eBait
February 16, 2008 by Jim Gordon
Filed under Leadership
ATTENTION ENTREPRENEURS
eBay pissed people off. Buyers and sellers are now boycotting eBay because of the following major points:
- Increased rates for casual sellers
- No more negative/neutral feedback rating
- Limited search algorithm
You can find out more in this article posted by Fortune. This is a business opportunity. eBay wants to “test the elasticity” of their buyers and sellers - but how far can you push the envelope when you have a fading audience? Anyone see where I am going with this?
Over the past few years, eBay has lost its audience in a pretty big way, according to Alexa. I think these new changes will not revitalize the website. Instead, I think it will simply make it more difficult for the casual sellers. Why would eBay want to appeal to the casual seller? Simple - they represent new members. You cannot experience growth if your site isn’t user-friendly.
eBay should have added more capabilities to attract a new audience instead of “refining.” It’s a constantly changing market, and they are not doing enough to maintain the pace.
This is a perfect opportunity for YOU. There is a lot of media attention surrounding eBay right now, so capitalize while there is interest in the auctioning market. Steal the audience that has rejected eBay before they return because of a lack of alternatives.
Great Post Jim,
You are right in many of your points here and I agree that now is the time to attack the giant if your goal is to start a competing venue.
For sellers, there has been no better time to look elsewhere and explore other “channels” for sales.
This is why we are launching a series of reviews of the competing online sales and auction websites.
Our first installment (re: the free off eBay shopping cart & Webstore service site by inkfrog - BuyitSellit) can be found here: http://allbusinessauctions.com/blog/
We do not believe leaving eBay all together is a good idea. Using eBay to drive traffic to one of these other easy to use sites is still a very good idea.
Interesting Jim… suspect it might also mean better buying opportunities at some of the other auction sites as folks find their way away from ebay.
Gitting rid of ebay is good.. Many sites offer good rates.. I came across one such site.. http://www.elfingo.com.. Just you can try this if it works out well for you.. They charge just 15 cents per listing and no commissions or final value fees..