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Is Amazon.com interested in sellers of antiques and collectibles? Does it want eBay sellers on its site? How does one go about setting up an Amazon seller account? Can sellers leave feedback for buyers on Amazon? These are questions we frequently heard from our readers who were considering expanding their sales channels to Amazon.
AuctionBytes sat down with Matt Williams, Director of Business Solutions for Amazon.com, to discuss some of these questions, and find out the requirements and benefits of selling on Amazon as a third party. Matt discusses the various Amazon selling options, from Marketplace to the Merchants@ program, from Fulfillment By Amazon to WebStore by Amazon, and we'll continue the conversation in this week's AuctionBytes-Newsflash.
Also in today's issue, Jan Perry, who wrote about Etsy in the last issue, talks about a more personal side of online selling - how online auction sites can provide financial and emotional help to those who have lost a loved one. You'll also find our regular columns, including This & That, First Item Sold Online, and Collector's Corner!
Sellers are planning to boycott eBay beginning tomorrow, February 18, 2008, in protest of changes eBay announced January 29, 2008, around feedback, seller standards, Best Match search and fees, which we wrote about in the February 3rd issue of this newsletter. It's unknown how many sellers will participate in the boycott, which has gained international media attention. Here's my take on the boycott (http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/2/1203209274.html).
How do we know sellers are upset? Thanks to YouTube and MySpace, eBay users can publish their own opinions without fear of censorship. The user-generated content has also helped reporters understand the issues and gauge the extent of reaction from sellers. Here's an example of a MySpace page dedicated to the boycott (http://www.myspace.com/boycottebay).
In addition, today's Letters from Readers section is one of the longest we've ever published. Not since the Stores in Search debacle of 2006 have sellers been this upset with eBay management, and never have I seen so many serious sellers of all sizes question whether eBay will be a viable channel on which to base their business going forward.
One of the letters in today's issue comes from Bruce Hershenson of eMoviePosters.com (movieposter on eBay), a multi-million dollar GMV eBay seller with excellent feedback, who says he will exit eBay. All of the letters are fascinating, so cozy up to your computer for a jam-packed issue!
Thanks for reading.
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