TAG | local market
11
eBay plus Craigslist: the perfect combination for online consignment
2 Comments | Posted by Brett in eBay News, eCommerce
AuctionSound understands that consignment shops have been looking for different avenues to sell their consignors merchandise and not be completely tied down to only one portal. If you are selling on consignment, you understand the more exposure to your item online the better. So the question is, “Where should I list my items for the most profit?”
Regardless of how you look at it, eBay is still the most widely known portal for consignment style items. A lot of people have numerous complaints about eBay because it’s “not the way it use to be”. But the truth is eBay is still more of a household term than Etsy, eCrater or Bonanzle. While the other sites may be on an upward motion, they still have not come anywhere close to the exposure eBay has to offer. Repeat buyers frequent stores they trust and know they will have different stock online daily.

Screenshot from PowerSellersUnite.com
With Craigslist, you get what you pay for. It is free to list but it turns into a lead generating source. You advertise a product, they either email you or call you, then a handful of those calls will actually stop by to see/purchase the product. While in the store, you have the opportunity to upsell them with other products you have available. Using Craigslist leverages your local market exposure. I would suggest having a different email address to capture all of your Craigslist leads to keep your eBay and Craigslist separate. Posting too many items at one time could potentially get your items flagged and all the work you put into posting is gone. It’s highly suggested to separate your listings per day such as listing 5-7 at a time every other hour.

If you are in a small town that Craigslist isn’t really used all that much, you may want to stick with the national websites such as eBay or Amazon. If you are in bigger cities where Craigslist is used a lot, you might have more of an advantage on the local market sales and you would be able to save on listing fees.
Recently, we have had consignment shops asking us if AuctionSound will be integrating with Amazon. We are in the works to be able to send products to Amazon but the first question asked to the shop owner is, “Have you ever listed anything on Amazon before?” 90% of the time the answer is no. They do not know how it works nor the fact that Amazon takes upwards of 15% plus monthly fees. Also, the shipping amount is calculated for you and could potentially lose money on the shipping portion.
The future of AuctionSound will include the option to list items on Craigslist and your own website with a checkout process, therefore, you would have the maximum exposure with your items on eBay, Craigslist, your own website and showing up in Google.
