Thoughts on EBAY's Future.

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 07:53:59 -0500, "smiles"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Please post this in rec.bicycles.marketplace and not here.

JT

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Yes, only matters like the "Truth About MLK" and Iraqi War items qualify
as appropriate here.

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 07:53:59 -0500, "smiles"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Please post this in rec.bicycles.marketplace and not here.

JT

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My bet is that prices on ebay will increas 2.75% for little stuff and
1.5% for big ticket items....Not difficult math.

The real questions is will the percentage increases cause people to
float back to real retail online stores (such as performance) since the
marginal savings over ebay (in my mind) for most items isn't worth the
added stress of doing the ebay thing.

smiles said:

I know a bunch of us use the "largest bike shop in the world" ... aka

ebay

Quoted message said:

... and was wondering what people thought about the recent rate hike

and how

Quoted message said:

it will effect the online service??

Just introduced effective either Feb 18 or 28, a huge increase in

fees ...

Quoted message said:

from 50% to 100% increase ... like the small stuff going from 5.25%

to 8%

Quoted message said:

(over 50% increase) ... and the top dollar going from 1.5% to 3%

(100%

Quoted message said:

increase).

I know they are going to be rolling it in for a while ... imagine at

a push

Quoted message said:

of a button almost doubling your revenue!! But will people pay more

.... i

Quoted message said:

know stuff we sell is right at cost and it hurts losing anything else

....

Quoted message said:

will it go the way of Gemco who sold stuff cheap then as they got

hooked

Quoted message said:

customers ... they raised their prices ... and went under once they

realized

Quoted message said:

people were shopping price and not the store.

Thoughts ...

--
s
http://boardnbike.com
http://deuceskate.com
http://familyoffaithministry.org

DOH!!!!!!!!!

Prices do not increase.......... It is an auction!
Reserve prices and starting bids can increase.

People might start charging more for shipping....

On 1/14/05 11:30 AM, in article
[email hidden], "bobo"

Quoted message said:

My bet is that prices on ebay will increas 2.75% for little stuff and
1.5% for big ticket items....Not difficult math.

The real questions is will the percentage increases cause people to
float back to real retail online stores (such as performance) since the
marginal savings over ebay (in my mind) for most items isn't worth the
added stress of doing the ebay thing.

smiles said:

I know a bunch of us use the "largest bike shop in the world" ... aka

ebay

Quoted message said:

... and was wondering what people thought about the recent rate hike

and how

Quoted message said:

it will effect the online service??

Just introduced effective either Feb 18 or 28, a huge increase in

fees ...

Quoted message said:

from 50% to 100% increase ... like the small stuff going from 5.25%

to 8%

Quoted message said:

(over 50% increase) ... and the top dollar going from 1.5% to 3%

(100%

Quoted message said:

increase).

I know they are going to be rolling it in for a while ... imagine at

a push

Quoted message said:

of a button almost doubling your revenue!! But will people pay more

... i

Quoted message said:

know stuff we sell is right at cost and it hurts losing anything else

...

Quoted message said:

will it go the way of Gemco who sold stuff cheap then as they got

hooked

Quoted message said:

customers ... they raised their prices ... and went under once they

realized

Quoted message said:

people were shopping price and not the store.

Thoughts ...

--
s
http://boardnbike.com
http://deuceskate.com
http://familyoffaithministry.org

smiles said:

I know a bunch of us use the "largest bike shop in the world" ... aka ebay
... and was wondering what people thought about the recent rate hike and how
it will effect the online service??

Expect competing services to enter the market of auctioning.

DOH!!!

Not all transactions on ebay are true auctions. For many sellers, ebay
is nothing more than an online virtual store. These sellers list their
items with a 'buy it now' price which matches their opening bid price,
which is in effect nothing more than the 'e-tail' price for the item.
THOSE prices will (okay, may) go up.

Steve said:

DOH!!!!!!!!!

Prices do not increase.......... It is an auction!
Reserve prices and starting bids can increase.

People might start charging more for shipping....

On 1/14/05 11:30 AM, in article
[email hidden], "bobo"

Quoted message said:

My bet is that prices on ebay will increas 2.75% for little stuff

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1.5% for big ticket items....Not difficult math.

The real questions is will the percentage increases cause people to
float back to real retail online stores (such as performance) since

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

marginal savings over ebay (in my mind) for most items isn't worth

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

added stress of doing the ebay thing.

smiles said:

I know a bunch of us use the "largest bike shop in the world" ...

aka

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ebay

Quoted message said:

... and was wondering what people thought about the recent rate

hike

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and how

Quoted message said:

it will effect the online service??

Just introduced effective either Feb 18 or 28, a huge increase in

fees ...

Quoted message said:

from 50% to 100% increase ... like the small stuff going from

5.25%

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to 8%

Quoted message said:

(over 50% increase) ... and the top dollar going from 1.5% to 3%

(100%

Quoted message said:

increase).

I know they are going to be rolling it in for a while ... imagine

at

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a push

Quoted message said:

of a button almost doubling your revenue!! But will people pay

more

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

... i

Quoted message said:

know stuff we sell is right at cost and it hurts losing anything

else

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

...

Quoted message said:

will it go the way of Gemco who sold stuff cheap then as they got

hooked

Quoted message said:

customers ... they raised their prices ... and went under once

they

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

realized

Quoted message said:

people were shopping price and not the store.

Thoughts ...

--
s
http://boardnbike.com
http://deuceskate.com
http://familyoffaithministry.org

I'm not sure how many people know what you mean by "added stress".
Since most haven't bought stuff off of Ebay they aren't aware that you
can get screwed about 20 ways from Sunday. In one case 'packing and
shipping' came to 200% of the not inexpensive purchase price of a
frame.

I am EXTREMELY careful of buying from Ebay and tend to avoid it if at
all possible.

As a comparison, in some 10 years or more of buying from
rec.bicycles.marketplace I've only had two cases of questionable
activity. In one case a set of cranks was not what was advertised, but
a different maker. The seller compensated me for the difference when it
turned out that his understanding was that both makers were the same
factory. In the second place the condition of the purchased item wasn't
at all what was presented, but I'd gotten so good a deal I could hardly
complain.

Of course you have to remember in ALL cases that anything deal that
seems too good to be true probably is. So most of my purchases are of
cheap stuff at a terrific bargain so that I can stand any losses. The
local bike shops and the mail order stores offer good deals and instant
gratification. Hard to beat that.

Tom, if you've never used eBay, how do you know that you are any more
subject to fraud than any other online originated transaction? A
fruadulent eBay user can be tracked down far faster than a usenet
fraudtser. Usenet does not employ a large staff of anti-fraud
investigators.

And a challenge for the pundits: Explain the fee increase. I'll tell
you if you are correct.

It's called Yahoo, and they entered the market many years ago. They
undercut eBay's fees right from the start and still lost badly. But
fee specifics are not what drives participation on the site, as the
fees are already fairly low. It's all about the size of the available
network.

Sellers need to be in front of a large network of buying-interested
eyeballs. eBay gives that to them.

Look at it another way: You're Crazy Eddie, and you have car syereos
you want to sell. You can buy TV advertsing space on a UHF channel on
Long Island with an viewership of 1,000,000 viewers, or you can pay 20%
more to have an audience of 10,000,000 viewers (1,000% bigger) on a
"Big 3" network station.

But in the case of eBay -vs- Yahoo, the difference in fees is mere
pennies. But the gap of people who actually use ebay -vs- Yahoo for
buying is far wider than the fee differences. This is why eBay has
maintained market dominance. They have the network of eyeballs.

If you're trying to sell a set of Modolo plastic brake levers from 1984
for ue on a time trial bike, I'd dare to say that it is a fairly
obscure item. You'd need a wide range of eyeballs in order to make
traction with your market. The fact that we're discussing eBay on rbr
sort of illustrates my point that the bike equipment market already has
good traction on eBay. I suppose it depends on how many places you
want to go hunting, but right now, if I wanted to find a Masi Gran
Criterium, there isa good chance I'll find it on eBay. Buyers know
this, and sellers know that buyers know this.