Suggestions on a Site to Directly Compete with 'The Bay'

Hey everyone,

So before I start with this discussion I want to say that yes I can be out of my mind for thinking of this and yes I can sound pretty stupid by what I want to state here but I thought it's about time we tackle the problems of complaining and doing shady start ups that claim to compete with eBay but it return are just doing it to make a living. With this said let me suggest a few things and then you can call me crazy or not! LOL


Alight folks, I know we have seen all of these new startups like Bonanzle, eCrater, etc.... but what are these folks really doing to get their faces out there? word of mouth? references? etc....I know the very common way of building up a business is by word of mouth for inexpensive cost perposes but in these challenging days and increased websites going up there really needs to be a more effective way of getting some solid competition to show folks that are struggling to get by and just giving there money away to ebay.


I have an idea but I don't know if it would work or not. What if a person were to start up a really simple but professional selling venue and really state clearly that hey we want to give eBay a run for their money but like most sites its very expensive to advertise...and then offer a service that makes the site start off as a non-profit meaning state that we want to advertise strongly and ask to give donations to invest totally toward advertising and not charge the sellers a dime to list and sell on the site but in return having to give the sellers an incentive by donating whatever they can give toward the companies advertising budget...and even giving the sellers more transparency to see where that money is actually going and then update the sellers on a daily basis as to when the site would reach its ready budget and then invest on tv commericals, social network site banners, ummm and even more...Also giving the sellers compete freedom as to what they want to see on the site and how they want to site to look and feel for there selling purposes.

So to break this down a bit, giving the sellers a nice looking site to sell on but in return to donate whatever they can give and have that money go directly to advertising.... Making the site competely owned by the sellers and in return they would get incentives...



LOL ok I know the above sounds crazy but please give me some advice here, I have been thinking about this for a long long time and frankly im soooo tired of seeing these startups with nothing solid to compete with eBay...then to see these sites vanish the next year...

I really want to make this work for all of us sellers out there trying to make a living or just to get by in this tough economy...its time we stop struggling with constant eBay rule changes and its time for somebody to step up to the plate...Now im willing to do this without pocketing any of that money whatsoever...I just want a site that is going to offer a real chance for all of us and in return that will indeed benefit me...


Please any suggestions would be great!!

Well you know well that this is a subject close to my heart lol, but give me a little time to chew this over and I'll see what I can come up with for a suggestion : )

Hey Mark,

Sounds good! LOL it is very close to mine too and Im really considering this but I need a whole community to build something like this....The big challenge knowing Marketing and costs..and how to get people to understand that to Donate to a business is going to strickly go to marketing expenses only and I mean if I were to start a business like this I am not going to be pocketing any money and all revenue received goes to marketing marketing marketing!!! I want an END to the Monopoly FEEBAY...Its really important if a group is going to start a site like Bonanzle that you need to get your site in front of the Consumer ASAP and not rely soley on Word of Mouth and by creating network pages to get people to view your site or Booth....We need solid TV or Banner Advertising!


Please lets keep this thread going..

Boy I guess we don't have any suggestions on this???? come on people I want to get this thing rolling but I need some solid suggestions from you the small business owners.

Good point. You know, and this may be crazy, but, say for example: Atomic Mall sent out one bumper sticker for every member, to put on their car with there website. Do you know how many bumper stickers that would be riding the roads?

Hey Dinasour,

You sure have a good point there and of course that would just be another way to use that advertising costs to push the new site. But Im really talking about getting people to donate whatevever they can give to put the advertising campaign.


One thing alot of these startups like Bonanzle and eCrater, and Wigix try to do is start these sites and use all their revenue and making everything look pretty but how I see this is they are butting the focus in the wrong areas and in return they are not only hurting themselves but they are giving sellers empty promises like hey look how pretty the site is a how user friendly it is and when they report there site status they praise how many sellers they have on the site?.....the problem here is What about buyers? How many buyers do you have coming and purchasing from the site??? a Big '0' ....this is where so many sites are ruining sellers trying to make a buck!


My next questions are how to get a web developer to build a selling venue format site...I don't want an upscale advanced looking site I just want something basic to get things rolling....doing fancy things with a site can come later on when buyers start to come...


Basically I want back what eBay started from the beginning and that is get back our Garage Style selling site where people come to get rid of there stuff and and give buyers a choice again!

I want this to also be like a Wikipedia in the sense of giving the community of sellers to tweak what words for the site and what doesnt and go in and change it to make it better. So basically giving the sellers flexibility to sell how they feel is best for them.

It's an interesting idea, and I think once up and running could very well prove popular with sellers, but getting something like this to that point is the hard bit!

Funding is of course key, and I doubt whether there would be another interest to fund it privately. There are two major issues in play here, trust and the fact that no one has the cash to part with.

Funding I would thing would need to come from corporate sponsorship, and to get that it would need a very detailed business plan indeed, and that would have to outlay how the compmany/ies would benefit from their sponsorship.

Of course once you go down that road, you take the user ownership off the table and then create yourself new problems.

Site development costs alone would be extreme, not to mention the time required to have the platform developed. O boy, I have no idea lol, I like the idea, and I hate to pour any sort of cold water on it, but I think getting something like that to the starting gate would take a serious and extremely committed effort.

I mean anything starts with an idea, so maybe everyone throwing in there thoughts on what they would like to see a site offer them as sellers, without taking anything else into consideration at this point.

With ideas you can develop a formula to build a business model, and then you have a reference point at which you can start to measure and develop an over all plan of attack.

Geez, that was a fat lot of help wasn't it lol :(

lol I know Mark i realized money was going to be the huge issue in play. Hmmm I was even thinking of putting up a proposal on YouTube to see if there were any investors out there that would take the posting seriously however at the same time being discreet about not busting out all the secrets of the plan and also it would expose to those ebay people looking at it! lol I dont know im just open to any suggestions because im tired of us sellers struggling with only having ebay as our traffic mover.

Do up a business model, frock up in your best suit, head down to News Corps head office and drop the proposal in front of Rupert. Sounds insane I know, but really that's the kind of corporate muscle it will take to seriously compete with ebay.

I like to call to arms idea on You Tube, and that would absolutely create a ground swell of support, not sure if it would loosen much cash lol, but it's a great way to get the marketing rolling.

You could have sign up pages on MySpace, Facebook, etc, for supports of the cause. Even though people may not want to part with their actual cash to support it, getting their names in support is a serious step forward in showing the popularity of the idea.

Start getting strong support, you can start pushing for media attention, they eat that sort of stuff up!

'People up-rise against ebay!
'A strong ground swell of support is growing among online sellers against ebay for what they consider to be greedy, and unfair business practices being perpetuated against them, and others by the online market giant.

In response to the claims, a spokesman for ebay today said..........

LOL

You want to create a cause and raise money, MAKE T-SHIRTS!

Seriously, people in general love a cause, and among online sellers that revolves around bashing ebay to death most of the time lol. Get the merchandise out there for sale.

T-shirts, caps, badges, patches, stickers and so on. Give supporters a reason to support you with cash by way of them receiving something up front for their cash, and they will most likely knock you down to get in line.

I wouldn't worry about leaking any secrets, I would make a plan and yell it to anyone within ear shot, and the net means there are a lot of people in hear shot!

i think found a niche market there fudjj, 'i hate ebay' t-shirts 'down with ebay' etc. cheap to make and would be a hit with all the ebay refugees

There you go, thread is 24 hours old and we have a solid money making venture already : )

Perhaps EBAY SUX, it's factual, they suck the life out of the sellers with their fees and policies lol

I have to admit, I personally think ebay is a great market place to sell goods, and I'm not one that considers their fees expensive. I think their fees for the most part are in line with the market exposure they provide.

My big gripe is their insane policies and the way those policies punish sellers, that's my big issues with ebay personally.

lol nice guys and hey I can use my drop shipping supplier to make those T Shirts!

i came across this site not to long ago, it seems simple, free, and to the point, what do you guys think? everything takes time


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Hi Guys,

To start with I can offer my expertise in Name Registration and website set up in my servers.

In our group we have to have Website Developers in order to make our venture less costlier in making.

If agreed, suggest name, I will register it right now and bring the first introduction page online within 48 hours !!

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well the closest thing to this is Craigslist and I love that site to death. It can be a pain in the neck with constant need to post everyday, but I have made thousands more from Craigslist over the years versus Ebay with all the fees. I am all for this new idea that you guys have. Besides selling at the flea market, Ebay really is the only other place with a lot of traffic but it has become to ridiculous with the fees on the front and back end. Also now I can't even receive my money until the customer has his or hers product shipped or I receive good feedback. It is terrible. I hate ebay!! and paypal!!

Guys, having thrown huge amounts of support behind big name auctions only to see them crash, it is hard to imagine that anyone attempting a 'general strike' against eBay ever stands a hope. I was just talking about this in Link hidden: Login to view thread so won't regurgitate all the points from there, but seriously, the last couple of years in particular eBay has gone out of its way to screw small auction sellers out of business. The share of revenue that auctions contribute to eBay's bottom line has been decreasing for some time now, hence their deal with Buy.com and other steps they've taken to favour fixed-price sellers and larger, established sellers. When eBay can do all of that and still maintain a virtual lock on the auction market, money and effort is better spent going after the fruit for which eBay isn't reaching.


Frank

listen bonanzle is a joke, no one shops there, great place to chat and make friends. ive been there months and sold one thing to friend, i advertise the site all the time and no one goes. ppl who look at the boothes are other sellers and say love your stuff and leave. Ebay is too high in fees, im leaving the selling online business and not sure what to do, since im sick and at home.

You guys are crazy if you think you can compete with EBAY or Amazon for traffic and sales..... Tons of ad dollars are spent and big merchants are running big sales on EBAY.... Dont run from the pond use whats provided to your advantage is my advice

Hi Wholesalejoe,

I greatly appreciate your opinions its well needed. However just because a company is soooo big that its not true that its impossible to do. Im simply gathering ideas from fellow sellers to eventrually build up a site that will not compare to bonanzle, ecrater, ioffer etc...this site needs to be built on strickly donations, donations, donations, and all that money goes toward advertising only. Look I want to do this without collecting any money because im tired of all of us struggling to really make a decent income online....I know its a crazy idea but hey Im just taking a chance here and throwing it out there to see what ideas we can come up with. Im not saying this will be at the level of eBay next year or anything like that. I just want a real site that will indeed get customers to see and get familiar with this company.

Just so I understand that last sentence correctly,,,,can you better explain what you meant by 'Dont run from the pond use whats provided to your advantage is my advice' ???


Thanks

DWM, my posts are not meant to be discouraging, but to suggest a more realistic direction. Overstock.com launched an auction service during a major defection of PowerSellers from eBay, spent literally tens of millions of dollars promoting it online, in print and on television, and where is that now? Amazon.com didn't promote their auctions as hard as Overstock did, but come on -- it's Amazon. Largest retailer online since 'retailer online' was a word. No competition. And while everyone is still trying to figure out a way to knock eBay off of its perch, eBay itself is looking for ways to decrease its exposure to and dependcy on auction revenue. That's why I say that toe-to-toe with eBay is a fight fit for Don Quixote, not a way to seriously trying to make a living.

eBay restricts a number of products, practices, entire countries and more from using their site. It is in these 'marginalised markets' where the real money is to be made with an online auction platform. I've owned two small niche auction sites that picked up such crumbs from eBay's table; both made money and both were sold for a nice sum. I'm in the process of launching a third one, and anticipate it doing well due to being in a timely market. I can't imagine sinking a cent into trying to replace eBay, because it would be money wasted when so many niche and local sites are doing so well picking up the slack in eBay's coverage.

Not to ramble, but to try to better explain my recommended approach, I wanted to start a company similar to Zipcar.com at one point. I researched and researched and made all kinds of plans to raise the millions I needed to establish such a network, and years went by, and now -- unlike back in 2000 when there was no competition -- not only are there hundreds of such companies in the US alone, but Zipcar is the market dominator and has been slowly but steadily buying up small local competitors as part of its expansion plan. So, if I were to decide to jump back on that idea, what would be the better plan -- try to start from scratch to knock a billion-dollar-a-year market dominator out of its spot, or fund a few small local operations with an eye to get bought out in a few years?

Small is beautiful.


Frank

Hi Frank,


Thats all good to know and I greatly appreciate all that advice!

Like I said in previous posts im not about to take any action yet and still in the tought process.


So what your saying when it comes down to it is its better to makes smaller sites that niche to very specific buyers and just use that strategy to take small pieces away from bigger companies and see if you can profit off of getting bought?

I know its a lose lose situation to try and completely compete with eBay but who is to say that these companies are not to be stopped?

I think when it comes down to it, it takes a very specific and fine line of strategy to get things moving. As for Overstock.com, well im not sure if you were saying that the auction format didn't work because I see it as working pretty well indeed I mean their site traffic is huge and they seem to make money if they spend millions on adverts. So Im assuming your saying they tried the strategy to win over sellers and buyers from eBay but indeed there is still something in a big black hole that even big companies I trying to find that missing piece to win customers over on ebay and that piece is what Im trying to solve! The other big problem with taking eBay on is they get not only so much adverts but the press like cnbc continue to bring their Name up and its just too much of a Household name these days. Heck, I had my dad tell me the other day he was search ebay for the first time to find a repair kit for his camera and he never heard of ebay before but was told about it from a guy at work! LOL thats the other problem.

dwm

So what your saying when it comes down to it is its better to makes smaller sites that niche to very specific buyers and just use that strategy to take small pieces away from bigger companies and see if you can profit off of getting bought?

Buy out is one way to do it, to be sure. Either way, as eBay continues to circle the wagons around its revenue and places further restrictions on sellers and buyers, the opportunities abound.

I know its a lose lose situation to try and completely compete with eBay but who is to say that these companies are not to be stopped?

I will: you will not stop eBay, and neither will anyone else.

Don't forget:

--> eBay's own financial statements show that the share of its income that auctions represents has been in steady decline for some time now (while their overall income has pretty much just gone up and up and up)

-->Huge 'next in market' competitors like Overstock and Amazon have spent millions trying to knock a dent in eBay's auction business, to essentially zero effect. (and don't even get started on Bidz, uBid et al.) Meanwhile, eBay has started edging in on those competitors by favouring fixed-price sales, large sellers like Buy.com, streamlining payments and invoicing, etc. etc. etc.

It is simply laughable to think that someone will come along and knock it out of place. In fact the only saving grace for such a notion, if one could even be said to exist, is that eBay will continue to move farther and farther away from the auction model that produced the bulk of its userbase but virtually none of its bottom line profits. So, once eBay is done with the auction model and more or less abandoned it to posterity, then sure, it is conceivable that someone else will snap it up. But not any sooner -- the little crumbs the giant lets drop from the table, eg. firearm sales, alternative currencies, buyer premium auctions, direct trades etc. -- are where the auction platform money is to be made.


Frank

Well Frank I appreciate your opinions however you stated that amazon didn't hurt eBays business, well? you better read the news a little more my friend because right now Amazon is really hurting eBays business in fact if you just did a little reading, eBay is only making these fee changes because their core business is taking a huge beating so they need to win back sellers by doing this and trust me once they do that, their fee structure will go right back to where it was...lol not to be rude but by how you speak of ebay you should try to apply for a job with them...you might even be a good PR for them :)

hey dwm take it easy on the guy, even if you don't agree with him...he is only stating his opinion. we can agree to disagree...lol..peace!

Yeah your right Bizhope! Frank I apologize...didn't mean to get rough on ya just don't really like when people say something is impossible but like bizhope said its your opinion and I can agree to disagree.Again hope I didn't upset ya by those comments. :)

No big deal dude. I have years of actual experience working with the options on one hand, you have what you think sounds right on the other. You're not likely to offend me, and I hope not to offend you. Facts are facts, and the facts in the trenches are 1) eBay runs online auctions and 2) will continue to do so until they get tired of it and 3) the money to be made in online auctions off of eBay is in the scraps they discard. Good luck with your project.


Frank

Ebay is not perfect but it is my wholesale supplier where i turn right back around break up the items and sell for a profit on ebay ,,ebay fees are high beause they market better than any other site and everyday new people discover ebay .the fees are not that high they get about 15% of my gross and do all the advertising for me ..when i had a small store the store expenses were about 25%-35% ..as i had to pay rent -electric and insurance -and do my own advertising ..also had to depend on the local economy ... with ebay my sotre is open 24/7 to people all over the world .