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Posted by lane-ends on 20-Sep-2011 21:08 Report
push for GTC a backward step?
I thought the idea was to not have mounds of stale listings? I currently relist every 60days and lower price each time until sold. Now I will loose track of whats been listed for how long, It will all become too hard to keep track, so they will all just sit as overpriced lemons untill I give up.
 
Replied by boo512 on 20-Sep-2011 21:12 (Ref 2312718) Report
 So remove auto relist and they won't relist at all.  You can then reassess your prices after each auction period, just like you have to do on that other site where you pay to list every time and have to watch your budget.
Replied by bookfair on 20-Sep-2011 21:20 (Ref 2312723) Report
 
This will certainly increase the number of stale listings. I've been saying for years that this site needs a small listing and relisting fee to increase the overall quality of listings and boost sales. This is a further backward step.

Steve.
 
Replied by sheila-bloke47 on 20-Sep-2011 21:25 (Ref 2312727) Report
It's only stale to someone who has seen the item before.  To someone looking for the first time it's not stale.

To lane-ends put in the listing the date you list.  It can be in the heading , sub title or even the first line in description.  You can keep track of them this way.  You don't even have to put in the whole date 20.09.11 just put in [2009].  There's many ways to keep track of when you originally listed the item.

And I'm still trying to work out what GTC stands for?
Replied by cdrhn on 20-Sep-2011 22:28 (Ref 2312729) Report
If you want to know how old your listings are, sort them by the date listed! It's not hard to keep track of them when they're in order with the date beside them.

You set your own prices. If you think your things are overpriced then mark them down. If you think they're lemons then don't list them.

There are new buyers finding this site all the time. They don't care if something's been listed for 5 minutes or 5 years.

No idea what GTC stands for. I've assumed you're complaining about the auto relist until sold, known as ARUS.
Replied by magnolia134 on 20-Sep-2011 22:38 (Ref 2312731) Report
>>It's only stale to someone who has seen the item before.  To someone looking for the first time it's not stale.<<

Totally agree. I have had many first time buyers in the last couple of months or so (presumably because of people getting to know about Google Shopping) and have sold items that have been listed for quite a while.
Replied by freds-fab-fabrics on 20-Sep-2011 22:40 (Ref 2312732) Report
Agree with comments above. Sort by date listed, work out when 60 days is up and manually relist - it isnt that hard!!!
Replied by xentric-emu on 20-Sep-2011 22:46 (Ref 2312734) Report

GTC stands for Good Till Completed, a term used over yonder :)  It means the same as ARUS.
Replied by ejholden on 21-Sep-2011 01:32 (Ref 2312737) Report

** takes a step sideways to allow Chicken Littles to run unimpeded ............
Replied by ginger-puss on 21-Sep-2011 06:16 (Ref 2312740) Report
With only 55 items listed it should not be too hard to keep track.

I use express lister and it is divided into lots of categories and I even have one for old stock.
I agree with the others on sorting etc.

Really it is not hard at all.
Replied by bookfair on 21-Sep-2011 07:09 (Ref 2312743) Report
 
If a seller lists a hundred items and 99 sell, that leaves 1 unsold, relisted. If they list another 100 items and 99 sell, that leaves 2 unsold, relisted. If they list another 100 and 99 sell, that leaves 3 unsold, relisted. Etc, etc. etc... Gradually, over time those unsold, unpopular, unsaleable items build up. Of the 500,000 items currently listed on QS, maybe 100,000 are relisted over and over and over for years. They're not "waiting for the right buyer", they're unpopular, unsaleable. 

Early on, each new potential buyer to this site saw maybe 1% uninteresting stuff. Over the years, that has built up to 10%, then 20%, etc... More chaff, less wheat discourages new potentail customers.

If there were a small listing and relisting fee, sellers would eventually remove unsold items. Now that there is no cost at all to list and relist items, there is no incentive to not park items here forever. The idea of "waiting for the right buyer" is BS. Chaff is chaff. It needs to blown away.

I've seen bricks-and-mortar shops go out of business because they kept old stock on their shelves for too long.

Steve.
 
Replied by bookfair on 21-Sep-2011 07:18 (Ref 2312744) Report
 
See what the chaff has done to this site. Go to the Community page and click on the earliest thread in the Latest Posts list. Presently, the earliest thread was started over three days ago. A few years ago, that would have been less that three hours old.
 
Ask yourself why QS would remove all listing and relisting fees and remove the financial encouragement to pay for a vshop. To encourage more listings. Why? Because sales, and their income from sales fees, have dropped dramatically? Why? Because over the years this site has been filling with chaff, discouraging buyers. We need to blow the chaff away, not encourage more.

Steve.
 
Replied by extrakeen on 21-Sep-2011 07:30 (Ref 2312746) Report
I Think the GTC (good till completed) is a great idea, and as others have stated it isn't difficult to keep track of your listings. I hope this site never becomes an exact clone of ebay.

Membership here has been steadily growing over the last month or two as more and more buyers and sellers become disenchanted with ebay.

This is a great place to list and sell, whether it is something old or something new - and it is not bricks and mortar, so if folks want to keep items in stock forever - that is fine too.

Perhaps we shouldn't be worrying about what other people do and concentrate on making the most of the opportunities that arise here on quicksales.

Get out and promote, promote and promote - that is the only way to get sales.
Extra
Replied by crazycraft on 21-Sep-2011 07:42 (Ref 2312747) Report
Steve, I totally disagree with you
I sold an item the other day that you would probably call Chaff
It had been in my listings from the day I started,and I did pay relisting fees when they were charged.
Some people do like to see what you call chaff.
If you stop and really look at this site, you will see that all things are sellable.
We have a very good site here and do not want to be known as "the other rip off site"
For goodness sake encourage the sellers here,
They do a lot of hard yards just to get a sale and don't need negativity.
WE ARE AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OIY OIY OIY
Lynne
Replied by spade on 21-Sep-2011 07:45 (Ref 2312748) Report
 Adapt or die, simple really
Replied by chloecat on 21-Sep-2011 07:49 (Ref 2312749) Report
 Why is it the same few that are always complaining, always seeing the bad side of things.  There are ways to get the best out of every situation - it's not rocket science you know!!
Replied by dezirable-books on 21-Sep-2011 07:49 (Ref 2312750) Report
Perhaps we shouldn't be worrying about what other people do and concentrate on making the most of the opportunities that arise here on quicksales.

I couldn't agree more
Replied by issabella10 on 21-Sep-2011 08:04 (Ref 2312751) Report
The old and boring continuation of the dislike of Chaff being listed just doesn't cut it with me  

Unless someone watches all sellers like someone obsessed it's hardly possible to know what has been listed for the amount of time stated , sellers may very well give certain items a break and relist them again . Just because you saw something similar 12 months ago doesn't mean it's been on the merry go round nor is it Chaff. 

There's IMO very little here that could be classed as Chaff , I like to browse a bit and I'm discovering lot's of sellers I haven't come across before so after 7 years I'm still to find 'Chaff" that's been relisted over and over ( not that that bothers me in the slightest) , actually it's probably meant to just be an insult and just the usual spin to get people stirred up which is getting boring.

I'm finding that Admin is doing quite a lot behind the scenes , lot's of suspect listings are being dealt with which will ultimately benefit us all.

And I'm puzzled lane-ends - What's the difference between a 'stale listing' and one of yours that has been relisted every 60 days for the last 18 months and still not sold ? 
Replied by huonbrook on 21-Sep-2011 08:17 (Ref 2312753) Report
Lots of sales over the past 6 months to brand new buyers who were very happy to discover some of my "stale " listings, I believe they are only stale if there is absolutely no chance of selling and who knows that? only the buyer
Replied by chloecat on 21-Sep-2011 08:54 (Ref 2312756) Report
Must be hard to manage 55 listings 

I for one don't sell overpriced lemons and at a quick glance I wouldn't say you do either.


 Also if a buyer looks at an item in say January and decides they don't want/need that item at the time - who's to say that they won't need/want it later in the year, because theirs has broken/been lost or they didn't think they wanted or needed such an item.  Or if a seller like myself who sells kids clothing has something in a particular size - buyer needs a smaller size one year but decided to buy the item the next year because it's now the right size for their child?  These buyers couldn't buy these items if we all got rid of our 'stale chaff' every few months.

I haven't seen too many items on here that are un-sellable.   Everything has it day in the sun.  (before it's picked and squeezed lol)
Replied by crystaltuner on 21-Sep-2011 09:07 (Ref 2312758) Report
Hi
I have to agree with most people.
Who's to say what is stale? Twice, a while back, i had whole categories that i thought no one would want anymore, totally bought out.
eg Neopets & McDonalds Care bears.
I was about to take the items off and suddenly several buyers bought everything i had!
They said they had been looking for just those items everywhere and had just found them here.
They were very pleased.

So i suppose the old adage 'ones mans trash is another mans treasure' is so true

Crystal
Replied by kiwiroo1212 on 21-Sep-2011 09:17 (Ref 2312761) Report

I think look on the bright side Admin are trying to help and encourage sellers to list list, list :-)

If you think your items are overpriced lemons...Maybe you should re evaluate?Certainly any potential buyers reading what you have said about your own stock might be put off with what you have said...


Christmas is just around the corner lots of people are going to be buying...............

Kiwi
-x-
Replied by extrakeen on 21-Sep-2011 10:10 (Ref 2312767) Report
I don't see any chaff here, that's something though, my horse loves it - perhaps someone has some for sale
Replied by lane-ends on 21-Sep-2011 10:29 (Ref 2312769) Report
I used to have over 700 listings, started off well sold the best and yes the rest went round and round and it got staler and sales slowed. so I dumped the lot and started again thats why there are only 55 listings. I dont want it to happen again. When you have a lot of listings you need an automated reminder to flag/prompt you (eg dropping into unsold every 60 days) to review your pricing etc. This cannot be done by relying on continually going through all your listings and checking listed dates and seeing if its time to reduce, you wont even remember when you last reduced a particular item. You will end up having some listed too high for too long and some reduced too quick.Its too hit and miss

trying to do it at end of every auction run is unpracticable, as that is far too short a period, things just dont sell that quick.

simple fact is you will have lemons and it wont be obvious what they are without them being flagged.

Many sellers, not all but enough to have a detrimental effect,  use GTC as set and forget, with nothing prompting them to pay attention. Ebay sellers are the worst offenders for this., not even bothering to monitor quicksales activity.

GTC is akin to cruise control in a race car.
Replied by dezirable-books on 21-Sep-2011 10:37 (Ref 2312772) Report
You don't have to use Good Til Cancelled, put them up for the maximum listing time as said in the second reply to your thread above, which I've copied again below.    Personally, it frees me up to list more items and I still have time to look at listings and revise them etc.

Replied by boo512 on 20-Sep-2011 21:12 (Ref 2312718) Report
 So remove auto relist and they won't relist at all.  You can then reassess your prices after each auction period, just like you have to do on that other site where you pay to list every time and have to watch your budget.

Replied by marian-48 on 21-Sep-2011 10:41 (Ref 2312773) Report
You could always use Buy It Now and have a longer listing period. That way you are also getting more exposure through Google. Marian
Replied by lane-ends on 21-Sep-2011 10:44 (Ref 2312774) Report
And I'm puzzled lane-ends - What's the difference between a 'stale listing' and one of yours that has been relisted every 60 days for the last 18 months and still not sold ?

Because it is gradually reduced to increase chance of sale, then eventually removed (talking year exposure not expecting quick sale).

It is not relevent what I think my items are worth, only fair exposure to buyers will determine that. Hence the need not to simply set a price and stick to it. Previously I had items listed that had been going round for 5 years not being reviewed, I used to bulk relist without examining each one, even found some with errors, wrong photos etc. Once I started opening each one every 60 days, I knew each item had been reduced every 60 days and also pick up on any listing errors.
Replied by dezirable-books on 21-Sep-2011 10:49 (Ref 2312775) Report
You could always use Buy It Now and have a longer listing period. That way you are also getting more exposure through Google.   

That's a good point with the google shopping.   Also I like the good til cancelled because the item keeps the same url.   I was getting emails from people who had found an ended listing on google, asking if the item was still for sale.  They didn't realise that the item had been relisted.
Replied by lane-ends on 21-Sep-2011 11:07 (Ref 2312777) Report
Do you still get the google exposure if BIN isoption is added to a BIN?

problem with long BINs is they spend most of their time down the tail end of search results, even then the duration is not that long, compared to average time it takes to turn items over.
Replied by dezirable-books on 21-Sep-2011 11:43 (Ref 2312779) Report
If you are asking if you change your listing from an auction to a BN, yes it does show, because I did some of mine.  However if you have a starting price (auction) and also a BN, it doesn't show
Replied by lane-ends on 21-Sep-2011 11:54 (Ref 2312781) Report
Bottom line is GTC or ARUS should remain a choice for those who like it and those who dont. Just dont understand making it only option other than single listing run.  Other than to enable Quicksales to up the stats for number of current listings, I dont see the point, as these extra listings are only going to comprise of listings that sellers themselves would have thought not worth relisting or revising
Replied by sheila-bloke47 on 21-Sep-2011 13:05 (Ref 2312787) Report
I think lanes-end that your preference is of a minority to others on this site.  Not being the owner of this site you have to work with what the owners give you.  Which is now ARUS for everyone. 

Work out your own system and use it.  Don't rely on others to do it for you.  There has been many ideas given to assist you in your selling.

Also just opened an email from that other place today.  Amazingly they are now copying Quicksales in not charging a listing fee and not charging a gallery fee for a set amount of items.  Their fvf has risen near 40% tho to cover this freebie.

So if they are starting to copy what Quicksales is doing then why are there those who want QS to copy what they do?
Replied by jb7339 on 21-Sep-2011 13:07 (Ref 2312788) Report
 What is needed - is a bulk way to edit - so those sellers who have quite a lot of listings - can edit more than 1 listing at a time.

smaller numbers of listings too.

I intend on listing more while the ARUS is in place.  If they brought in a small listing fee again like they did before - then it would be necessary for me to leave again - but it costs too much to keep the number listed.

Maybe not here on Quicksales - but with a number of stores that are over 10 000 items strong - there is definite proof to increase in traffic because of the higher numbers.  Now with GS being offered here in Australia and having some experience over the past couple of years with the US version - the more you have - the better exposure.

As for stale or out of date - well most of my items don't go out of stock or out of season - there are some Coats of Arms that might sell frequently because of being a common surname.  But then there are foreign nationalities where I sold this week - I wouldn't expect to sell again this year.   Tartans don't change except for which ones are more common at any one time.  And most Jewellery is timeless at any time.

Maybe large numbers bulk down the system - not sure on that - but I don't intend on having small product number no matter where I am.  

Jules
Replied by marian-48 on 21-Sep-2011 13:20 (Ref 2312791) Report
 If they brought in a small listing fee again like they did before - then it would be necessary for me to leave again

I believe there should be a listing fee! It would stop the shonky sellers who have the same item multiple listed several times over and clog up Just Listed on a regualar basis with the same items. Often only a few hours apart. JMO, Marian
Replied by bookfair on 21-Sep-2011 16:30 (Ref 2312820) Report
 
Other than to enable Quicksales to up the stats for number of current listings, I dont see the point
 
Now there's an idea that I hadn't thought of. Perhaps, Quicksales have dropped the relisting fees to get a quick boost in listings, to boost the numbers, to make this site more attractive to a potential buyer?

To all those who criticise those of use who dare to have an opinion, I've been doing my little bit to make this site, and it's sellers, more successful since I started here six years ago. But every time I get shouted down. No constructive discussion, just constant criticism. No wonder these forums are so quiet these days. People who don't go along with the mob got tired of being bashed.

Steve.
 
Replied by boo512 on 21-Sep-2011 16:41 (Ref 2312821) Report
 Who's being bashed Steve?  You expressed your opinion and others expressed theirs, just because they disagree with you doesn't mean they are bashing you. On the contrary, the posters here are honest enough to state that they disagree with you here, where we all have the ability to debate the subject openly.  Better that than talking behind people's backs on email or outside forums.
Replied by memyandi on 22-Sep-2011 12:13 (Ref 2312871) Report
 I think it's great.  I can keep all my watchers now instead of losing them every time I relist.  I'm sure that used to annoy some of them and I would have lost customers.  A lot watch for a while before they buy because they have to save up, or they wait until I have enough items that they want so they can get a better deal on combined postage.

I don't know why some are so fussed about 60 days.  All we have to do on our Selling page is click on Listing Date and if we sort with the oldest listings first we can see how old the listings are.  If we want to relist we can do it at 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, or whatever.  Why anyone would want 60 days to be set in concrete I'll never know.  We've got a lot more flexibility now and if we're busy when the 60 days comes around it doesn't matter because we can do it any time.

If a b&m shop reduced the price on its stock every 60 days they'd be out of business before you could blink.  A lot of people wonder what's wrong with an item if the price is too low.  Just put a realistic price on things and leave it there.

Steve, are you now saying that the forums being quiet is a bad thing?  My memory tells me you always wanted to do away with the forums altogether because it was bad for the site.  Now that you've practically got your wish you've suddenly changed your mind.   

If they charged a listing fee they'd get rid of some of the chaff but they'd also lose a lot of the good listings.  There's a lot less chaff here than on the other site!  All they need to do here is improve/fix their search engine so we can eliminate certain words/sellers.  They don't seem interested though, which is a pity because I'm sure I'm not the only one who gives up looking.
Replied by ejholden on 22-Sep-2011 13:53 (Ref 2312876) Report
 
    

Poor old STeve ........
Replied by magnolia134 on 22-Sep-2011 15:11 (Ref 2312885) Report
memyandi - such a sensible post. Thank you.
Replied by remaynerecycled on 22-Sep-2011 18:12 (Ref 2312908) Report
I think the argument on the other site was that giving free listings each month was going to increase the chaff there. Was an interesting argument too and it did change my perception on free listing somewhat reading it.

I have credit on two accounts here and one over there so will end up having to do something soon in the way of selling just to get some cash back. Haven't decided what yet though. Niche is always nice.
Replied by bookfair on 22-Sep-2011 19:08 (Ref 2312918) Report
 
Steve, are you now saying that the forums being quiet is a bad thing? My memory tells me you always wanted to do away with the forums altogether because it was bad for the site. Now that you've practically got your wish you've suddenly changed your mind.

No, you misunderstand. I still believe that forums of the sort that we have on this site are detrimental to an ecommerce site. I merely pointed out that the forums are just about dead.

Steve.
 
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