What's Up with this Changing World of E-Commerce?

What's up? So much! I have not been blogging because I stopped using Inkfrog to host my photos and I cannot find an FTP service that saves photos the correct size to fit the format of this blog. I have not looked very extensively because I have been busy, busy growing and changing with the times. Things are changing fast in the world of E-commerce. Last July, a group of us eBay sellers noticed a drastic drop in traffic and sales on eBay. It was then that we learned of a new search engine called "Cassini". We have run extensive tests as we all watch our eBay businesses die and have learned that Cassini does not work well. So if you are shopping for items that you used to find on eBay and are not having them come up in search, that's the problem. So, how can you find wonderful vintage and antique items? Where are all of the good sellers going? Here's the scoop:
Etsy.
So many of the good ebay sellers that have fine vintage and antique goods can be found now on Etsy. I have been selling there for a year now and I love it. I can offer my finds at lower prices because the fees are lower. It is a friendly environment and a community with great communication. Etsy is just about to update to an all-white clean look so that it will be optimized for smart device viewing. Photos are presented in a larger format and much easier to see than eBay. Try Etsy!
Websites.
Many of us have our own websites now thanks to user friendly sites like Shopify. For the seller it is harder to promote, and for the buyer one has to find the website, but you can see wonderful things that a seller perhaps cannot sell on a traditional platform for one reason or another.
One Kings Lane.
A beautiful place to shop! 100% curated and every seller is hand picked. You will find the best of the best here and can buy with confidence knowing that your purchase is fully protected. You can sell here with the same confidence. The hand picked finds, the designer inspired sales events and the trendy feel of this site is addictive! The site is beautiful, clean and rich.
Hunters Alley.
Owned by One Kings Lane, this is a beautiful up and coming site that made it's debut only last November. It is a socially based site where you can comment on items and favorite them. Each item is hand picked and that entire site is curated. No junk here. Photography is fab, designer events are exciting and the site has a clean look just like it's big sister.
11 Main.
This site promises to be huge competition for ebay. This sales platform is being built now and will enter the BETA phase in the early summer. Every seller is hand picked and every item is curated by designers and category experts. True customer service is the focus. 11 Main wants the seller and customer to get to know each other, just like a Main Street shop. This company treats sellers like gold and that very goodwill is passed right on to buyers. Look for this to be a great place to find good vintage.
So, do you see the trend for selling vintage and antique goods? CURATED. Curated sites. E-commerce is just about 20 years old now. It all got too big. Too many people, too much stuff. We know who the good guys are and we know who the bad guys are. The best of the best are coming together. We have formed seller groups. We are not alone anymore. We talk about where to sell and how to promote our items so that you can find them. We post on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Wanelo so that you can find us where-ever it is that you like to "hang out". We sellers have joined forces. When a new sales platform is introduced, together we evaluate it, discuss it, test it and if it's good, we all go there together. You will now see your favorite sellers on more than one site. You will see us on sites that we hand-picked and that hand-picked us. Our items featured there will be chosen to fit the trends of that site. What does that mean for the shopper, the collector of antique and vintage? No more digging through crap. No more terrible out of focus, poorly lighted photography. No more mean people. No more unprofessional garage sale sellers. No more knowledge deficient "copy cat" bottom feeder sellers trying to rip you off. No more scams. These are the days of social networking. Know who you are buying from. Find the best sellers with the best stuff. Find the sellers with the knowledge and experience who will get to know you and help you find what are looking for.
We are still here. We are growing and moving. We are still buying great things...great things just for you! Branch out and try these other places to shop. I promise that you won't miss the old ones at all.