Wigix wants to be the next eBay, offers no-fee auctions to do it

Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Wigix wants to be the next eBay, offers no-fee auctions to do it

by Brad Linder Apr 29th 2008

In case you hadn't noticed, there's been a bit of a revolt among eBay power sellers. Basically, eBay increased some fees, which led some buyers to hold a boycott. But the truth of the matter is eBay is a giant, and if you make a decent portion of your income buying and selling goods on eBay, there aren't a ton of good alternatives. Wigix wants to change that, and the site is willing to waive fees on all items sold for less than $25 to do it. For pricier items, WIgix has significantly lower transaction fees than you'll find on eBay.

Wigix isn't exactly an auction like eBay. Rather, it's an "exchange," which lets buyers and sellers connect with one another. Sellers don't have to fill out product descriptions manually. Instead they choose from a database of products which already have product descriptions. This database also makes the search process easy for buyers. When you start to enter a term in the search box, Wigix will provide a list of items to chose from before you even hit enter. When you find the item you're looking for, you can see how many buyers and sellers there are, and you can set a price at which you're wiling to buy an item. As soon as the item is available for that price, Wigix will hook you up with a seller.

You can conduct similar transactions with eBay's Half.com, which lets you "pre-order" an item which will automatically be purchased as soon as someone offers one for sale at your desired price. But Half.com only includes books, movies, music, and video games, while Wigix users can sell pretty much anything.

[via Mashable]

Tags: auction, ebay, half.com, sale, wigix

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

zkam said 7:01PM on 4-29-2008

Nice slogan: "Keeping fees at bay" That's pretty subtle, don't you think?

sciencefare said 8:01PM on 4-29-2008

The site looks promising, and I registered. However, I hit a very troublesome roadblock in the verification process.

The site asks for your PayPal account information, email address and PASSWORD! The site also wants your eBay member ID and PASSWORD!

This coming from a new site that has no trust built up. Additionally, NONE of the pages are secure. Not registration, not login, nothing. NO security, no encryption.

So, at least until I hear that SSL is implemented, I won’t be going back. The request for my PayPal and eBay passwords is the most disturbing part. Do the folks that run this site actually believe that the masses will entrust this sensitive data to them?

I will not.

-sciencefare

Mark said 7:38AM on 4-30-2008

If that is true than this is a scam, or the site owners are really stupid. Do not ever under any circumstances give your account details to anyone. Even if they did use SSL they have absolutely no right to that information and it would be crazy to give it to them.

DigitalOldschool said 8:35AM on 4-30-2008

I just signed up as well and didn't see what you're talking about. Like Riddar below, all I had to do was verify my email address.

DigitalOldschool said 8:38AM on 4-30-2008

Oh, I just found out where you're talking about.
That is an optional tab in your account settings, for "quicker" service upon the sale, I guess. It's not necessary to create an account though. As it says on the site, "Trust & Safety ratings on Wigix are an indication of a user's credibility and authenticity. Please provide us with the following information to increase your rating and broaden your appeal to other Wigix users." And those pages are authenticated by Entrust.net

Riddar said 8:25AM on 4-30-2008

I just signed up, it didn't ask me... odd... The entirety of the verification for me was confirming my email address.

Where did it ask you, the initial signup process or somewhere else?

Ben (Internet Millions) Tanner said 10:38PM on 4-30-2008

I love the idea of no fees. However It seems a bit scary that they want so much info. Do they explain why?

I teach people how to buy and sell on eBay :http://snipurl.com/26jox

I would love to add this to the mix.. but your right.. they need to hold off on trying to get so much info up front.. and build some trust... also they need to build in some security.

donperry said 10:55AM on 5-05-2008

Crocusbag.com is much easier than ebay

Dave said 12:44PM on 5-24-2008

Easy enough, just create all NEW accounts on the other services since they are free anyway.. That way your not giving them any information that is actively in use or has any real money or power behind it.

-Dave.

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