eBay Alternatives: Alibris, Atomic Mall, Etsy, OnlineAuction.com, Wigix

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com

Here is a roundup of news coming from online marketplaces
and eBay alternatives.


Alibris is publishing a new column by founder Richard Weatherford that promotes books that could be considered
affordable collectibles as opposed to "antiquarian books
sitting in a glass case." Alibris said sellers with
those types of books ("Whether its an autographed Janet
Evanovich or a modern first edition, like Stephenie
Meyers New Moon"), should expect to see an increase
in sales of this type of material.

The world's largest book fair. Buy and sell blue-ribbon
books at bake-sale prices.

Atomic Mall added two new store functions.

Coupon Codes allows merchants to create and store up to
three unique promo codes with attached discounts (either
a percentage or a fixed dollar amount) to give privately
to select buyers or to advertise publicly. Country
Discount helps sellers who ship items internationally
and wish to offer shipping cost adjustments to buyers
in certain countries.

Atomic Mall is a storefront setup wherein members can
list items in their Mall store in a fixed-price format
with or without multiple items within each listing.
Atomic Mall offers free membership, 100% free listings
with commission fees, and a free Storefront with
various membership upgrades for a fee.

Etsy.com posted a message from its Product Team to summarize
recent developments and to announce its priorities for
the second half of the year. The marketplace said its
top focus continues to be helping shoppers find and
discover unique items and making it easier for them
to check out, more information is found in
the announcement.

If you aren't familiar with Etsy.com, it is a
marketplace devoted to all things handmade,
everything from crocheted toys to custom made
corsets, as well as vintage items and craft supplies.
Etsy is the largest selling venue online for handmade
products with $12.9 million dollars worth of goods
sold in December 2008 and growing.
Etsy has kept its fees steady and low with constant
improvements, the latest being the addition of
Google Analytics for users to track their visitor stats.

OnlineAuction.com said sales are at an all-time high
and still climbing. The auction site said year-to-year
sales increased over 185% during Q1-2009 and increased
over 350% during Q2-2009, and reported that second-quarter
sales in 2009 exceeded sales for the full-year 2008.

Wigix launched Craigster to publish items to Craigslist.
Wigix spokesperson Steve Young said, "We believe in
doing whatever we can so that our sellers are able to
maximize their sales. Craigster is just another way for
us to do that. We already have tools for sellers to
publicize their items on Twitter and Facebook and now
with Craigster, they have a localized option."