More sales, more painting

I have had some more sales on the eBid auction site this week. It is worth investigating if you are looking for a good alternative to eBay.

I have been working on some more of my miniature paintings ready for the exhibition at the end of the month. I have also had an enquiry from an art group wanting me to do a demonstration for them, which is something I enjoy, sharing my tips and experiences with other artists.

All change at eBay

Well there seems to be a lot of upset artists as well as other people on eBay these days. The monopoly is massively increasing its Fees that it charges sellers, softened by a very small decrease, 10 cents! in the cost of listing, and discounts, if you can qualify! Overall it a huge increase in costs. Not only is this a blow to the small sellers, eBay will decide whether the seller's item gets seen on the site according to the star feedback rating system.

It works like this, if you score below 4.6 then tough your listings will be at the bottom of the pile and not seen by the buyers, also if your rating is low you can't qualify for listing discounts. Now eBay says that a score of 4 is 'Good' thus guiding the buyers to select that out of possible 5 where 1 the lowest. So at a stroke they are skewing the system so it is unlikely they will have to give the sellers any discounts, and with their search system skewed pushing the low scorers out of sight. As an added bonus sellers can no longer leave a negative for the buyer that messes up or rips them off ( yes it does happen to some folk unfortunately ) I'm pleased to say that all my buyers when I was selling on ebay were excellent, and I had no problems.

No wonder so many people are unhappy, a lot of sellers and buyers are now deserting the place and going to alternatives sites like Tazbar and eBid so there will be less choice for buyers on eBay and they should now start looking for their bargains elsewhere.

I have been selling my art on both Tazbar and eBid for some time, and getting some great bargains as well, including a SatNav system on Tazbar that has been invaluable when I have been delivering paintings.

So check out these new auction sites, and see what bargains you can find, in the meantime, I must press on with a commission, and sort out some paintings for the next exhibition.

A new beginning

With the proposed changes at eBay, artists along with many sellers who are unhappy with the situation at the monopoly, are moving away to sell, and also buy at new alternative venues. Sadly eBay seems resolutely set on its move to a department store approach, where big retailers who have been recruited by eBay have destroyed the community feel, that was once the big attraction to both buyers and sellers.

I already shifted away from eBay to new locations 18 months ago, a move that I don't regret. Many others are now waking up to the fact that they are working for eBay rather than eBay helping them to work, with the never ending escalation of fees and their failure to deal with scammers. So you may want to check out Tazbar or eBid and get back some of the pleasure that you used to have buying online.

There is a seller boycott of Ebay from 18th -25th February, so if you were thinking of buying or selling there, why not support the sellers, and try out some of the alternatives. You can see a list of other auction sites Here

There is an exciting new art only venue due to be launched so check back later for more details.