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Winners Circle
Other Auctions:Overstock
I have been working hard at keeping up with the advice I've received via email. So, this means I have been writing articles to promote my Clickbank project. I took a slight detour today to check out the pulse on other auction formats, namely Overstock.
I did a little research on Yahoo! auctions too but they aren't as up as they used to be. I guess you could look at this as good news for sellers in a way, since they now offer free auction listings, but I'm not so sure that there's anything driving buyers to their market, which is a real shame.
Anyway, I went to sign-up for Overstock auctions since they are all the buzz. They even had an Overstock car at eBay LIVE this year. Unfortunately, I did not actually see it because I didn't go to eBay LIVE this year. (Don't get me started on that issue!)
So, I'm thinking of signing up for the sellers service at Overstock and go to check out the documentation, which by the way, there is none. However, there are a lot of heated discussions going on and available for your viewing pleasure from the two blogs they've set up.
The first is Patric Byrne's blog which appears to highlight his angst with Wallstreet. He is the CEO of Overstock. It also touches on the work that Overstock is doing to build their auction channel, but this is mostly left to the artful journaling of Holly MacDonald-Korth who is the VP of Overstock Auctions. Her work-diary-blog is more reminiscent of the early eBay bulletin postings when sellers went up in arms over every little change to the system. Today, eBay makes an average of 2 major changes per week. Can Overstock keep up? Right now it doesn't look promising.
One of the biggest issues that came up in the early days of eBay was the "community's" need to feel appreciated, respected, or whatever you want to call it. The draw for eBay was that it created a "level playing field" for it's sellers and included the "community" on most of the decision making.
I hate to say it, but poor Holly has already put her foot in her mouth on this one. First of all, she does not create the impression on behalf of Overstock that they are there for the little merchants. You know, the ones that built the empire that we call eBay today? She flat out said that Overstock was never intended to cater to the smaller merchants. Here's her actual quote, "Overstock Auctions is not a level playing field. We never planned it to be. We have always said that we will call attention to our best (which usually means biggest, unfortunately) sellers, be it on the home page, in search results, etc. "--Holly MacDonald-Korth, VP Auctions, Overstock
She's already complaining about sellers misunderstandings instead of trying to remedy them. (Not a good sign.) Here's what she stated verbatim in a recent post in response to sellers needing to be trusted/bonded in order to promote their listings efficiently, "This keeps coming up, and frankly it is really irking me. Everyone keeps overlooking the fact that this program is not just about being bonded. "
She doesn't appear to be a very savvy eBay buyer as she discusses her buying mistakes and blames them on eBay. (You know I can't stand whiners and I think it's very bad business to bad-mouth your competition, but at least, she doesn't go overboard on that.) She also seems to be really stressed about the whole auction process. (Patrick, give the girl a break or some extra staffers or something, cuz I think she's gonna blow any day now!)
I didn't even go past the first couple of pages to get all this. I could have probably delved even deeper for more of the same. But I'd read enough to know that Overstock, in its present state, is not an alternative market to eBay by any stretch of the imagination! Overstock may be the ideal outlet for larger businesses. This remains to be seen. But for small businesses? Don't be fooled by the "Quick, Easy & Free" sign-up process. If you want your small business to get noticed, you'll have to jump through some new hoops first.
Is Overstock all bad? Heavens, no! Overstock is great. But you wouldn't know it by reading their blogs. If you sell in Overstock auctions, please let us know how your experience has been.
Until next time,
Thalia
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