Comments on: Questioning eBay’s Revenue Model http://commonsenseecommerce.com/blog/2006/10/07/questioning-ebays-revenue-model/ ...contemporary e-commerce business with a small business slant Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:10:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Bonni http://commonsenseecommerce.com/blog/2006/10/07/questioning-ebays-revenue-model/#comment-2 Fri, 20 Oct 2006 21:02:12 +0000 http://commonsenseecommerce.com/blog/2006/10/07/questioning-ebays-revenue-model/#comment-2 I suspect that they've already reached the point of "pushing too far" for an awful lot of sellers, and the thing is, they don't seem to care, nor do they appear to have any plans for providing actual value for those ridiculous fees (you know, by making sure the site actually works and isn't flooded with scammers, postage pirates, and hijacked accounts). Recent surveys have indicated that more than half of eBay sellers responding intend to sell elsewhere within six months, and many are only staying there now for the busy holiday season, but are busy setting up their own e-commerce sites or establishing a presence on other venues, and other venues are certainly picking up traffic and increasing in listings. I'm wondering what their reports are going to look like in about the second quarter of next year, when a majority of sellers have left and the site is completely overrun with low-quality items (frequently from non-fee-paying members). I think the house of cards will eventually fall. I can't see how it could possibly be sustained with the bizarre decisions they're making. Even if they succeed in driving off their reliable sellers and bringing in loads of advertising to send people offsite (that's already in the works!), I don't think people will continue to visit eBay just for the advertising, do you? I suspect that they’ve already reached the point of “pushing too far” for an awful lot of sellers, and the thing is, they don’t seem to care, nor do they appear to have any plans for providing actual value for those ridiculous fees (you know, by making sure the site actually works and isn’t flooded with scammers, postage pirates, and hijacked accounts).

Recent surveys have indicated that more than half of eBay sellers responding intend to sell elsewhere within six months, and many are only staying there now for the busy holiday season, but are busy setting up their own e-commerce sites or establishing a presence on other venues, and other venues are certainly picking up traffic and increasing in listings.

I’m wondering what their reports are going to look like in about the second quarter of next year, when a majority of sellers have left and the site is completely overrun with low-quality items (frequently from non-fee-paying members).

I think the house of cards will eventually fall. I can’t see how it could possibly be sustained with the bizarre decisions they’re making. Even if they succeed in driving off their reliable sellers and bringing in loads of advertising to send people offsite (that’s already in the works!), I don’t think people will continue to visit eBay just for the advertising, do you?

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