Castoff.net get behind a great new British site

[truereddevil]

I am a Proffesional seller within eBay but I have backed this new English site from the start anything that will possibly give eBay a run for there money and not be greedy with fees and back the sellers rather than the buyers I am all for, I know graham the creator of this site personally who has looked after me since I joined and his team will bend over backwards to help you so if there are anymore sellers out there looking for a new sales avenue try this site out if you would like an introduction just let me know

So has anybody already experienced this site?

 

[viperek]

I am a Proffesional seller within eBay but I have backed this new English site from the start anything that will possibly give eBay a run for there money and not be greedy with fees and back the sellers rather than the buyers I am all for, I know graham the creator of this site personally who has looked after me since I joined and his team will bend over backwards to help you so if there are anymore sellers out there looking for a new sales avenue try this site out if you would like an introduction just let me know

So has anybody already experienced this site?

I didnt have any experience with that site but it does look nice and friendy. I will defo recommend it to everybody as im fed up with ebay fees.

 

[Indigo Cherry]

Sorry, I don't mean to appear rude or negative but you are wasting your time! No one will give eBay a run for their money! Yes eBay is expensive and their rules are a farce! But it's trusted and buyers like it.

You will never strip eBay of it's buyers and without those buyers you don't have a business.

Online auctions have come and alas, gone in the years since eBay. each one of them witout making an impact (eBid, QXL, BidNow to name but a few).

I have just done a search on your friends site for the word 'Laptop' and it returned a mere 70 results and on a couple of actual laptops. The actual laptops that were listed were also quite a bit more expensive the their ebay equivalents.

I hope your friends business does well but I also hope he doesn't invest his life savings in it.

Matt

 

[Vicarious]

I dont know, in Italy for example there is a simple listing service called subito and it is more popular than ebay

 

[m4ttch4tt]

You will never strip eBay of it's buyers and without those buyers you don't have a business.

I have to agree... But!! Only if you follow the same rules as eBay and use a similar system, like you say indigo 'buyers trust eBay' they could essentially double/triple their fees and what not and people would still use them.

I'm still undecided though, as eBay wasn't the first auction website and won't be the last and if a newcomer can bring something new to the table I think they could at least match the bay ; | (serious wink)

What does eBay stand for anyway! (definition wise)

 

[Jeff Knows]

I dont know, in Italy for example there is a simple listing service called subito and it is more popular than ebay

It's the only viable competition to eBay to pop up as of yet, simple/freebie listings.

In the USA it's Craigslist, in the UK it's gumtree (although eBay actually own Gumtree)

 

[Jeff Knows]

What does eBay stand for anyway! (definition wise)

It was originally called AuctionWeb and was intended to be renamed echobay.com when it took of, as the guy that created it owned a company called Echo Bay Technology Group. Couldn't get the domain, so went for eBay.com instead. The rest, as they say, is history.

Edit Oh bother, I've gone an doubled posted. Can't delete =/

 

[Eagle]

(although eBay actually own Gumtree)

Never knew that!

 

[m4ttch4tt]

Never knew that!

Me neither... Suppose thats how Jeff got his name!

 

[lmartin87]

In the USA it's Craigslist, in the UK it's gumtree (although eBay actually own Gumtree)

... and they own 25% of Craigslist too.

 

[viperek]

Poland - Allegro... not ebay. You still have fees etc. but for example you can buy without registering. And in Poland we dont even use PAYPAL!

 

[truereddevil]

I can see where some of you are coming from but when you always mention the words take on eBay then everybody comes out with the same tell your friend to stop wasting money, nobody can take on eBay etc etc. Basically everything has to start somewhere and you have to give it chance, graham the owner of castoff has a good businessman with a good head on his shoulders and so far from what I have seen has balls of steel and is no walkover lol, he tends to be quite different from eBay and will personally help anybody who wants to give it a go and help you every step of the way. So come on guys and gals from the Uk let's get behind our own british site.

Are there any proffessional sellers out there who already sell on eBay/amazon or have there own website and would like to try out the castoff.net selling platform graham is looking for 10 shops to put on the site as show shops for the new year u will get your shop designed free of charge there's 9 spaces left because I am taking one of them so if interested give me a shout

 

[vvaannmmaann]

ebay is an abreviation of evilbay.I though everyone knew that.

 

[Liybpg]

I have registered and I am prepared to undercut ebay strongly as I just want to get rid of some stock.

It now all depends on how many customers you site can attract. Tried eBid and had absolutely no sales for a while, so I just stopped.

I think for this to even have a remote chance of working - it has to be absolutely spot on and as clean as possible.

So far I don't see real advantages in comparisson to ebay. What is the USP?

 

[truereddevil]

For those who are tempted by this may wish to view the below thread from another forum that I visit. I do not sell in anyway but if I did I would not use these people as they are a bit of a joke in my eyes.
But see for yourselves
TO THE MODS, if it is against any rule to add this link then please remove.

http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk/forum/ebay-and-online-auction-discussion/94873-castoff-net.html

On a side note, truereddevil who started this thread is also a member there as well lol

Yes well spotted I am also a senior member on the wholesale forums that thread was from when graham first started out and yes he knows it was the wrong way to start out to get the publicity which I told him I am sure he will be along to explain his actions on why he started off like that

 

[truereddevil]

people can make up there own minds and let's hear peoples opinions about castoff.net 6 months to a year down the line I currently in my sector have alot of the Market share to myself and sales are steady on castoff for me so if other sellers what to get involved by all means do

 

[CastOff]

I think it's fair to say there are two or more sides to every argument and appreciate and thank those of you that are supportive. To those that are none supportive perhaps UKBF is the correct place to have a healthy business debate without devaluing the discussion or indeed the forum.

www.castoff.net has a clear commitment to it's members and offers an alternative online selling solution where there is a clear choice. The level of commitment is such that a relaunch is in beta to produce the improvements the CastOff members have requested right across the board. To see the improvements or hear about them first hand you only have to register as a member to receive newsletter updates or check back in to the site very shortly where they will be evident to all visitors.

 

[savmot]

It's just ebay with a different name, literally. If the name of the site was covered up I wouldn't know I wasn't on ebay, except I searched for a NES and the first result I got was a bbc audio cd of busmans honeymoon and a ton of other COMPLETELY unrelated stuff.
I'm sure this sites great for sellers with low fees, but why would buyers use it when they already have ebay?

 

[Drpepper]

That's two people today on this forum alone that are going to challenge ebay

 

[gemd89]

Whats the URL of this new site?

Gemma

 

[m4ttch4tt]

That's two people today on this forum alone that are going to challenge ebay

That's it, eBay is just going to have to shut up shop and admit defeat LoL!

 

[gemd89]

It says see the fees page but i cant find the fees page for sellers?

How do you pay if your the winning bidder, by bankcard?

Gemma

 

[steviemac]

I think it's fair to say there are two or more sides to every argument and appreciate and thank those of you that are supportive. To those that are none supportive perhaps UKBF is the correct place to have a healthy business debate without devaluing the discussion or indeed the forum.

www.castoff.net has a clear commitment to it's members and offers an alternative online selling solution where there is a clear choice. The level of commitment is such that a relaunch is in beta to produce the improvements the CastOff members have requested right across the board. To see the improvements or hear about them first hand you only have to register as a member to receive newsletter updates or check back in to the site very shortly where they will be evident to all visitors.

I'm sorry, but it's doomed to failure. I've stated the reason to another member earlier who has also started an auction site. Multiply that by about 50 other people across the world today who are launching their auction site.

Its a very nice looking site, but thats not enough. Ebid has been going for years with thousands of members and items for sale, but even they can't make a dent at all in Ebays armour.

Ebay and Gumtree rule the UK buying and selling online market....Full stop. Im not a big Ebay supporter but I recognise when a market simply cannot be penetrated by any newcomer

 

[truereddevil]

Steviemac thankyou for a good honest opinion, i know that this is a hard market to crack and will take time at least give castoff a chance to prove itself the thing is with ebay they are a huge juggarnaught yes and i believe that when something does come close to them yes they do get a little scared that is why ebay has bought anybody who even gets close to them out.Lets give castoff a year at least and then criticise i am sure it will surprise quite a few but this is of course just my opinion

 

[Jeff Knows]

I'm not sure it's wise to say it's an impossible nut to crack, it's rarely if ever been the case in the online world.

• MySpace was killed by Facebook's conservative styling, limited customization and better privacy.
• Altavista was killed by Yahoo's in-house published extra content and their affiliated services, like Yahoo mail. Yahoo was killed by Google's speed, simplicity and features.
• IRC was killed by the emoticons, bloops, bleeps and one-to-one nature of AIM and MSN.
• Hotmail was killed by Gmails radical feature set and power.
• MapQuest was killed by GMaps better coverage, swifter experience and easier layout.
• EverQuest was killed by World of Warcrafts low barrier to entry and streamlined goal completion mechanisms.

The internet is a very volatile place and very rarely does doing the same thing as your predecessor let you succeed. All of the above won over the public because they offered something radical. They offered a better deal to the customer. Internet users are fickle, they'll go wherever is easiest. It's no bother to just click their way to your competition so you have to always be a better offer to your customers.

From what I have seen, Castoff isn't different enough. It even looks a bit like eBay. You need a giant banner on the main page for the stupid people, shout at them why you are the same sort of deal as eBay but why you kick their arse.

Being British isn't good enough. The internet has no borders.

Good luck with it though, always good to see people having a pop. I think you just to punch a bit harder to get anywhere.

 

[Vicarious]

in the UK it's gumtree (although eBay actually own Gumtree)

I wish you hadnt told me that, they were my recruitment channel of choice or is it ok to just do a free listing

 

[Vicarious]

Love Jeff Ks list above I am sure we could add lots more.

Also reminds me that its not always about the 'best' that win. I remember using Alta Vista in 95 for research projects and nothing else came close at the time

I sit here using Opera and think this is what everyone should use but life is not like that

 

[dynamic08]

I dont agree that ebays fees are to expensive.

Where else can you reach the market that they offer for such little money.

 

[asianproducts]

I work for asianproducts, we help buyers and suppliers, show-case their goods in an e-marketplace. So i am interested in this kind of sites, as i am interested in advertising space for my company and trying to drive some UK sales. I'll take a look !

 

[m4ttch4tt]

Just can't escape sometimes...

 

[CastOff]

An interesting debate with wide and varied opinion and indeed we recognise and wholeheartedy respect the size of the CastOff challenge. CastOff.net has many different propositions yet to unfold but our primary focus is on attention to personal customer care. We hold the people who are our members dear and work with them by integration and offering a level of service sadly lacking world wide. We know many of our members on a first name basis and are quick (very) to answer queries or requests.