I thought it would be important to put myself in the buyer’s shoes for a complete review of eCrater.com. After all, if the site doesn’t make the buying process as friction-free as possible, there’s not much of a point selling there. Buyers who experience a confusing or difficult time are likely to abandon their shopping carts and move on to the next Internet merchant.
Initially, I went straight to the eCrater home page to start my shopping experience. I found myself a little nervous at the potential prospect of dealing with fraudsters posing as merchants. The feedback system isn’t very mature yet, and many of the merchants whose listings I visited were unrated.
Additionally, there is no verification required to register as a seller. While the seller in me sees this as a benefit, I’m uncomfortable with the additional risk this exposes me to as a buyer.
This was reminiscent of my experiences in the early days of eBay & Yahoo! auctions. I actually sold for a year before I ever worked up the courage to buy from someone I didn’t know in these venues. (I was always amazed when someone sent me a money order, someone they didn’t know, and trusted me to send them the goods).
Hesitant, I decided to take a break and hit Google to see what others were saying about eCrater. That’s when I came across a Blog of an individual who sold comic books on eCrater. After spending a little time on this seller’s site, I felt extremely comfortable that I was dealing with a real person (who, BTW, graduated from the same University as me) that wasn’t trying commit fraud.
After I followed the links to his eCrater listings, I realized that this is the way eCrater is supposed to work. eCrater doesn’t send traffic to seller’s listings in the same way eBay does (or used to). Instead, it is incumbent upon the merchant to send traffic to his or her listings after establishing some level of trust and credibility with the buyer. I’ve been preaching this for sometime on this blog, yet I still surprised myself a little with how effective this technique can be.
At any rate, I soon found myself at the home page of Walkin’ Willie’s eCrater Comic Shop: http://walkinwilliescomix.ecrater.com/. I was immediately impressed with the clean layout and the customization. The fact that this store is hosted by eCrater is not obvious to the visitor. The seller has uploaded his own logo and the only reference to eCrater is in the URL and a subdued “Powered by eCrater” link at the bottom.
Being the frugal shopper that I am, I immediately clicked through to the $.50 Specials category and found a couple of listings for Star Wars comics that my son would be interested in. The listings were simple yet, for the most part, contained all of the information I needed to decide to make the purchase. The only thing I was confused about was whether the seller would combine shipping or not.
Unlike eBay, eCrater offers a shopping cart, so I was able to consolidate all of my purchases from the same seller into one transaction. I decided to splurge and buy all three Star Wars comics the merchant had listed.
The shopping cart still did not dispel my confusion about combined shipping, but I decided to press on knowing that I would be able to back out of the transaction before making the payment if the seller required me to pay $3.50 per comic for shipping and handling.
The seller offered PayPal and Google Checkout as payment methods. Since I don’t have any experience with Google Checkout and because eCrater places a lot of emphasis on that form of payment, I decided to give it a try.
After clicking on the Google Checkout button, I was presented with a summary of my purchases and the option to either create a Google Account or sign-in to my existing account. I already had a Gmail account, so I only needed to add my credit card information in order to use Google Checkout. The process was fairly quick.
Completing my purchase with Google Checkout went smoothly. I was pleased to learn that the seller had set up his store to automatically combine shipping. I was only charged $3.50 for mailing all three comics.
I was also impressed with Google Checkout’s option to hide my email address from the seller. Because he had taken the time and effort to create a blog and website that built my trust, I felt comfortable providing that information to this particular merchant. However, when I first started this eCrater buying experiment, there were sellers from whom I was considering buying a $1.00 eBook via PayPal but hesitated because I was certain to wind up on more SPAM lists.
Soon after checking out, eCrater dropped me a note with a link to the feedback form in order to evaluate the seller. They will automatically send me a reminder in three weeks if I haven’t yet left feedback on the transaction. The seller does not have the opportunity to leave feedback on the buyer.
I was a little dismayed to see the items still listed and available for sale on eCrater right after I made my purchase. I guess the seller needs to acknowledge the sale or Google Checkout needs to send some sort of electronic confirmation before the listings are no longer available. If this transaction were for an in-demand item on a popular store, this phenomenon presents the very real possibility of multiple purchases of the same single item. eCrater needs to consider resolving this potential issue before it becomes a problem.
Google checkout sent me an email when the seller shipped the comics with a tracking number and the comics arrived safely soon afterwards. Leaving feedback was quick and didn’t involve detailed seller ratings.
Overall, I was quite satisfied with my eCrater buying experience. The integrated shopping cart encouraged me to buy several items at once. Had I bought the same items on eBay, this would have required three separate transactions and probably an email to the seller to coordinate combined shipping. The integration of Google Checkout was seamless and made for an easy purchase. While eBay struggles to “improve the buying the buying experience,” it seems that eCrater has it figured out.
eCrater’s mantra is “Cater to your sellers and buyers will come.” Fortunately the site doesn’t neglect the buyers either. I recommend that every seller first try a site out as a buyer when they are considering an eBay alternative. eCrater gets passing marks in my grade book.
Next post in this series: Registering as a seller on eCrater.
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29 Responses to “Review: eCrater (Part 2) – A Buyers Perspective”
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Hi – I can alleviate your confusion. Google checkout requires the seller to accept the transaction by manually reviewing and clicking the “charge the buyer” button.
That would explain why the items still showed in the store immediately after purchase.
Good luck with your tests, and it’s great to read your reviews.
Robyn,
Thanks. I knew it was something like that…
Doug
Why is this article or series of articles on a site called “Auction Insights” There are no auctions on Ecrater. Not a single one.
Nice article. I thought it was both fair and accurate. As both a seller on eCrater and a disgruntled seller on eBay I am happy to see there are viable alternatives out there. Those of us who have made a go of it on eCrater attract prosective buyers through various marketing techniques; Adwords, blogs, newsletters, and even good old word of mouth. But most importantly, we keep those same customers through world class customer service. Again, thanks for the nice article.
Dave Rudrud
http://www.awarenessbracelets.ecrater.com
Maggie,
One of the most common questions I receive here at AuctionInsights is regarding alternatives to eBay. This eCrater series is designed to satisfy that need.
I hope you get the opportunity to poke around my site some more – I think you will find that its about more than just auctions.
Doug
FYI, Google doesn’t require the seller to manually charge the customer’s card — but it is one of the options in set-up. The other option is to have Google automatically charge the card.
Great post, and thanks for showing the buying process step-by-step. People are reluctant to changes and your article helps spread the word on other buying and selling alternatives.
Wonderful article! I have a store set up on ecrater and it was nice to see the perspective as a buyer. I really like the screen shots and the information. Good job!
Walkin Willies ecrater site does combine shipping as he uses the shipping matrix,
which works great if all of your inventory is
relatively standardized (like comics), but if
you are a seller of collectibles which can vary greatly in weight and size, the system falls apart. How about an article on how to handle
this problem with ecrater?
Thanks for reviewing this so thoroughly I’m an ecrater seller but I wasn’t exactly sure how everything would work from the buyers perspective as in would shipping combine automatically etc but through your blurb and a few others I figured out how to set up the shipping matrix by weight so as to make sure shipping is in fact combined and added google checkout as an option solely based on this article thanks man. I feel confident in ecrater now I’m not sure I was before.
Thank you for your insight! I too am an Ecrater seller-and a former Ebay seller. I got tired of Ebay’s shabby treatment of sellers and decided to give Ecrater a go. I joined about 3 weeks ago and I already have a few sales and feedback as well. Because of Ecrater’s free services, I can sell my designer clothes, jeans, electronics, etc… for less, and pass my savings on to the customer. It’s good to see that there are alternatives out there-and eCrater is getting bigger thanks to Ebay’s present bad behavior.
Great Article. I just opened my new store on ecrater. Had a few hits but no customers just yet. I hope to get a few before the month is over. I myself use to be a Powerseller on Ebay. Shame on such a big company that they are to treat us sellers like the botton of their foot! It is us that brings in the $$! I hope Ebay goes DOWN for being so Rude and ignorant to their loyal customers! Please check my site out and see what you think.
Thanks
http://coachandpoloexpress.ecrater.com
I just made my first sale on eCrater store. Am I required to manually charge PayPal transactions? I though this was automatic but I got an email from noreply@ecrater.com with the details about the sale and a PAY NOW link. Do I need to send this to the buyer?
Great review I came across the site and posted a few items online and sold and item within the first 24 hrs its worth looking into as an alternative to ebay or Amazon
http://bestsellersat.ecrater.com/
Thanks so much for this review! I have wanted to leave ebay for a while but have been to leary of new sites. Now thanks to you I just set up an account on ecrater. Wish me luck!
Janet
Yes, very informative review. A major advantage about ecrater; Their moderators are absolutley great! I have never had an on-line store & they helped me & answered every question I had (a lot of questions.} After getting my store built, I change the store name to a more appropriate store name, it cost $10.00 to do it, but it was worth it. Existing store owners are also great, sharing experience and unbiased advice.
Except for my store name change, the whole site has been free. If, you want to work & make it happen on your own, ecrater is for you.
Great article. After many years as an eBay powerseller with over 4000 100% postivie feedbacks, I left in January for a venue that would respect me as a seller and where I could run my store in a manner I felt was businesslike and I could treat my customers the way customers should be treated. I had been listing and selling on ecrater for over 6 months before making the change and am very happy I did. Much less stress! More money! 10 pictures per listing if you want-no charge! No listing fees! No final Value fees! The ability to take Google Checkout! Easy combined shipping! I love selling on ecrater.
Thank you for taking the time to show ecrater from the buyer’s perspective. This is a great alternative to ebay stores. July 2009 I passed the sales figures for my last couple full months on ebay. You can make money here.
Gail
http://MoonwishesStore.ecrater.com
http://www.MoonwishesSewing.com
Its difficult to trust any sellers in ecrater. I just lost $350 for a product I ordered there. The seller ([redacted]) was a fraud. He closed the shop after receiving my payments and then started selling with a different name ([redacted]). ecrater will not take the responsibility and its completely left to you on how you deal with such fraudsters.
My recommendation is never attempt to buy anything from ecrater. Go with Amazon or ebay, at least they guarantee your payments.
–jaimon
I also realized that eCrater doesn’t respond to customer queries. I strongly recommend consumers to stay away from ecrater.
–jaimon
In fact, they DO respond to customer inqueries, actually. And that’s for buyers and sellers alike. Ecrater is in fact one of the best alternative sites out there. It’s stable, reliable, and has been around for years–with excellent Google exposure as well.
Granted, you will have some scammers out there-that’s a given, but it’s NOTHING like ebay is, especially NOW. Ebay is rife with scammers on the selling AND buying side!
I have been with ecrater for a little over a month and have had no sales at all. I had hits listed but then those numbers disappeared. I don’t know why. I am a new business owner, stay at home home school my kids and really want to make this work. Hanging in there and hoping for more traffic to make a few sales at least. Come visit me and send your friends too. Thanks for the info about ecrater.
E Crater is as safe as Ebay=and less expensive to by from Many people don’t realize that it isn’t Ebay itself that makes the site secure for buyers-pay pal does. Well, they are actually owned by same corporation, but pay pal secures the transaction. Thus if items don’t arrive or are not what you expected, pay pal will freeze transaction and it will go into resolution process.
As a seller, I am not a huge fan of Pay Pal. However, the good thing about them is that they provide confidence to the buyer.
Pay pal will secures transactions whether they are on or off ebay
Finally, ecrater is less expensive. Sellers do not have to pay listing fees that continue to go up and up. This translates into lower prices.
I don’t know what other sellers do, but I pass most of this saving to customers in the hopes of better sales numbers
chipsdigitalpc@ecrater.com
When shopping online it is the buyers burden to do any research necesary and make smart buying decisions. Don’t make unsecured purchases from sellers who do not attempt to establish credibility..i.e. they are new sellers, have very few transaction, no contact info or store policy, cannot provide any outside source to establish credibility. Unsecured payments would be personal checks, money orders, or paypal transactions in which you don’t choose to insure the transaction(they have a button you have to click to do this) If you pay with a credit card, you can report the transaction as fraudulent. All of Ecrater is not bad because of one bad apple, be resposnible as a buyer and be safe when making payments to people you don’t know.
eCrater is the biggest fraud supporting website out there. Basically, it sets up other webstores without any verification necessary so that there is literally zero accountability for individual stores. There is no contact info for either the website itself or its individual stores other than an e-mail link which gives no reply. Essentially, the seller can set up a paypal account, put in fake contact information to the actual store and defraud its buyers without ever having any repercussions. So if you purchase something from a seller and he never sends it to you, you have literally no recourse to talk to an actual human being who will help your case. This is done intentionally so that you are pretty much out of luck. And since all transactions are handled with paypal, your only course of action is to file a dispute with paypal. If the seller lies to paypal and says “the item has been shipped” then your dispute could be closed indefinitely.
eBay has a feedback system in place and accountability for individual sellers. eCrater is a halfassed attempt, which only breeds fraud and poor service.
This is an formative and interesting article as I had been curious about how the feedback procedure worked even though I’ve been selling on eCRATER for some time. Thank you for posting it and keep up the great work!
Re: uggrock
You say: “And since all transactions are handled with paypal”
Not true.
That depends on the individual seller. A seller can accept PayPal, Google Checkout, and paper payments.
You say: “If the seller lies to paypal and says “the item has been shipped” then your dispute could be closed indefinitely”
Not true.
PayPal will not close an Item Not Received Case if the seller simply says they shipped. PayPal requires PROOF of DELIVERY in these cases. If the seller can not prove delivery PayPal will force the seller to refund.
If you are going to continue shopping on-line, for your own protection I recommend you(and anyone unfamiliar with the rules) educate yourself on how PayPal buyer protection works.
As with any market place you have to look into your seller. Would you buy on eBay without checking a sellers feedback? I wouldn’t. Just as when shopping on ecrater you need to check the sellers feedback.
Uggrock-
You sound like you might be ebay executive. Much of what you say is not true. Google and Pay Pal both provide security for buyers.
Most ecrater sellers are legit ebay sellers who can’t make money on ebay BECAUSE THEY ARE HONEST. More and more, what is left on ebay is sellers offering stolen, used, and otherwise crappy merchandise. With all the fees, it is hard-next to impossible to make money being honest.
Ebay knows they are loosing their market share, but are too stupid to understand why. Their response is to run commercials, screw sellers, and reward non-paying/fraudulent buyers instead of trying to retain quality sellers. The end result will more and more legitimate customers getting burned by shady sellers, because legit ones will be tired of fees and getting screwed because buyers can do anything they want to threaten feedback.
Soon, the ebay experience will become similar to buying crack in the ghetto
Great article! I am a seller at eCrater as well and I have never put myself in the position as a buyer before. It ’s nice to see the whole buying process. I have sold on Ebay before and still selling now but start to leave Ebay because I can’t stand all those fees. Again very nice article. Please be sure to check out my store to see what I sell.
I agree with the folks looking for ebay alternatives. I am a powerseller on ebay currently but I’m looking to head out the door. Tired of being shafted by buyers and getting no support from ebay. Looks like I may have found my alternative to set up what looks more like a store, not an ebay store. Thanks for the article.