Action for auctions
Tapping into the need for assistance by sellers on sites such as eBay, a Waltham firm offers help in formulating pricing and marketing
AuctionPal, of Waltham, is trying to take the hassle out of selling items on eBay and other auction websites.
Hundreds of companies and entrepreneurs already help consumers sell stuff online, but nearly all of them ask customers to bring their items into a store or to a drop-off site. But auctionPal is attempting to leverage the Internet to help customers sell items right out of their own homes at lower cost.
"I thought the concept of using bricks-and-mortar stores in a virtual world was a backward way to go about it," said 25-year-old Andrew West, who founded auctionPal with his 28-year-old brother, Colby West.
The company has brought aboard a veteran software entrepreneur, Maureen Ellenberger, as chief executive and convinced Dace Ventures Group, of Boston, and another party to invest a total of $3 million in the business.
The Wests say buyers far outnumber sellers on most auction websites because it takes too much time for casual sellers to set up accounts and get started. Between taking photos of sale items, writing descriptions, and setting up eBay and PayPal accounts, Ellenberger said, it often takes six hours for novices to place an item for sale on eBay.
"There's a lot of hassle," she said. "The best customers for us are those who have tried."
The hassle factor, auctionPal says, is the reason more than 92 percent of the users of auction websites are buyers and that repeat sellers account for most of the items put up for sale.
EBay won't confirm those numbers, refusing to categorize its 83 million active users as either buyers or sellers. But in its second-quarter report, eBay said its customers posted 559 million listings, down 6 percent from the year-earlier quarter.
A whole industry has sprung up to serve those who want to sell items on eBay; eBay has eBay University to help its customers learn the ropes, and there are independent trading assistants who run selling operations out of their homes. Companies like i-Soldit.com and Quikdrop.com operate retail stores or drop-off locations where consumers can leave items to be sold.
The fees for eBay sales assistance can be high. Fees charged by eBay trading assistants vary, depending on the level of service and the item, but typically are 25 to 50 percent of the sale price. The websites of i-Soldit and Quickdrop indicate they charge 35 to 38 percent of the sale price, but those prices don't include eBay and PayPal charges, which bring the total fee to $43 for an item selling for $100.
AuctionPal makes it easier for sellers by doing most of the work for them - online. For each item, the company develops a sales strategy, lists the item on an auction site, manages the auction, sends a shipping kit to the seller, and processes the payment once both parties are satisfied.
The company's fees vary depending on the level of service. Customers who supply pictures and descriptions are charged 20 percent of the sale price. Those who need more assistance, primarily by phone, are charged 30 percent. Those who want an auctionPal employee to come to their home and handle everything are charged 35 percent. All of the fees include shipping and any charges assessed by eBay and PayPal.
AuctionPal launched its home service in the Boston area in May and is now developing a national network of agents to handle home visits. It launched its self-service option in July and began advertising its services last month. By the end of September, auctionPal had handled 2,000 auctions and become a platinum power seller on eBay, a recognition of both high sales volume and customer satisfaction.
Sarah Green, who graduated from Brandeis University in May, is the so-called fashionista at auctionPal. She handles auctions for items like designer handbags, shoes, and clothing. She occasionally has to tell customers that the item they want to sell is a fake.
Sitting in her cubicle recently, Green assembled an eBay listing for a Burberry coat. There is a detailed description of the coat and four photos. One of the pictures shows the coat's sales receipt, which Green had asked the customer to submit because "eBay bidders need proof that it's real."
AuctionPal's software tells her the average selling price of this type of Burberry coat on eBay is $124 and suggests a starting price of $75. Green, who says a high starting price often deters bidders, decides to start the bidding at $9.99. The coat eventually sells for $129.50
Michael Sperlinga of Boston had an Apple iPod, an IBM Thinkpad, a Sony Walkman, two Sharp Aquos LCD TVs, and a Harman Kardon entertainment system that he wanted to sell. The Merrill Lynch executive didn't want to bother with photographing the items himself, so he had auctionPal's Tom Egan come to his apartment and catalog everything.
"The whole convenience factor was the key reason for me," Sperlinga said.
Egan took about 45 minutes to photograph the items, type up descriptions, and ask Sperlinga whether the TV screens come with power cords, the entertainment system has a remote, and the iPod has music on it.
"The more information you can put in these the better," Egan said as he typed away on his laptop. "It just makes the buyer feel more comfortable."
Sperlinga's items sold for a total of $434, of which Sperlinga kept $282 and auctionPal received $152. The only thing Sperlinga had to do was pack and ship the items using the kit mailed to him by auctionPal.
Sperlinga was so pleased with how it went that he is arranging for auctionPal to come to his storage unit to arrange for the sale of a number of items there.
"I didn't know it was this easy," he said.
Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com.
