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Trading Post Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 25/09/2008 1:28 AM
Posts: 5,
Visits: 2
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Im one more disgruntled eBay customer, and listed my first batch of trading post items last week, (not expecting any fantastic results), but was very happy to have had a high priced item sell very shortly afterwards. At least once a month it seems eBay removes an auction or suspends my account with no warning or apparant reasons, and thier customer service and responses are terrible, so hopefully trading post does not fall into the same potholes.
I havent been listing for long on the trading post, but after a few listings I've noticed a few things that could be improved to make the site easier to use and more attractive to buyers/sellers
Remove the 5000 charracter limit for listings
I was dissapointed that enough charracters were not allowed for me to provide conditions of sale information, and common postage and payment questions and other details, so was limited to a quick description without any html formatting to improve the listings appearance and make it stand out.
Streamlining relists
Making the re-listing process of items simpler and more streamlined
The relisting process seemed to have too many pages to click through in order to relist finished items. If it was a simple one or two page process, it would become a much easier process and make it more attractive to list larger numbers of items
Streamline Checkout options
The checkout process seemed a little tedious and hard to follow. The checkout system provided by eBay allows the automatic disclosure of bank deposit details to buyers which I couldnt find how to do on tradingpost. Showing which items are awaiting payment, postage, feedback in my tradingpost (as eBay have done) would simplify things a little too.
Provide option for automatic relisting if not sold if this is already an option I couldnt find it, but if not this option would make regular sellers lifes much simpler (well at least mine). On eBay I have the option of atomatic relisting which means I can save time and focus on new listings instead of having to constantly check the old ones.
Reserve prices
I read they already exist, but no matter how much I struggled I couldnt find the option to add a reserve to auctions, having the reserve option in a more prominent position would be great (as it would be easier for new listers such as myself encouraging more listings), and reserves can be very important at the moment while the number of customers are slim.
Some sort of buyer protection
Buyers feel safe purchasing on eBay as they were covered to some extent by paypals buyer protection currently, but previously were covered by eBays buyer protection. I personaly wouldnt mind paying a little (capitols: LITTLE) extra on each sale if buyer protection was available, as the end result would be more trusting happy buyers on the site, which is better for sellers in the end.
All in all, Tradingpost has what it takes to take on eBay, and there are many sellers dying for an alternative. The biggest problem is getting the word out there. As soon as I realised that trading post now offered auctions, I emailed every previous customer I had from eBay, and every person on my mailing list informing them of it - if every traing post user did the same, there would be masses of people in no time.
Perhaps if trading post offered a credit to use against listings of some description for every referral they get to sign up on tradingpost, they could encourage more selers to do the same.
Just my two sence.
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Trading Post Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 25/09/2008 1:28 AM
Posts: 5,
Visits: 2
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oh, and add this to the list above:
Make Ended listings visible to the public
I get allot of additional sales on eBay from people that have been watching my listings, or placed a bid but lost, who then went on to bid on one of my other items.
If buyers cant view the listings once they've ended, they wont know who was selling the item.
Ended listings could also be used to help cross promote other similar items from the same seller.
Most search engins take alot of time picking up on item listings pages too, and by having the ended listings still displayed, it gives search engins enough time to pick up on them. Even though that particular ended listing may no longer be available, the search engine results draw people to the trading post website, and to that particular seller in the hope that they have more of the same item (and many regular sellers do). This is a bigger moneyspinner than most may think
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Trading Post Enthusiast
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 13/10/2008 4:14 PM
Posts: 25,
Visits: 16
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Hello
I support the suggestions made in the two 13/8/08 postings above. They are all very sensible suggestions that I would also like to see happen to make the TP site better.
Would also like to have the ability to stay signed in for a longer period of time. I suggested a "Keep me signed in on this computer" tick option a couple of months ago, was told by a moderator that it is a good suggestion, but nothing has happened to date.
Greg
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Trading Post Enthusiast
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 13/10/2008 4:14 PM
Posts: 25,
Visits: 16
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Many days later absolutely NO response from TradingPost !
If you encourage feedback, why no replies.
Very frustrating & puts TradingPost a long last when compared to eBay & OZtion.
TradingPost online seems like a good idea but, in my opinion, is shooting itself in the foot by lack of response to valid suggestions.
Sincerely
Greg
(echy2007)
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Trading Post Advanced Seller
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 29/10/2008 8:15 AM
Posts: 120,
Visits: 145
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| Hi greg, Thanks for your suggestions.
Trading Post do not normally reply to individual suggestions on a one by one basis. These are discussion boards and the whole idea is for members to discuss ideas and suggestions. They (TP) watch the discussions and note general trends or well supported suggestions, similar in many ways to discussion groups on other sites. In relation to your individual suggestions, I can provide the following feedback from my own questions & answers and experience with Trading Post. 5000 character limit.
The limit is in excess of 50,000 characters and you can use HTML to improve your listings, see the rules and policies help page for more details. Relist Process
Trader Pro (Bulk Listing Tool) provides for simple two click bulk relisting. This function is not currently available for 'place ad' only through Trader Pro, which is free to use. Checkout Process Streamlining
This is a valid suggestion and is already being considered by Trading Post Automatic Relisting
This is a Trader Pro function, relist if sold, relist if not sold. I suggest that you subscribe to Trader Pro (Free) and give it a try. It is not the same as other tools but has some very cool functionality. Reserve Pricing
Reserve pricing is currently available in selected categories, so it would probably be an idea to read through the help section and checkout if reserve prices apply to you chosen category. Buyer Protection
This is a difficult and problematic area for all sites, which is why, I would suggest that eBay removed buyer protection and now only Paypal offer such protection. I'm aware that a number of sellers have brought up this issue and I'm sure that Trading Post would be considering their options. Visible Completed Listings
This has been considered by Trading Post and I would expect that they would have plans to intoduce this enhancement in the future. I fully agree with your suggestion and have also discussed this with Trading Post. I hope you find these responses helpful.
I would also like to restate that Trading Post do not normally answer indiviual posts on the discussion forums. The forums have been designed so we can discuss ideas and suggestions to improve the site. Thanks for your feedback and good luck on Trading Post. Cheers
Bruce
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Trading Post Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 25/09/2008 1:28 AM
Posts: 5,
Visits: 2
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allow multiple duplicate items to be sold under a single listing
having to list duplicate items when they could just be amalgamated into one single listing seems silly to me.
From a buyers perspective: It clutters search results and makes items more difficult to find. If an item I'm watching is sold, I have to go through the search process again to find out weather there are duplicate liestings available - and even if there are, I might miss them in the clutter.
From a sellers perspective: More time spent listing, relisting and tracking duplicate listings for identical items. Asking the same questions for the same items multiple times when theyve already been answered on other identical listings. Loss of sales, as when an item is sold, a watcher may not bother to search again thinking that they've missed the boat
provide an equivelant to feebays 'good till cancled' store listings
as much as I despise feebay, this is a very good feature of thier site and should be incorporated by Trading Post. by having an expired item atomaticaly extend its remaining timeframe if it hasnt been sold, it saves massive ammounts of time relisting, but better yet - watchers are retained that wouldnt be if it was relisted manualy which cuts down the timeframe between listing/relisting and selling, meaning more sales faster.
Free Reserves for all items - at least untill there is an ample customer base
customers love auction sites because they have the chance to get a bargain....... even though most of the time they probably end up paying the same value as they would elsewhere, its the OPPORTUNITY for a bargain that gets them in the door and viewing the item.
When the customer base is small (as it currently is at Trading Post), sellers arent willing to risk $1 starting prices (the auctions that bring the customers), as sellers know thier chance of breaking even is significantly lower than other sites with established customer basses. so instead, sellers list items at a high starting price, and in turn, the item view and watch rate is drasticaly reduced, and so is the sell through rate. If Reserves prices were a free option, it would reduce the risk to sellers to start low, which would in turn get more customers viewing, and achieving overal higher prices, and eventualy the customer base may become high enough that the reserve feature is no longer needed so it could be charged for again..... but at least make it free untill those customers are arround, and watch the starting prices plummet, the final prices skyrocket, and the site will flood with more buyers and sellers much faster.
My Trading Post
Make all the information viewable without having to navigate away from the main my trading post page.
if I can view my most recently sold items, purchased items, and currently advertised items all on the one page, it saves me heaps of time compared to navigating through all the other pages that I currently have to to view this info. Combined with the loading errors constantly experianced on the site and the problem of having to logg back in all the time, its a rather frustrating experiance. theres plenty of potential, I'd love to see it come together right.
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Trading Post Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/01/2009 2:31 AM
Posts: 1,
Visits: 1
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Hi I am becoming more and more frustrated with timing out, listings that I cant cancel that have finished and still showing on my active page etc.
It is now 2009 PLEASE when can we see this site up to the standard of other auction sites.
I am keen on using this site because of the Trading Post reputation in other selling areas being well known and respected in australia. I read earlier someone saying you have what it takes to take on feebay, I for one would support you 100% if you could just speed things up, let us stay connected for more than a few minutes while we work - and generally make the site work faster and a whole lot more efficiently
Oh and when my customers pay by paypal it doesnt automatically list as paid next to my sales, can this be fixed, its inconvienient to have to mark off .
Kind regards Adawnstyle
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