Question
I was fascinated that a question about the 2nd largest AUCTION site would be answered with "Search engines, Froogle or Yahoo Shopping." When I pointed out that at least two of these were not auction sites, Tekgems responded:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>eBay is pushing away from auctions - Store listing for $0.02 is a huge indicator. Fixed price listing is a bigger part of eBay now than before. So, that is why I said search engines and Froogle even though they are not auction sites.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thus questions relating to auction sites are now dismissed as irrelevant.
Meanwhile the Motley Fool in this article describes Ebay:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>A look at eBay's (Nasdaq: EBAY) site these days shows a company that looks more like a traditional online retailer than a popular auction site.
>snip<
The company is already the country's 11th-largest retailer.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I still wonder whether it is valid to call Ebay a "retailer" since they do not own their own stock or control their own inventory, and I do wonder whether any of the other 20 largest American retailers do not own their own stock or control their own inventory, and thus do not have any stock outlay for retailing purposes?
In this thread Tekgems also comments:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I like the visual changes eBay is making. The makeover is long overdue. As eBay tries to grow, it needs to make the site more usable. That means stability and performance. But it also means making the site easier to use and consistent. I'm seeing the changes slowly, but it is happening which I appreciate.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>(bolding is mine)
I fail to see how the aesthetic changes to Ebay that have made everything steadily more complex have made "the site more useable". But I am clearly looking from a far different perspective to Tekgems - he or she is retailing and I am auctioning, and I believe that our needs/requirements are much different.
===========
I am old school. In terms of Ebay, I may well be obsolete. I understand and use the auction system to attain fair market value for my goods. I have always made my living through the auction system - whether as employee, auctioneer or dealer. Auction is not obsolete, although with the direction that Ebay has been trekking over the last few years, it may be considered to be close to obsolete for Ebay's business model.
Ebay has moved away from it's grass roots. In itself this is not a problem, it is how this company has developed and it is their right to choose their own direction for how they wish to see the company grow. The problem lies in the monopoly that Ebay has.....
Ebay started out exclusively as an auction site. The next quarterly figures are due out soon, but I am guessing that it is currently attaining about 40% sales by fixed price and Buy It Now sales, and 60% by auction. It will be no surprise if that swaps within 12 to 18 months.
Ebay's initial attraction was the opportunities that it offered. The thrill of bidding on an auction and competing to either miss out or get it for a fraction of what you were prepared to pay. For those selling, the competitive bidding meant that an item could sell for many times expectations, but whereas there was no limit to the upper price an item achieved, the seller had full control over the lowest price that they accepted. This was more control than a vendor has on low value goods at a real time auction, and not only were the goods in front of many more people than a real time auction, but Ebay accessed a worldwide market and allowed a small business to become international and play on the different needs and valuations of different buyers for a minimal outlay that had never been possible previously.
Ebay's monopoly of this online auction industry contained one other huge advantage. Almost all of the buyers flocked to one specific place to buy - many people buying computers specifically to buy and/or sell on Ebay. This meant that listing on Ebay accessed almost the entire online auction industry, and meant that if the item was desirable, it would very likely be found by those who wanted it, if they were online.
Ebay, though, decided that expansion lay in retail, and the shift to retail has changed the face of Ebay dramatically. Retail and auction sellers have different needs.
An auction seller only needs a simple marketplace that introduces buyer to seller and allows the marketplace to determine the real value of the item being offered. It does not need bells and whistles, it does not need a constant "makeover", and it does not need to be "consistant" with the layout of other retail sites on the internet. In fact Ebay is the "standard" for internet auctions, since the majority are there, and there is no need for auctions to be "consistant" with any retail site standard. Auction sellers need nothing more than a straighforward efficient marketplace, the same as commodities and produce markets, the stockmarket and real time auction venues the world over, and it is very clear from the instant growth of the non-aesthetic "auction web" that auction buyers only need this too. Auction sellers do not need pages that are built around unnecessary aesthetics, but they do need pages that will load for modem users in a few seconds so that they can place a bid when they intend to snipe for goods that they want as the auction closes.
Retail sellers on the other hand, feel that they need to be attractive to the impulse buyer and the buyer seeking instant gratification. The "retail" buyer probably does look around a wider area of the internet, comparing sites, goods and prices, so there probably is justification in creating pages and icons to an "industry standard". The placement of the order does not need to be quick, as the buyer is not competing with the clock and other bidders (as sniping does). This type of buyer may have an expectation of certain bells and whistles and a look to the page - and, wrongly, they may have an assumption that what they are looking at is new (thus having the bidding box at the top of the listing is wrong, as it discourages "inspection" by the buyer).
And so, as Ebay has developed two types of sales methods for two types of buyers and sellers, the needs have diverged to the point that auctions and the listing of differing items have now become innefficient on the Ebay site. However, while Ebay find the auction sellers incompatible with the "modern" development of the site, they can not just discard that type of sales from the site.It has been this type of sale that attracted most of the long term users to the site, and discarding auctions would create an opportunity for a competitior to instantly create a viable internet auction site and thus syphon many users back away from Ebay. As much as it has gotten harder to list auctions and efficiently run them on Ebay, as much as auction sellers are steadily losing their goodwill, and as frustrated as many Ebay auction sellers are by the loss of the best qualities of the online auction marketplace - Ebay still holds a very real monopoly over the industry and it is not viable for sellers to go elsewhere, as the substantial majority of buyers (and sellers) are still on Ebay. We are left with the loss of a simple seller to buyer commodities type auction market, in favour of a cumbersome aesthetically enhanced retail model that is built to standards that do nothing to help the auction section of the market.
There are two obvious solutions, and I do not believe that either will ever be implemented. (a) Ebay can stop running auctions, and completely become a retail venue - which would leave an opening for another venue to concentrate on auctions and attract large numbers of that type of buyer and seller. or (B) Ebay could seperate retail from auction by creating a second more basic site exclusively for the use of auction type sales. The fact that the systems employed could be far more basic page and site structures, would keep the auction site both more efficient and cheaper to run, and with a simplified listing process would make sellers more productive and earn Ebay better fees.
So, how do others here see this? Is the future of Ebay as a retail site, an auction site or both? Do you feel that auction and retail are perfectly compatible on the same site? Do you feel that a split of retail from auction within the Ebay corporate shell could work? Or do you believe that online auctions are outdated and a thing of the past?
Kevin
Answer
Hi Kevin,
I feel they are perfectly compatible. In fact I do like the mixture of all.
The early days of ebay are long gone and I do believe many have tired of from the email I get from my regulars who shop my store or website. They often say they "grow weary" of bidding and like the fact that I offer so many items at a fixed price. I have many repeat regular customers.
The way ebay has constructed the site has helped me to adapt easily to this.
If I have an item that by research I am not able to get a good idea of fair market value I will put it up in auction format the first time around with a fair starting bid, if it does not sale I then have the option of just holding it back or resubmit at often times a higher opening fix price. Many times it will sell the second go round and I was able to take advantage of the free relist.
If it does not sell the second go round I then put it in my store and will re-evaluate it in 30-60 days if it has not sold and put it back in auction mode if I care to to see if I can get a new crowd of lookers.
I use sapro which works hand in hand with ebay and the ability to switch from auction to fixed to store can be done with the click of a button.
I like the fixed price as it allows me move the merchandise fast and get a fair price.
I believe the auction format still has its venue too as we can see by the triumphant tuesday thread. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
Each seller has to look at what works best for them and the type of items they sell. Offering the mixture of the three for the seller to choose from is very wise of ebay.
They must be doing something right as it seems to be working and growing. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
Sellers will either have to adapt or get so frustrated they will just give up.
I do love ebay and have been selling since 99, I am always trying to learn and adapt to the market place and listen closely to my customers. I find the change refreshing and I have never gotten weary or even considered leaving ebay. It is "their game" and they have the right to make the rules. If we don't like it then we need to find another game to play.
I find it arrogant to "demand" they play by our rules, as you can see just by the threads on here, Many have different ideas of what the rules should be. Somebody has to be the chief. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
Good thread!!
but no I do not believe Auctions are a nuisance, they are just one of many options.
((hugs))
Janet * Lanetzliving.com
My Website, up and running and I already sold stuff!! woo hoo!....
Me Page
Answer
As usual, GOOD post and synopsis, Kevin. Plenty for us....and eBay....to chew on there. http://community.here.com/infopop/em.../icon_wink.gif
Several years ago, I posted this analogy in regards to what *I* felt was the eBay direction....and am sad that it appears to have been deja vu:
A little auction house opens out on the edge of town in a ramshackle old building on a large tract of farmland.....good auctioneer and selection of goods attracts a nice sized, loyal crowd base and the little auction house is successful. Enough so, that the auctioneer puts up a new building to handle the people & items he offers....nothing fancy....just bigger and newer with a concession stand and heat & AC for comfort. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
And the bigger auction house continues to grow and attract more people. The auctions become larger. A wider variety of items are added to the now twice a week sales. The auctioneer HAS a following....and is making yet MORE money.....and he adds a small antique shop next to the auction house. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
Yet more people stop by and become familiar with his place and he comes up with another idea.....and he adds a Friday & Saturday flea market to the property.....MORE people and MORE money rolls in! http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
As the businesses move along, MORE people are at his property so he adds yet another building for an antique mall....and MORE money comes from his expanding businesses. And more and more people know of it and come....and spend MORE money! http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
And as the little town grows, he is suddenly located on the edge of a "hot spot" commercially.....and is approached to sell the excess farm property to developers for a mall.....with being able to keep his first loves....his auction house & little antique mall, and a small flea market! Soon, those are located over to the side of a sprawling new flashy retail mall and huge parking lot…..just a sideline to the BIGGER picture. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...n_rolleyes.gif
As the retail mall grows and implements new ideas & improvements to attract shoppers with aesthetics & splash appeal, they add a once-a-month antique & collectibles show to the mall common areas....and the auctioneer starts noticing a drop in traffic at HIS antique mall over to the side of the parking lot....and a different type of expectations from the new people that wander into his live auctions....they expect the same type of stuff found at the retail mall.....and at better prices….and NOT having to wait for what they want, to be put up for sale…..and NOT understanding the dynamics of auctions. Suddenly he is having one auction a week for them....new & barely used items....and the flavor of his little auction house is forever changed as it becomes more like a cheap flea market with a ring master begging for bids as entertainment. And the retail mall shows start affecting his antique mall also and he starts having more empty booths each month. The retail mall draws the people to THEIR shows in the hallways….and the mall merchants "accept the disruption" as a needed way to attract shoppers to "the REAL stores". The original reason for existing is now but a "marketing technique" and "side traffic" for the bigger scheme. The antique mall begins to die a slow death and the auction house isn't that busy every sale night now. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_frown.gif
Soon, the once great empire the little auctioneer had built & enjoyed so much, is now drastically different...and not all that much fun anymore either. The mall has made it difficult to navigate their parking lot to get to him. Huge sale banners are placed on their property that blocks HIS signs. Car shows and sales are held on the side lots AWAY FROM his operations….and diverts potential customers. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...s/icon_eek.gif
Finally, he is approached by the mall developers who want to buy his remaining property and convert the auction house to an auto center and a bank wants the antique mall building....with the option to keep the ORIGINAL little ramshackle building and an acre or two. The money is good enough, that he goes home to decide what to do now!??! He still loves being an auctioneer and dealing with antiques & collectibles and oddball paper and vintage furniture & knick-knacks and glassware & pottery and the such.....but his original site is now a completely different atmosphere that what he had become accustomed to & successful with …...and much more difficult to work around. It could work….but would also require MORE work to succeed. http://community.here.com/3/ws/emoticons/ignore.gif
Does he keep the old building and go back to his once a week auctions? Does he move it all and start over someplace on the other side of town? Does he just stop fighting and "get a real job"? Does he have "one LAST auction" and have only the memories? Does he JOIN the "retailers" and sell out his first love? Does he take his personal items and add them in with the "hallway shows" once a month, at the retail mall? http://community.here.com/infopop/em...n_confused.gif
Or does he simply keep plugging away KNOWING that the people that enjoy the REAL auction experience will still come to his little ramshackle building on Friday night and BID……and maybe; JUST MAYBE; some of those "other people" with catch the fever too!??! http://community.here.com/infopop/em.../icon_cool.gif
Substitute the eBay IPO for the "mall developers"; eBay Motors for the "auto center" & "car shows"; payOLApal for "the bank moving into the antique mall building"; eBay stores for the "monthly mall shows"; and those of us that talk about the "good old days" as the little auctioneer…..and you HAVE the eBay story in B&M real life terms. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...n_rolleyes.gif
I want to continue "being a little auctioneer"…..I want to once again "have it BE fun"…..I want to have a successful little business "over in the corner" while the developers & "big boys" make their money too! http://community.here.com/infopop/em.../icon_cool.gif
I only wish that I could feel that eBay wants me to succeed as much as I do! http://community.here.com/infopop/em...n_confused.gif
<---Ken....who has been successfully packratting for over 4 decades now!
Check HERE for things dragged down from the attic to sell THIS week!
Answer
Kevin_T, if you look at my web store - you will see its not about bells and whistles. I value quick loading pages, site stability, and a consistent look. As long as the site enstills a sense of trust and service, pretty pages are not necessary.
> consistent
By consistency, I am referring to a consistency within eBay itself - not other retail sites. I want buttons and links to look and work in the same way.
> Ebay a "retailer" since they do not own their own stock
Many giant online retailers (like Amazon) utilize fulfillment to a great extent. Amazon just keeps their inventory current by linking their database to the fullfillment house database. So, in some respects, eBay is not that different from other online retailers that do not carry inventory.
· tekgems web store
· eBay Listings
Answer
"Ebay could seperate retail from auction by creating a second more basic site exclusively for the use of auction type sales. The fact that the systems employed could be far more basic page and site structures, would keep the auction site both more efficient and cheaper to run, and with a simplified listing process would make sellers more productive and earn Ebay better fees"
This is what I would like to see Kevin, what I don't understand is why ebay has no interest in doing it.
cariad
Answer
Well this year I have vowed to move along with the times, eBay style.
I have my store, I run some auctions to drive traffic to the store. Some of the "auctions" I run I opt for fixed price listings, especially on items I have tried to auction in the past with little success.
I am finding that having a mix of all of the above are starting to improve my bottom-line which up to this point was becoming increasingly depressing.
The fixed price listings are moving stuff much more quickly for me. Things I may have given up on and just tossed or donated are at least now generating some profit, maybe not as much as I originally had hoped but, but at least now that item is in the black and not the red for me. Some of my auctions have started to actually have bidding wars on them, and I am moving items out of my store on a steady basis.
I don't think eBay will ever be what it used to be. The days of common to fairly common items getting ridiculously high bids are gone, I have resigned myself to that fact and thus have changed my eBay strategies.
Answer
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tekgems:
> Ebay a "retailer" since they do not own their own stock
Many giant online retailers (like Amazon) utilize fulfillment to a great extent. Amazon just keeps their inventory current by linking their database to the fullfillment house database. So, in some respects, eBay is not that different from other online retailers that do not carry inventory.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Tek,
In this I have to disagree. True e-retailers, such as Amazon, are the ones selling the product, accepting the money and taking responisiblity to ship the goods to the customer. Ebay is none of this. Ebay is simply a very huge online classified ad newspaper. And that is all it is. We put in our ads and people buy our products and we pay ebay for the privilege of advertising on their site.
No more, no less. They are in no means a retailer of any sort, unless you count the ebay and powerseller stuff they try to sell.
Simply a huge online paper like the Pennysaver full of ads for different things.
Jill
Answer
An interesting and diverse mix of responses to this thread. I will reply to what has been said here in another post but though I will preface this by posting my reply to the person who sent me the Motley Fool article I linked to above.
I appreciate that many here will dissagree with my comments, they do paint with too broad a brush (and I am not posting to inflame anything). They were written spur of the moment, but I do stand by the central theme.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>As for this Motley Fool article:
"The company is already the country's 11th-largest retailer."
How on earth can they be a retailer when they do not buy and sell stock.
Ebay fails to see where it evolved from and the market forces that created it. It was a type of cross between the ultimate general auction house and a very liquid commodities market. It was not and is not a retail business. The only retailing that can be done with lasting success on Ebay is liquidation - good old fire sale, sell it quickly because it is priced accordingly - stock liquidation. This has also always been a domain of auctioneers. Collectibles and antiques aside for a moment, *****, do you really think that Ebay can build and maintain a retail market where the only controlling factor is that the person who can sell the goods cheapest (particularly if they can sustain a profit, if they say bought a closeout), controls the entire price for the commodity for as long as they offer it. By removing the competitive aspects of auctioning goods, Ebay only has the ability of driving down retail prices until enough sellers remove themselves from the marketplace, instead of letting demand push the prices back up to some extent.
Ebay has no holdings of stock in this wild wild west form of retail, and thus have no control over prices at all. All they do is provide a venue that works on the lowest common denominator to drive *down* retail prices. They have removed the essential element that is present in both auction and commodities markets, and which they started their soaring business with - the competition of buyers to create a demand that can drive prices *up* as well as down. How long can Ebay really sustain this type of "retail" market place? What percentage of "retail" sellers can survive in it? Why can't the pundits recognise the serious weaknesses (both this and an essentially unproductive site) that Ebay has built into their business strategies over the last few years?
I will survive, possibly even with Ebay's assistance, but how many that are not auction oriented and are not selling fairly unique items, can survive on this seriously flawed business model. I am just fortunate that the original business that Pierre intuitively got right, is still intact enough to serve my purposes - but Ebay has made it harder and harder to use while screwing around with every side aspect of it.
Where does this all leave the industry? It is not an attractive picture. Imagine if the livestock markets, fish markets, and commodities markets had all altered their core business in this way - some primary industries would have collapsed by now. Ebay had the ultimate high turnover low cost business - they only had to maintain a simple and straightforward marketplace and let the vendors do the "work". Other than security and capacity, there was almost nothing else that Ebay had to do to justify their fees - instead Ebay has become the most cumbersome complicated and unproductive marketplace possible, and micro management continue to tweak every aspect in order to justify their place at the feedtrough and their entitlement to share options that outstrip the profit of what should be one of the most lucrative businesses in the world.
Bah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just Ranting, Kevin <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Answer
G'day Janet,
My latter post explains my concerns over a "retail" site that has been built from the foundations of an auction site. It will affect different sellers differently, particularly depending on how much supply there is in their category. If they have less supply or price cutting, then they do have the opportunity to maintain a decent retail market. If they have almost no competition, they suddenly access buyers worldwide and only expand their own market, - as I said, my comments were painted with too broad a brush. I just think that as a retail model, the Ebay business has become seriously flawed.
As an exclusively auction seller (my choice - not my expectation of other sellers), the monopoly becomes the biggest problem in maintaining a genuine auction market to sell in. The monopoly means that there is no "exclusively" auction site to sell at, because no "exclusively" auction site has been able to draw enough traffic. This is not because no one wants an exclusively auction site, it is because the relevant traffic can currently only satisfy its needs at Ebay. The numbers maintain the market and the market is maintained by the numbers - the management has not helped to maintain this market mnonopoly, the monopoly itself has.
Ebay, though, will never spear auctions from the site. They give the essential ingredient of variety that keeps the site interesting and the removal of auctions would allow the growth of an "exclusively" auction site, and importantly to Ebay, see a percentage of users move to another site (thus losing the perceivced market share, and affecting share prices). Instead, although the demand for auctions is substantial (and, yes, there are definitely buyers who have no interest in buying through the auction process), auction users will be treated as a lesser class as Ebay targets retail sales. The creation of a second more basic site for auction use only, would probably resolve the issues for both Ebay and auction users, and make the online auction market itself a more vibrant and responsive marketplace.
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G'day Ken,
Your analogy is good, but it suggests that the original model should have stuck to antiques and collectibles only. In this I am at odds with many who sell antiques and collectibles on Ebay, but I do not see the broadness of the auction marketplace as being a problem.
I see the problem in combining auction and retail. The reason is that retail caps a top price to the item's price, whilst auction only caps a minimum price. There are many successful auction houses worldwide who can sell industrial, liquidation stock, cars and antiques successfully from the one premises - their diversity is only limited by the quality of specialised staff that they can attract. However, none of these auction houses also retail. You can not expect to have competitive bidding take an item to dizzy heights, when the same item is available retail at a lesser price in the same room, and yet, somehow the Ebay model is now built around attempting to do this. Our sales are not affected by someone auctioning off liquidated plumbing supplies (unless we are auctioning plumbing supplies, then the market forces of competition come into play), but you can not expect to achieve the "normal" $30 - $50 auction realisation for a Kirchner Postcard when someone in the Czech Republic uses free listing days to list them for $15.00 fixed price or BIN. Not only is the price capped, but as they are pounced on, they turn up as a ruling price in the completed auctions search. This removes the most important dynamic of auction.
The fact that items are available *elsewhere* for a lesser retail is not a problem. I used to be able to list Enid Blyton books on Ebay for more than they were available for on ABE, and still attract competitive bidding to move up the price further. However, as soon as the same item is available at a *maximum* price on the same site, all the competitive market forces that make the auction system work, have been interfered with seriously.
The problem is not in the diversity of the goods *auctioned* on Ebay. The more diverse the goods available, the more diverse the range of buyers that will come to the site (thus why Ebay won't remove auctions, they just treat them like the poor cousins now), and the more likely that diverse crowd is to bid on a wider range of goods than what initially attracted them to the site.
Kind Regards, Kevin
Answer
G'day Tekgems,
I do owe you an apology, particularly for my use of the word consistent in relation to your post. I had tied it in with Ebay's press releases that push aspects of what they do as being done to an industry standard (eg: recent changes to the icon buttons) or an expectation of users who use other e-retail sites (eg: the placement of the "buy now" button at the top of the item page).
I appreciate that by parallelling these with your own comments that I have changed your context, and for this I apologise.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Many giant online retailers (like Amazon) utilize fulfillment to a great extent. Amazon just keeps their inventory current by linking their database to the fullfillment house database. So, in some respects, eBay is not that different from other online retailers that do not carry inventory.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I had thought that Amazon actually had a warehouse and distributed from there. That may have changed, or a TV program that I saw may have been misleading.
In any case, those e-tailers who drop ship, do at least control the pricing of their own market place, and have a degree of direct responsibility to the buyer - Ebay does not.
In this aspect I agree with Jill:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>True e-retailers, such as Amazon, are the ones selling the product, accepting the money and taking responisiblity to ship the goods to the customer. Ebay is none of this. Ebay is simply a very huge online classified ad newspaper. And that is all it is. We put in our ads and people buy our products and we pay ebay for the privilege of advertising on their site.
No more, no less. They are in no means a retailer of any sort, unless you count the ebay and powerseller stuff they try to sell.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I dissagree though that Ebay is simply the equivalent to a newspaper. To my mind, they form more of a role as agent, in the aspect of introducing buyer to seller, controlling the circumstance of the sale (and things like bidding increments), and taking a commission on the exchange of contracts. What they do is much more than a newspaper does, but they do not actually do any retailing.
Brodysmom says:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Well this year I have vowed to move along with the times, eBay style.
I have my store, I run some auctions to drive traffic to the store. Some of the "auctions" I run I opt for fixed price listings, especially on items I have tried to auction in the past with little success.
I am finding that having a mix of all of the above are starting to improve my bottom-line which up to this point was becoming increasingly depressing.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
So, is the combination of retail (capped maximum price) and auction (allowing supply and demand to determine prices at any given time, but without capping the maximum price) really an improvement to this marketplace, or are sellers simply learning by necessity to adjust to what Ebay has done to what was essentially a very fluid marketplace?
We can only adjust to the circumatances of the market that we are selling in, but that does not mean that the factors that have brought it to this point are the best for the market or any particular player (and I include Ebay). In my opinion, and from a distance that may distort this impression, Ebay brought a lot of people to the internet and created a virtual commodities type of auction market that tapped into the differences of marketplaces all over the world. The rapid growth, more than suggests, it proves, that there is a place for the auction process in creating an international marketplace that can move goods from one user to another anywhere and is determined by both local and international market forces. The market this tapped into was tremendous, the opportunities that it provided were incredible and it became a virtual commodities market for secondhand and new goods unparrallelled by any available local market. Ebay (and scam artists) though have distorted the most pure aspects of this simple vibrant and worthwhile market and removed the most fundamental aspects by capping maximum prices and segregating the international sites to remove the varied market conditions which really expanded the market to its optimum.
This more than lamenting "the good old days", this is understanding the original marketforces that created the initial success of Ebay and appreciating how the market has been changed and interfered with. Yes, I have no right to make "demands" on Ebay, but I do have a right to analyse the market and hopefully prompt someone (whether within or outside Ebay) to re-create the basic auction marketplace that worked and will work again if it is not distorted. That re-creation though is difficult. If done outside Ebay, it will involve huge capital outlay and risks. Those that want the simple commodities type market place will have to recognise it when it is offered, and it will never succeed without traffic. Coming back to recurring theme, Ebay's monopoly is probably the factor that will stop this ever being a viable proposition, even though Ebay's management has damaged the marketplace that they originally tapped into.
Kind Regards, Kevin