Overstock.com Auctions was the last one to join the game of online auctions when eBay, Yahoo! and Amazon were successfully exploiting the model for years. Overstock.com Auctions have many common for auction sites features:
to become a member you need to register,
you can be a buyer or a seller or both simultaneously,
then you place your auction using ‘reserve price’, ‘make it mine’ and other options (or browse auctions of other sellers),
wait for the bidders to notice your auction and start the bidding wars,
collect the payment after the auction is ended using the traditional payment methods: credit card, PayPal, money orders or cash and
ship the sold item to the happy new owner.
Or as a buyer:
you make bids or use function ‘Make it mine’ to buy the item immediately,
submit your payment,
get the item posted and delivered
leave your positive feedback.
In general, I should say that in addition to eBay common features Overstock.com Auctions often uses even their names: non-paying bidder program, reserve price and etc. I am sure it is done on purpose to make eBay regulars feel comfortable at Overstock Auctions as well.
All Internet auctions (I talk about the ones with the established history) have some kid of image among the customers. eBay is famous for the low prices of products promoted by the sellers, Amazon Auctions - for its high quality of products and super customer service. Overstock Auctions are quite new (launched in 2004) and are still fighting for a place under the sun, but in my opinion they are just in the middle: discounted prices and good customer service. Time will let us know if I am correct. But you should keep it in mind while positioning your dropship products at different auctions.
You should definitely consider Overstock.com Auctions as a marketplace to promote your drop ship business. They do not yet enjoy the amount of the traffic that eBay gets, but you can in this way diversify your business and do some sales at Overstock Auctions. But I have been keeping an eye on Overstock Auctions for some time and observed quite fast increase of the sellers and buyers at the place. As an incentive you should keep in mind that Overstock Auctions are much cheaper compared to eBay.
One more trick to attract sellers is the volume discounts: the more auctions you run at Overstock.com Auctions the less fees you pay.
In conclusion I would recommend you to study the marketplace, to register (register for Overstock Auctions today), to get the general impression from the website and the market, to get used to the interface. If you see some potential for your dropship business, start your game. Overstock.com Auctions are likely to get their share in online auctions game – it is a question of time.
