Overstock launch buying in the UK

September 11, 2008

OverstockBack in the Spring Overstock announced that they’d be launching International sites this summer and this week have opened localised shopping across 24 countries including the UK and Europe. Buyers can now shop in their local currency accessing over 600,000 product lines including the ever popular linen categories.

When Overstock first announced they’d be opening in the UK sellers showed interest in listing on the site, but currently products are still largely shipped from the US. Geolocation simply recognises where a buyer is from their IP address and displays prices in Sterling for UK customers.

One downside of the site is that it doesn’t indicate delivery costs prior to checkout. On a sample £25 order the actual cost doubled to over £50 at checkout. This is something Overstock will need to address to avoid shopping cart abandonment. It would be great to see domestic sellers listing on Overstock and shipping from within the UK with reasonable delivery costs.

International buying was launched on the 27th August but prices were displayed in US dollars. According to Jake Bailey, Overstock’s director of international business, on the day of launch Overstock received orders from 17 different countries with no marketing efforts. With localised currency and the weakness of the US dollar it’s a great time to purchase American goods.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 5 Comments 

Could you sell on Overstock UK?

April 24, 2008

This post was written in April 2008; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

OverstockOverstock announced in February that will be expanding to the UK and Europe this summer. I met some of their staff at Catalyst US and today Jake Bailey, Director of International Business at Overstock, gave TameBay the inside track regarding their UK launch.

On the launch date Overstock will ship to International customers through a freight forwarder in the U.S. This initial service will allow UK customers to shop in pounds sterling, with the product shipped from the U.S.

The range of products on sale will not differ too much from what Overstock offer in the U.S. Obviously, some products are just too expensive to ship internationally (like furniture), so these types of issues are being worked through prior to the launch.

Overstock are always looking for additional third-party sellers or “partners”. They are currently seeking international third-party sellers that can ship both domestically and into the U.S. (a UK seller for example, that could fulfill orders in the UK and directly into the U.S.) With the initial launch, they will mainly use sellers from the U.S., but are already seeking international sellers for future expansion. Overstock would welcome any sellers that would have an interest in partnering with them, especially if their products can fill a gap in Overstocks product portfolio. The main qualifier is that the seller offers product to Overstock customers at the best price on the Internet.

When asked if there is a place for the small seller on Overstock, they described themselves as “agnostic to seller size”. What’s most important is that the seller takes good care of customers and supplies product at a competitive price. It also depends on the product category, for example, they would want a partner to keep high stock numbers in a fast-selling DVD, but would be happy for a partner that sells very high-end jewelry to only keep a few items in stock.

Overstock currently work with eBay sellers, Amazon sellers, website owners, traditional Bricks/Mortar outlets and larger manufacturers. They have relationships with ChannelAdvisor and Vcommerce and are exploring others. Many of their partners link directly to Overstock through either through an EDI or Shopping API integration.

Overstock are the most serious competitor to enter the marketplace in recent years. eBay and Amazon are likely to watch developments with interest as sellers rush to partner with their newest competitor.

We’re interested in your views - will you sell on Overstock? Are you a US seller that will be selling to the UK? Are you a UK seller that would like to be selling to the UK and US on Overstock when they launch in Europe?

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Featured, News | 4 Comments 

Overstock to expand to the UK & Europe

February 26, 2008

This post was written in February 2008; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

OverstockIn what’s probably good news for many eBay traders, Overstock CEO, Patrick Byrne, has made public his intentions to cross the Atlantic and gain a foothold in Europe. Overstock aim to be up and running in the UK by summer 2008, and are currently investigating logistics partners to work with.

In the US Overstock is a serious contender to eBay aimed at businesses looking to liquidate surplus or returned inventory. Byrne runs the company by being open to the community and at times berating them, often viewed as controversial he’s passionate about what he does. He’s also a keen advocate of distinguishing auctions from fixed price listings, having once said “Starting price $29.95, Make it Mine @ $30.00. Folks, that is not an auction, that is a classified ad. Our real auctions have disappeared under an ocean of such classified ads, which destroys closing rates for everyone.”

According to reports it’s intended that new offices will be opened in Europe with expansion to Canada controlled from existing US locations. Byrne cites “language, currency differences and tariffs attached to trade across borders” as the main challenges, along with the logistics of shipping products overseas and handling returns back to the US. For this reason they’re looking for a company to partner with in the UK. Byrne will need a local partner who knows the market; he’s probably already upset half the country in referring in his expansion plans to “England” rather than the UK.

Although Overstock are significantly smaller than eBay one thing is certain, they will be watching the Overstock entry into the European market with interest. The serious competition is about to hit the UK.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 3 Comments 

Auctions only on eBay please!

May 30, 2007

This post was written in May 2007; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

Both the UK and Canada have Cheap Listing days on 31st May, the one difference being the UK announced theirs three days prior but Canada got less than 24 hours notice. The UK is aiming for low start (sub 99p) auctions, and we expect most of the Cheap Listing Days in the foreseeable future to be based around the auction format.

Canada also are focussing on auctions, but have designed the promotion to deter sellers from listing on auction with a Buy It Now price slightly higher than the auction start price. This is a problem not inherent to eBay and Overstock’s CEO summed it up very succinctly:

“People are posting vast numbers of “auctions” of the form, “Starting price $29.95, Make it Mine @ $30.00.” Folks, that is not an auction, that is a classified ad. Our real auctions have disappeared under an ocean of such classified ads, which destroys closing rates for everyone.“

It’s good to see eBay starting to refocus on auctions, and true auctions with realistic start prices to get bidders bidding again.

Many sellers will simply ignore the Cheap Listing Day in the UK as they view their products as not suitable for auctions. There is a definite shift in philosophy towards low start price auctions to encouraging bidding, if anyone’s still unconvinced take a look at the main “Come on in. Get more” promotions on eBay.co.uk’s home page - all the links direct you to lowest price searches which invariably highlight auctions above Buy It Now listings.

Whether this is down to Philipp Justus moving to San Jose to revitalise the auction platform is unknown, but if it is down to his influence it’s good to see a European having an impact on eBay. After all the European market as a whole is larger than the US ;-)

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

Overstock bargains…

February 5, 2007

This post was written in February 2007; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

We’re pretty used to Overstock SNAFUs around here, but Digg readers were amazed this morning to see this incredible offer: minus 37% savings.

Overstock SNAFU

Programmers of eBay’s markdown manager please note: if the sale price is more than the previous list price, best to keep quiet about percentages. ;-)

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Overwrought, over-stretched, over there

December 20, 2006

This post was written in December 2006; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

More Overstock craziness…

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments 

Overstock raises $40M in stock placement

December 16, 2006

This post was written in December 2006; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

Troubled online auction house Overstock.com has announced it has raised US$40 million selling around 2.7 million common shares to institutional investors. The money is needed for working capital, including sales, marketing and inventory purchases.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devin saw this as a positive event, saying that the cash injection “gives the company enough capital to attempt to fix the core business.” The market appears to agree: Overstock shares rose 46c, around 3%, yesterday.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Overstock raises $40M in stock placement

December 16, 2006

This post was written in December 2006; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

Troubled online auction house Overstock.com has announced it has raised US$40 million selling around 2.7 million common shares to institutional investors. The money is needed for working capital, including sales, marketing and inventory purchases.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devin saw this as a positive event, saying that the cash injection “gives the company enough capital to attempt to fix the core business.” The market appears to agree: Overstock shares rose 46c, around 3%, yesterday.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Overstock washes more dirty linen

December 6, 2006

This post was written in December 2006; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

After the first open letter posted on the Overstock forums, CEO Patrick Byrne posts another. It’s not only an attempt to pour oil on troubled waters, but an appeal to users of the site to suggest improvements. Along with this backtracking, delaying and suddenly asking for confirmation on policies he’d said were a done deal only serve to muddy the waters further.

It’s often a complaint about eBay that they aren’t contactable, that they don’t listen, that the “consultations with the community” aren’t visible, but in practice if the actions on Overstock are the alternative, I’m glad eBay are the way they are. As a seller and buyer I like to know where I am. I want a stable selling environment. I want management of the site that don’t justify their employees based on their personal lives. Above all I actually like eBay keeping a professional stance and not getting drawn into squabbling with sellers and buyers.

Here’s to Doug and his team!

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

Overstock have same counterfeit problems as eBay

November 30, 2006

This post was written in November 2006; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

In an open letter on the Overstock forums, CEO Patrick M. Byrne chastised sellers for their attitude to Overstock staff. Angry sellers turned on them over new measures bought in to prevent auctions with a buy it now price a couple of pennies higher than the starting price.

“Starting price $29.95, Make it Mine @ $30.00.” Folks, that is not an auction, that is a classified ad. Our real auctions have disappeared under an ocean of such classified ads, which destroys closing rates for everyone.

In a sideways dig at eBay, he mentioned a “competitor’s environment where such behavior is tolerated”, whilst naming and shaming the biggest offenders.

More interesting than noting Overstock are mirroring eBays move to give auctions a higher profile, is a paragraph hidden away in the middle of his diatribe.

We decided that our auctions of designer items were little better than the competition’s. I know that the ethic of auction sites is to hide behind the claim that they are a neutral venue, and in a legal sense that is what we are as well, but from an ethical perspective, I am simply unwilling to allow Overstock customers, even those visiting our auctions board, to be sold anything fake. If this means that all the auctions business dries up, then that is what it is going to mean. No one gets to sell fake merchandise on Overstock. It’s that simple.

It’s good to see that counterfeit items removed from sale on eBay are not going to simply end up on alternative sites. All auction sites should take note of his ethic “If we do not know if it is real, then it should not go up”.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off