This is the way the internet works. I get an e-mail from
WebProNews.com about how
eBay is forcing our friends in Austrailia to use
PayPal as the only method of payment. Obviously, the predictible righteous indignation ensues - and I agree that it is a tough tactic move by
eBay - but it got me to thinking about alternatives to eBay. There are a bunch of them out there but they all seem...well.... not too professional, not enough items, etc., etc., etc.
I even looked at some of the comic book auction sites like
Heritage Auctions and
ComicLink and they are good but you can't brand your logo, establish your identity - i.e. everything runs through them and your only contact with the buyer is when you ship your product.
But I looked at one that really got my eye and that is
eBid. You can sign up for a lifetime membership as a seller+ for only $49.99 and that is it! No more listing fees and no more final value fees. Now think about that for a moment. You pay a one time fee and you can sell as much stuff as you want. By the way, this is not some shameless plug because a) I have not signed up yet and b)
eBid doesn't have an affiliate program (yet...) and so there is no kickback for ol' Willie. Believe me, I am trying to figure out what the catch is but I haven't found one yet.
What
eBid reminds me of is
eBay back in 1997 or so when it was pretty much undiscovered. You could get instant help on the forums from the
eBay folks and it was not a public company so it was a LOT more user friendly.
Thing is, I will always have an
eBay store of some sort - just too daggone many eyeballs BUT if
eBid and my own
website start taking off, I will severely limit my participation on
eBay. I'm getting ahead of myself here... I will try
eBid and see how it goes. I will post back in a month or two and describe my experience.
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Update:
eBid does indeed have an affiliate program - that's a good thing....
As usual, comments and questions are welcome and solicited.
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