eBay and Alternative News and Tools You Can Use
New eBay competitor 4Sale4Now sets date for opening day and iTaggit helps boost antique item exposure. In eBay headlines this week, find out what's hot and what's not for the holiday shopping season. Plus, Lot Vantage lets auto sellers post to eBay Motors and we introduce our new eBay and Auction Alternatives Dictionary.
New Alternative Offers Unique Pricing System
In eBay alternative news, a new marketplace called 4Sale4Now is expected to launch on Nov, 1, 2008. The new marketplace, currently unavailable until its opening day, is based on a shopper discount system.
Unlike a standard auction listing, in which buyers bid up an item price, 4Sale4Now has sellers start products at a set dollar amount. Shoppers can then purchase immediately or watch that item until the price drops to a dollar amount they are willing to pay.
Sellers basically add their merchandise, set what they deem to be a fair price and then create a discount structure. The discount amount is determined by the seller at listing time, by choosing up to 10, 25, or 50 percent off spanning a six to 60-day timeframe.
For example, on the site right now is a circular saw that was listed with a starting price of $55.
By Oct. 14, the saw didn't sell, so the price then dropped to $52.50. The following week, it was discounted again to $49.50. Right now, at $44, (the "4Now" price), the saw is selling for 20 percent less than the original cost.
When the new online marketplace opens, the listing fee for one item, or multiple quantities of the same item in one listing, is $2 each when purchased in a "5 Item Starter Pack."
Listed items must have a minimum "4Now" opening price of $10, and the final value fee is a straight four percent. The listing packages are as follows:
- 5 - $10.00 ($2.00 each) Starter Pack
- 10 - $19.00 ($1.90 each) Good Deal
- 20 - $36.00 ($1.80 each) Better Deal
- 100 - $150.00 ($1.50 each) Best Deal
The site itself is well designed and esthetically pleasing for buyers and sellers. While the new platform offers a rather unique system for sellers and buyers to connect, the listing and final value fees are a bit higher than usual for a start-up with no proven traffic.
Only time will tell if the fees are worth it to online sellers, but until then, you can view our screenshots of the site's interface and bookmark 4Sale4Now so you can swing by on Nov. 1, when the marketplace opens for e-business.
Antique Aide: iTaggit
Online inventory organization site iTaggit recently announced a new Multi-Item Uploader that lets sellers upload multiple items, such as antiques, with multiple pictures at one time. The iTaggit site can be used to inventory your items, find out their value and to sell the items when you're ready. Not only can the service be of use to online sellers, but consumers can also use the site to track valuables for insurance purposes.
Online vendors can also export their iTaggit item listings to online auctions, such as eBay, and online antiques classified sites.
The new Multi-Item Uploader on a free standard account lets you upload 10 items at a time. On a Premium account, you can upload 50 items at one time. Premium service is available for a subscription fee of $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year. Additionally, 10 pictures can be added to each item.
(Continue to Page 2 for Hot Holiday Trends, eBay DSR and Auto News)
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