A few days back, a member of our jewelry group posited this question: "Is there really no alternative to ebay for selling items by auction"? From the answers members gave him, one couldn't help but sense a tiny bit of despair. Yes there were alternatives out there, but if you really wanted to sell by auction, eBay still rules.
Many, like me, prefer not to sell auction-style: we know that invariably we'll lose money in one or more ways:
1) eBay buyers are bargain hunters ...they have a garage sale mentality ie.. get it as cheaply as you can. Take advantage of a seller's need for funds at that moment etc etc. Hence, the seller rarely gets what they really would like or need for the item.
2) if you do get a price you're happy with, ebay's fees will cut steeply into your profit.
Either way, you usually end up with less money than you wanted, less than the item was worth, or if you had the misfortune of paying too much for it when you first bought it, of losing $$ altogether.
I guess that's why we deserted ebay over 2 years ago as sellers. We felt we were being eaten alive there. We moved over to RUBY LANE and everything changed. It's been great for us. We like it so much, we've even dared to open a second shop at their sister site, RUBY PLAZA. That one will take time to grow but we're confident that ultimately, we're better off on both those sites than selling on ebay.
BUT, eBay is trying hard to lure the sellers back. They've been running a very special offer that ended today, June 1st. They let vendors with good DSR's list auction-style for FREE! Well, since things have truly been a bit slow in the last couple of months, we've decided to test eBay out for the first time in a long, long time. We know we won't get the price we want for the items we've listed, but we're curious to see what will happen. Are the shoppers still bargain-hunting on ebay? Will they recognize value when they see it or decide that it's still too expensive for them? In short, we're conducting an experiment of sorts. It'll be interesting to see if we sell anything at all LOL!
If you'd like to have a look at what we've listed, you'll find our auction listings HERE There's quite a mixture of items: gorgeous diamond and gemstone rings, some Shermans, some fine jewelry like the necklace shown at the top, and even loose genuine gemstones. Auctions start as low as $29 for rings. The better rings, several with appraisals, start at only 1/4 to 1/5 or even in some cases, 1/10 of the appraised value! This is a great chance to get some of our fabulous jewelry at a price lower than we've had it in our SHOPS, presuming you win the item for the opening bid. Yes, we were careful not to cut our own throats on this experiment. We've done that too often on eBay LOL.
But if you're the type who doesn't like buying on eBay, but you want one of our items, here's what you do: locate that item in either our RUBY LANE or RUBY PLAZA shop and email us. We can talk about it ie. if item doesn't sell on ebay, after the auction ends, you can buy it from us that opening bid price. How's that sound?
Visit the EBAY LINK to our items today. Except for the gemstones, you can link straight through from the item listing in eBay to the listing in our shop and vice versa. Then contact us. Have fun!
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