AUCTION VS GTC !!??

[5kazam]

Currently, I am more than pleased that all BINS are now GTC.  I have sold more pieces on AUCTION in the last few weeks than I think I sold the previous 12 months.  (Australian Pottery for those who don’t have a need to take a squiz at what I have listed.)

It seems that Auctions are now getting a look in.  I list for 7 days, no auto relist (to take advantage of the $1 weekend promotion – how long that goes for is anyone’s guess!!)

The whole GTC thing reminds me of when I was super naïve about how eBay worked (now I’m only naïve). 

I used to have FREIGHT on all my listings, as I didn’t know which part of Australia my items would be going to, so figured I couldn’t put a post cost up there, as they were all different shapes, sizes and weights.  (eg. Vic cheap, WA dear, NT horrendous, and I’ve sent to all those places, still do). 

One day I bored myself stupid by going through all the listings on Australian Pottery – and hey! FINALLY found my listings on pages 98-99 of 100 pages.  (Instant learning curve there!!)

So I’m wondering if my former FREIGHT option is now effectively the same as GTC.

It’s the only thing I can think of as to why I’ve suddenly sold so many ‘stale’ items recently, and why a lot of you are saying sales are dead.

Just putting a thought out there.

(I hope I haven’t put the mozz on myself with this post)

[digital*ghost]

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@5kazam wrote:

I used to have FREIGHT on all my listings, as I didn’t know which part of Australia my items would be going to, so figured I couldn’t put a post cost up there, as they were all different shapes, sizes and weights.  (eg. Vic cheap, WA dear, NT horrendous, and I’ve sent to all those places, still do). 

One day I bored myself stupid by going through all the listings on Australian Pottery – and hey! FINALLY found my listings on pages 98-99 of 100 pages.  (Instant learning curve there!!)

So I’m wondering if my former FREIGHT option is now effectively the same as GTC.

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Freight means no postage cost specified. 

Listings with no postage cost specified always appear after all listings with postage costs, at least in the majority of sort orders, (newly listed or ending soonest and they'll be in the correct position, but they are given very low priority in best match, and will appear after all other listings in a price + postage, lowest first order; which is arguably the most common used aside from best match).

A lot of buyers like to know postage costs up front - people will pay $2.50 to use an ATM that doesn't belong to their branch, rather than walk 100m to an ATM they can use for free, and they'll pay a higher price to not have to buy and be surprised by post costs, or go through the rigamarole of messaging to find out, if another seller has something that compares with all costs specified up front. 

Freight should be avoided wherever possible, and either calculated postge or rate tables used instead. 

[kopenhagen5]

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@bright.ton42 wrote:

Um, what is GTC?

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Good Til Cancelled. Automatically roll over each month.

Buy it now listings had 30 days or less as an option but now all BIN listings are GTC.

That means sellers with more listings than their allocated free listings need to be careful because GTC means each month they will relist and automatically take away from the freebies.

So sellers are reverting to a mix of auctions and BIN listings.

Seems auctions are now attracting more sales than before the change.

[5kazam]

I woke up to that after I did the boring 'have a look and see where your listings are'.

But that was a few years ago, and I agree NEVER use freight as your post option.

That's why I'm thinking that GTC is now, possibly, relegated to the equivalent of freight.

[digital*ghost]

The age of a listing definitely plays a part in its best match ranking, which affects GTC listings more than auctions or the previously available 30-day BINs.

Every time a listing is returned in a search result (whether the buyer claps eyes on it or not) it counts as an impression. 

Listings that accrue impressions but don't sell lose ranking. 

[5kazam]

Chat on that one tomorrow. Long day.

[casbit33]

Currently, I am more than pleased that all BINS are now GTC.  I have sold more pieces on AUCTION in the last few weeks than I think I sold the previous 12 months.  (Australian Pottery for those who don’t have a need to take a squiz at what I have listed.)

It seems that Auctions are now getting a look in.  I list for 7 days, no auto relist (to take advantage of the $1 weekend promotion – how long that goes for is anyone’s guess!!)

The whole GTC thing reminds me of when I was super naïve about how eBay worked (now I’m only naïve). 

I used to have FREIGHT on all my listings, as I didn’t know which part of Australia my items would be going to, so figured I couldn’t put a post cost up there, as they were all different shapes, sizes and weights.  (eg. Vic cheap, WA dear, NT horrendous, and I’ve sent to all those places, still do). 

One day I bored myself stupid by going through all the listings on Australian Pottery – and hey! FINALLY found my listings on pages 98-99 of 100 pages.  (Instant learning curve there!!)

So I’m wondering if my former FREIGHT option is now effectively the same as GTC.

It’s the only thing I can think of as to why I’ve suddenly sold so many ‘stale’ items recently, and why a lot of you are saying sales are dead.

Just putting a thought out there.

(I hope I haven’t put the mozz on myself with this post)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 I have changed all my listings over to auction with a buy-it-now option. 10 days plus auto relists give me 90 days without worrying.

I can't believe how many sales I am getting on all my accounts.

most are bidding with the odd buy-it-now.

The only down-side is when the auction finishes some people are slow to pay, which you don't usually get with BIN.

I won't be going to GTC any time.

[5kazam]

Re slower payment on Auction. 

I have the opposite situation.  Email from eBay 'Sale Confirmed'.  Within 5 minutes PP notification of 'Instant Payment made'.  But I do wish they would wait for an invoice.

In a few situations, I've refunded money to the buyer's PP a/c as they have overpaid because they purchased more than one item (combined post).  In another one recently, I asked the buyer if courier was an option (yes, please), I was in a position of being able to refund around 40% of the post paid.  And as I only list/sell on the $1 weekends, didn't have to go through any hassle of getting a credit back from eBay.

* And another 3 sales happening ATM - definitely a happy Jan. 

[springyzone]

Well done!

I would not have thought to look at your items but had a quick glance after you mentioned them & I suspect they are the type of items best suited to auctions.

With my buyer's hat on: If I see a collectable with a set price on it, I might tend to think that must be pretty much what the market value is, unless I have prior knowledge to say otherwise. Set prices are for your run of the mill products.

But when it is on auction, I see it as the 'starting price' and know it may go for much more. Then of course if one or two other people bid on it, it can confirm that I was right, it's an item worth having.

Psychological thing I guess. But (for me) it applies mainly to collectables or one offs, so your items fit right into that category.

I also agree that having a set or known price for postage is what buyers prefer.

[chameleon54]

I ran 28 auctions in the last few days. Only 3 sales, all at the starting bid. Listed the items as BINS once auctions had finished and sold 2 more immediately. All up it was a fairly disappointing result, as these should have been red hot sellers.

My regular store sales are still going very well, but I suspect buyers are becoming very shy about discretionary spending, which could account for the disappointing auction results.

[chameleon54]

@ springyzone - The items I put to auctions where rare collectables in a specialist ( and popular ) field. I did an advanced search of completed listings before listing mine and did note that very few had been offered or sold recently. I,m not sure what all that means, but its trying to tell us something.