eBay to change business model?

[liowkc]

Acknowledging that most online shoppers cannot be bothered with auctions, eBay is planning changes to its fee structure that emphasises fixed prices over bidding.

For example, for the middle of next month, selllers will pay only 35 cents to list an item for 30 days - a reduction in upfront fees of 70%.

[hwang]

I don't know whether I should look it as a good development or bad one. I seldom sell at ebay cause most of the time didn't actually make any money and instead have to fork out to pay the charges. But with the new thing coming, maybe it could change somehow.

[the_raven_group]

i'm not sure if thast a good development or not to be honest. with auctions you always have the possibility of an imflated price with two people bidding agaianst each other forcing the price up. Once you go into just selling like a shop I thibnk both buyers and sellers will loose interest to a certain extent

[liowkc]

I guess the new pricing structure will likely win praise from many selllers who prefer the lower selling upfront costs but will anger many of the eBay's longtime customers, most of them small-time collectors who depend on auction pricing to move one of a kind item.

[hwang]

Yeah, you made a good point there. With on-going bids, there are higher chances for us to gain more. Fixing the price will only kill the system. I think that only benefits the buyer more than the seller.

Originally Posted by the_raven_group

i'm not sure if thast a good development or not to be honest. with auctions you always have the possibility of an imflated price with two people bidding agaianst each other forcing the price up. Once you go into just selling like a shop I thibnk both buyers and sellers will loose interest to a certain extent

[the_raven_group]

Yep well I can;t say i'm looking forward to the change myself. It will pretty much kill off the collectors market and the hole system depends upon people bidding against each other to acuire the item. Its not like buying a PS3 or Nintendo Wii that has a more or less et price - auctions let collectables find there own price level.

[hwang]

It's just makes the life of a seller getting difficult especially for those that involve in collectors' market like yourself. I don't understand the rational for them doing that. Protecting buyers' rights once again???

[liowkc]

Also worthy of note is the fact that Yahoo Auctions will be discontinued from Oct onwards. Not sure if this is just coincidence or trend?

[the_raven_group]

Well e-bay have already made the sellers life difficult when they introudced this crazy idea of preventing selelrs from leaving negative or neutral feedback. Now its posiitive of negative. I've started leaving bad feedback but with a positive tick next to it just incase someone actually reads it. E-bay are making trouble for themselves

[hwang]

If only there's strong competitors rather than relying just on ebay to sell items. The way they change their business model and dictating all the terms for themselves will only make life difficult for others. Well why should they care anyway?

[the_raven_group]

Well thast why we need some compettition for ebay ad paypal. If something came along that had strong marketung behind it so that a large number of people knew about its existance I would ditch ebay in an instant. The only reason I stick with ebau is due to the fact that it offers access to a huge market.

[hwang]

Yeah, nothing we can do about it if both of them control the market. It’s either you play according to their rules or leave.

[the_raven_group]

so maybe everyone who uzses this forum should put there heads togetehr and work out a way to push ebay off top spot in the market. Lol i'm sure nobody else has tried that lol and if we are successfull we will also be rich beyond our widest dreams!

[liowkc]

I think eBay is fully aware of sellers abandoning in hordes, In response to this, eBay has been rejigging its vast online markeplace in the hope of turning around a troubling trend but its number of active users is barely rising. Not sure if a "boycott" initiated by raven would work but it would be worth a shot.

[hwang]

Yeah, but first we need the knowledge on how to setup the bidding site and next thing is lots and lots of money to invest...
Never mind, if one day, there's a new reliable bidding site + payment processor, which everyone starts to use and proves to be a good as ebay and pp, then I'll be one of those people rushing to join it.

Originally Posted by the_raven_group

so maybe everyone who uzses this forum should put there heads togetehr and work out a way to push ebay off top spot in the market. Lol i'm sure nobody else has tried that lol and if we are successfull we will also be rich beyond our widest dreams!

[the_raven_group]

Unfortunately I think the days of a paypal and e-bay replacemnt are fall away. if you look at some of the other on-line aUCTION sites tehya re pretty basic compared to e-bay and have next to no sellers which I would think means tehre are next to no buyers either. A Boycott might be an idea but not a very effective one.

[liowkc]

You are also right to be pessimistic; an entrenched market position is the one of the strongest barrier to entry for new entrants. You probably need a strong player like Google or Microsoft to enter the fray to stir up the pot.

[hwang]

A boycott? I don't think that will ever materialize. It's just that we don't have a choice or even have to rights to say what we want or to even dictate the terms.

[the_raven_group]

E-bay have the market cornered and in taht surely they are at fault you can not have a monopoly ocver the market for ever. It would be great if google or yahoo came along with a really good and effective internet auction site. Imagine the panic it would cause at e-bay headquarters and no good it would be if your were a tarder.

[liowkc]

It is indeed an irony that you mention Yahoo. Yahoo is terminating its auction service in October. This may be an indication of the declining popularity of the auction model.