Has eBay Hit The Wall Or Is Economy To Blame?
Motley Fool has reported that holiday spending at eBay this year is lower than last year, despite the fact that one would expect them to be a good source of lower priced gifts in these hard economic times.
Meanwhile Amazon has reported higher sales numbers over last year.
Are people forgoing secondhand for discounted new items? Or is there another reason eBay is being bypassed?
To truly see what is happening I would like to be able to track the number of sales being done through Craigslist. Given you have to generally pay for shipping when buying through eBay, is it possible people are going through Craigslist to save the shipping and increase the buying power of their total dollar spend?
If we had these numbers maybe they would give eBay a way to continue their growth potential.
Online spending did have a spurt for the last weekend before Christmas as we reported the other day.
Could eBay have another growth spurt if they made localization easier to organize? Right now they have hit a wall, but it could be one they can move by making the interface a little more intuitive for new users and add better access to local auctions.
Photo by wsvn.com.
Jaclyn on December 30th, 2008 2:35 pm
Ebay is probably hitting the wall rather then suffering from the bad economy, especially since amazon is reporting higher sales and they do pretty much the same thing. there is also craigslist where people do a lot of their shopping. my fiance shops at craigslist and has bought a couple thousands worth of stuff over the past two year’s from them…he never goes on ebay. i think that ebay has just outlived their territory and other’s are swooping in with better deals and faster service.
alan on December 30th, 2008 4:35 pm
Ebay used to be cheap, somehwere you could get a bargain. But now now, everyone just assumes, its ebay, it will be the cheapest i will get this. but generally, its not… not any more.
plex on January 1st, 2009 2:59 pm
The site took a huge turn for the worse when it began offering fixed priced items. I say a turn for the worse, because other big issues started popping up around this time too, it almost feels like Ebay has had a huge change in management, it went from innovative to totally useless in short order:
1) Prices are no longer a bargain there, this was the biggest draw of the site and it is simply gone
2) Poor administration of the site, especially noticeable is the lack of thought in proactively preventing piracy before it helps by setting rules. Ebay has chosen to put immediate profits ahead of fixing long-term problems that could severely hamper Ebay. To put it simply, piracy, such as from fake buyers/sellers from countries such as Nigeria, is completely rampant on Ebay.
3) Very poor customer support. This is linked to 2. Instead of preventing piracy, Ebay simply lets auctions complete and then will often tag both the buyer and sellers as pirates. The problem with pirates has become so bad, that it has essentially become impossible to sell electronics on Ebay. Fake bids are rampant.
4) Fake bids. I repeat, fake bids. Ebay is built purely on trust. That the buyer will pay the seller. This worked alright in its early days, but there a lot of stupid dishonest people out there, and they will eventually start using a service if it becomes popular and can make them some easy money. Ebay has no mechanisms for protecting against fake bids.
5) Payment protection for sellers. It is almost non-existent. It only applies for smaller priced items. Ebay will usually not go after a seller if they don’t deliver. Ebay will also usually not refund the up to $200 they are legally bound too. This is very dishonest, and if a business is viewed as dishonest, it will have a very hard time growing.
6) Ebay changes its site layout, often. This is a breach of a (and possibly THE) cardinal rule of online business, which not not mess around with the site layout of your site. While ebay has not done this with the frontpage, it has done it in all the important places. Auction setup is much more complex. Buying items is more complex. I came back to sell an item a year ago, and had no clue where you setup your account to pay ebay, because they no longer automatically deduct the amount anymore. It is not easier, or better, it is just more complex, it takes much more time than it used to buy/sell items.
Amazon is very different. Their customer service is top class. You always get your item or a refund. They make returning items easier than anywhere else. The site is simple. Amazon does not constantly change its site layout. Very fast and simple payments. Amazon is trustworthy….etc…all of these things are critical aspects that ebay lacks.
I miss the Ebay from 8-10 years ago. It was a useful site. It would still be a useful site today. The crap that is now Ebay is not a useful site.
cassy on January 3rd, 2009 1:39 am
ebay is not a problem,it is the economy that has to be blame,coz if people is affected with the down economy they will be having some coasting on their budget to avoid a financial problem in the family. so many will stop from shopping or finding some things to be auction in the net, and i hope it will not happen this 2009!
terry on July 4th, 2009 4:48 am
Ebay is failing its buyers and sellers.It is well aware of fraudsters on the site(I told them one)but they fail to do anything.In typical Yankee style,if they are getting their buck,then they don`t mind what happens.I sold 8,000 dollars a month but was suspended in February without so much as a reason why.They lost about 9,600 dollars a year just from me in selling commissions and are keen to get me back.The trouble is that after they suspended me,I refused to pay the last invoice,preferring that they sue me which they seem reluctant to do.
Ebay cannot be trusted and because they reserve the right to change rules,they effectivley have no rules.Terry
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