Do eBay auctions have serious competition from Seeauctions.com?

For that last couple of years antiques & collectibles sellers have been pining for another auction venue to sell good quality items on.

Some are frustrated with recent eBay policy changes and as the online auction giant embraces a more corporate structure, sellers of old and unique items  quickly review every new online auction wannabee that comes along.

Most fail.

Although the market share for this venue is massive, these new online auctions flail around for buyers and are anemic of good quality items.

Why this happens when there seems to be such an abundant market share is a mystery to all except those that study the issue with fanatacism, such as myself.

I'm not going to go into too much detail, but every online auction model I've researched other than eBay, is always missing at least one of the crucial basics for a successfull online auction, until now.

I know this because as someone with many years in the auction business, it's easy to spot when an auction company has strayed from the core auction model. You've GOT to apply the basics to an auction business, and they are the same whether it's an online auction or a country auctioneer selling chickens out of his back yard. The core principles are exactly the same.

I'm happy to report here, that Seeauctions.com seems to get it, I mean, they really get it!

I found the site through a contact in The AuctionWally Network who recommended it.  To be honest, I don't think I would have bothered looking if it was an ad that brought the site to my attention.  Word of mouth is a powerful thing for most businesses, but word of mouth in the auction business is the ONLY thing.

Upon my first visit to the site, I was immediately impressed by how clean and uncluttered the home page was, even though there was a lot of product. Then I noticed something that I've rarely seen in any other eBay auction competitor, items were getting bids! That's right, things are actually selling.

Now I really started to get excited, so I decided to take a closer look and began by checking out the seller fees. I was shocked to find out that if you sign up by March of 09, the entire year is FREE!  It won't cost you a nickel to sell on the site.

Furthermore, after a year, the fees are extremely reasonable, here's the fee structure after the free year.

                              What it will cost to sell on Seeauctions in 2010. (info is pulled right from the site)

It doesn't matter if you are listing auctions or fixed-prices, the fees never change. There are never any commissions, hidden/extra fees, or buyer's premiums on SeeAuctions.com.

$29.95/ month for 50 listings or $289/yr. ($.50 per listing if over 50)

$44.95/ month for 100 listings or $395/yr. ($.25 per listing if over 100)

$59.95/ month for 200 listings or $495/yr. ($.10 per listing if over 200)

Unlike most of our competitors, SeeAuctions.com is the first antique & collectible auction site to offer COMMISSION FREE TRADING! We are aware of the never-ending costs of other auction sites, so we created an easy to use, clutter-free marketplace that focuses on the seller, items for sale, buyer experience and the safety of our users.

At SeeAuctions, there are never any listing fees unless over your limit, (see pricing above), never any hidden/extra fees and never any buyer's premiums. We are proud to offer the lowest rates available for selling antiques, collectibles, art, books, coins, jewelry, furniture & more.

 Now that's pretty darn impressive if you ask me! It's no wonder why the site has so much activity. Allowing sellers to come on board free for an entire year shows incredible confidence and backbone.

You can see how as an old school aucitoneer and auction business reporter, I just had make contact right away to get an interview with the CEO of Seeaucitons, Mike Kranz Sr.  ... after I signed up for the site, I didn't want to miss out on the free year!

Mike has 30 years in the antiques business and is the owner of the Midtown Antique Mall in Stillwater Minnesota,  we had a wonderful intereview, and he took every question head on.

To hear that interview, tune into episode 41b of the AuctionWally Show, click here to find it.

Will SeeAuctions be the next great online auction for antiques and collectibles?

Here's my initial impression:

• The web-mastery of the site is top-notch. SA is clean, simple, easy to use, is very intuitive and a delight to browse. It would be easy to imagine that the a crew sharp enough to design a site like this will have no problem with a phenomenal SEO campaign. That should mean lots of buyers.
• When it comes to what the antiques and collectibles sellers want, Mike and crew know how to provide no-nonsense service. Apparently, they've tracked the forum boards, blogs and reporters in the industry,  and have put the information to good use.
• Mike has assured me that he consults with actual experienced, licensed auctioneers on a regular basis, (a critical but , often overlooked step by online auctions).

 

The site has plenty of sellers willing to auction without reserve such as fredta who sells collectible coins.

 Check out fredta at SeeAuctions by clicking here.

If your like me, you probably have plenty of questions about SeeAuctions, so give a listen to the interview!

Click here to listen to episode 41b of the AuctionWally Show to hear the interview with Mike Kranz the CEO of Seeauctions.com

Please note, I have special double edition of The AuctionWally Show this evening, there will be a live interview at 8pm with Alexandra Reid of Squirrelsnestnatiques.com and then I'll air the interview with Mike Kranz. That is a recorded interview and won't be availabel until after 9pm this evening.

If you don't get a chance to listen right away, no worry, they'll both be available on the player in the right hand sidebar at http://auctionwally.com/spout

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