about Entomology Auctions, feedback wanted

[admin]

This Entomology Auctions program I have had up here for many years is quite ancient. It is hardly used anymore. I am thinking of deleting it entirely. There's no way it can comptete with eBay. You all need to have more exposure when you want to auction something and I have not been able to keep up to make Entomology Auctions a viable option.

So I am thinking of discontinuing it completely and perhaps replacing it with a modern, remotely hosted auction program.

So my question to you all is: is it worth it? Would you be interested in a modern auction program for InsectNet, or would you just rather use eBay? My dream has always been to run an auction board specifically designed for insect traders, with much lower fees than eBay. If I do this it would probably would have to be fee-based, since the free auctions programs are rather mediocre.

Your thoughts?

[wollastoni]

It is a good idea but I am afraid it won't work.

Being a seller on ebay, I realized that about 50% of my customers did not come via insectnet, so I doubt you will have enough traffic to compete ebay, and sellers will have to remain on ebay.

[Adam Cotton]

I agree with Olivier, unless you can find a way to inform enough people about the items on auction you will never attract enough bidders, and as a result no-one will want to sell on your auctions either. I don't think there are anywhere near enough people on Insectnet who would actually bid on items in your auctions (especially in these dire financial times), so that would mean that you would need to find an alternative way of publicising the auctions to a wider audience.

It says something when well known insect auctioneers like bidders.jp have closed their online doors recently. If it wasn't worth their time it won't be worth yours either.

Adam.

[suzuki]

I agree with Olivier's comment as to make any auction viable a wide audience of potential bidders need to be found. By the way was Japanese bidders replaced in any format?

[wollastoni]

Not really unfortunately...

[suzuki]

Radusho. Have you bid on this auction site as I see there are parnassius available.

[papilio28570]

I believe you should simply shut it down and not worry about replacing it. Your time and effort are better spent on other areas of this very valuable web site. The video forum was an excellent move for example.

[wollastoni]

Yes, the interesting sellers from bidders.co.jp are not there...

[saturniidave]

Another thought, most of the sellers on the Insectnet auctions were American and will not export out of the U.S. for obvious reasons. This narrows the field even more as us European collectors could not buy anything. I say close it down.

[ckswank]

I've received notice from Ebay that they will be offering consolidated shipping for overseas buyers in the near future. U.S. sellers will have the opportunity to sell to buyers outside the U.S. & then ship to a U.S. address which will forward to the buyer. Seller only pays for domestic mail service as well. I had a company offer me employment as an independent contractor consolidating & repackaging shipments for overseas customers. Not sure how they will police things (such as insects) that are restricted. Needless to say, I turned down the job offer. Too many potential headaches.

Charlie

[ckswank]

Clark - I would hate to see the auctions go away for good without being replaced by something comparable. I have noticed the steep decline in listings over the past year. I occasionally sell bugs on Ebay, but the only things that seem to sell are common showy ones. I think most of my buyers intended on using them for artwork and were not collectors. I rarely purchase any insects myself as I don't have the type of income that will allow me to spend great sums of money on them.

Charlie

[Chris Grinter]

I have to concur with the general sentiment that the auctions here aren't worth the trouble. Charlie suggests that eBay is best for only the showy bugs - but in the last year I've sold many rare US leps and they have commanded an appropriate price. Very, very rarely am I disappointed with the price of a rare insect I've sold, but that's the nature of an auction.

While a cheaper auction format is tempting, I just don't see InsectNet auctions pulling in the views that eBay can. Just my 2 cents.

[admin]

Thanks for your comments. I kinda agree that I should just eliminate the Entomology Auctions and concentrate on other areas.