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Thank you for visiting and taking the time to read. I have sold on dozens of marketplaces including eBay, Amazon, and others small and large. I began writing about it many years ago in 2008, and have begun compiling everything over the years here from other blogs and sites I have written on. Enjoy what you find, and come back often for more!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Before you waste your time... - Archive March 2010

This article contains information about websites that are no longer in operation.

Time is a precious commodity for an online seller. It's sometimes the only cost we never factor into our business. I have spent 14 hours a day in from of a computer listing consignment items on eBay with my prices too high, and saw almost no return on my investment. For that 14 hours I don't think I even made $50.
There are some sites that you can spend hours and days listing your wares, and never see a return worth those hours you spend. There's a great way to judge your sales potential though. You can guess that visits have a lot to do with sales. Without the browsers, there are no buyers. Unless the site has a 1:3 visit:listing margin over the past several months, it is not worth your time.
One of my favorites right now is Bonanzle.
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/bonanzle.com/
The average visits are 1.12 million for last month, . Their total listings are 2.8 million, which is better than a 1:3 visit:listing ratio.
Another interesting note is at the bottom of the Compete statistics, their 5th highest referrer is Paypal. This likely means that the 5th biggest traffic draw is a redirect from Paypal after making a purchase. The other 4 are high traffic websites eBay, Facebook, Google, and Yahoo, which shows a great organic grassroots marketing strategy.
Another one that comes as a surprise to me is Webstore.com.
With 129k listings, they receive 160k visits monthly. That's better than a 1:1 margin, and most sellers should be able to see results from their time on the site.
Next, let's take a look at an example of where not to list and expect results.
Wensy has over 250k Listings, but their site only receives 63k visits a month, giving it a 1:4 visit:listing margin. While the site specializes in coins and collectible cards, not many sellers will find success with this site.

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