Trying out new auction site QxBid

[Guest]

[kbmum]

I got fed up with the fee increases and anti-seller policies at eBay, so I decided to try out another auction site.  This one is called QxBid.  It started at the beginning of the year and isn't all that big.  There are no fees (although I'm sure they'll charge fees eventually).  I've listed more than 50 items in my store.  All are auctions with a Buy Out option (like eBay's Buy It Now).  The site recently began a partnership with Google Base to help promote the site and listings.  I've been getting hits, but no sales yet.  Still, it's free and worth a shot to run some auctions there.  I'm the only person who has listings in the trading card section.

If you want to check it out, my store is here:

http://www.qxbid.com/kbmums-Trading-Cards-and-More,name,100541,user_id,shop

I have Harry Potter cards, sketches, and other items.  The listings state that I do only U.S. shipping, but if non-U.S. members of the Shack are interested in any items, please send me a PM here.

[sfmuggle]

Good to know.  Looks interesting and I'll spend some time later checking it out.  Thanks for the heads-up and the link.

[sue]

Thanks for the information, and good for you, 
I tend to look on ebid, its not like ebay but its getting better slowly, lets hope these other sites take off in a big way.
 

[kbmum]

It would be nice if the other auction sites take off, but I'm not hopeful.  eBay has a virtual monopoly and it's very difficult for other sites to compete, mostly because potential buyers go to eBay before (if ever) visiting other sites.  The good thing about QxBid is that I can keep items in the store for a long time.  Eventually, someone who wants a card might stumble across the site.  If nothing sells, at least I'm out only the time it took to list everything (which wasn't much, considering I copied my eBay auctions, html and all, over to QxBid).

[allender]

That's the point, really. It's tough to compete on plain auctions, but there's still a good chance to make a fixed-price store work for any kind of specialty stuff. Once enough people know where to look. Even if there aren't a huge number of other "stores" in the same place, you might have a benefit over trying to set up and host your own internet sell-site.

Abebooks is going strong, even if they aren't Amazon, yo ho.

[kbmum]

That's true.  It's difficult to drive traffic to one's own e-commerce site.  I just hope that as some sellers leave eBay or start looking for alternatives, buyers will also look at other auction sites.

[sue]

What payment methods are there offered?
Do you need paypal to open an account there?

[kbmum]

It's up to the seller what forms of payment are accepted.  However, they don't allow options for money orders and checks.  I think the seller could specify those forms in the listings, though.

I'll look up what other payment vehicles are allowed and post them later today.  If a seller has a merchant account, that's accepted, as well.

[Marlon]

Hi, I'll be giving this the once over, anything to get away from eBay, although their monopoly is going to be tough to break.

[kbmum]

I've sold one item in one month. The site definitely needs more buyers and sellers.

[LikORish-Spider]

I have canceled my "store". A lot of reasons have been mentioned in the various threads. To sum it up, I suppose the reason I canceled is that EBAY has fixed too many things that were not broken in the first place. They are no longer seller friendly.

[kbmum]

You aren't the only one who's left eBay.  There are a lot of big sellers in many categories who've closed up shop.  It's kind of hard for eBay to attract new buyers when fewer items are being listed.