Alternative venues have been part of the ecommerce landscape since eBay burst onto the scene over 13 years ago. Always lurking in the shadows as a place of refuge for sellers whenever eBay introduced a fee increase or unpopular policy change, the alternative venue of choice (which differed from year to year), always held promise for disenfranchised merchants, yet never seemed to deliver upon it. Their greatest challenge has not been in attracting sellers to their venues, but rather, in attracting buyers.

Last year marked a turning point for smaller selling alternatives. Not only were there newer and sleeker sites being developed, with options for bulk-loading inventory, or importing listings from eBay, the new breed of ecommerce site sought to overcome the challenge of supplying enough bidders to make an auction model work, and turned to providing fixed-price marketplaces and storefront services. They also began to see an increase in the one commodity that was lacking in previous years - buyers.

Being Google-friendly was the constant among the new alternatives. Not only showing up highly in natural search results, but also in Google Shopping. Over the past year, Google has been leveling the playing field for such sites through its ramp-up of Product Search, and sellers are reaping the benefits.

eCrater, which launched in 2004, has continued to thrive, and new online marketplaces arrived on the scene last year, including Wigix, Bonanzle and Atomic Mall. The more successful of them have used the latest technology to make their sites easy to use and more visually appealing to shoppers as well as making them search-engine friendly. Using Google Base to upload merchant product listings to Google Product Search helped enormously to increase the "findability" of their sellers' listings.

Meanwhile Amazon.com, which for years had been bringing on eBay's high-volume sellers, continued to open its platform to third-party merchants, but in a very controlled manner. While some sellers achieved higher selling prices with less customer interaction than on eBay, other sellers had similar complaints about Amazon's policies and enforcement as those of eBay.

One thing did not change in 2008: the conundrum of choosing a site on which to sell. Existing sites continued to offer value (GoAntiques, TIAS.com, RubyLane, OnlineAuction.com, BluJay, Wensy, iOffer, eBid, Oztion, Delcampe, to name a few). Sellers in certain niches had an easier time - Etsy for homemade items, for example. But with a plethora of marketplaces and no clear number-two marketplace, many sellers decided to create a presence on multiple marketplaces.

Recognizing the trend, AuctionBytes increased coverage of alternative sites in 2008 in this newsletter (see links below) and launched EveryPlaceISell.com, a merchant directory where sellers list all of the venues on which they sell. AuctionBytes sees the trend of multi-channel selling growing at an even faster rate in 2009, and will continue to cover selling alternatives throughout the next year.

AuctionBytes-Update's 2008 Coverage of eBay Alternative Sites

Etsy: An Online Boutique for Arts and Handmade Crafts (by Jan Perry)
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eCrater Founder Focuses on Vision of Free Ecommerce (by Greg Holden)
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OnlineAuction.com: Lower Fees, Fewer Bids (by Jan Perry)
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OnlineAuction.com Founder Is an Optimistic eBay Competitor (by Greg Holden)
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eBid Founder Goes from Stockbroker to Auction Entrepreneur (by Greg Holden)
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PlunderHere Auction Site an "Up and Comer" (by Jan Perry)
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Proxibid Is Alternative as eBay Closes Live-Auctions Platform (by Ina Steiner)
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iOffer.com, the "Make Me an Offer" Ecommerce Site (by Greg Holden)
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Three New "Haggle" Marketplaces Hope to Unseat eBay (By Ina Steiner)
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Flippid: Can a Reverse Auction Model Go Full Steam Ahead? (by Julia Wilkinson)
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WorthPoint Helps Collectors Value, Sell or Talk about Collections (by Jan Perry)
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The Nitty-Gritty of Selling on Amazon.com (by Ina Steiner)
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Online Auction Site Aquabid Runs Fishy Business (by Greg Holden)
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Setting up Your Own Shop with Shopify.com (by Jan Perry)
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Wensy.com Brings Back the Personal Touch to Auction Sites (by Greg Holden)
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Swaptree Trading Site Does Well While Doing Good (by Jan Ferrigan)
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On Bonanzle Marketplace, Simplicity Sells (by Greg Holden)
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Ecommerce Collides with Handmade: An Interview with Etsy (by Ina Steiner)
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GunBroker.com on Target for Continued Growth (by Greg Holden)
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Feeling the Pinch? Try a Free Storefront Service (by Greg Holden)
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Atomic Mall's Lessons on Building an Online Marketplace (by Greg Holden)
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