Ebay -Growing Or Going Under ?

[inflames]

i just read an article about ebay (cant remember the link and i just closed the box on accident) seems like the worlds largest online auction site is having problems ... customer service seems to be at an all time low . prices keep going up with the service remaining the same ... it seems like ebay customers are on the edge .... i think all it would take is someone with a few thousands dollars hell maybe even a few hundred dollars to open an online auction site that would put the final nails into ebay's coffin ... if an another auction site is going to do it now would be the time / offer lower listing fees , commissions and great customer service ... im pretty sure at this point in the game thats all it would take to make customers make the switch .

anyone have any thoughts on this ?
curious to here others opinions on the whole ebay thing
thanks

 

[dgridley]

I don't see ebay as a whole going anywhere anytime soon.. as a business entity they are firmly entrenched...

however, I do envision them eventually losing ground in the niche auction markets (postcards, trading cards, and other specialized fields).. those in the know don't list specialized items at ebay but rather the smaller, more specialized auction sites dealing in those particular items.. the sales are stronger and you don't have to wade thru tons of off-topic crap to find what you want.

As an aside, anyone here used epier? I've used it on occasion and it's the only site other than ebay I've had an luck in actually selling general merchandise items (unspecialized items). Check it out.. it's a viable alternative with lots of pluses.

 

[webuyhosts]

yep

to much money and time, they will be 1 # till it wont matter anymore. I mean they are so big now escecially with paypal you cant go wrong, lets hav a scooner of beer and say cheers and commend them , thats all you can do

 

[Zeeble]

I don't see ebay as a whole going anywhere anytime soon.. as a business entity they are firmly entrenched...

however, I do envision them eventually losing ground in the niche auction markets (postcards, trading cards, and other specialized fields).. those in the know don't list specialized items at ebay but rather the smaller, more specialized auction sites dealing in those particular items.. the sales are stronger and you don't have to wade thru tons of off-topic crap to find what you want.

As an aside, anyone here used epier? I've used it on occasion and it's the only site other than ebay I've had an luck in actually selling general merchandise items (unspecialized items). Check it out.. it's a viable alternative with lots of pluses.

You are absolutly right with that one, you see this is the problem with all big companies, as soon as they go big they lose out on the nich markets and therefore lose out on a huge amount of potentential revenues, however I do think that ebay are trying to cover these markets, e.g there is ebaymotors and a massive range of popular catagories.

 

[dgridley]

Of course I am

Personally, I don't see ebay cracking the niche markets to any large degree.. many, like ebay, are already firmly entrenched with a large following (like hake's, for example). For rare, big money items, people will still go to the niche sites, I think, in preference to ebay..

You are absolutly right with that one

 

[Brian]

Personally i don't see anything wrong with the price increase, over time prizes goes up on everything, inflation. And the prizes are still darn cheap if you think about it, look at how many people your item are getting put in front of.

Regards
Brian

 

[dgridley]

Still, with insertion fees, final value fees and paypal fees, it makes it hard to list anything at bargain prices and actually "make money" for the seller...

For some types of items, I've had good luck listing with epier.. good amount of traffic (and bids).. NO insertion fees and much lower final value fees than ebay.

http://epier.com/ebayvsepier.asp

Personally i don't see anything wrong with the price increase, over time prizes goes up on everything, inflation. And the prizes are still darn cheap if you think about it, look at how many people your item are getting put in front of.

Regards
Brian

 

[sunken]

It would take a massive campaign to switch people over from Ebay, constant in your face type. Ebay is a staple, like Yahoo, like Google, like a handful of other companies. I agree with dgridley that there will be more room for niche markets. I know of an art auction site that does very well, and my father uses Yahoo for baseball cards and other things and has sold very well on there better than he did on Ebay. But in the end, Ebay is not going anywhere anytime soon. They will learn from their mistakes and adjust as time goes on to fix whatever this year's issues are. That is what companies do. They go through their ups and downs. Look at Microsoft and Firefox. Firefox started to threaten, so Microsoft gets the guy from Firefox to do a new browser for them. If they start losing significant market share, trust me, Ebay will do what it takes to regain that at some point down the road.

While it is every webmaster's dream to shake down Ebay, the budget it would require is massive. It's easy to look at the outside and say "I could do that." but do you have the experience? Ebay was an auction house before they were an internet staple. Do you have the legal staff, as Ebay winds up in the middle of a lot of lawsuits when auctions go bad. It's something you have to have an extremely good grasp on before you go into it, regardless of whether you have a hundred dollars or a hundred million. Ebay has gained that trust over the years, which is a hard thing to shake unless they really do something earth shattering and I don't see that happening soon.