I buy and sell collectibles, how about you? A friend called me today and told me that eBay has recently lost more than 50% of its sellers. I found that figure quite incredible. I think some of them could be sellers who have more than one account. But then I started to think about it a bit more and decided to do some research.

In a NY Times report on July 10, I found an interesting article in which page views on eBay were down more than 30 percent in May from the previous year. That is a significant drop. Then I looked at the number of auction items in the category I buy (oh my wife would be kidding me to use that word), which is Militaria and the number of items that are available is at least half of what it was a year ago . So what is the correlation?

Could it be that eBay wants to get rid of all the little mommy and daddy sellers? These are the kind of vendors that run that little antique shop. The items they sell are ‘1-up’. Therefore, they have continued to increase their fees, force deals through PayPal, and have a difficult time resolving disputes. It certainly looks like that. Since they have a stake on Craigslist, that might be where they want these people to go; I see that the rates will start soon on this site.

Nothing against PayPal.

I don’t have any personal problem with PayPal, I know some people who do, but you have to look at every site that uses it or, in some cases, the seller that uses it, whether on eBay or elsewhere. and check the terms and conditions of purchase before purchasing.

Hey, is my check not good anymore?

Many traders still like to do business this way; They do not accept credit cards for whatever reason they have. You certainly don’t want to pay the processor and your bank a transaction fee and reduce your profits. I do not blame them. Many people are not businesses, so they can’t get a merchant account anyway. That’s where PayPal and other companies have come in. But as individuals, they want to do business as individuals and that is to sell an item, they want to be paid in cash, money order, or check.

So maybe it’s time to branch out and look for other sites where you can buy, sell, and auction. Do some searching. Maybe you visit a site that lists different auction sites, such as: http://auctions.nettop20.com/

So what’s on my wish list for a site as a collectibles seller?

How about reasonable rates? Either low commissions or maybe even a flat fee. Auction and sale options. A reserve amount for auctions of my choice. A site that simply brings buyers and sellers together. I can carry out commercial transactions with the client. So I set my terms, how and the method that I want to be paid. It will be a good start.

Business is a bit slow, even on eBay, but I’m in it for the long haul. I just need to find some new places to sell my stuff, you have to go!

Copyright 2009, R.Coalter, InterNet Partners, Inc., All rights reserved.