Auction Alfie Blog

Vzaar is a new company offering the ability to upload videos which can be included in your eBay listings for free. PowerSellers can upgrade for more bandwidth if necessary.

Video is a great way to increase sales by limiting the risk in your buyer’s eyes. It is much more reassuring when you see a TV or camera working, or listen to how a car starts up, or even just seeing something from all angles can be extremely beneficial.

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.

In an attempt to discourage sellers on eBay from writing long listing titles stuffed with keywords for similar products to try and get better exposure, eBay has produced alogrithms to reward more accurate listing titles.

Called ‘Best Match’, eBay has claimed it has improved the search results for buyers.

As part of the BBC’s new BBCGreen website, they have created a partnership with eBay to encourage more people to recycle and reuse unwanted possessions by selling them on eBay - instead of sending them to landfill.

The message is great and clear: Make money and save the world at the same time.

BBC Green is a well designed website aiming to open people’s minds to alternative methods of saving energy and tackling climate change.

Will Watt from BBCGreen.com tells us that ”the aim of our site is to think laterally and practically about ways to live greener. The eBay marketplace is a part of UK shopping culture and joining them to promote their already popular used only goods seemed like a smart idea to inspire our readers to think differently.”

Why not start selling your unwanted stuff now.

Oxfam America is auctioning $100,000 on eBay - PLUS lunch with Hollywood star Minnie Driver, as well as an autographed script and DVD from her new film, The Riches. All proceeds go to Oxfam America.

I’m following this auction to see whether bidding exceeds the cash up for auction - otherwise it’s a money for free - and the charity wins too.

If you’re quick - and I mean quick - you could be having lunch with Colin Firth, be wearing David Beckham’s leather jacket, or owning Kylie’s little black dress!

There are lots of celebrity charity auctions on eBay.co.uk worth bidding on at the moment. People are already bidding in these charity auctions, but bargains can still be had - and the best bit is that all money goes to charity.

Get bidding and own a piece of history.

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.

In an attempt to tackle the high postage and packing (P&P) fees some eBay sellers are demanding buyers to pay, eBay has added a ‘Total Cost’ sort option so buyers can now search for the cost of both the product and the shipping together.

This is a great step forward. I wonder if eBay would go as far as Amazon has gone and set a postage rate based on actual postage costs which the buyers pay and the seller gets a credit?

Having recently launched the Australian auction search, Alfie has produced a Google Gadget which you can either add to your Google homepage (iGoogle) or even add to your own website or blog. Searching for the best deals in Australia has just got easier.

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