kvmcable
Supreme Member
- Dec 28, 2010
- 1,354
- 2,823
I think what you're saying is you won't have the clutter of the $149 websites surrounding your listings. With less listings on Flippa your auctions will be more prominent. Be careful what you wish for. The Flippa marketplace used to accommodate a wide range of buyers and a wide range of listings. While I can appreciate you wanting more exposure for your listings, I think you'll find less exposure and less success because the marketplace is no longer dynamic and a bore.
Street auction marketplaces need the WHOLE RANGE of listings for success. Auction wars and similar reality TV shows are very popular. When have you ever seen all the lockers with high dollar items? Is every successful bid in the 4 or 7 digit range? Of course not. Some auctions end at less than $100 and others many thousands. That's the real world of auctions. Not everyone walks to those auctions with $50k in their pockets and the auctioneers don't chastise the low value bidders because they give them dynamics (excitement, starts and rolls the bidding). Of course the main source of excitement is generated by a fast talking auctioneer. Online listings don't have that element.
Now look at the largest online auction marketplace, eBay. Do you see them tossing all the low value listings? On eBay you can purchase a single t-shirt for $2 or you can purchase 10,000 t-shirts for $18,000. There are thousands of listings for under a $1 and listings all the way to the million dollar range. There is an adaptive listing price range to accommodate everyone. Why do you think eBay allows all these low price listings? Those are what drive millions of people to eBay everyday. The chance to win something for little. The chance to purchase a steal. That is what I refer to by dynamics. Online auction marketplaces must create this because the bidders are in different areas, different time zones and not grouped in a room with a fast talking auctioneer. Again you create online excitement, if you will, by allowing a wide range of listings for a wide range of buyers with a countdown clock.
The LAST THING you want to do is set a high listing price to stop your low dollar listings. The LAST THING you want to do is tell your low dollar sellers and buyers you don't want them on your auction site when YOU NEED THEM! Flippa's latest changes has killed their excitement. The auction place is a bore. They have done the exact opposite of what they needed to do for success. You need inventory in all ranges. You need buyers in all ranges. You need sellers in all ranges. An online auction marketplace needs to accommodate everyone.
Each bidder plays a role during a listing, even the high dollar listings by brokers. The buyers with little money and big dreams bid when the listing is low to quickly increase the bid count and fill in the low number bids. The buyers with a bit more money fill in the middle range and continue filling in the bid range while building the bid count. Finally the buyers with the deep pockets see the high activity, hundreds of bids and the value perception is set and caught their eye. The broker gets his high dollar sale and life is good. But remove the two bottom tiers of those bidders and your listings will have a dramatically different outcome. As I said earlier, be careful what you wish for.
To rebound, Flippa needs some free listing days or reduced price listing days to allow sellers to let some sites go cheaper, to bring back low dollar bidders looking for steals and bring back the excitement of the auction marketplace. But what does this Country bumpkin know about online auction markets and how to make them successful? I hope Flippa with their arrogance, ignores everything I have to say. Although I don't hate Flippa, I don't need or want them fixing their broken site. They are leaving a lot of money on the table which I plan to pick up. Although their changes are terrible for their marketplace, it's GREAT news for their competitors.
