New Online Handbag Consignment Store/ Auction Site

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mybagz

mybagz

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Jan 12, 2007
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#1
Hi All!
I have a question for all of you ebayers. I am in the first stages of opening my own online Designer Handbag resell/ Consignment/ Auction site. I am VERY interested in everyones input on what they would like out of a new site, what type of selling/Consignment fees are fair and what it would take for you to leave Ebay and join a new site. Plus any other concerns such as Authenticity concerns and how to address them on this new site. I am hoping to have this new site up and running in the next month or so any ideas would be very much appeciated. ALSO, checkout options is another concern of mine.....
 
#2
Wow I was just saying that we badly need an alternative to ebay. I can imagine setting it up will be a huge undertaking. I think you would have to be very vigilant regarding the posting of fake items on there that was a major concern with ebay, now they are cleaning up the site. I don't know how you would check sellers but i suppose looking at their ebay reputation would be a start. I think you would need to lower fees. I would certainly leave ebay or at least try out some sales on your site to see how they would do. Site would have to be so well advertised worldwide
Good luck & keep me posted!
 
#3
Hi! I can't really give you a seller's point of view, as I don't sell designer bags on ebay, but I can certainly tell you what a buyer would look for (as I do BUY them lol!)

1. Some way of guaranteeing authenticity. Receipts etc are good, although fakeable (and not always available for authentic older bags). Perhaps an 'expert' could be employed by your website to give their viewpoint. Either the seller or the buyer would have to pay for this - don't really mind which! As a buyer I'd be prepared to pay for peace of mind.

2. The payment method must be clear, and trackable. I know that there are a lot of issues with paypal, but for buyers there is trust there that if something goes wrong, your money hasn't just disappeared. If you didn't want to offer paypal, how about copying the Amazon Market place, where you would receive the money, then send it to the seller. I would prefer that to the money going straight to the seller ifyswim!

3. Some sort of returns policy etc would be needed to be clearly stated. Consignment stores etc AREN'T shops (that's why they don't sell so much) but a lot of buyers view them as very similar and want similar guarantees.

4. Shipping policies etc would need to be monitored. Some sellers really rip people off on shipping (I think this is also known as fee avoidance!). I'd suggest that as the 'owner' of the website you set up standards for shipping costs and methods that sellers have to adhere to.

I have to say that an alternative to ebay when buying & selling designer bags would be fantastic. Ebay often seems too 'functional' and impersonal - so it would be great to have a consignment e-shop that felt more luxurious & personal.

Good luck!
 
#4
dcgal said:
I have to say that an alternative to ebay when buying & selling designer bags would be fantastic. Ebay often seems too 'functional' and impersonal - so it would be great to have a consignment e-shop that felt more luxurious & personal.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

The problem is going to be the audience (Buyers.) Where do they come from and who goes out and gets them? An online consignment shop is a fun idea. . . until 5,000 bags come in, someone has to authenticate them and store them, and then someone has to find about 5,000,000 people with money to look at them. There is no way to verify the authenticity of what sellers list (seen a newspaper's classified section lately?) without taking physical customdy of it, and then having staff qualified to evaluate every known brand & style, current and vintage.

As a small venue just for the "in crowd" (maybe like TPF Marketplace??? I don't know; I don't belong =) it might work on a very small scale (see Poupetteluxe) but won't be a valid substitute for eBay's massive worldwide audience. Don't get me wrong: I hate eBay as much as anyone. Google has been talking about their auciton site for over a year and it isn't yet ready. The other sites are as rife with fakes as eBay, with fewer buyers.

And then folks here are talking about lower fees?? How is the "new" site going to pay for the sort of things that attract millions of viewers?

I hope it works. =)
 
#5
How many viewers do you need? if a person simply wants to set up a consignment shop like Poupettluxe, they only currently have 18 items. How difficult is it to manage 18 items?

If you expanded even to have say 50 items, if you have room, you could have sellers ship the bags to YOU, you determine whether they are fakes and if you want to sell them. Pre-screen via online photos and if it is understood that seller's item will be rejected (after a non-refundable listing fee) if it IS fake, that should cut down on fakes or items in poor condition.

Even online stores like NM only have in their clearance, a limited number of bags.

Maybe this is too elaborate an undertaking, but depends on how much energy you want to put into it.
 
#6
azyuwish said:
How many viewers do you need? if a person simply wants to set up a consignment shop like Poupettluxe, they only currently have 18 items. How difficult is it to manage 18 items?

If you expanded even to have say 50 items, if you have room, you could have sellers ship the bags to YOU, you determine whether they are fakes and if you want to sell them. Pre-screen via online photos and if it is understood that seller's item will be rejected (after a non-refundable listing fee) if it IS fake, that should cut down on fakes or items in poor condition.

Even online stores like NM only have in their clearance, a limited number of bags.

Maybe this is too elaborate an undertaking, but depends on how much energy you want to put into it.
Click to expand...

Managing 18 items wouldn't be difficult at all. The question is: how many visitors doe you need before those 18 items are sold? 18? 180? 1800? 18,000? 180,000? Sorry =) And where are those visitors going to come from. Certainly not just TPF?

Where I live the monthly lease on a prime location store front is US$11,000 - $18,000/month. Plus electric bills, advertising, employee wages, insurance, security, etc. The biggest expense is not the lease. It's the advertising to bring the people in. Without the people there will be no sales. And even online that costs money, lots of money. Which is why eBay charges the fees they charge (plus they want to make a profit, yes? =)
 
#7
Thank you, you all! Keep the brain storming coming. Yes, I would have experts empolyed by my web site and of course LOTS of adds out there. Here is my plan...
Have a couple experts from each brand (Hermes, LV and so on....) taking in bags that sellers will send them to authenticate. That expert will then list the item on the web site and se3nd it out once sold. Once a seller has built up a good reputation with the brand experts... they will be able to list all their own items only providing the experts pics of the bags.
I know this will be a slow process building up this site into a BIG BAG seller. HOWEVER, I can just pay to be the top search result when someone is looking up a Designer bag on the WWW. Ya know?

?????What do you all think of Google Checkout??????
 
#9
Hello,
We are a public relations Firm representing xxxxxxxx, it is a new Purse Website(only sells pre-owned) launching on feb 5th, we have already gotten them exposure in 12 of the top magazines for April placements, if you would like us to represent you when you are ready to launch contact me.. Please know that you must be a legitimate company though or my boss will not accept your company. Please make sure you have everything inorder as well before you open for business. Speak to you soon.

The McMillon Group


no links or advertising of any kind here
 
#11
One of the things you can do is make sure the honest people that are selling Authentic handbags aren't getting harrassed by having their listings removed for bogus reasons, don't just take other sellers words for it, as they are most likely trying to report you to get the listings pulled so they can more easily sell their items. AND NEVER suspend your honest sellers, go after the people selling fake handbags. Enay is doing it backwards, They pull the Authentics and let the replica handbags get sold. What a crock Ebay has turned out to be!!! Last but not least, listen to your power sellers, they have made the most of your company, and they know what they are talking about :yes:

Best Regards, and good luck ! Let us honest people know when it is up and running, I have some Authentic Gucci's and Burberry's I would love to try our on your site !!!

Sean
 
#12
All I have to say is that Jill's consignment is so full of ****! First of all there people are so very rude and now they don't have layway for the highend bags. I called cause I saw an Lv that I wanted to put on layway and was told they they no longer do it anymore. However, there is was a large LV on layway on their site but she said that was an old layway. Today I see the cersie Lv and a YSL bag on layway that was not on layway before. I hate that site and I will never shop there again. I hope they go out of business.
 
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