Who Came Up With This "Best Of" List?

[kcattic]

I am very curious as to who selected the "Best Of" for the alternative ecommerce sites? There must be at least 10 strong ecommerce sites out there vying for the title of the top eBay Alternative and Wiqix isnt even one of them....not even close in fact....alternative sellers have rejected the site after it's initial launch and are not likely to warm up to it anytime soon....

Etsy is another story...while it is a very strong niche site it is limited to crafts and handmade items....it is not the sort of site that embraces a variety of ecommerce products.

Bonanzle and eCrater are the only 2 valid choices out of the 4 listed.

Other strong sites which were omitted from the list include iOffer, eBid, OnlineAuctions, BluJay, BuyItSellIt, USiFF, WeBidz and Atomic Mall....

I suspect that someone who claims to be an experienced online seller but really is just pushing her own agenda is behind the list of the choices for the Best Alternative site.....SBC.com should either include a more complete list of viable alternative sites or remove it completely from the poll.....rather than just go off of what a single person (Vangie Beal) says about other alternatives...

[marc77]

I am very curious as to who selected the "Best Of" for the alternative ecommerce sites?

Just for interest, can you provide me with the URL of this "best of" alternative e-commerce sites list ?

Or have I missed something ?

[vbeal]

http://www.e-commerceguide.com/essen...le.php/3791821

While there is a large number of alternative selling platforms to choose from, the ones that made this list are all secure encrypted sites which offer truly new and innovative features and have shown a notable growth in traffic over this past year.

Also, these three particular eBay alternatives were not just chosen for this article by a single individual writer -- instead they are three of the alternative platforms which have made significant updates this year and were nominated by SmallBusinessComputing.com and ECommerce-Guide.com readers in the 2009 Small Business Computing Excellence in Technology Awards. Details on the 2009 Small Business Computing Excellence in Technology Awards can be found on the SBC.com main page.

This is just one of many articles on ECommerce-Guide.com that focus on the eBay alternative space in 2008. Ecommerce-Guide.com has articles and news pieces covering more than 20 different alternative selling platforms this year (including most, if not all of the alternative sites that you have mentioned in your post). We will continue to provide coverage on many of these eBay alternative marketplaces in the coming year.



Thanks for reading and commenting,
Vangie Beal

[kcattic]

Hi Vangie...can you give me Wiqix's growth and traffic stats for the last year? Based on everything I have seen they had a hiccup and then have been ignored by most sellers. While they are not Quantified they do not even register as a blip on Quantcast's radar. Quantcast directly measures the traffic of a site when a site registers. Instead you use Alexis traffic rankings which base their stats only on users who download the Alexis toolbar which 98 percent of people do not do.

I call into question your motives when you include Wiqiz in this list. Why not include eBid? Are you saying that eBid isnt secure? Are you saying that OnlineAuctions is not secure? I think the members of their communities and the sites themselves might have something to say about that. Why was this poll limited to just 4 choices?

As was alluded to in the PSU forums when this "vote for the best" poll came out....Something Smells Rotten in Denmark.

[vbeal]

Why was this poll limited to just 4 choices? As was alluded to in the PSU forums when this "vote for the best" poll came out....Something Smells Rotten in Denmark.

kcattic,
After reading your mention of PSU and "poll of 4 choices" comment, I do think that some questions and accusations that you have are because you are not very familiar with the SmallBusinessComputing channel, and you also might have missed the nomination period and arrived only in time for the final vote, which is ongoing now through to January 9th.

While this may be your first introduction to The Small Business Computing 2009 Excellence in Technology Awards, readers of the SmallBusinessComputing channel are quite familiar with how it works, as it's been an ongoing event for years. The process and requirements are the same each year.

In November, prior to the finalists being announced, there was a nomination period where readers of this site (and other sites which are a part of the SmallBusinessComputing channel) nominated their favorite products, services and technologies. If you had of taken part in the nominations, you also would have seen the rules outlined and requirements which were mandatory to be considered a finalist in any category. It is for this reason that I would say many of the sites and alternatives you have mentioned in your posts have not been included in the awards as a finalist:

"To be eligible, products must have been either released or significantly upgraded between January 1 and October 30, 2008."

I totally agree that there are more than four good eBay alternative sites out there, but many of them would not have even been nominated or have made the finalists' list because they did not bring forth any really new technologies or significant platform releases to qualify for this year's awards. Sites that only did things like add an RSS feed, fix bugs, or add Google Checkout would not have been considered.

Many of the alternatives you mention in your posts did make some changes this year but they still would not be eligible to be a finalist in the awards unless they had introduced significant platform upgrades during the period specified on the nomination page.

(While that is going to be the main reason a popular site will be excluded, of course, there is always the chance that no one nominated them either. Did you nominate any of the eBay alternatives you have mentioned in your posts back in November during the nomination period?)

If your favorite eBay Alternative is not on the vote list, it is not because of any conspiracy theories or personal agendas. It is really simple -- chances are the platform just didn't introduce any major or significantly new technologies this year which was a strict requirement of all nominated products, services, and platforms to be considered a finalist.

Kind regards,
Vangie

[jill4tomz]

I totally agree that there are more than four good eBay alternative sites out there, but many of them would not have even been nominated or have made the finalists' list because they did not bring forth any really new technologies or significant platform releases to qualify for this year's awards. Sites that only did things like add an RSS feed, fix bugs, or add Google Checkout would not have been considered.

AtomicMall.com launched in July of this year, is 2nd only to Bananazle in terms of rapid growth, and has a bunch of cool features too, yet it was ignored.

So there must have been some other selection criteria that isn't being talked about.

[eileen*tory]

I truly feel you missed the best new alternative site by not listing atomicmall.com. They are growing by leaps and bounds, and their technology is unsurpassed. I have tried other sites, including the "B" site cited in your article, and have not found them as easy to navigate and list as atomic. Your criteria for selection may be slightly skewed away from what SELLERS need and want in a site. As to community - atomic has a wonderful, friendly, active community who regularly go to the boards with help, advice, and friendship.

I really believe that atomicmall.com is the best alternative to ebay.

[marc77]

@eileen*tory: Sounds a little bit like advertising ;-) Just a little bit...

[American Eagle]

I for one would not call iOffer, eBid, OnlineAuctions, BluJay, BuyItSellIt, USiFF, WeBidz strong alternatives they have been around awhile and have not made the slightest in road on Ebay. By far the best alternatives to Ebay right now is Amazon, Wigix and Atomic Mall. Wouldn't waste my time with Bonanzle right now, it might be easy to use but its low on google.