eBay Asks Seller for Their Opinions of Other Marketplaces

eBay conducted a survey of sellers last week and asked them to indicate where they would likely sell based on various scenarios involving fee structures, pitting different combinations of insertion and commission fees against each other and against competing selling venues. (See Monday's EcommerceBytes Newsflash.)

eBay specifically mentioned such venues as Amazon.com, BidStart, Craisglist, Etsy, the seller's own website and brick-and-mortar stores.

eBay asked sellers on which marketplaces they sold, and then asked them how likely they would be to consider using the channels they had not used in the past 12 months.

eBay asked sellers to indicate their level of agreement with certain statements, such as:

• I am opposed to paying fees to list an item on an online website.
• If an online channel had a reward program based on how much I sell, I would probably list more on that channel.
• I'm always looking for ways to increase my profits.
• I sell online to supplement my income.
• Selling online is my sole source of income.
• It is important to me that I run my own business.
• I consider the fees associated with selling before deciding where to list my item.

eBay then asked sellers to indicate their level of agreement with another set of statements:

• I list items at the minimum price that I am willing to accept.
• I list the same inventory in both the Auction format and Fixed Price format to maximize exposure.
• I list items at a low price in order to attract traffic.
• I list items at a price that is close to the value of the item I plan to sell.
• I list items at a low price to limit the insertion fee.
• I list the bulk of my Auction listings during listing promotions.

Another question asked sellers to rate each channel on certain attributes on an 11 point score with 0 being poor and 10 being excellent, including:

Quantity of traffic;
Ability to sell a wide variety of products;
Reputation with buyers;
Ease of listing items;
Ability to sell large quantities of products;
Conversion rate (% of listings that sell);
Access to listing and inventory management tools;
Realizing higher selling prices than other channels;
Flexibility of payment methods;
Seller Protection;
Assistance in filling orders and shipping;
Customer service;
Stability of policies and prices;
Fees;
Quality of traffic;
Guidance in setting listing prices.

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