So you thought there was only eBay..huh?

Ebay might have been the site that really bought online auctions into the public arena, but there are a host of other auction sites out there.

The site I am reviewing here, is an fully Australian alternative to eBay.

Most of those sites, were borne out of the desire to fully cater to the Australian audience, rather than eBay, which whilst they have an Australian site, which we all love, was build on what an American company thought, we Aussie's should have.

There are so many pros, to some of the new Aussie sites, but they all suffer from one big downfall and that is traffic.

At the moment us Aussie's are used to eBay, we may complain about this and that, but it seems to be a case of the devil you know (as opposed to the devil you don't).

Probably the biggest and most successful Australian auction site, would be Oztion,

Oztion has been up and running since early 2005 which coincided with eBay's first major fee increase ,that had many sellers up in arms. It really was perfect timing for a new site to immerge.

Right from the get go, Oztion gained a small (by comparison) but fiercely loyal seller base and it has now risen to have over 4000 sellers with more than 81,000 item for sale, within the first year of operation.

In June 2006, eBay announced another fee increase. This is time is was much more dramatic, in some cases up to 500% and sellers of lower cost item, simply couldn't afford to sell on eBay.

As of November 2006, oztion has swelled to have a membership of just under 100,000 members. It regularly advertises on radio and other internet sites and has over 330,000 for sale.

In the lower cost categories, like craft and scrap booking, the move has been so dramatic, that a search of "scrapbooking" on the 29/11/06 brought up almost 20,000 hits on oztion, where as it only produced 8,100 hits on eBay. This turn around was something that even the creators of OZtion, would not have imagined for themselves.

 

PROS -

There are several massive selling point in favour of OZtion

• It is free to list your items on the site. You are charged a small fee when your item sells only and if it doesn't sell you pay nothing. The sale fee ranges from 1.5% to 3% of the sale price, with the fee capped at $30. You will pay a little bit extra for listing upgrades, but lots of important upgrades, like a gallery photo, which ebay charges AU$0.59 for, comes free with the listing.
• Oztion is for Australian sellers. One of the biggest problems facing eBay Australia today, is the flooding of almost every category by selling who claim to be in Australia but are actually based out of Asia. This is over come by Oztion by only allowing Australian sellers to list, meaning a better shopping experience for buyers who do not wish to purchase item from abroad.
• All items listed for sale via OZtion are offered by Australian businesses or individuals that have been security verified by OZtion’s unique seller verification process. Oztion require verification via either credit card, drivers licence or address, before sellers can start trading. This goes a long way in protecting unknowing buyers, plus it means that if a seller does the wrong thing with their account it is not so easy to just start another account, which is how eBay is run at the moment with it's lack of proper verification on sellers and buyers.

On top of those major benefits, there are lots of little touches that OZtion have implemented after listening to their members such as

• - Do not disclose the auction remaining time. This is where the buyer can not see how long an auction has left to run, in the hopes it will spur them into placing an immediate bid.
• - Auto extend one minute if a bid is placed in last 60 secs. This if for sellers who do not like buyers "sniping" their items i.e. placing a bid in the dies seconds of the auction leaving other bidders no change to increase their bid.
• Auto Relist - Item is automatically relisted in a continuous loop until it sells or the seller cancels the listing.
• The option of choosing your own bid increments.
• Sellers can opt to promote themselves on OZtion's "promote yourself" section. Seller place a bid for the highest spots and their advert is then placed in order of who paid the most, and so on down the line.

They have since added V-Stores to their line up. The stores run in a similar way to an eBay store. They offer their own URL and many professional features, that makes them extremely functional as well as attractive. One of the most unique features is V-Store sales, where members can offer their items at a set percentage discount for the set number of days. There is a small charged for this which varies on the length of your sale and the percentage off you are offering.

As with all OZtion products, it is very easy to use, especially for beginners and those with little or no internet auction site experience.

OZtion charge $5pm to host a V-Store (compared to $14.95 for a basic eBay store). The store items will appear in general searches and buyers can add your products to their own personalised wish list.

CONS -

In the majority of categories, sales are very slow on OZtion. The general buying public on a whole, are not aware that the site exists. Whilst they are trying to change this with their advertising efforts, there is no denying that is it stand as of November 2006, the traffic can not even come close to comparing to eBay's.

Sale prices are not as strong on OZtion, making it a buyers paradise - if they could only find the site. Promotions and listing upgrade are a fraction of the price, yet for alot of items your item will still fetch a better price on eBay, despite having to give a huge chunk of the proceeds to ebay's coffers.

They have member forums, which most sites do have, however with a smaller membership it is a more personal forum. You will find alot more personal conversations, than helpful auction type advice, but it is a great place to meet people, if you are interested in making new friends.