 15th to Apr 22nd, 2008 : 118 mostly linenbacked items in Part II of our April mini/major auction (COMPLETED $63,343.61 in sales)
Last month I held another "mini-major" auction, this one entirely auctioned in a different way (no connection to eBay whatsoever). The results were as follows:
Tuesday, Aug 12th to Aug 19th, 2008 : 445 mostly linenbacked U.S. posters in Part I of our Summer Mini/Major Auction (COMPLETED $103,820.00 in sales)
Tuesday, Aug 19th to Aug 26th, 2008 : 298 linenbacked posters in Part II of our Summer Mini/Major Auction (COMPLETED $52,660.00 in sales)
Thursday, Aug 21st to Aug 28th, 2008 : 210 linen & paperbacked posters in Part III of our Summer Mini/Major Auction (COMPLETED $66,126.00 in sales)
NOTE THAT I DID SELL MORE ITEMS (because, as has been true for ten years, I keep finding it harder and harder to get the "creme de la creme", so I have to sell a greater number to make up the difference), but the results were VERY similar.
2) In 2007 I sold $3 million dollars on eBay, and in the first 4 months of 2008 I sold one million on eBay (the same pace). IN THE SECOND FOUR MONTHS OF 2008 I SOLD ONE MILLUION ENTIRELY OFF EBAY, MEANING I KEPT ENTIRELY THE SAME PACE AS I HAD THE PREVIOUS FOUR MONTHS (and this was during the slowest selling time of the year, and during a clear economic recession)!
3) Other encouraging signs! I have signed uo over 3,700 registered bidders, and my weekly e-mail club has swelled from 1,800 members to over 4,100. BEST OF ALL, I AM GETTING BRAND NEW BUYERS AT A PACE EQUAL TO THAT OF WHAT I WAS GETTING IN THE LAST HALF OF 2007. (I attribute this to the adwords I buy on Google and Yahoo, and the free publicity I have garnered since leaving eBay).
I have a lot of new consignors! Before, all sellers who were considering consigning to me could say, "Why should I give something to Bruce, when I could just sell it myself on eBay just like he does?" and while that was never really true (because they weren't selling "just like I do", because I had a very large following they would not have) now of course, that is no longer true at all, and it seems lots of people are seeing the difference more clearly, and I am positively FLOODED with new consignments (while doing no advertising to attract those new consignors).
I know my way is not for everyone, because of the differences in what we sell, but I just wanted to point out that leaving eBay entirely and selling in another way CAN be done.
Oh, and it is impossible to describe how incredible a feeling it is to get "Big Brother" eBay off my back! And did I tell you that my overhead has gone down drastically (no eBay fees) and that I am still able to give my customers lower shipping and more free gifts, so that absolutely everyone does better now (except eBay, of course!).
More to ponder: I was paying eBay around 4% of my total sales. I estimated that would have gone to 5.5% to 6% in January (assuming I probably would have gotten a 5% discount at best), and likely much more with their latest round of increases.
I now pay around 1% (at most) for the direct costs of selling and around 1% (at most) for adwords.
Even after special "no eBay" shipping discounts I now give, and the cost of the extra bonuses I now give, I am still WAY ahead (as are my customers, who pay less and receive more).
And no one tells me I can't sell a poster that in any way refers to Nazis (even the hundreds of illustrious anti-Nazi movies), or a poster that is called "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (apparently because the company sued eBay over jewelry), or a poster from "Pretty Baby" (an internationally award winning movie), and on and on.
And I don't live in fear of the dreaded "knock on the door" (heard in totalitarian countries, where they take you away without any trial and you become a non-person). In the world of eBay, they don't deprive you of your liberty, but you DO disappear without a trial, and your ability to make a living from eBay disappears, and it is an equally Kafka-esque world to that of totalitarian countries.
And low level employees don't have the ability to tell acknowledged experts that they know more than they do, and cancel one or all of their auctions at a moment's notice.
But here is the greatest thing of all (from an e-mail recently received from eBay):
"Hello Bruce Hershenson (emovieposter),
Your monthly eBay invoice is now available to view online for the period from August 1, 2008 through August 31, 2008. Balance (No Payment Due): $0.00"
This is compared to the $12,000 or so I used to pay them each month!
I hope a lot of eBay sellers would like to know that at least some people are very successfully completely transitioning off eBay.
Bruce
Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.
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