Thursday 7 May 2009

A message to those buying from the alternative auctions.

I understand that on first glance you will think the auction listings are higher than the start prices that you see on ebay.

This is not just because most of the sellers have been restricted so long on ebay with their high fees that they now feel they can rip you off, but more because the traffic on these websites has not risen to the point that you can be guaranteed a sale at this time. So sellers are starting the item at the lowest price they will accept so as to prevent them becoming a feeder for other sellers.

I know the prices do look higher but how many times have you been on ebay and seen items you must have start at £2.99 only to shoot up to forty, fifty pound or more. But the likely hood of that happening at the moment on the Auctions I have chosen is very slim and you are likely to be getting the bag for the start price you see, which is a lot less than the price you will get on ebay.

At the moment during the transition period we are still accepting paypal, but as we move away from ebay, then we will also move away from paypal to what we feel are more secure payment methods for both buyer and seller.

We must add that these bargains may only be available for a limited time and eventually the auctions will have enough turn over to allow the sellers to reduce the start prices to what we have all grown accustomed to

Now why would the seller want to move from ebay where all the buyers are, I assume is your next question?

I can only speak for myself but it is possibly true for most sellers that I am moving from the ebay system, as I feel for to long sellers have had to put up with growing fees and lower security, with false claims of security to the buyers that they do not or cannot deliver.
This eventually comes back on us, as buyers have had a bad experience or have heard of someone else that has. So buyers tend to go into our business relationship jaded and afraid.
This I am sure you agree is not a great way to start a relationship and basically forced our decision in this matter.

And now to your security at the new auctions, please take the same precautions you would anywhere else and do not assume that scammers would not have followed us. At the moment, however, it may be a little harder to spot them as a lot of sellers are moving to the new auctions with a fresh start in mind.

So check through the listings carefully. You do have the option to get a lot of good bargains here, but again read everything and if you are unsure start asking questions, just as I hope you would on ebay. You are not under as much pressure with the listings on these auctions at the moment, I must stress, at the moment, as more people are starting to come to the auctions as buyer and seller, so this opportunity may only last a short time.

We are happy to see you and hope we can continue with the success of our past transactions and hopefully we have brought you here in time to grab yourself a bargain or three.

Take an opportunity to look around the forums, as part of my criteria for selecting the auctions, was the friendly forums. So if any of my customers require help then they can either ask me or unlike with the ebay community board they will not have to fear entering the forum and asking for help.

I would just like to add that we at hotandvintage wish ebay all the luck in the world with their new direction, and even though we do not agree that the world needs another Amazon. We sort of understand your thinking in this, so hope the rewards are as good as the risk you have taking with what was a sound business. We thank you for the good times and the opportunities that you gave so many people in the past, including ourselves. Once again good luck.

And now to our customers please feel free to browse our store that is constantly being filled, almost daily, as are our new auction sites to bookmark us so you don’t get lost in the future

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