Forum or Auction Site? (Part 2)

I am sorry if the reader of my articles find it a little boring. I am trying to run through the basics of selling locally, before heading over to the more interesting parts; Selling Internationally and making some serious money!!

Following up from the previous article I would now like to discuss the pros and cons of each site. By understanding the different type of sellers available, we would be able to understand why they chose to sell at those sites.

Forum Site
People normally sell on the forum sites because of the following few key reasons. Forum sites are always free and very informal. People normally start by selling or trading their old and unwanted items. Others would try to do a bulk service at a forum based site. Since you do NOT actually have the item, you are making an offer to purchase the goods as a group. A forum would be the ideal place for the bulk service. People could discuss about the product, while waiting and hopefully get enough people to purchase the item in bulk. Check out lowyat.net.

Auction Site
When the word auction site is mentioned, everybody would think of eBay. Naturally everybody would think of eBay as it is the worlds largest and most successful online auction site. In todays post, I would only be discussing about our local ebay.com.my and not the international site ebay.com.
In an auction site, selling is normally very formal. Everybody who visits an auction site, are either a buyer or a seller. Unlike the forum, people don't chill out and discuss stuff (talk about NOTHING) the whole day. Most auction site would have fees involved too. This would be the main reasons why people don't sell at an Auction site. While fees may be an issue, the higher barrier of entry will also cause less competition. Check out lelong.com.my and ebay.com.my.

Conclusion
As you can see, depending on what you are selling, or the reason for selling, you'll be able to chose the best site to sell your items. Selling bulk would only work at a forum based site as it may takes months before getting enough people. The serious sellers who make a living from the net would generally use an Auction site. The auction site would have more buyers. There would be special tools too, to help you with faciliting your sales.
Generally people start by selling or trading their old items. Some start by doing bulk services. After selling a while, they would realise that it may be easier to sell on Auction site, rather than a forum as there are so many more potential buyers and also more seller tools.

An Auction site is made for selling and buying while a forum is made for discussion between the members.