The Rise of the Bazaar - versus Ebay

[stable05]

Just wanting to see some opinions...

Given the significant slow down in sales for many sellers on EBay, including me, I have conversely noticed an increase in 'Bazaars' or multi-seller second hand warehouses in my town (Melbourne).   Does anyone think their secondhand goods sales on EBay could be decreasing due to the popularity of these Bazaars (and I am talking about sellers of secondhand goods, collectables etc)

The Bazaar concept:

Large warehouse in central location, plenty of parking

Undercover, heated in winter, toilets

Sellers rent a stall on a monthly or even fortnightly basis

Stalls can be small through to large in floor space

Stall rent rates I have heard about: $120 p/fortnight (small space) and up to $1000 p/month (large e.g. 5x10m maybe?)

Seller can have a powered stall and can set it up in any theme or style e.g. vintage clothing, retro, mancave, collectable figurines, gothic, shabby chic etc

Seller tags every item for sale with their stall number and price

Sellers can leave their phone number on the stall for buyers to contact them/negotiate/arrange pickup

Sellers can leave the stall unattended as a manned central front desk processes all the sales using the tags to identify where the buyer picked up the item, the seller gets money for their stall sales transferred to them monthly

Roving security provided on site to reduce theft

Delivery service available to buyers for a fee

On site daily cafes provide additional attraction to buyers

Weekend entertainment such as live music, mobile food stalls etc to attract the buyers - create a buyer experience

I have been selling items through EBay to some of these stall holders in recent months and I know they are making good profit from reselling the items (all kudos to them!) but my usual rate of Ebay sales is drastically lower than it has ever been.

Is there a link here?  Is this the way buyers are preferring to make their purchases?  Is the experience of buying becoming more attractive than just grabbing a bargain?

Not looking for an answer (or judgement on my selling!), just discussion 

[performance_parts_clearance_centre]

I'd doubt there's any sort of genuine impact - most of the bazaars I've been to (Melbourne's Chapel Street Bazaar being the most successful, but also Cookson St Antiques in Camberwell, the one in Tyabb, Syber's in Alphington, etc) are filled with antique / collectable dealers who know full well the value of the items they're selling, and price them accordingly. Very rarely will you find any sort of bargain there...

They're also entirely dependant on people walking through the door on the off-chance that there might be an item of interest there. With eBay, the item you're looking for is either listed, or it's not. And you can search nationally, even globally, for your item.

[iclectic]

I had a stall at Chapel Street Bazaar for close to twenty years.   I also sold from antique centres on the Mornington Peninsula.   

I am now selling solely on ebay.   Ebay has been more profitable than the antique centres for me.

Most antique centres charge commission on sales as well as rent / public liability.    They also have slow times where you may not have a sale all week and it can be quite difficult to control theft in a large centre.    Also some centres such as the Chapel Street Bazaar require stall holders to work one day a week  - serving customers,  opening cabinets.  

I loved the social side of antique centres,  meeting like minded people.     Antique centres are also good If you specialise in an area such as vintage fashion or mid century furniture.  

I find ebay the best for selling small collectables as you a reach a wider market.

In regards to turnover,  ebay is the best place for me to sell.

[collect247]

Looks like you're doing pretty well on ebay while other sellers are complaining that they're not selling much.

So have you got any tips for those sellers doing it tough at the moment?

Or is it just what you sell.most buyers want/need are interested in?

[davewil1964]

Isn't it spelt 'Bizarre'?

Comparing anything to eBay certainly qualifies. It is its own little world.

[springyzone]

I don't know that it should impact on ebay directly. I've seen a few warehouse sales advertised but usually I would have to drive to them, they are in industrial areas. (I live outer suburbs Melbourne).

And the sorts of things people sell at markets etc aren't always the things that sell as well on ebay. I noticed this years back when my sister & I sold at a stall for a few weeks, next to my aunt who had her own stall. We noticed that size, breakability and weight played a big part in what we chose to sell on ebay, whereas on stalls, it isn't an issue really.

I suppose people only have a finite amount of money so if they go to these bazaars, they may not want to spend more that week on ebay.

So to that extent it could hit sales. But these bazaars are not near everyone.

I suspect what is knocking ebay sales more is the rise of alternative internet sales sites. I'm talking Catch of the Day, Groupon, shop websites themselves (which often have a sales section). For eg I once used to browse a brand called Postie fashions on ebay, it's a home demo type brand, sold along same lines as Tupperware. But they have their own website now with about 6 pages of clearance items & often cheaper than the second hand items on ebay.

Ebay is good for a browse, it means buying in the comfort of your own home at any time-but there is a lot of other web based competition these days and to be honest, it is harder to find interesting items/small sellers. It's reams of new items, shops, Chinese stuff now.

[performance_parts_clearance_centre]

Even the websites are patchy - I had a friend's upright freezer listed in various Facebook "Buy, Swap, Sell" groups for almost a month without a nibble. Listed it on Gumtree on Friday afternoon, had three enquiries on Saturday morning, and it was gone on Saturday afternoon.