Drop Shipping & Wholesale Product Sourcing: Selected Resources for Online Business in Canada and the U.S.
Stockless Retailing for Tough Economic Times

Tired of eBay?

There are other alternatives. When eBay fees were hiked in early 2008, sellers large and small were negatively affected. Many began selling in other venues. This page presents a list of 50+ options you might want to check out. The drop shipping model works just as well in these venues.

We've also added a few choice eBay tools and guides at the bottom of the page.

And here's an interesting article entitled eBay’s New Strategy: What Was Once Old is New Again, by Matt Pace, Compete Blog (17 March 2009). In returning to old corporate and product strategies, can the giant recover?

[...] To compete in the fixed-price marketplace, eBay enacted a series of policies and site changes that favored power sellers at the expense of smaller sellers. As casual sellers abandoned the site, buyers have migrated elsewhere in search of the hard-to-find products upon which eBay built its business—traffic to Craigslist has risen 40% over the past year. In contrast, eBay’s traffic was down 5.2% last month over the previous year, while Amazon’s traffic rose 18.7%. [...]

[...] eBay’s challenges are multi-faceted, and it remains to be seen whether by simply returning to its roots as an auction site it can win back buyers and sellers who have long since given up on using the site. Online retailing has evolved significantly since eBay was founded over a decade ago. Savvy consumers have learned how and where to find deals online, but value intangibles beyond price when making their purchase decisions. Consumers expect a level of service that in some respects is beyond eBay’s ability to control in its role as middleman. Given that, eBay would be better served looking beyond product strategy and focusing instead on improving the shopping experience for buyers and sellers as its constant tinkering seems to be doing more harm than good.

eBay is the biggest name in town when it comes to online auctions or ecommerce, and alternatives for eBay receive little or no recognition. In the last few years, however, following a series of policy changes at eBay, many sellers have become disgruntled and disenchanted with the giant.

Here are some of the policy changes eBay has undergone in the last four years:

  • Numerous increases in fees;
  • Sellers are no longer able to leave neutral or negative feedback on buyers accounts;
  • Pressure in Australia, the UK and now the US to get Paypal as the only electronic payment system on the site;
  • Higher volume sellers get discounts and added benefits for staying with the site;
  • eBooks and other non-physical items can no longer be auctioned.

In consequence, people have been searching for alternatives — legitimate venues with acceptable traffic, less imposing fees and fewer policy problems.

Here are some questions you might want to ask when considering an alternate venue:

  • How long have they been around?
  • Are the people on this site likely to sell what I have to buy?
  • Which country does most of the traffic for this site come from?
  • Is the Internet Site a registered company, with a registration number, a street address and postal address and does it have an operating banking system in its country of origin?
  • What is their Alexa rating and/or page rank?
  • How many other listings are there in the categories you are interested in?
  • Are there are range of non PayPal payment options available?
  • How well is their site designed?
  • Is the customer service section easy to access and staffed by real people?
  • Do you have to actually have to set up an account to make an inquiry to customer service?
  • Does the site have a 24/7 customer service phone number and a either a live chat and or an email service?
  • Do both buyers and sellers have to be verified to avoid fraudulent practices?
  • Can you report sellers of fakes, stolen goods and ID theft or stolen credit cards to the website in a reliable and prompt manner?

eBay Tools

What to sell on eBay? We've selected a few tools and a storefront we think are worth their salt. In alphabetical order:

Auction Inspector
A what's-hot-on-eBay tool that's getting rave reviews by users. When you join SaleHoo, you can get a special discount on Auction Inspector.
Build A Niche Store -
Succeed as an eBay Affiliate

The people behind BANS are committed to the ongoing development of the platform and to the success of those who use it. Once you've paid the one-time fee (no monthly or annual fees), you can build as many sites as you wish with your license.
Hot Item Finder
Canadian developer Dave Guindon has created two products worthy of note, here. The first is Hot Item Finder, a comprehensive what's-hot-on-eBay analysis tool that comes with a one-year money-back guarantee. The second is a popular tool called Auction Yen, designed to find what eBay buyers really want, uncovering hidden and niche market ideas from eBay's "Want It Now" section.
The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay™
I bought this best-selling eBook by Jim Cockrum a couple years ago, and it's still a best-seller at Clickbank. The strategy he describes in 50 pages is perfectly legal, accords with eBay policies in every respect but involves a creative interpretation of those policies that can result in much greater profit. Central to his approach is a simple idea that can be applied to your search for a marketing niche:

People who are shopping for ________________ might also be interested in (and possibly willing to pay for) instant information on ___________________.

eBay — Research before you sell or buy...

Terapeak
Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, Terapeak, an eBay Certified Provider, was founded in 2002 by brothers Anthony and Andrew Sukow while running their eBay Power Seller business. Terapeak is the only company to focus exclusively on eBay research, and was the first to provide eBay seller, eBay category, eBay Motors P&A, and eBay international research. The company delivers high-caliber information on how to sell, what to sell, competitor research, and seasonal trends. Research before you sell. Research before you buy. Find the value of your items, discover new products to sell, and develop your selling strategy using Terapeak Marketplace Research.

Copyright © Richard Dagan 2000-2012. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright resides with the original author or current holder of copyright for excerpted material on this site.
All excerpts are fully cited and presented in accord with fair use.
Logos and trademarks presented on this site remain the property of their respective owners.