An Update on Listings at eBay and Etsy

A week ago, I removed all of my items from my Bonanza booth and moved them to eBay and Etsy.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

My Bonanza sales were awful.  It was frustrating, since I knew that books that stayed on Bonanza for months would have sold quickly on eBay.  A total of 56 books were moved from Bonanza to eBay one week ago.  I did not lower any prices when I moved the books to eBay, and in a few cases, I raised the prices.  11 of those 56 books have already sold on eBay, which proves that Bonanza was a waste of effort.

eBay is the very best place to buy and sell vintage books.  It always has been, and it always will be.  I have never quit buying on eBay.  In early 2009 when I moved my listings to Bonanza, I continued to purchase lots of books on eBay.  I never left.  My items for sale left, not me.

I have now been back on eBay as a seller for nearly three years.  Yes, the fees can be high, but the items actually sell and without a lot of effort.  That's really important. 

I wrote of eBay's horrible changes in 2008 and 2009.  eBay has now undone nearly all of the changes that were awful for sellers.  It's not a horrible place.  Even better, eBay just recently announced that they are simplifying their listing form to make it easier to list.  It's about time!  From what was mentioned, I believe that eBay will be changing to a listing form that mimics Etsy and Bonanza.  Good.

I also moved 63 books to Etsy.  It's not surprising that none of them have sold in the last week.  It's the same story as Bonanza.  However, I can already tell that I have more traffic on Etsy than I did on Bonanza.  I have a better chance of success on Etsy since it actually has traffic.  I also know that since I have had no sales and since I have no feedback that it might take awhile to get sales. 

I figured out how to allow money order transactions on Etsy, so I changed that setting a few days ago.  If you are a buyer who likes to pay via money order, I can still accommodate you on Etsy just as I did on Bonanza.  On my payment options page, Etsy gives me a warning about how money order transactions have no seller protection.  I get why they give buyers that kind of warning, but warning the seller makes no sense.  I won't mail the item until I receive the money order, so I am not going to be defrauded. 

This weekend I added 20 books to my Etsy shop.  I selected some very hard to find books, since I already can tell that I have Google exposure for my Etsy listings.  I am using the same approach as I did with Bonanza.  I offer books on Etsy that I do not offer on eBay, which means that buyers have to check both sites to see what I have.

My summer vacation starts on the afternoon of May 25.  At that time, I will get caught up on many projects.  I will more thoroughly get caught up with listing books on both eBay and Etsy.  And I will tear through the rest of the Hardy Boys Digests, the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers, and the Hardy Boys Adventures.