I have listed more books and now have about 80 listed as I write. The process is easy, but, and this is a big but, to take full advantage of the site it is necessary to take out the seller+ membership, the £49.99 lifetime offer is the best value. I decided to do this as I felt that the advantages were worth about £4 per month spread over a year (the internet is changing rapidly and any further period becomes uncertain). I am impressed by the results; feel free to take a look at my shop:

http://uk.four.ebid.net/perl/main.cgi?mo=user-store&title=Leapingcat-Books

and see what you think.

I have also been buying on Ebid, again the process was hassle-free and friendly. What was best was that it was an out-of-print railway book by a small publisher, the sort of book you used to be only able to find on Ebay; Ebid is really becoming a serious alternative now with the range of items for sale. Note for sellers - the seller gave me positive feedback as soon as I had paid, it feels a lot better than the tit-for-tat sometimes found.

ePier, the online auction website, is now available to search alongside the best auction websites like eBay, eBid and uBid.

ePier only charges closing fees for sellers so no listing fees.

This principle appeared to work well and it lasted for a century, but now the internet has upset the apple cart. The cost of distributing on-line music has fallen to such a level that it is now not only possible, but profitable to hold a stock of literally millions of recordings, including those that are only sold in tiny numbers, instead of the old model of concentrating on just the best sellers.

This idea has been developed into the theory of 'Long Tail Economics' by economist Chris Anderson (you can find out more from his blog: http://www.thelongtail.com/) The basic principle is that an analysis of sales would show a short 'head' of top sellers plus a long 'tail' of lower volume sellers and typically the tail would be 50% of the total rather than the 20% that Pareto would have suggested.

Ok, this is fine in theory, but what does it mean for the world of online auctions. Firstly they need to have a wide a range of products as possible, and not discourage any particular type of seller. You can now see why Ebay will be in trouble if it continues to discriminate in every way against small sellers and in favour of large commodity-style sellers. Not only will it drive away buyers who cannot find what they want, but they will lose a substantial slice of their income from the vast number of sales from the sellers they will lose. This theory also explains the lively discussion in the Tazbar forums by members who are unable to find what they want. Even 90,000 listings is now too small for a site to give buyers everything that they want.

An interesting example of the long tail in practice is Amazon, not strictly speaking an auction site, but in many ways a competitor. They sell new books themselves, but also have opened the site to third-party sellers. Everyone comptese on a level playing field, books for example are listed in order  of price. That means that it doesn't matter whether the seller is an individual with a handful of books, a small growing company, a large established company or even Amazon itself, the criteria for listing books remain the same. Fees may less for large-scale listers, but the system is transparent. Amazon quietly go from strength to strength while ebay are floundering.

So, what is the lesson. For the smaller sites, encourage as may sellers as possible. Ebid, Tazbar and Specialistauctions are doing just this with their free listings and in some cases no FVFs in return for a paid subscrition. Whether you list one item or 10,000 it will get equal prominence, and so give the buyer a better deal too. For sellers, list, list, list and market. Market the site as well as you listings; you will attract buyers to other sellers items, but they in turn will be doing the same for you as the total rises. This is called a win -win game unlike a zero-sum game where one side gains at the expense of the other, but I think I'll stop now, enough economics and statistics for one day!

I tested all the auctions marketplaces I will tell you about in my top 15 list. They are some really good auction websites that actually have traffic and a really good sales to listing ratio. A few of them bring in more traffic than ebay in certain times of the year. Amazon and overstock have reported record numbers in November and December 2007. Amazon reported more sales in the Christmas season of 2007 than ebay reported. That means people are starting to drift away from ebay more than ever.

Late last year I made a post relating to the auction marketplaces that were hot around that time. You can find that post here. I have to say, "even though those auction places are great"; the list I have for you in my next two posts, are WAY better in quality. In the past 8 months I have been experimenting with over 40 online auction marketplaces. I know, I will have a lot of happy readers after my 2 part post on top 15 auction marketplaces of 2007-08.

The auction places I tell you about in my list, are the very best out there right now. Although, none of them get the consitent traffic that ebay receives; they have a fantastic turn around ratio. And, all of their auction fees are either, free or VERY cheap! Many, actually have a huge chance of surpassing ebay's warpath on the online auction world. Okay, here is the list that will change the way you do business online from now on.

Here is my list of the top 15 auction marketplaces of 2007-2008. Listed from best to worst. I will be ranking them on a five star scale. Five stars being the best and 1 star being the worst. Don't worry the worst is still a great place to make money. I don't want to bore you with a huge post. So this will be a two part series in a 2 day blog post.

1. Ebay (*****) - Ebay.com still belongs in top dog position. Although, I don't make as much as I used to on ebay; I still make more on ebay than any other one auction marketplace. So Ebay definitely deserves slot number 1 on my list. Keep in mind, if I combine all the other auction marketplaces I use, except ebay, I make double of what I make on ebay. So I could survive if ebay were to leave my life today. The fact is, it doesn't look too bright for ebay's future in the online auction marketplace world. Especially, with all the new rule and fee changes. So many sellers like me are leaving if they haven't left already. Also, all the new auction marketplaces are making an effort to rid ebay forever. Don't underestimate ebay though. They still hold the crown in my book for top auction marketplace.

2. Overstock (*****) - Well, I give auctions.overstock.com 5 stars like ebay. I gave them 5 stars and number 2 slot because they are a goldmine. There isn't much competition selling and there are millions of users buying. In a short amount of time, overstock has been making me some really good money. Not as much as ebay. But I am sure, if I put as many items on overstock as ebay; my sales may be more than ebay. Overstock has really impressed me. I have only been using them for about 3 months and the turn around ratio reminds me of the old ebay. I recommend overstock.com as your primary ebay alternative. The fees are very at overstock are very minimal compared to ebay.

3. webidz (*****) - Webidz.com beat out Amazon on my list because they bring in more sales for less money. Webidz is my little hidden treasure. This place also reminds me of the old ebay. And guess what? Webidz is free to list items! That's another reason it beat out Amazon in my top 15 list. The traffic you get on webidz is great. There isn't much competition as a seller. And there are more buyers than sellers, so you make good money. I recommend using webidz as your FREE ebay alternative.

4. Amazon (*****) - Amazon really deserves the top 5 in my list of best auction places. In my honest opinion; I think Amazon will eventually take ebay’s place or they will become a lot bigger than ebay someday. Amazon has been ebay's close competition this past year. In the Christmas season of 2007, Amazon beat out ebay’s reported sales volume. In fact, Amazon destroyed ebay’s sales numbers almost 2-1 during the winter season of 2007! That goes to show how much potential Amazon has to take over the auction marketplace. The money you make there isn't too shabby either. Give them a try if you are thinking about an ebay alternative.

5. Onlineauction (****) - Onlineauction.com is another great ebay alternative. They get tons of traffic and a majority of the items you list, sell. They even have a deal right now. If you sign up, you will be considered a founding member and you receive a free e-commerce website through them. Hey, it's free and it's a great deal. Don't pass it up. Expand away from ebay. Give onlineauction a try. They have a very small monthly fee and you can list unlimited auctions! Onlineauctions rightfully deserves the top 5 in my top auction marketplaces list. You can make great money there!

6. Ebid (****) - Ebid.net is a HUGE auction marketplace. They are set up just like ebay. They have a different website for almost every country around the world. Just click onto your country and sign up. For instance; ebid's USA website is us.ebid.net which brings you to only people in the USA. One of the best reasons I put ebid.net in the top 10 right under Amazon; They are free. If you open a store, all your listings will be free also. Plus you get a free T-shirt, lol. It might sound cheesy, but the sales you make on ebid are well worth using a free auction marketplace.

7. ioffer (****) - ioffer.com is another good ebay alternative. You can even transfer your ebay feedback onto your ioffer account. You don't pay any listing fees. You only pay a small final value fee when your item sells. ioffer gives you a free ecommerce website storefront. ioffer makes it onto the top 15 of my list because the fees are very minimal in comparison with the money you make there. Even though ioffer gets really good traffic, they don't get as much traffic compared to the first 6 in my list. But there are a lot more buyers than sellers on ioffer. And, as you know, with little selling competition and more buyers, you will sell more items. There is a reason they are in my top 15 list, with 4 out of 5 stars, check them out.

Tomorrow I will continue my list of great ebay alternatives. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Thanks for reading my blog everyone!

Auction Alfie is pleased to announce the addition of CQout.com to its UK auction search.

CQout (pronounced 'Seek You Out') claims to be the UK's second largest Auction website (after eBay.co.uk presumably) and with over 600,000 auction listings it's certainly a busy marketplace for sellers and buyers.

Sellers can list items for sale in the standard package on a no-sale, no-fee basis, but can increase exposure by purchasing optional extras.

This is great news for buyers looking for a great deal and who are maybe looking at trying auction websites other than eBay.

eBay has launched the new fees for UK sellers.

In an attempt to encourage more sellers to list items for sale eBay has lowered the 'Insertion Fee' based on the starting price of the item.

eBay.co.uk has also changed the 'Final Value Fee' with eBay's final commission being taken on a sliding scale depending on the final sale value of the auction.

More information on eBay.co.uk's new fees.

However, not all sellers are happy with the new fee structure and some sellers have formed an eBay boycott in an attempt to force eBay into re-evaluating it's fee structure. 

Only time will tell if the new eBay fees are a positive step to encourage more users, or whether the eBay seller strike has permanently damaged eBay with sellers turning to alternative auction sites like eBid or uBid in the future...

The 5 day eBay boycott by sellers has reportedly reduced eBay's listings by 3%, from 14.5 million to 14 million.

Whether this dip in listings is directly because of striking sellers and the eBay boycott or whether it is just seasonal is just speculation. But eBay has certainly upset some regular sellers and PowerSellers who have mentioned they are unlikely to return to sell on eBay - turning to alternative auction websites like eBid or uBid or classifieds like Craigslist and Loot to sell stuff on.

The Australian auction search gadget searches eBay, eBid, Oztion and Gumtree.

Australian auction and bargain hunters can now search eBay, eBid, Oztion and Gumtree with ease, making sure they get the best prices in the cheapest online auctions.

The auction and classified market is huge in Australia and Auction Alfie is keen to add more of the best Australian auction websites in the near future. Let us know which sites you would like to see included.

Tazbar.com has launched a new brand and website. According to Tazbar the new website is "will have the new logo and colour scheme. New control panel, complete new help system, complete new place advert and advert pages. There are a number of navigational changes that you will soon become familiar with."

Indeed, the site is slightly easier to use but does break on certain screen resolutions, so you may have to scroll down through lots of blank space to find what you're looking for.

You can still search Tazbar with Auction Alfie's auction search to compare the products with other auction websites like eBay, uBid and eBid.

Yahoo! US Auctions has finally closed down. This is a real shame for sellers wanting a free alternative to selling stuff on eBay.

Who will take their place?

Well I should imagine both eBid.net and uBid.com will rise to the challenge in an attempt to rival eBay but time will tell. Stay tuned.

Check out other auction sites.

US shoppers can now compare products on uBid.com with ebay.com, ebid.net, Tazbar.com, InetBid.com and Liquidation.com.

uBid.com offers new, overstock and refurbished merchandise in their online auctions from established businesses. uBid.com currently offers around 200,000 items for auction.

uBid.com offers brand-name merchandise spanning over 200 merchandise categories including computer products, consumer electronics, apparel, housewares, watches, jewelry, travel, sporting goods, home improvement products and collectibles. More about ubid.

Search uBid.com now

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Unfortunately, Yahoo! Auctions has announced that it is to turn off it's US and Canada auction bidding service as of 16th June 2007.

The last day to sell an item is 3rd June 2007.

This is a shame as Yahoo! Auctions proved to be an extremely popular auction site for people who preferred not to use eBay.

We will have to wait and see where eBay's next competition comes from - will it be uBid.com or eBid.net or will the classifieds rise and rule the used/second-hand markets?

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Check this out.

If I can get free listings on eBid, why should I keep using eBay and waste my money on listings that don't sell? The only limitation is there are still more eBay users as compared to eBid. If people start migrating from eBay to eBid, eBay could be out of business soon (?)

View my items on eBay.

Have your say.