Bulk selling on Half.com and lowered expectations

Two months ago eBay introduced a new policy that made me very, very happy. The new policy meant that books listed on Half.com would be displayed on eBay Express, and there was no additional fees for this added exposure.

Since then I've found out some good news and bad news about this.

First, the bad news: The Half listings don't show up in regular eBay searches, as I had (foolishly) assumed. The buyer has to start at eBay Express. How many eBay shoppers search on Express? I'm guessing it's way, way, way less than 1 percent. And even if someone did search for a book on Express, they probably wouldn't find it -- Express is the balkiest, most confusing shopping site I've ever seen. Go ahead, try and find something on Express.

So that's the bad news -- we're not going to get a ton of eBay exposure and sales simply by listing on Half.

Now, the good news: Half.com sellers are able to do bulk inventory uploads again. Half had quit approving new sellers for bulk uploading a year or two ago. But recently Half.com began accepting uploads from users of eBay File Exchange.

The requirements: You need to be actively selling on Half.com for at least 90 days and you must have an average of 50 or more active listings per month for the last two months.

I haven't gotten around to signing up for File Exchange yet, so I'm interested to know if anyone has tried it and seen any results yet. I'm assuming this tool would allow you to take an Amazon open listings report and easily prepare an upload file for Half.com.

Here's the quick-start guide for Half users.

eBay workshop on Half.com - Express program

Last week eBay announced that your Half.com listings will begin appearing on eBay Express at no additional charge in April (if you opt into the program).

If you have any questions about this, eBay is hosting a workshop Monday afternoon. Members of the Half and Express teams will answer questions here.

Get double exposure by adding your Half.com listings to eBay Express

eBay announced sellers can add their Half.com listings to eBay Express, the new fixed-price portion of the auction site -- with no added fees.

The change is effective April 1, but you have to opt in to the program.

I think this is a great idea, Half.com and eBay Express have both been a disappointment lately. This will juice both sites through increased exposure, and help sellers too. I might be tempted to close my eBay Store, and just manage my eBay business from my Half account.

Here's how it works:

You don't have to change your Half.com procedures

• Continue listing on Half.com as usual.

• Sales on Half.com will be processed as usual. You'll be notified through Half.com and paid by direct deposit twice monthly as usual.

You'll manage your listings on eBay Express through Half.com

• When you opt-in to sell on eBay Express, your Half.com listings will show up on eBay automatically.

• If you make any changes to your Half.com listings, the changes show up on eBay. Any price changes, new listings, deletions, etc., show up on both sites.

Your eBay Express sales will be recorded in My eBay

• When a shopper buys your Half item on eBay, the transaction shows up in My eBay. It won't show up in your Half account.

• Payments for your eBay Express sales are deposited immediately into your PayPal account.

• To help you manage your inventory, your My eBay selling record, including the File Exchange tool, now has two additional fields to show where your inventory was listed and sold so you can clearly identify Half.com inventory sold on eBay Express.

Your seller fees won't increase because you list on both Half.com and eBay Express

• For Half.com listings that sell on eBay Express, you are charged a PayPal fee and an eBay Express Final Value Fee.

• These fees total the same amount as fees charged for Half.com listings that sell on Half.com. For example, if you sell a book for $25, you'll net the same profit, whether the sale happens on Half or eBay. See the math at the bottom of this page.
  

Will eBay scrap Express? Wall Street thinks so...

Well, eBay Express has certainly turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of 2006. Lots of sizzle but no steak. eBay promoted it, but where are the buyers?

The talk on Wall Street is the thing's going to be scrapped:

"It's a flawed concept," says financial analyst Philip Remek from Guzman & Co., who thinks Express has little chance of success and will likely be scrapped. "This effort will bear little fruit and potentially will be a management distraction. I don't see any revenue driver in eBay Express."

I had hoped Express would provide a real alternative to Amazon Marketplace, but that's a pipe dream now. And whatever happened to Half.com? I've had about five sales there all year!