8Feb12 Is this the eBay alternative for frustrated or disgruntled sellers kicked off the platform?

I recently stumbled upon KickedOffeBay.com. Their logo looks like this:

So… some sort of unhinged woman kicking us which I figured was meant to represent seller frustration with the eBay platform. My first thought was that this was some kind of forum where sellers could vent their frustrations with eBay.

But to my surprise and amazement, it’s not a forum… it’s actually a marketplace with fixed price, want ads, classifieds and auctions that hopes to compete with eBay. But building your whole e-commerce platform around the fact that the sellers on your site were those that eBay suspended or kicked off the platform? That seemed like kind of a bold choice. I had many questions.

Since I’m all about alternative marketplaces, I asked site owner Jen Baldwin if she’d be kind enough answer a few of my questions via email. I promised I’d post her answers verbatim and unchanged which is why I didn’t make any corrections to spelling or grammar below. 

Can you tell us a little about your new site, KickedOffeBay.com?

Kickedoffebay.com is a new auction site that doesn’t have rule after rule like ebay. We are more laid back and aren’t looking to control every aspect of every auction. You can buy, sell, trade items, make offers, post wanted ads, so there are many functions to the site. The biggest function is once you set up a online store, you can chose to list your auction as a auction and in your store all at the same time. Also why purchase a website and pay hosting fees when you can make your own store and you can give anyone out your store link, you can advertise your store thru google or any other advertisers. I also dont if you post auctions and list your own link for your own website, go ahead and advertise it. I know this is something ebay does not allow, you can’t mention your own website in your auctions, but on my site you are allowed.

What features do sellers get when they sign-up? 

For signing up you get a $5 credit in your account. When signing up for a large store you get a free logo made for free. We are still working on marketing tools thru google.

What are the fees for selling on this platform like?

We offer free listings, however you can add features to your auctions, some are free and some cost. You are allowed 4 pictures for free and here is a list of extras.

  • Xtra Images Upload Fee USD 1.00
  • Highlighted Item Fee USD 0.10
  • Home Page Featured Fee USD 0.25
  • Category Featured Fee USD 0.25
  • Additional Category Fee USD 1.00
  • Media Upload Fee USD 2.00

The biggest challenge for any new marketplace is always, how will you attract buyers? How do you plan to encourage buyers to try out this new marketplace?

Just word of mouth, hopefully once we get more people interested and they see how many great features the site has they will have more confidence.

The title of your site is geared to a very specific niche… disgruntled former eBay sellers, specifically those “kicked-off” the marketplace against their will. Are you afraid that portraying your site that way will turn off potential buyers?

Seeing how many people have been kicked off of ebay, I think it will sell itself. Ebay is still very large but not near what it used to be.

You mentioned to me earlier that you yourself were kicked off eBay, specifically that you violated eBay polices which is what resulted in your being kicked off the platform. Can you give us more info about what you did that resulted in your suspension?

I listed a few things in wrong catagories and was given warnings and then I listed a handbag w/ the Gucci brand that I got at a garage sale, not knowing the difference, they took me completely off the website and banned me saying I had to have a receipt and proof if it was real.

How many years were you selling on eBay before your suspension? How big was your eBay business? What sort of things did you sell?

I was on ebay for about 6 years and my rating was over 250, that was where I got all my extra money for my family. I sold anything and everything I found. It was a fun business til I got it taken away.

Besides eBay, what other selling platforms have you used? Did any other poor ecommerce experiences lead to the creation of this new site?

I own 3 websites. www.sellbuytrade.info, www.sewingfinethingsandmore.com and now www.kickedoffebay.com and I really enjoy being in control over my own destiny with anyone saying…. you are doing this wrong and take this down, reword this. As a matter of fact, I dont even use paypal. Paypal and Ebay go hand in hand, if you do something wrong with one of them, you really cant use either service. I decided to get a credit card merchant account for all my sites and have been very happy and stress free.

I know firsthand that it’s actually not that hard to get reinstated on eBay even after multiple suspensions because I’ve done it for client accounts. Did you work with support to recover your account at all or did you just decide it was better to walk away?

Yes, I did try to work with them, possibly they are more leniant now, but at that time, they were so large that they really didnt care about working with me.

Earlier, you explained KickedOffeBay as “a carefree auction site you can come sell on without worry of rule after rule.” I have to confess, as a seller and buyer both, that sentence terrifies me. Surely you have some policies in place to protect sellers and buyers from scams and other transaction issues. Would you mind detailing some of the rules and policies that you have in place and why you think they are better then what eBay has? The biggest problem with the title of the site is that it seems to imply that you are welcoming the unsavory element that was so bad eBay kicked them out.

My only rule is dont rip someone off. You list a item you make sure you disclose if it is real for fake. Of course I will make people change their auctions to represent the item correctly if they are not doing so… but I won’t remove someone from the site unless there is some form of deceiving behavior. No one wants to get ripped off and basically these days, every credit card company, bank has a system in place to get you your money back if you dont receive your item. It is something I dont’ have to worrry about too much because they are taking care of it.

If you had to sum up the advantage to selling on KickedOffeBay over any other platform out there in a sentence, what would that be?

Kickedoffebay is a worry free auction site that genuinly cares about each person and is there to help make them successful sellers, buyers and traders.

So… what do you guys think? Is this site a viable alternative for former eBay sellers? Would you consider buying or selling on KickedOffeBay yourself?

Selling online since 1997, Hillary is the author of Beyond Amazon, eBay, and Etsy and The Trading Assistant’s Assistant. She is also a niche blogger, fiction writer and bestselling playwright when you aren’t looking. You can connect with Hillary via social media using any of these links:

Facebook Twitter Google+ YouTube 

5 Comments Posted by in eBay, Testing, Try-outs and Reviews
Tagged , , , , , ,
  • Not Amused

    She needs to really rethink that marketing strategy as this one is is  a$$-backwards.
    One of the first rules e-commerce is to attract buyers….sellers will follow.And buyers want security and reassurance.  Shopping at a website run by ebay convicts (just an analogy) wouldn’t seem like a hot idea for someone looking to score that hard to find Laura Ashley dust ruffle or a football ticket on the 50 yard line.I can’t think of any scenario where buyers will shop on an auction site full of expelled ebay sellers.  Only if the deals/savings are REALLY significantly more than anywhere else. I’m talking in excess of 20% and no issues with the transaction whatsoever.But with ecrater (fee and chip-on-shoulder free) and Bonanza there is really no point to kicked offebay.com.But I do agree we need a really good auction-style alternative.ubid and the like are a joke AFAIAC.

    • http://www.hillarydepiano.com Hillary

      See, I always feel like auctions in general are the hardest thing for any new site to do because they rely so much on getting a lot of eyeballs on the listing to be successful. The only two I ever liked (as eBay alternatives) were Yahoo and Amazon auctions which, of course, both went under. It’s annoying. 

      That said… and I don’t know what’s to blame for this, but I do find myself doing less and less auctions every year in favor of fixed price. 

      • Herman

         EBay sort of skewed our perception of what a market place is or an eMarket should be, because they were a popular, well known platform that actually became a catchword for anybody wanting to make a dollar out of 15 cents.

        There’s quite a bit missing from this virtual world that doesn’t parallel the real world. Like a good old fashioned yard sale. Perhaps Craig’s List is that?

        In the real world we don’t tend to buy anything at auction. Even collectibles are more often sold fixed price, then at auction. And the price for me to put up for sale at a brick and mortar auction house is any were from 30% to 60% of the final value (usually at the higher end.) Ebay is still cheaper than that for the seller, which has made it attractive to anyone wanting to hold a garage sale or auction items.

        I really believe that if Yahoo tried it again, they would succeed and could improve on what eBay offers to the buyer.

        • http://www.hillarydepiano.com Hillary

          As someone who used to be all about auctions, I really like Best Match. To me, the ability to make an offer is the most like the real world retail experience. At a real garage sale, I will either buy the item at the listed price or start to haggle and that’s what Best Offer is like when done correctly. As a seller, I’d rather just throw a price out there and let that be the starting point for the buyer and I to arrive at a price.

  • Anonymous

    This interview does not inspire confidence in the site. I doubt I’d buy or sell there, especially when there are better alternatives. She definitely needs to refine her message, since the impression I got was of a disorganized site where people are free to rip each other off. There’s an overpowering impression of bitterness and sour grapes that won’t do much to bring in the buyers.

    I do wish there was an real “name” alternative auction site, since eBay auctions are not what they used to be. It’s rare these days to get more than one bidder, unless you have an exceedingly rare or popular item. I’d probably do more fixed-price listing if the insertion fees wheren’t so high. For slower-moving items, listing fees will eat your profit in no time.

The Whine Seller