Section 8.1. Half.com: Mass Media Mania

8.1. Half.com: Mass Media Mania

You buy a video game and play it until you've mastered it. Then what do you do with it? You can let it lie around and collect dust, or you can sell it on Half.com and put the money toward a new, more challenging game. The same thing goes for books you've read, movies you've watched, and CDs that have worked their way to the back of your collection.

Half.com specializes in fixed-price books (including audio books and textbooks ), movies, music, video games , and video game systems. People who shop the site go there for good deals on used or remaindered mass media items.

8.1.1. Registering on Half.com

If you have an eBay account, you also have an account on Half.com, but the two sites require separate seller registrations if you want to sell on both. Moreover, some people like to use separate IDs for selling on the two sites; for example, you might have one account on eBay to sell estate jewelry and another on Half.com to get rid of books you've read and movies you've watched.

Note: One way that eBay has limited Half.com's growth is by restricting who can trade there. Only people who live in the U.S. can sell on Half.com. (The U.S. includes military personnel who are stationed overseas and have an APO or FPO mailing address.) Canadians can buy on Half.com but cannot sell on the site. Others who live outside the U.S. can neither buy nor sell on Half.com. If you don't live in the U.S., Half.com directs you to eBay.

To create a Half.com account, go to www.half.com, look in the upper-right corner of the page, and click the "sign in" link. On the page that opens, click Register. The registration process is the same as for eBay (Section 1.1).

When you list your first item on Half.com, the site asks you to register as a seller, even if you have a seller's account on eBay. There are two steps to creating a Half. com seller's account:

  1. Provide credit card information, a billing address, and contact information .

    Half.com collects this information to verify your identity. Unlike eBay, where you can avoid giving your credit card information by getting ID- verified (Section 5.4.2), you must submit a credit card number to sell on Half.com.

  2. Provide your bank account number and choose shipping options .

    Half.com makes payments directly into your checking account, so you must supply the name of your bank, its routing number, and the account number you want deposits to go to. (The numbers appear at the bottom of your checks.) Half.com sellers must agree to ship via U.S. Media Mail. You can also give buyers the option of choosing faster shipping at a higher price.

Tip: Offering expedited shipping is a good idea. It might make all the difference to a buyer who needs an item fast, like a student who needs a textbook at the start of a new term .

When you've completed these two steps, click Register. Half.com adds you to the ranks of its sellers and takes you back to the process of listing your item.

UP TO SPEED
A Little Half.com History

Half.com, launched by entrepreneur Joshua Kopelman in July 1999, began as a place where people could sell their used mass media: books, CDs, video games, movies, software, and so on. Sellers set a fixed price for their items, but that price had to be at least 50 percent lower than the retail price. Hence the name.

By offering a central location where sellers could easily weed out their CD or video collections and make a little money, Half.com quickly developed a following. Students, for example, could resell their textbooks at prices that offered buyers a bargain and sellers a leg up on college bookstores' buyback prices. Within months of its launch, Half.com started to appear on top-10 lists ranking online retail sites. In December 2000, one out of every eight online shoppers visited the site, situating it just behind Amazon. com and eBay in popularity.

One difference between Half.com and eBay was the fixed price sellers set for each item on Half.com. Another was the way the site made its money. Rather than charging listing fees and following up with Final Value Fees, Half.com collected buyers' payments, then, twice a month, sent that money to sellers minus a 15 percent commission. Half.com handled the credit card transactions; sellers didn't have to set up a merchant account, and buyers felt safe knowing that the companynot an individual sellerwas processing their credit card numbers.

On its meteoric rise to popularity, Half.com developed a reputation for some newsworthy marketing gimmicks. In 1999, it paid $100,000 to the town of Halfway, Oregon, and installed a couple dozen computers in schools there. In exchange, the tiny town of 345 residents agreed to change its name to Half.com. (You can check out the town's Web site at http://town.half.com.) Half.com also printed ads on peanut bagsabout "buying for peanuts," natchand offered tiny $5 coupons inside millions of fortune cookies. In the summer of 2000, when Half.com had barely reached the ripe old age of one year, eBay snapped up the company in a $300 million stock deal. About the same time, eBay instituted a fixed-price option on its own site: Buy It Now. eBay integrated the two sites' feedback and registration systems ( causing major migraines for some Half.com sellers when their inventories and selling histories disappeared) and for a while toyed with the idea of renaming Half.com "eBay Express Buys." For the next few years , it seemed like eBay didn't really know what to do with a fixed-price subsidiarynot many shoppers even realized that Half.com was part of eBayand in March 2003 eBay announced plans to phase out Half.com and "migrate" its items to a section of eBay called, lamely, "The Half Zone."

Half.com sellers rebelled. They preferred Half.com's fee structure, which charged a seller only when an item sold (no up-front listing fees like on eBay). And they worried that the projected closing date for Half.comJuly 13, 2004would ruin their prime selling season : the back-to-school market. Sellers lobbied eBay vigorously to save Half.com, or at least delay its demise until after students had bought their textbooks. eBay agreed to postpone the closing until October 14, 2004.

But then two things happened : many sellers didn't budge, refusing to transfer their inventories to eBay, and traffic on the site didn't slow down. New buyers and sellers kept right on registering and using the site. And some Half.com sellers defected to other e-commerce sites, like Amazon, rather than list their items on eBay, complaining that owning an eBay Store for low-cost items like used books and CDs was just too expensive.

In September, 2004, eBay relented and announced that Half.com would operate indefinitely as an independent site: Half.com by eBay.


8.1.2. Listing an Item

Selling on Half.com is easy. To get started, go to the home page, http://half.ebay.com, shown in Figure 8-1. At the top of the home page, under the tabs, click Sell Your Stuff to get to the page shown in Figure 8-2. From the "Sell your items" page, click the category linkBooks, Music, Movies/DVDs, and so onthat matches what you have to sell.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
eBay vs. Half.com

Is it better to list an item on eBay or on Half.com ?

All the Half.com categories are also categories on eBay. So when you're selling books, CDs, movies, or video games, how do you decide which site to use? Half.com charges no listing fees but takes a 15 percent bite out of your selling price. eBay's Final Value Fees are lower, but you have to pay just to list an item, whether or not it sells, and (unless you have an eBay Store) you have to be pretty sure your item will sell in about a week.

Choose Half.com if:

  • You have a large inventory of individual items that you think will take a while to sell . On Half. com, you can list items for as long as it takes to sell them without paying for that privilege; you pay when you've made a sale.

  • You want to list items indefinitely . An eBay Store costs $15.95 (plus a two-cent listing fee per item) each month, and you pay those fees whether or not you sell a single thing. If you're selling the stuff that buyers look for on Half.commass media itemsHalf.com offers increased exposure to the right kinds of buyers and no up-front fees.

  • Your inventory includes a lot of college textbooks . The start of a new semester brings students flocking to the site in search of used books in good condition. Since Half.com is an established market for textbooks, use it to reach those student buyers. August, September, January, and February are the hot months for textbook buying.

Go with eBay if:

  • You're selling a particularly rare or valuable book, like a first edition that will get collectors salivating . Take advantage of the auction format to get the best price. You never know how much collectors are willing to pay until they start bidding against each other, so an auction makes better sense than a fixed price.

  • You're clearing out your inventory and want to get rid of items in lots . On eBay, you can sell groups of slow-moving items together, rather than piecemeal. And eBay buyers tend to get more excited about a lot of video games or books rather than those listed separately.

  • You want to set your own shipping and handling fees . Half.com uses set shipping prices; eBay lets you set your own. You can add a little for handling to the sale price on Half.com, but if setting your own shipping and handling fee is important to you, list on eBay.


Tip: Or use Half.com's Quick Sell to skip a page and jump to Half.com's listing form. Just type the ISBN (for books) or UPC number (for other products) into the box and then click Continue. (Don't include the dashes when you type either of these numbers into a Half.com sales form.)

Figure 8-1. You can point your Web browser to www.half.com or half.ebay.com; either gets you to this page. The tabs across the top of the page take you to the various categories. In the bar directly below that, links let you buy gift certificates, start or view a wish list of items you'd like, preorder items not currently available on the site, sign up for recommendations in the different categories, or list items you have for sale. Click the upper-right sign-in link to register; the home link takes you to eBay's home page.


Figure 8-2. The first step in selling items on Half.com is choosing a category. Click the appropriate link to go to the listing form for that category. If you know your item's ISBN or UPC (see the box on Section 8.1.2), type it into the Half.com Quick Sell text box to skip a step. If you've got a number of items you want to list, speed up the process by clicking Multiple Item Listing.


When you choose a category, like Music, Half.com asks you for the UPC numberor the ISBN for books (see the box on Section 8.1.2 to learn what these numbers are and how to find them). If you type in the number (leave out the dashes) and then click Continue, you land at step 1 of Half.com's two-step listing form.

  1. Describe Your Item .

    On this page, a stock photo of the book or game or disc you're selling magically appears on the left-hand side of the page, along with some basic information like publisher/company and release date. Check to make sure this matches your item, and then select the condition of your itemfrom "brand new" to "acceptable." Table 8-1 shows how Half.com defines each condition.

    Table 8-1. Item Conditions According to Half.com

    Condition

    Description

    Brand new

    Never used. Still in original, shrink-wrapped packaging (if applicable ). The item is precisely the same condition as one bought in a department store.

    Like new

    Could easily be mistaken for brand new. No damage whatsoever to cover, packaging, or item itself. Nothing missing or marked in any way.

    Very good

    Not quite brand new, but little or no noticeable wear and tear. For books, this means minimal or no writing inside and no damage to any pages. For music, movies, and video games, the undamaged case or box comes with the item; no missing instructions or liner notes. CDs/DVDs don't skip; VHS tapes have good picture quality (no snow). An item listed as "very good" is one that you wouldn't be embarrassed to give as a gift.

    Good

    Minimal wear and tear (such as light creases or scuff marks) to cover or case. For books, there might be some creased pages or light underlining, but no colored highlighting. The condition should be such that you'd be willing to use the product yourself but hesitant to give it to someone else as a gift.

    Acceptable

    A little beaten up but still worth using. For books, this might mean that there are some tears or holes in the cover, heavy creases in the spine, and highlighting or extensive marking on the pages. For movies, music, and games, there might be a hole in the cardboard box or minor damage to the case; cover art, liner notes, or instructions might be missing.

    Unacceptable

    Damaged in a way that impairs someone's ability to use the items. You can't sell unacceptable items on Half.com.


    Next, on the Describe Your Item page, type a short description of the item into the Comments box. You've got up to 1,000 characters (including spaces) to use when writing your description, but only the first 40 characters appear on the search results page when a buyer searches for the item, as you can see in Figure 8-3. When a buyer clicks the "More info " link to check out an item, the full comment appears. So use those first 40 characters wisely: make them your sales pitch so your item stands out from all the others like it.

    Note: Half.com says that you can use a comment only to describe the item up for sale. So you can't advertise your Web page here.

    After you've written an item description, click Continue to go to the second step of the listing form.

    Figure 8-3. When a buyer searches for an item, Half.com sorts results by condition (Brand New, Like New, Very Good, and so on), showing the four lowest -priced items in each category. If your item isn't among the four cheapest listed, the buyer won't see it on this page. Buyers must click the "View all Items" link for that category to get the whole list. eBay also pushes the eBay site pretty hard in Half. com searches; search results include Buy It Now listings and auctions for the same item on eBay.


    UP TO SPEED
    ISBN and UPC

    ISBN? UPC? Knowing what these are and where to find them is the key to listing items on Half.com.

    ISBN stands for international standard book number , and UPC stands for universal product code . Each is an identifier that uniquely labels a particular kind of product. Just as retail stores use these numbers to keep track of their inventory, you can use them to list and manage your inventory on Half.com.

    Every published book has its own ISBN. Look on the back of your book, CD or DVD case, or VHS or video game box. An ISBN has ten digits (and sometimes ends in X, which is part of the number), and it often (but not always) appears near a bar code.

    UPCs began as a way for grocery stores to keep better track of their inventory, but soon spread to all kinds of retail products. The UPC number is the 12-digit number beneath the familiar bar code scanned at the checkout when you buy something in a retail store. A UPC has 12 digits; sometimes the first and last digits look like they're separate from the rest of the number, but don't forget to include them or Half.com won't be able to find your item.

    When you type an ISBN or UPC into a Half.com sales form (Section 8.1.2), Half.com searches its massive database for the book or product the number represents. It brings up a stock photo of the itema book cover or CD cover art, for exampleso you don't have to scan or photograph the mass media items you sell. Other information, such as publication or release date, edition number, and publisher or studio, also magically appears in your listing. You don't have to find or type any of that stuff.

    What if your item doesn't have one of these numbers? Use the Search box at the top of each page to search for the item you want to sell. Select the one like yours from the results list. In the upper-right corner of the item page, click the "Sell yours now!" link. This takes you to the Sell Your Item form, with the stock picture (if Half.com has one) and item title already supplied.


  2. Set Price & List Item .

    Before Half.com shows you the Set Price & List Item page, it does some lightning-fast market research to help you pick a selling price, based on your item's condition and the competition's prices, as shown in Figure 8-4. Half.com even suggests a price in the price box; either accept that price or type in your own, and then click List Item to add your item to Half.com's listings. It can take up to a couple of hours for an item to show up on Half.com after you've listed it.

Tip: If you're listing a bunch of items in one sitting, you can streamline the process by using Half.com's multiple listing form. From the home page, click Sell Your Stuff, then look under Half.com Quick Sell for the Multiple Item Listing link (you can see it in Figure 8-2). Click the Multiple Item Listing link to list up to 10 separate items at a time.

After you've listed an item on Half.com, you can list another item, shop the site, or manage your inventory by changing a description, setting a new price, canceling a listing, and so on (see the next section).

Figure 8-4. Half.com makes it easy for you to determine a good price by showing the average selling price and the current price range for identical items listed in the same condition as yours. It also shows the current price range of the item across all condition levels. To speed the sale, try listing your item at a price a little below the average selling price. If you can afford it, undercut the low price by a few cents .


Note: Half.com shoppers must pay for their purchases with a credit card. Half.com doesn't accept PayPal.

8.1.3. Managing Your Inventory

If you need to make changes to items you've listed, go to Half.com's home page and click Manage My Inventory. Sign in (if you haven't already), and then select the inventory category you want to manage (Books, Music, Games, and so on). A page like the one in Figure 8-5 opens.

Figure 8-5. To make changes to your Half.com listings, use the Manage Inventory page. You can edit your description, or you can change the description, quantity available, or price. To delete or suspend a listing, turn on the checkbox next to the item, go to the bottom of the list, and then click the appropriate button. Suspend is a convenient option if you'll be away from your computer for a few days. This view shows Edit Mode. Click the Repricing Mode tab to get current sales data.


The Manage Inventory page offers two different modes (look for the Edit Mode and Repricing Mode tabs in Figure 8-5). Each mode shows you different information and lets you make changes to your listings:

  • Edit Mode . Shows your item and its description, its status (active or suspended ), the date you listed the item, its condition and quantity, and the price. You can sort your inventory by status, item (in alphabetical order), date, condition, or price. Use Edit Mode to change an item's status, description, condition, quantity, or price.

  • Repricing Mode . Like Edit Mode, Repricing Mode shows the item, description, status, and pricebut it also offers current information about how this kind of item is selling: the last sold date and price, average selling price, and current price range. Repricing Mode lets you see whether you've priced your item too low or too high, in comparison with what's on Half.com right now; you can change the price right in Repricing Mode.

Tip: If your item might sell better on eBay, Half.com's Manage Inventory page lets you know with a check mark between the Delete and "List on eBay" links. Click the "List on eBay" link to suspend the Half.com listing and transfer the item to eBay. If your eBay listing ends without a buyer, you can reactivate the item on Half.com.

8.1.4. Making a Sale

When someone buys an item you've listed on Half.com, you get an email from Half.com asking you to confirm that you have the item and can ship it within 24 hours of your confirmation. Don't ignore this email! If you don't confirm within two business days, Half.com cancels the order.

Confirm the sale by replying to Half.com's email or by signing in to Half.com and going to your My Account page (click the "my account" link at the top of any page). From My Account, click Sales to see a list of orders that await confirmation or that you confirmed within the last week. Click the Confirm/Cancel link next to the appropriate order. The next page gives you more information about the order, including the buyer's shipping address and preferred shipping method (media mail or expedited). Click Confirm to proceed with the order or Cancel if you reject it.

Tip: If you know you can't ship within 24 hours, buy yourself some time to get to the post office by waiting a day before you confirm.

After you've confirmed an order, ship the item within one business day. Half.com frowns on slower shipping. Besides, buyers expect quick shipping, so if you drag your feet they might complain or leave negative feedback.

If you want to let the buyer know that you've shipped the item, go to your My Account page and click the Sales link to see a list of recent sales, each with a unique transaction number. Find the sale you want, click its transaction number, and then click the Contact Buyer button. A form appears that lets you email the buyer.

Tip: As with eBay sales, it's a good idea to get delivery confirmation from the shipper when you ship. Then, if any problems arise, you have proof that you sent the item.
GEM IN THE ROUGH
Use Half.com to Drive Buyers to Your eBay Auctions

As on eBay, you can't use your Half.com listing to direct shoppers to your own offsite Web page. You can, however, point shoppers to a Web page that contains more information about your eBay auctions. If you regularly sell items on eBay that may be of interest to Half.com shoppers, include a link to your eBay auctions in your Half.com item description.

Also, remember that Half.com searches turn up the same items for sale on eBay. So when you list items on eBay that Half.com shoppers are searching for, your eBay auctions will appear in their search resultsand you don't have to do a thing to make them show up there. Even better for eBay sellers, Half.com searches display only the four lowestpriced items in each condition category, but there's no such limit on the "Related Items on eBay" category.


Since eBay integrated registrations on eBay and Half.com, feedback left for Half.com sales appears in your Member Profile on eBay. Half.com feedback follows the same rules as feedback on eBay (Section 2.1).



eBay[c] The Missing Manual
eBay[c] The Missing Manual
ISBN: 596006446
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 100

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