The future of ebsq????

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The future of ebsq???? - 3/5/2006 11:10:41 AM

artchick48

Posts: 5
Joined: 7/30/2005
Status: offline

i'm not sure whereor if this is the place to ask this.

a couple years back there was discussion on the ebsq forum that they were thinking to offer a store type format for ebsq, where artists would sell their art directly to the public from the ebsq website

i checked back time to time to see if i could find anything further but didn't...was this possibility or idea scrapped entirely?

please excuse i have not been weel but this was on my mind before my stroke, i.e. that ebay continues to drive collector buyers away ...these people are going to shop someplace for art. Sites like yessy, artspan, hometowngallery and the like are springing up on the net, offer ART ONLY by category, monthly or annual fee with point of purchase shopping carts. Yessy at $59 per year is almost half of my website and less than my ebay store at $180 per year which generates several sales each month, artists I know say they are getting sales at these types of sites..i had a $450 sale myself at yessy within 3 weeks of joining. I think ebay could learn from yessy about how to lay out the art categories but ebay isn't insterested in promotoed art as art shoudlb e promoted...ebya is quickly becoming just a garage sale.

I myself am leary of powersellers, i have been stuck so much with scam products and the seller has ebay's; persmission to keep part of the buyer's money even if the item does not work or is not as described.

Wouldn't YOU love as an art seller to makes money on all sales even on items returend...yep a dreams for those who have no conscience.

It takes me all evening to relist or list similar using ebay..yessy's is faster. I don't mind their getting 10% on each sale, they provide the credit card and infrastructure, also allow me to use my own paypal as well..and they take no cut. google is taking on ebay with their new payment system

I'm not quite looloo yet but with the writing on ebay's walls, do powers that be at ebsq have any ideas like this in the back of their mind for the future, i.e. ebsq becoming a direct point of purchase type of art site? Or in the alternative it would be nice to hear what the leaders at ebsq see in the future for ebsq, say in the next 3 years or 5 years? thanks! Lee

Post #: 1

RE: The future of ebsq???? - 3/5/2006 11:18:15 AM

gillie

Posts: 5770
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Pittsburgh, PA
Status: offline

First of all, glad to see you finally posting on the new forums!

Secondly, no, you haven't lost your marbles. We *were* planning to launch e-commerce on the EBSQ website last March but due to a rather cataclysmic server crash, we lost literally years worth of development work and had to start over again from scratch.

That development continues, however. I don't know how soon it will be available to the public, but we learned a lot from the loss of all of that work and feel that when we are able to offer the next version of the website, which *will* include sales, it will be even better than what we had originally planned.

I don't know if that addresses all of your questions or concerns, but trust me, the future of EBSQ is pretty much on our brains 24/7. We realized years ago that eBay wasn't the be-all of the art world and moved our attention away from being so eBay-centric what feels like eons ago. They are simply a small portion of what our services are focused upon.

Warm regards, and hope to see more of you in the future!
-Amie

_____________________________

Amie Gillingham
co-founder, EBSQ
web: http://www.ebsqart.com
blog: http://blog.ebsqart.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/ebsq
Get out of the vacuum and express yourself!

(in reply to artchick48)

Post #: 2

RE: The future of ebsq???? - 3/5/2006 12:37:46 PM

Guest

Because of ebsq's strong visibility on eBay it has become a well known website and is getting known to the public at large. I'd rather just sit here and wait it out because this is where I am known.

Time constraints keep me from going around and looking for other websites. I think it is worth waiting for.

My locality has plenty of opportunities for me to participate if I would just get serious and utilize them. Because ebsq gives me for my fee a place to put my portfolio, when I meet up with people in my community here, I just say go to www.ebsqart.com amd click on my name under artists. I have found that people know the name already whereas essy may not be so well known. Because ebsq was linked so well to eBay, I think it is natural to stay.

But then again I don't browse so what do I know. Ebsq works for me so far. I'd rather just wait it out.

Diana

(in reply to gillie)

Post #: 3

RE: The future of ebsq???? - 3/5/2006 1:08:20 PM

rawynd

Posts: 1272
Joined: 7/30/2005
Status: offline

quote:

ebay is quickly becoming just a garage sale

Actually, ebay has always been pretty much a garage sale. So I think the dissappointment alot of us have in it's unwillingness to promote the art category probably comes from our own expectations and well, wishful thinking. Art isn't like the other stuff on ebay which has already developed value and/or brand recognition (electronics, clothing, collectibles) so it would take a lot more to promote art from essentially unknown artists and have it really sell the way the other stuff on the site does. So of course, they're going to go where the grass is greenest i.e. the largest return for the smallest investment.

And also a lot of us forget, ebay did try to jump in to the "art game" buying Butterfields and trying to bring that type of art sales online and lost a bundle. Ebay Premiere I think it was called? And while we might have benefitted from the trickle down effect over the years had it been successful, it basically excluded non-listed artists anyway.

< Message edited by rawynd -- 3/5/2006 1:13:29 PM >

_____________________________

-april

*still cheesy*

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Post #: 4

RE: The future of ebsq???? - 3/5/2006 6:52:44 PM

artchick48

Posts: 5
Joined: 7/30/2005
Status: offline

Hi Amie thanks for the quick answer, that helps..it's going to be a while before I'm back to painting and trying to come up with a new plan for myself based on my brain revision, lol.

Lee

(in reply to rawynd)

Post #: 5

RE: The future of ebsq???? - 3/6/2006 7:19:19 AM

rexallen

Posts: 21
Joined: 11/30/2005
Status: offline

Hello Everyone, just to put my 2 cents in here, yes I would be interested in commerce directly through EBSQ also...on a slightly different note- I am quite pleased with my membership here, and I very excited by both the current goings on, as well as the potential future of EBSQ. I do not post very often, and am fairly new here, but from what I see so far, I think this is a top notch art site! One thing I would be interested in as well is offering additional templates for members to use in their online auctions. Although I do see the benefit of the branding effect created by sticking with just one...Thanks, rexallen

< Message edited by rexallen -- 3/6/2006 7:29:50 AM >

(in reply to artchick48)

Post #: 6

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/9/2006 2:36:28 PM

JohnPenfold

Posts: 580
Joined: 11/10/2005
From: South East Ireland
Status: offline

My own, admitedly minimal, research into ebay showed that most ebay paintings either sell for nearly nothing, or, more likely, just plain don't sell. (I simply reviewed finished items).

I think that if EBSQ had some sort of quality filter on what was sold, it would distance itself from the garage-sale feel of ebay and command better prices. That quality filter could be EBSQplus. This would also clarify "plus" as the commercial segment of EBSQ. I'm not sure if that is what "plus" is for, it's what I assume it is ... just thinking aloud here.

By the way, I realised that EBSQ has already fulfilled one of Van Goghs his dreams - to foster a comunity of artists who can share experiences and support each other. What a great achievement, especially as the international comunity in EBSQ is broader than Van Gogh probably hoped for ...

Amie, I admire you for seeing a silver lining in loosing that years work, when you said that the realisation of that work will be better for the loss.

_____________________________

John

Painting Diary
ABC of Hang Gliding
The Cult of Elsie

(in reply to rexallen)

Post #: 7

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/9/2006 8:11:33 PM

gillie

Posts: 5770
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Pittsburgh, PA
Status: offline

We have no interest whatsoever in focusing any more attention or energy on eBay. "Plus" was created about 4 or 5 years ago as a direct result in wanting to play the "quality control" game, but we've seriously grown past that raison d'etre as an organization. We're happy enough to include tools that help our artists, at whatever level in their career, brand their work and put forward professional looking auctions on eBay and elsewhere. But that's pretty much it.

I personally find it ironic that so many people still consider us to be an "eBay" group. Less than 20 percent of our membership sells there regularly, if at all. That's part of why we're interested in doing more and other things to empower artists to sell their work above and beyond eBay, including e-commerce on our site.

_____________________________

Amie Gillingham
co-founder, EBSQ
web: http://www.ebsqart.com
blog: http://blog.ebsqart.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/ebsq
Get out of the vacuum and express yourself!

(in reply to JohnPenfold)

Post #: 8

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/30/2006 12:02:00 PM

dede10

Posts: 106
Joined: 7/30/2005
Status: offline

Hi Amie,

I just droped in the forums to see if there was any news on this exact topic - selling on EBSQ so I got that answer. I was also wondering if you guys are still thinking of doing a fine craft site as a kind of sister site of EBSQ. It was brought up a long time ago and I'm wondering where that idea is sitting now. I've been looking online for a place to sell such stuff - obviously the ebsq craft site (if it sold stuff) would have been my first choice.

Thanks,

Andree

_____________________________

http://www.silverworkshop.ca

(in reply to gillie)

Post #: 9

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/30/2006 1:03:46 PM

gillie

Posts: 5770
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Pittsburgh, PA
Status: offline

EBSQcraft will probably be here within the year; we just needed to finish development on the other planned/promised features before we could take on something new.

It's a-comin'!

_____________________________

Amie Gillingham
co-founder, EBSQ
web: http://www.ebsqart.com
blog: http://blog.ebsqart.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/ebsq
Get out of the vacuum and express yourself!

(in reply to dede10)

Post #: 10

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/31/2006 1:44:40 PM

dede10

Posts: 106
Joined: 7/30/2005
Status: offline

Yay! In the meanwhile I've just discovered etsy (I know, how out of the loop can you be??) so this'll have to make me happy for now!

Andree

_____________________________

http://www.silverworkshop.ca

(in reply to gillie)

Post #: 11

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/31/2006 8:21:10 PM

rexallen

Posts: 21
Joined: 11/30/2005
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: gillie

We have no interest whatsoever in focusing any more attention or energy on eBay. I personally find it ironic that so many people still consider us to be an "eBay" group.

Speaking only for myself of course, I noticed that ebsq mentions ebay in its marketing speel, and that is one of the MAIN reasons I chose ebsq, because you convinced me of the benefits of using ebsq for ebay. Not to be confrontational, but why would you find it ironic if you are the one promoting ebsq's involvement, success, and history with ebay? By the way, I am quite pleased with ebsq and I promote ebsq on ALL my ebay auctions. I think what you offer is great, I just don't understand the seeming animosity of your words...I am new here, is there a riff between ebsq and ebay I don't know about? I hope that everything is great between the two, because I want my involvement with ebsq to ENHANCE my presence on ebay...sincerely, rexallen

(in reply to gillie)

Post #: 12

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/31/2006 8:33:13 PM

gillie

Posts: 5770
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Pittsburgh, PA
Status: offline

No, there's no rift with eBay or anything like that. It's just a concern that many see eBay services as our organization's sole purpose, whereas we see it as part of our past, and part of our present and forseeable future, but not our reason for existence at this stage in the game. We've been trying for years to lose the "eBay group stigma", particularly since to be honest only a very small percentage of our members have any interest in eBay at all. Our hope is to support our members efforts in representing their own work to the public wherever they wish, however they wish, without pushing a venue or agenda.

Hope that makes some small amount of sense!

_____________________________

Amie Gillingham
co-founder, EBSQ
web: http://www.ebsqart.com
blog: http://blog.ebsqart.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/ebsq
Get out of the vacuum and express yourself!

(in reply to rexallen)

Post #: 13

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/31/2006 8:36:55 PM

chinchillabutt

Posts: 7432
Joined: 7/30/2005
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: gillie

Hope that makes some small amount of sense!

completely

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Post #: 14

RE: The future of ebsq???? - e-comerce - 3/31/2006 8:43:03 PM

rexallen

Posts: 21
Joined: 11/30/2005
Status: offline

Thanks gillie for your quick reply, I am not even sure how I found out about ebsq, (the memory goes first I guess!), but I was pretty excited to be even a small part of it, and to use its tools to help me financially on ebay. I believe ebsq IS helping, and that is very cool, indeed...I am looking forward to all the e-commerce stuff you are planning, and hope you are a massive success with the non ebay venues as well. thanks, rexallen

(in reply to gillie)

Post #: 15