Once upon a time I was a True Believer.
A true citizen of the kingdom of eBay.
For years I had heard about multi channel selling, blogging, SEO, social networking, marketing, search engines, diversification, Google Analytics and Base, but I never did anything about it, because I believed my eBay would always be there for me, protecting me and doing what was best to help my business grow.
One day I started hearing rumors about changes in the eBay kingdom. Feedback changes, Fee de(in)creases, Paypal changes…I started to get nervous. Best Match, DSRs, oh dear!
The eBay kingdom was getting scary – potentially business killing negative feedback behind every tree. I thought everyone was my friend, now I wasn’t so sure. What if that buyer was a competitor wolf in sheep’s clothing? What if they were only buying to bring me down? What if I made one teeny human mistake, and then I couldn’t sell anything because I was banished from search?
Many of us went to the forums for help and advice, but eBay soldiers came galloping in, hauling off and gagging the outspoken ones, and sometimes those speakers never came back. If friends tried to tell us what happened, they disappeared too! What was going on? What was my lovely eBay doing?
I had to find out for myself. I went to an eBay In Person event only 2 weeks later where I met some of the very high and mighty of eBay and they deigned to speak to me. Until they found out I was a seller of vintage goods. Then the high and mighty ones walked away. A Flea Market seller – pshaw – begone!
But wait! I’ve been here for 8 years! I’m a PowerSeller! Don’t you love me anymore? A high and mighty one paused long enough to tell me it was too bad, but they had organized the new system so that it was certain that some sellers would not make it in the eBay kingdom. I had to change my ways, raise my prices and pay the shipping myself if I expected to survive in the kingdom.
Suddenly, the scales fell from my eyes. They didn’t love me. They only loved my money. Sad, sad day. I had been so loyal, so good, such a hard worker. What was I to do?
I went home, where surrounded by heaps and heaps of wonderful things to sell I pondered, grumbled and researched. I found many others were seeking the same answers…where do I go now that eBay is not the friendly kingdom we thought it was?
I spent many months wandering from site to site, listing a few things here and there, never really finding what I wanted. Beautiful sites, fantastic people, but no buyers. Sigh…I was getting so tired of finding a new place, trying it out and then having to uproot myself once more to search for greener pastures. I searched and searched.
This tale does have a happy ending. At the end of my long search I found a new Auction Home. OnlineAuction.com
The fees are low ($8 a month total with no Listing or FVF), the environment is pleasant, customer service is outstanding, there are buyers all over the place, traffic is good, they are growing by leaps and bounds and site improvements are in process.
I like this new kingdom. The king there is one of us, a seller. OnlineAuction is run by people who know what it’s like to sell things. They don’t sit around trying to think up new ways to squeeze more money out of their citizens, they work on improving and policing the site, keeping it safe for all. If anyone needs help, all they have to do is call. Real people are always there to help.
For the first time in months I feel confident that I am headed in the right direction. This has been an uncertain time for refugees from the eBay kingdom. Hundreds and hundreds of us have fled to OnlineAuction.com.
The OnlineAuction kingdom is so friendly and helpful to its sellers that it allows, nay, encourages them to add their off-site website to each listing. Even if you have the bulk of your items somewhere else it would be useful to have a presence on OLA because it’s not just a venue – it is a marketing tool!
I love my new Auction home. Come by for a visit, you may find your search is finally over too.
