New Way To Sell...Not eBay

[mkulltra]

I was thinking about just the online auction feature where you don't need a live auctioneer.

 

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[pat-tekker-cat]

MK, I think that's a good idea and good of you to want to include and organize others.
Me personally, I wouldn't be going for the monthly fee, and I don't carry enough high dollar inventory to be much of a participator.
I do believe if enough of ya'll put your heads together, ya'll could make it work and benefit you all.
You never know unless you try......
Good luck and HH!

 

[Paleo_joe]

I think it is a great idea. Live auctions bring more money and so do sellers who cooperate with each other (as Adam Smith noted).

 

[mkulltra]

I downloaded the LiveAuctioneers app and I can't stop watching auctions going on. Like right now there is seven or eight auctions going on and one is a train auction. If you haven't really watched the live auctions, you should check it out. Interesting to see what sells. Great for research. The more I watch it the more the fees are attractive. Probably less than I pay for ebay without any of the hassle and it seems like items sell for more. More bidding wars going on.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

I love those live auctions. Very exciting watching those. It's amazing the prices some items fetch with 1 picture and no description at all!

I posed the idea for using that and getting TNet to sponsor an auction of member submitted finds and such, but it was met with an extremely cold reception.

I think live internet auctions are a growing industry. To have people submit items for the auction and be able to comment on them and then link the item from live auctioneers to the forum would add a lot more credibility than a lot of the auctions. I'd imagine many items would turn into bidding wars.

Why not have no charge for sellers and charge a 15% (plus live auctioneer fees) to the buyer? Seller would have to pay shipping fees. (You can pass this to the buyer, but that may be a selling point, free shipping)

Most of those places charge 15, 20 or more % to the buyers and then sellers to list get charged 20% commission fee.

The buyer premium would cover the cost of the auction and more. There will be a lot of work to list the auction, make sure everyone gets paid and that everyone ships their items.

 

[Oregon Viking]

I love those live auctions. Very exciting watching those. It's amazing the prices some items fetch with 1 picture and no description at all!

I posed the idea for using that and getting TNet to sponsor an auction of member submitted finds and such, but it was met with an extremely cold reception.

I think live internet auctions are a growing industry. To have people submit items for the auction and be able to comment on them and then link the item from live auctioneers to the forum would add a lot more credibility than a lot of the auctions. I'd imagine many items would turn into bidding wars.

Why not have no charge for sellers and charge a 15% (plus live auctioneer fees) to the buyer? Seller would have to pay shipping fees. (You can pass this to the buyer, but that may be a selling point, free shipping)

Most of those places charge 15, 20 or more % to the buyers and then sellers to list get charged 20% commission fee.

The buyer premium would cover the cost of the auction and more. There will be a lot of work to list the auction, make sure everyone gets paid and that everyone ships their items.

So are you bidding via skype? so the auctioneer can see you?
With commissions I like the way Barret Jackson does it 10 or 15 % commission is added on top of the final sale.
I win the lottery ...Barret Jackson will get used to seeing me!!

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

The auctioneer cannot see you, you click to bid. There are some that play live video of the auction in progress or others that are just automated and on the screen you see going once, twice, etc.

 

[mkulltra]

I didn't get far enough in registering to see if you could charge a buyers premium in the online auction. That would be great if it is possible then us sellers wouldn't have to pay any fees.

That is a shame that tnet wouldn't start this. I don't know if I am the right person to start something like this but I may try it on my own to see how it goes and get the experience of trying to live auction my items. If I sell nothing, then I'm out $100 and that stinks but I also have the chance to make a lot more money without the hassle of ebay and fees.

 

[dieselram94]

So you can download live auction app and watch without registering? If so I will do that...

sent from a potato...

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

The problems I see are how to pay the sellers (if paypal, more fees) and then knowing that the item described and photo'd was what they sent to the buyer. If people had a LOT of trust they would send you the items so you can get some standards for photos and then be responsible for delivery. I've never heard of a drop-ship live auction.

 

[mkulltra]

So you can download live auction app and watch without registering? If so I will do that...

sent from a potato...

Yes, you just download the app for free and don't even have to register to watch the auctions. Just press the auction tab and then click the name of the auction to see catalog or click watch now to see the live auction.

 

[mkulltra]

The problems I see are how to pay the sellers (if paypal, more fees) and then knowing that the item described and photo'd was what they sent to the buyer. If people had a LOT of trust they would send you the items so you can get some standards for photos and then be responsible for delivery. I've never heard of a drop-ship live auction.

I have been thinking about those same problems. Honestly I haven't figured out an answer on how to do it yet. The only solution I have come up with is that the seller doesn't ship until they have received payment. I dont know if the auction items are non-refundable.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

Well in real live auctions and most that I've seen there are no refunds...when you bought something...YOU BOUGHT IT. I think it comes down to the Terms of Service that LiveAuctioneers has and if they let you set your own.

 

[mkulltra]

It would be so nice to not have to deal with returns and scammers.

This is looking better minute by minute. Let's sum this up...

...If I can charge a buyer premium, there would be no selling fees.

...Buyer pays for shipping.

...I wouldn't have to deal with returns.

...My items may sell for more money than ebay.

...I dont have to deal with ebay policies.

...I may get more traffic to my items.

Hmm..I wish there was a way to get us together to do this. My concern is not having enough auctionable items since I can list up to 1250 items.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

1250 is a LOT of stuff, would probably run for 6 hours. I think it'd do better with 300 really cool items like dug artifacts and coins and a well publicized auction.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

-We'd need to find out about the legalities if the item needs to be in the auctioneers own hands or not.
-To really make it fly I think tNet has to have a forum for items to be considered for auction, items with enough likes would get added
-In order to not violate tNet rules members would have to be charter members to post items for consideration

If you auction 300 items and they average $50 a piece at 10% buyer fee that'd be $1500 to cover the auction setup and any other costs. Its enough to pay $650 for the live auction if you can auctioneer it yourself!

 

[Cojones]

Thing is with live auctions what you are bidding on is right on front of you and you can check it out pre-auction. Online is basically sight unseen so you would need a return policy , at least a minimal one, maybe 7 days to contact for a return.

 

[dieselram94]

Thing is with live auctions what you are bidding on is right on front of you and you can check it out pre-auction. Online is basically sight unseen so you would need a return policy , at least a minimal one, maybe 7 days to contact for a return.

As long as it was a STRICT return policy, such as item grossly differs from pictures and description...

sent from a potato...

 

[jfreakofkorn]

also other methods of payment besides paypal ....