Question
I have been following AuctionDrop (the only venture-capitalized eBay consignment seller I know of) for about a year, starting with the opening of their storefronts in the Bay Area, the phantom stores that were to open in L.A. but never did, the brief but abortive attempt to sell AuctionDrop franchises, and of late, the partnership with the UPS Store.
Today I passed the Menlo Park AD store and noticed the "For Rent" sign in the window.
Thinking I must have missed something, I paged back to the AD press release announcing the UPS Store partnership. Nope. Not a word about closing their own storefronts. Only a reference to the "huge success" of their stores.
On the good news side, I see that auction volume is back up to 700-some auctions today, after lolling about at the 400-500 range for most of the summer. I still wonder if that's enough revenue to sustain an operation that employs 150 people and which once stated that the minimum starting salary for most lower-end jobs was $11/hour.
Oh, by the way: That's 700 auctions a *week*, not per day.
fluffy
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Answer
sheesh - before I had babies I sometimes had 200 up a week, all by myself. 150 people?
I wondered if they would make it. 6 years ago they could have done quite well with this idea b/c listing was simpler & everything sold. Now its a different story. I would think they need many times that many listings to keep 150 folks employed.
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Those full-page newspaper ads don't come cheap.
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Concept is nuts.
If there is not enough money for sole owners working 60+ hours, how can there be enough to support stores and corporate hierarchy? Unless of course the consignors get very little which then destroys repeat business.
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I'm sure they are just moving to a bigger location.
Meg, specifically, and eBay in general have said they are a wonderful idea and they are always right.
I'm certain they will build on the established eBay foundation of the ReturnBuy and Japan success.
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Maybe it was always about selling franchises and not actually doing the work of selling on eBay.
That would explain their disappearance.
Also, MailBoxesEtc. before it became the UPS store, planned eBay selling services just like this operator. It was announced jointly by Meg and MBE a couple years ago and promptly faded from view.
Larry