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eBay has long been the undisputed king of online auction sites. It is certainly the standard by which all other online auctions are measured. Unfortunately, as of late eBay is drawing some disgruntled comments from sellers.
More and more people are being put off by eBay and are looking for reasonable alternatives where they can list their products. One of the big names thrown about on a consistent basis is eBid.
Today, we'll take a look at what makes eBid an attractive eBay alternative, where it comes up lacking, and what the best course of action for online sellers is.
Why List Anywhere But eBay?
The most common complaints about eBay all revolve around the abundance of fees embedded with each transaction. Up to 10 percent of each purchase goes straight into eBay's corporate coffers.
Not only that, but the competition for almost every category is quite crowded. To make matters worse, the rules, fee structures and overall landscape is in a state of near-constant flux, making it difficult for all but the most dedicated sellers to keep track.
It's a frustrating situation, and it has therefore produced a greater demand for a viable eBay alternative.
Enter eBid.
eBid is a British company created in 1998. It markets and positions itself as an eBay competitor with the main difference being the vast difference in fees charged to sellers.
The marketplace consistently rates among the top 5 online auction sites in the world, but the question remains: is it a reasonable eBay alternative?
Let's take a look at how the two compare.
eBid Statistics:
One of the major differences between the two online auction sites is in traffic. eBid.net has a monthly average of 8 million page impressions, and a daily traffic volume of around 60,000 visitors. The marketplace also averages out to about 15 million unique visitors per year.
There are more than 3.8 million live listings in more than 12,000 categories with a gross value of more than USD $6 billion. Moreover, the site is very popular on social media as well, garnering 13,293 likes on Facebook alone.
While these stats might sound quite impressive in isolation, they are only a fraction of the business eBay does in a single day.
eBay Statistics
As of January 2013, eBay receives more than 1,520,000 unique visitors every day. This makes it the 23rd most-visited website in the world. If that weren't impressive enough, eBay users sell approximately $1,640 worth of goods — wait for it — per second!
Just take a look at some of it's impressive daily stats over time:
So the difference is quite clear. The buyers are clearly giving eBay some love, and eBay in turn is leveraging its widespread branding to add more zeroes to it's bottom line, and doing so very effectively.
So where exactly is the advantage in using eBid?
eBid Advantages
First of all, eBid is extremely easy to use. Because the rules and regulations stay consistent, there isn't a lot to deal with in maintaining a store on the site. The support and customer service ratings for eBid are also among the highest it its category.
Secondly, the fee structure is far more friendly to sellers. There are no listing fees for putting your inventory on display as there are with eBay, and there is a 3 percent cap on the Final Value Fee (FVF) that a seller would pay per transaction.
That means that eBid charges a transactional fee of no more than 3 percent of the total selling price for a listing. For example, if you listed a pair of Batman pajamas for USD $7.88 on eBid, you would pay 24 cents to eBid upon that sale's completion.
Compare that to the 10 percent fee you'd be paying on eBay in addition to your initial listing fee: It'll cut into your overhead very quickly.
Finally, any products you list on eBid are also uploaded to Google Shopping. Though it doesn't completely make up for the difference in exposure with eBay, it does level the playing field somewhat.
eBid Disadvantages
The disadvantages are, of course, the fractional amount of traffic and activity it receives in comparison to eBay, and the resulting time lag in sales. On average, you can expect a listing on eBid to last much longer before completion than on eBay.
Additionally, though eBid is an online auction site, people seem to prefer the buy it now option in large quantities. That means bidding wars are few and far between on eBid. If you want full value for your inventory, it's better to list the starting price as your desired sale price to begin with.
A Troubling Decline in Interest
Though the lower fees and Google Shopping uploads would seemingly do plenty to boost merchant confidence, there is a disturbing trend of declining interest in eBid. This trend is notably quantifiable in search volume and search ranking.
As you can see from these stats compiled courtesy of Similarweb.com, the site's popularity has been petering out in recent years, though there isn't necessarily reason to jump ship just yet.
Here we see that there was a boom period for unique visits in the early summer of 2013 and then a significant drop off. Things do seem to be looking up though, with the metric making a slight rebound in the early part of this year.
This data does raise questions about the viability of eBid as an eBay alternative. The fact is, it definitely can be. However, it shouldn't be the basket in which you stack all of your eggs.
eBid won't be a cure all to your online retail complaints with eBay. You won't be able to quickly offload inventory there, but you should instead expect to wait for a considerable amount of time to receive fair value for your sales.
Your best option is most likely a diversification of your sales channels. You can experiment both with eBay and eBid to see which will better suit your niche needs. It's highly recommended that you start your own online store so that you can better control the traffic you attract, and the fortunes that you accrue.
You may find that this is more effective than all other online shopping outlets put together. If that ends up being the case, you should dedicate all of your inventory to your own online store so that you won't spread your resources too thin.
Have you sold any products on eBid? Share your experiences with us in the comment section.
Also check this massive list of other eBay Alternatives we've compiled.
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Sellers are nowadays looking for a fairer and cheaper way to sell without corporate companies taking the lions share!
the only downside is low the traffic , but its relatively easy to drive traffic to your own ebid store .
its a lot cheaper to set up and maybe buyer freindly than your own website , personally i sell on my own website and ebid and also ebay uk loke author say diversify .
i love selling through my own website but notice some buyers , buy or pass through my store via links to my ebid store , maybe because they feel safer , despite my positive testimonials .
ebay uk needs no explaining , its easy to sell with lots of buyers , BUT you have to cower to ever growing seller regulations and the fees are obviously higher .
me personally ill stick with all three , ebays good but regulations cause me excess stress , my ebid an own website sales are slower but much more enjoyable and reduce fear of losing my ebay accounts .
Why a person should get fear to sell in a online marketplace like ebay???
It is also very expensive with they fees and you get with pocket money... no nice.
I was on ebay since 2006 and sold buy so on.
Because of my feedback 100% positive, and doing everything right, communication, fast shipment, item as described bla bla bla, I was restricted to sel because of the rating stars when living feedback??? buyers living positive feedback, have another rating as per they experience with the seller.
How accurate was the item?, did arrive at time.., well, because I have had 4 low ratings, being 4 stars, I was restricted??
C'mon they not only have high feeds, you felt like on your neck you have a wolf watching you every step and them I asked myself, but who the hell they think they are???
The only online place that www have???
That's why you have mention fear, I cross over, even if they lift my account, that would NEVER happen, I won't come back to that stressful, BE CAREFUL WE ARE WATCHING YOU!!!!! felling never ever again.
And I was a power seller!!
passing on savings to buyers attracts my ebid sales , i think !! .
i do not link to ebay via my website , unless affiliate link not to my listings , any non ebay sale is a good sale !!
I don't mind that it isn't as high tech as ebay - simplicity is best sometimes.
Plus it is is great that sellers and buyerss can leave feedback - not just buyers.
There are a lot of factors. eBid has some built-in traffic already, whereas your web store will be completely on its own. Then there's the cost of a domain, and hosting, and shopping cart software, plus whatever service you use to process payments.
Registered as seller ++ at ebid, was paid usd 99
Same item, same price, same tittle, descriptions, and payment methods.
On ebay I can can sold more than 12 pcs a day, but no sales at ebid since registered as paid member more than a month, even I have imported all my ebay feedback to ebid.
The visitor on my ebid listing are counting, but NO SALES.
Ebid can not convert your visitor into a buyer.
How can they expect to be a leader using a .NET domain name. Duh !!!!
.
I shop on line for everything except groceries and I have quite a few accounts other than eBay and Amazon. On all of these other sites, it is very easy to return an item. This is vital to shopping online with confidence - I have had to use the return option on a number of occasions.
On my first and only purchase with ebid, I was sent a 'buy it now' item that was not as advertised. Guess what? No return button. Returns have to be processed by finding the seller's contact details and writing emails, which is just not worth my time.
I suspect that most buyers on ebid will last just until they have to return something, whereupon they will realise that it is much better to use eBay.
Also, ebay has announced their fourth straight year of lost profits, so perhaps the manufacturers in China ebay loves so much cannot carry them after all.
ebay used to offer checks, money orders, skill, merchant credit/debit card processing, etc.
Also paypal holds your funds for 21 days and once you reach 10,000 they limit your account... even though you have a proven record.
eBid looks so much better than ebay and it's easier to navigate as well, ebay looks like it's stuck in 2003... eBid looks very modern in comparison.
Problem with eBid is traffic... and that's just something ebay has.
I personally, never leave more that £100 on Paypal, as soon my money get into this account I transferred straight away to any bank account.
It will be a good idea to have 2 separates bank accounts.
It is very easier to open one.
buyer had it for 6 days admitted changing the windows and upgrading to windows 10, then said the cheap psu, it wasn't cheap as this was a high end gaming computer. so asked for a refund, obviously armed with his admission of changing the os, opening the case damaging the computer to the point of a bucket of bits, I went to eBay and they said I had to refund the buyer and pay for the return postage, they admitted they don't deal with the selling so think there ruling was a all round fair conclusion
I have sold on eBay for 16 years and have 100% feedback, it wont be after this. eBay sucks it is only for buyers so if you want to be ripped off every now and then, stick with eBay, pay their rip off charges and then pay PayPal charges, I for one will be closing my eBay account and PayPal so they can refund the con man
If all the ebidders ask for things that can make a ebid better, I am sure that some have became very asked, and may or may not approved and put into place.
It has very poor search options when searching for something, as if you want ps3 games or consoles, it should be a search that it is specifically for does items, like consoles & games,then xbox 360, playstation 3 and all the make and type of console and the games for that specific console, will be easier to found what you're looking for and by the way get more hits and sells. Personally, I will never imagine looking for a console in Toys??? in toys??? ha
Is like selling a fridge in clothing.
What do you think I should do? Thanks!
I've just red one actually right comment about the bad "terrible" side of eBay here, which says:
"
Posted by on 20:30 2 Dec 2016
Exactly FEAR OF BEEN RESTRICTED!!!
Why a person should get fear to sell in a online marketplace like ebay???
It is also very expensive with they fees and you get with pocket money... no nice.
I was on ebay since 2006 and sold buy so on.
Because of my feedback 100% positive, and doing everything right, communication, fast shipment, item as described bla bla bla, I was restricted to sel because of the rating stars when living feedback??? buyers living positive feedback, have another rating as per they experience with the seller.
How accurate was the item?, did arrive at time.., well, because I have had 4 low ratings, being 4 stars, I was restricted??
C'mon they not only have high feeds, you felt like on your neck you have a wolf watching you every step and them I asked myself, but who the hell they think they are???
The only online place that www have???
That's why you have mention fear, I cross over, even if they lift my account, that would NEVER happen, I won't come back to that stressful, BE CAREFUL WE ARE WATCHING YOU!!!!! felling never ever again.
And I was a power seller!!"
I absolutely agree, however there is a small mistake with this. They watching at you but the real problem is they not not watching at you REALLY CAREFULLY! So having said that they watching only the numbers, the percentages and the very formal information and formal "dashboard" because they have millions of visitors, sellers and buyers and they do not have anymore time to have an in depth look behind the scheme! So unfortunately if you have been a very good and great member, seller and buyer as well, and someone (with no history or any benefit given to eBay) just came and buy something from you, even if you did everything right (dispatch, packing, contact, keep in touch, tracking, description of the item, service, etc...) can turn you down straightaway with an unfair and inappropriate report and bad feedback. I have been in the same situation. I was an absolutely 100% seller with amazing seller feedback then after an inconvenience happened between me and the eBay Customer Service, (yes I do not know I've just spoken to the wrong person or the whole eBay Customer Service a little bit lack of understanding and helpfulness) then after a restriction I realised all the effort, work and time I made and spent with it was only waste!!! Well done eBay keep it up and probably when you will have much more less visitors, sellers, buyers and traffic on your site you will have time to rethink and reorganise what needs to be changed!
Kind regards for everyone;
The Cyberbyte
(an eBayer (seller, buyer) in past, and at current an Amazon, eBid and Bonanza seller and buyer)
I do hope things get better for eBid
Just like one of the posters said, if you continue to support Ebay NOTHING WILL CHANGE.
LETS MAKE A CHANGE :)
I hardly say they are any kind of alternative for anything, atleast not the little guy. THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT OUR LITTLE BITS OF CASH IN UNISON IS WHAT GOT THEM HERE AND IN THE LAST DECADE OR SO THEY ALLOWED THE GIANTS TO MOVE IN AND WE CAN'T EVEN PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE.
I'M PISSED...DO I Have any options? Bonanza I kept having SCAMMERS BY MY ITEMS
i NEED real Suggestions that can put food on the table Please. Thanks in advance
Yes, i do coparisons and price within the parameters and offer free shipping mostly porcelain designer sets but I add this and that too. Thanks again.
It should do a lot to help you start making sales.
GO DOT NET, GO DOT NET, GO DOT NET
EBID DOT NET, or However You want to PROMOTE it but I feel EBID can use our Help
"ONE HAND WASHES THE OTHER".. Thanks
I'm so done with ebay; I sold a dress to a lady that was perfect - like new- and have the photos to prove it; she wrote me and said the dress had a big stain on it when she received it; ebay sided with her and put a freeze on her payment to me; I had no choice but to tell her to send it back; I havent' received it back yet, but I know she is going to ruin my 100% positive feedback that I've had since 2004.
Buyers have learned how to scam sellers and they know ebay will back them up - NO MATTER WHAT!
We must find a new auction site, or make ebid better.
Thanks Ricky
That simply is NOT correct. If you sell a DVD for £2.50 on ebay (under 100g) eBay will charge you a 35p listing fee for that item. Admittedly if you auction it they give you a credit for that if it sells (IF it sells) but a Buy It Now listing doesn't get that benefit. You then have a 10% final valuation fee. Therefore eBay's charges total 24%. I know that you get the first 50 listings free but as Ihave 200 listings that exposes me to an awful lot of insertion fees.
Paypal is the same. 20p per listing plus a 4% charge making 30p on the DVD so that's 12% so the total bill for that sale could be 90p leaving you with £1.40. As you will pay around 83p p&p - yes, that right, you've just earned 57p and for that you have to drive or walk to the Post Office and get it sent off within 24 hours. That's why I am searching for a platform that won't use me as its bottom-line slave.
I too have been burnt by ebay with scamming buyers and endless fees.
I have been selling on "ebid.net' for a month now and am starting to make sales- although it is slower to make sales, the buyers are there- you just need to be persistant and keep on listing stuff. So far I have almost 800 items all with sizing.....
My sales on ebay have gone from 50-70 items of secondhand clothing a month-to just 4-6 a month- this tells you that ebay is going to hell- finally. If we all just persist with 'ebid' it will get the numbers it needs to make it a great alternative to 'feebay'. So far I am happy here at ebid. I still have stuff on ebay but I have included that I have 'heaps more stuff on 'ebid.net' in the description to let my regulars know where I am moving to.
Identification Document Request
eBid is designed to create an open and enjoyable trading experience and in doing so, random due diligence checks are a matter of routine to protect and safeguard the community. We would appreciate your cooperation.
Please upload 2 scans of the following documents. Once checked and verified your account will be accessible once again.
Passport/driving license/utility bill/tax office/council/local government/bank account no more than three months old with your name and address visible. (No cell/mobile bills.)
i just asked them to delete my account as i am not applying for immigration!
The Samsung is a small example, try something harder.........forget it, ebid results will be null.
On the other hand I have also been with eBay since 1999 and have made some very satisfying sales. But I'm displeased with the excessive fees, the dictatorship and eBay posting another sellers same item right on my auction page, in the middle of my auction and just under my auction , and especially dissatisfied with the final value on shipping. That is just wrong.
I recently stop selling on eBay. I'm currently back on ebid after a couple of yrs. not selling with them in hopes they would of straighten out their search engine problem. But they have not !
sold 3 items in one day and PayPal held up our $, and made us refund the buyers. Got 3 negative feedbacks, and left the selling platform. eBay could care less about sellers.
I've added same photos same adverts and even topped ebid up with featured listings and bold titles, Its next to useless.