Ever since Business Week posted an article last week titled “Auctions on eBay: A Dying Breed” all I’ve been seeing as head lines are, “selling on eBay in auction format has been going down.” “The way to sell is using a fixed price. People want their items now and don’t want to play around and see if they are the highest bidder.” The best one was “Was eBay just a fad?”

I can’t believe how so many people believe that selling on eBay, in auction format, is over. They say, “You can not make money selling on eBay, the world’s number one internet market place, through auctions. The only way is to have fixed or buy it now.” I find that statement to be true and false at the same time.

It’s true selling in auction formats have gone down. There are numbers to back that up. This drop can come from many things such as not as many sellers on eBay any more. To sellers moving away from auction listings to fixed prices. Who really knows and to that fact who really cares. What you really need to know is if you are making money using auction listings. If you are, keep doing them. Why stop doing and using something that is working.

People forget that eBay was created to allow people to find hard to find items. The bonus was that you also got it at a cheaper price than you would at the stores. Why would you go out to the store and pay a lot more money for an item you can get from the comfort of your home and pay less? The results of this is what we now call eBay.

When eBay started to generate millions of potential buyers, some sellers began to sell retail items. The same items you could find in your local stores, just at a reduced price. Prices that were a lot less than the retail store. So the same question comes around again, Why would you go out to the store and pay a lot more money for an item you can get from the comfort of your home and pay less?

If you are one of these eBay sellers selling the same exact thing over and over again, then you may feel that you can not make money doing auctions. You are selling the same items that can be bought in retail stores or wholesalers. The increased fees will be eating away any profits you make. If you were making $20.00 in profit before the fee increase, you are now making $10.00 in profit. That’s a huge bite into your revenue.

For those of you in this situation I can see why selling in auction format is not the way to go. Selling in Fixed format will lower your cost and increase the money you put in your pockets. So the statement is true for you. What you may need to look into is finding a cheaper source for your product. Or better yet find a new niche with a better return on investment. Find how to find a new niche here.

Now for you people who sell “one of” items, auctions are a gold mine. You are the ones who go to garage sales, tag sales, thrift stores, etc. to find your inventory. You basically sell rare, out of print collectible items that usually can not be found in huge quantities. I must admit you guys are the true pioneers of eBay. You are the ones who made what eBay is today and are the ones who will make what eBay will be in the future.

Withauction listings you are allowing the market to tell you what your item is worth. Since most of these “one of” items are not easy to find in retail stores, eBay auctions can get you huge returns. You may say I’ll take $100.00 for my item, but what if someone is willing to pay you $150.00 for it. You would have left $50.00 dollars on the table. I’m sure you would prefer to have those $50.00 dollars in your pocket.

I must admit I do the garage sale, thrift store, etc. buying and resell them on eBay. Most of the items I’ve listed through eBay auctions have made me more money than I would have thought. Some of the closing prices were ridiculous. I once bought a record album for $1.00 at the Salvation Army and resold it on eBay for $125.00. How is that on a return on my investment?

To be honest I would have been happy just getting $15.00 for the album. I would have made about $10.00 profit after all the fees. Not to bad on a $1.00 investment. I could have listed it in my store for $15.00 and most likely sold it for that amount. But I said to myself, “Let me see if someone is willing to pay more.” As you can see good thing I did.

I feel that if you entered eBay selling retail items you are going to find it hard to make money. Especially since most of the big retailers are now selling their items on eBay. You no longer can compete with the big boys now that fees have been increasing and the rules are constantly changing. But if you are a “one of” seller you don’t have too much to worry about. You are still going to make money since you are selling to collectors and not just the average consumer. So are eBay auction listings dead? It all depends on what you are selling…

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