AC Dickson: eBay Power Seller

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Hell Hath No Fury Like AC Scorned
by acdickson

The Portland Mercury is a local weekly paper here in Portland, Oregon. Not one of the first wave of weeklies from the late 60s that started as an alternative to the conservative daily papers (think Village Voice), but one of the more recent weeklies started in reaction to the first wave becoming a serious source for local news, politics and culture (think the Onion).

Last year the Mercury had its first holiday charity auction — a lunch date with the publisher, a mix CD from the music editor, etc. Good fun, good prizes, a good cause. Where did the upstart paper turn to conduct this auction? eBay of course. At the time I sat back, watching their auctions with bemused curiosity. They made some amateur mistakes, but nothing AC couldn't school them on.

Now a year later another charity auction comes along. They've got some good stuff for sale, not the least of which is the original manuscript of Fight Club. This alone should bring a few grand. But they also have made a score of basic 101 mistakes.

First off, nowhere in the paper is any mention that eBay is once again the auction host. The paper directs potential bidders to their website which then slowly, through numerous pages, directs them to eBay. Not only is using the greatest website ever created and not giving it any press offensive, but it's bad business. They've made it more difficult for readers to find the auctions. I defy any but the most seasoned eBay bidder to be able to pull this page of all 50 auctions up in less than 5 minutes. I couldn't do it. You know why? Cause I didn't know these were eBay auctions. People, just direct them to eBay and have them do an advance search by seller. You save them time and you raise more money.

But the biggest offense is that AC was not brought in to consult on these auctions. First the state of Oregon and their lake-capping plastic fiasco, now the Mercury trying to run an eBay game. When will they learn that when you want to run with the big dogs, you better run fast and bark loud or stay on the porch? One would think that if the most widely revered and respected PowerSeller in the world lived in your town, indeed had been written about in your own pages, you'd give him a call.

"Hey AC, we're a little new at this, we're wondering if you'd double-check our auctions before we post them."

Sadly, those sweet words were never uttered, despite that fact that I share this blog community with many of their staffers. Just taking a quick glance at the titles of the auctions I can find room for improvement in virtually every one. This isn't about being a perfectionist, this is about maximizing search engine hits, thus raising more money. When I look at the auctions listings... so much to be improved upon I don't even know where to begin. Perhaps providing a picture and including decent descriptions would be a good place. Or letting people know that this is a charity auction. Or doing some cross-promotion for the other 49 auctions. All this information is (badly) laid out on the Mercury website. If we consider that the bidders on the big-ticket items are not likely to be Portlanders or Mercury readers, this is just idiotic. The sheer amount of money that not consulting with AC will cost them is staggering.

And not to beat a dead horse, but can you imagine if they had asked AC to list these auctions through the acdickson account? Not only would I have polished the auctions up and implemented many of my patented advanced techniques, but wary bidders would have had the confidence to bid that over 1400 unique positive feedbacks brings. But hey, I'm sure the 2 positive feedbacks of mercurygifts won't stop anyone from sending thousands of dollars through PayPal for a vaguely and all-too-briefly described "original manuscript" of Fight Club. Oh wait, yeah it will.

Let's not even get into how using one of the biggest eBay celebrities the world over to shepard your auctions is a sure way to increase traffic and buzz. Portland Mercury, I wish you all the best of luck in raising money for Bradley-Angle House, but luck only gets you so far. Next time, perhaps you'll ask for the help of a professional.

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