[meteorite-list] Re:Ebay, Selling, Quiting, etc. Last Word! SUGGESTION!!

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 16:44:53 -0800

This is a bit long but worth the reading if you sell on Ebay.
 
Just a suggestion from a seller of all types of goodies on ebay. My wife and I use a service called AuctionWatch(auctionwatch.com). OUR SLEER ID is desertcrystal for those that wish to check out our listings in reference to what I am about to discuss.
They offer picture hosting, auction launching, post sale management tools and "An Ebay legal and Ebay Approved" storefront for "Fixed Price" sales. There is another service Andale(andale.com) that is very similar. I believe Andale offers a store front also, they did when I used their site.
I have not used my storefront on AuctionWatch as we do not really sell many items that we get multiples of, such as slices of the same meteorite. Ebay does allow reference to the store front.
Auctionwatch is reasonably price, their software is very stable and bug free. The have AMPRO which allows you to create auctions without being online and then uploading the auctions, you can schedule auctions, the post management tools run the gambit from Winning Bidder notifications, which can be automatically sent if the shipping is fixed priced, payment reminders, shipping invoice generation, shipment notification, feedback sending without being on ebay, and feedback reminders to those lovely masses that always seem to ask for feedback when they pay but never seem to remember to leave it for you. You can even change the winners email address if they contact you from one that differs from their Ebay email addy.
 
I hardly ever recommend anything, but will go out on a limb and say I do on this. I know we would not be selling on Ebay if we had to use only Ebay. Many of you may have noticed that 90% of the sellers on Ebay suddenly stopped using multiple pictures in their listings....that is due to ebay upping the cost of images through their site. I BELIEVE my wife and I have a DISTINCT advantage with AW as we have as many as 10 photos in our auctions, AND NOT those click here to see an almost big photo, ours ARE FULL SIZE WHEN CLICKED!
AW does not have an image limit as far as storage goes. We recently had over 4000 images stored, though they will delete those older than 90 days. And with the AW Management software you can upload photos in bulk. Tracking auctions is so easy with AW, the will even import buyers into folders, and you can create mailing lists to notify buyers of sales and the such.
 
I hope that this is not too long...anyone can contact me off list if you have any questions.
 
If you read this far I thank you for your time and apologize for this is a bit off topic.
 
Bright Blessings to all....
 
Mark M.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2001 3:01 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Ebay, Selling, Quiting, etc. Last Word!

Hello Everyone,
 
First, my apologies to Charlie and Michael.  I re-read their post with a less defensive attitude.  I have now calmed down enough to explain what happened at ebay.
 
I had some meteorite and non-meteorite auctions ended by ebay a couple of days ago.  Ebay sellers take note:  my auctions were ended because (1) I provided a hyperlink to my website (that is, a clickable banner) and (2) I stated in my auctions that anything can be returned for a refund minus shipping and auction fees.  Ebay apparently interprets this last statement as requiring the buyer to pay these fees and this is against their policy.  I have made references to my website and I have stated this refund policy for literally years (though I have never had anything returned).
 
This business of not being able to link to a website really irritates me.  If anyone has been to my site in the last 6 months or so, you would have seen a 99% educational site, which is what I like mostly about meteorites.  I have not had any new material for sale in months because I simply have not had the time.  I have gotten email from educators and school kids, CNN science reporters, people researching the topic of meteorites, etc, most of whom found my site via ebay.
 
Now ebay is saying they won't allow links to external sites.
 
Umm, interesting.  I just tried to change my ebay id from wbranchsb to branchmeteorites.com and ebay would not let me do it.  Nor would they accept branchmeteoritesdotcom.  Looks like dealers such as Jim Strope (sikhote-alin.com) and Steve Arnold (meteoritebroker.com) and others got theirs in time.
 
In case anyone follows my auctions, I did just successfully change my id to branchmeteorites, so now I have to shades to the right of my id.
 
Speaking only from my experience with the commercial side of my website, I can honestly say that few people actually bought from my site.  It seems that most collectors prefer to bid at ebay.  Funny thing is, most of these bidders bid up the price of something far beyond what they could have gotten it for at my site.  Amazing.
 
Well, I have decided that my New Years resolution will be to spend even more time with my family (not to mention my telescope projects) by just quitting to the commercial side of meteorites.  I will do away with the commercial side of my site and focus more on the educational portion.  For those of you who do not do this, I takes a lot of time to fully process new material for sale at a website, including preparing specimens for auction at ebay.  In the past, whenever I would post new material at my site I would also enter for auction one specimen at a time at ebay until it was all sold.  As I previously noted, most of my material sells (sold) at ebay, so posting at my website and ebay becomes somewhat redundant and time-consuming. 
 
As with any collecting venture, specimens fall in and out of favor and whenever one falls out of my favor I will offer it for sale here or at *gulp* ebay but I will no longer list the quantity of items as I used to.
 
BTW, I have recently developed an interest in astrophotography and I will be spending more time with this.  My initial efforts were on Christmas eve, December 24.  I used a 70mm scope and my digital camera, which was held to the eyepiece.  Here is the best of a series I took of sunspots:
 
 
and here is an image of the moon, same setup,
 
 
These were untouched, unprocessed, straight from the camera images.  I would appreciate any critical comments from those of you who might do astrophotograpy.
 
Okay, the length of this post has to be a record for me so I will end it.  I want to thank everyone who has supported my efforts at branchmeteorites.  I have tried to offer good material at reasonable prices, often at cost.  You can follow any auctions I might have by searching on my (new) user id: branchmeteorites but before I re-list it at ebay, I have a 2263 gram sculpted Canyon Diablo for $550.00.  Here is an image:
 
 
Best wishes and Happy New Year to every one!
 
-Walter

-----------------------------------------------
Walter Branch, Ph.D.
Branch Meteorites
322 Stephenson Ave., Suite B
Savannah, GA  31405 USA
www.branchmeteorites.com

Reply via email to