leapingcat

Should eBay Go Retail?

Should Ebay go retail? I already thought it had done so! For example on Ebay UK only 4% of books are auctions, Ebay has already effectively killed off that marketplace; I would be interested to see some equivalent figure for other markets.
As long as Ebay systematically distort the 'search' in favour of big box sellers of commodity items they will continue to go downhill. I can already find electronic items more easily on Amazon, why should I as a buyer bother with Ebay.

Has eBay Turned a Growth Corner?

Ebay's constant tinkering can only be seen as a way of giving the impression of a constantly improving financial summary. 'ebaysales' has given a really detailed and brilliant summary of how the smoke and mirrors of the media changes have worked. But also, quarter by quarter, changes which increase sellers costs for no measurable benefit but increase Ebay's bottom line, higher listing fees, higher FVFs, higher shop fees, etc are quietly brought in. I think the day is coming soon when they will have run out of ways of extracting even more fees from the same or declining sales and the sky will be black from the flapping of wings of chickens coming home to roost.

Amazon vs. eBay: 2 Charts Say It All

The charts are only raw data, and can be interpreted in a number of different ways, which can be used to make either company appear to be the better investment. A large part of Ebay's profits come from Paypal, and it is as vulnerable to competition there as it is from Amazon in its core marketplace. On the other hand Amazon is developing a range of products that will enable it to offer a more comprehensive service to third party sellers and thereby develop its business while building a bigger barrier to potential competitors. That is the real contrast betwen the two companies.

eBay Offers Something Amazon Cannot

'EBAY has a better moat because it is essentially made up of millions of small nimble independant sellers'
Not nowdays; they have been squeezed out by the mass sellers of new junk. Even then I find it easier to buy things on Amazon; I've just bought a cable on Amazon because the listing gave me the information I wanted, the ebay equivalent (from China) just didn't have enough information; the couple of pounds (or dollars) more was a small price to pay.
Perhaps investors are now looking at the fundamentals rather than the BS put out by managements.

What Can eBay Do to Close Its Amazon Gap?

Why is it assumed that Ebay should try and emulate Amazon? Ebay isn't Amazon, it hasn't got the strengths where Amazon has, yet till recently it had strengths where Amazon hadn't. Present (and past, don't forget) management have thrown this away without achieving any value for investors, buyers or sellers. Ebay needs to rediscover itself, not as an Amazon clone (for then it will always be a follower rather than a leader), but in a unique way, possibly by building up the P2P side of its business. I doubt that the present management are capable of doing this, but if there is someone out there who can, then the sooner the better.

U.K. E-Commerce Report: Thoughts from Catalyst U.K.

Hi Scott, thanks for such a good overview of the UK retail market from a short visit. A lot of High Street shops have closed down recently, some due to the collapse of large groups such as Woolworths and Zavvi (music, dvds), but a lot due to the competition fron large out-of-town (and our distances are much less than yours) shopping centres and supermarket chains such as Asda (part of Walmart) and Tesco, who are the UK's largest retailer. These larger stores do tend to open till midnight, sometimes 24 hours, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays (due to our peculiar licensing laws for alcohol)
Online shopping is growing steadily, perhaps due to us becoming more confident in giving our credit card details online, but the changes to Ebay, including free auction listings for items with a starting price of 99p for private sellers do not seem to have translated into higher sales, just more listings especially at the bottom end of the market. For some auctions, eg autos bidder identity is hidden, they become Bidder 1, Bidder 2, etc, which of course encourages shill bidding inthose categories where it is most likely to occur.
On the other hand Amazon is going from strength, although as you say it is still essentially in books and media, but the (largely) irrelevant sponsored links indicate that it is widening its horizons.

Why Advertising Is Failing on the Internet

If the sole purpose of advertising was to impart information about a product or service then the outlook for it would indeed be bleak. But much advertising is about something more, for example suggesting that you will have a higher status by using a company's products. Traditional advertising has achieved this by the choice of media, images portrayed, etc, but somehow this seems missing from on-line advertising. Perhaps a different model, looking at a target market rather than linking to content would be more effective, but I leave it better minds than mine to put the flesh on the bones.

Amazon, Netflix Lead in E-Commerce Customer Satisfaction

I would like to see the evidence that auctions seem to have lost their lustre. The Medved statistics for last year show overall an increasing sell through rate for auctions and a decreasing one for BINs, and this is most marked in categories such as books, which are the ones most open to an influx of megasellers.
On the basis of that and the ACSI scores, and also the anecdotal evidence of the differences in customer service, I would like to put forward an alternative interpretation - Ebay is attempting to become more like Amazon, but is not very good at it, and is alienating its traditional customer base while failing to satisfy the want-it-now customers who have become accustomed to Amazon's higher standard of service.
I know that you can prove anything by interpreting statistics in different ways, but I would be surprised if anyone could come to a different conclusion.

Amazon vs. eBay: The Giants of E-Commerce Duke It Out

This article shows graphically (no pun intended) the difference, in a range of measures, between a company that puts customers (the buyers ultimately) first and one that merely looks as what it sees as its own short term interests. Log onto Amazon and it suggests items that may interest you, based on your previous buying history; log onto Ebay and it pushes items from a few large-box sellers in a way that systematically distorts your searching process.
I am also selling some of my collection of books on Amazon. Unlike Ebay, I can list on ISBN, I pay no listing fees upfront, and although final fees are high, Amazon deals effectively with the payment process and there are no Paypal fees on top. Even better, my books are listed alongside Amazon's own stock, and even in a higher position if they are cheaper, not buried somewhere low down on the listings. As buyer or seller, it is just no contest.
A short footnote for those who believe the Bonanzle hype; just try browsing books, it still has along way to go in some areas.

Where Is the Puck Going to Be in 2009?

'eBay Strategies readers - where do you think the ecommerce puck will be in 2009 for you? '
I think that for many there will be a number of pucks in a number of places. Amazon does indeed look well placed for some categories, but Ebay's traditional market for antiques and collectables looks up for grabs. I don't think that any one can predict if any one site will make the breakthrough, but there are a number, which no doubt will get a mention here, that could well do so, given the right promotion. It is difficult to predict which one(s) at present, hence my initial comment.
As for me. To use another metaphor, I won't be putting all my eggs in one basket either.

Amazon, eBay, Overall eCommerce Suffering from Retail Woes

Just looking at the p/e ratios in isolation gives a strange result. Amazon, which has the costs and risks associated with carrying inventory, should in theory be less profitable than Ebay, which transfers those costs and risks to third parties, yet the markets judge Amazon as being the better long-term investment.
Could it be that investor sentiment, as indicated by the quotes above, has some bearing on this. Amazon appears as a well-managed company that is affected, like everyone else, by the current downturn in the economy, but should emerge in a healthy position when it recovers and has a sound long-term strategy. Ebay on the other hand appears to be floundering, and has merely vague ideas of where it wants to be, without the strategy or management to achieve it, and this is reflected in its current value.
At present, cash is king, even though the returns are low, so I will not be investing in either company, but guess which one I will be keeping an eye on for a window of opportunity.

Amazon: An 'Unmatched Online Marketplace' - JP Morgan

I think it is a little early to be bullish on Amazon. We have yet to see figures that show whether it gained volume over the holiday season at the expense of margins and profitability, it may face more competition from established specialists in the retail areas it is moving into, and you can argue that the potential benefits of its developing web services etc has been factored into its current p/e ratio. Amazon may well be a good long-term investment, but in the short term I can even see it bouncing back a little.

What Will Become of eBay?

This article shows that merely analysing figures without trying to understand them is not a very good idea. Once you look a bit deeper it is no surprise that an increase in listings has been followed by a decrease in traffic. Ebay have discriminated against their traditional sellers in favour of the so-called Diamond Power Sellers with their inferior listings both in terms of income per item and desirability.
Let us look in a bit more detail at that allegation that auctions are falling out of favour and fixed price sales are booming. Auction sales may be down slightly, I'm quite happy to accept the 8% figure, but that is hardly surprising from the number of sellers who have left in disgust at Ebay's policies rather than there own downturn in sales. The Medved figures actually show that in the categories that are traditionally dominated by auctions, auction sell-through rates have remained consistently high, and in collectables have actually increased from approximately 40% to approximately 50% over the last three months. On the other hand the sell-through rates for fixed price listings for books, one of the categories that the likes of buy.com have moved into has plummeted from about 45% to about 15%.
These figures are not difficult to obtain, yet I have always found that an analysis based purely on numbers can never give a satisfactory answer to the question as to whether to invest in a company and if so at what price. On that basis I would not invest in Ebay at any price as long as the current policies and management are in place.

eBay Caps Shipping Rates: What Is the CEO Thinking?

An update, this nonsense is now spreading to the UK. The cap on postage for books is the most stupid thing of the lot, as it will be the equivalent of about $4.70 regardless of size. The UK postage rates are based on a combination of weight and size, so a comic will cost about $1.10 plus packing to post, which is OK, but a larger hardback book, such as a textbook costs about $7.00 on postage alone. The only books it will practicable to sell will be thin paperbacks or expensive books where the loss on postage can be absorbed. The result will be less choice for buyers; I can't see how this will improve their 'experience'.
It is obvious that Ebay mangement have never even picked up a book, let alone opened one and read it.

eCommerce Stock Pair Trade: Amazon vs. eBay

Shelley, for the first few months of this year, the STR for BINs for books (one of buy.com's main categories) was approx 30%, not 2.5%; this shows what buyers [i] really[/i] want. This is the type of statistic that shows how bad this sort of deal will be for Ebay's buyers, sellers and investors. I can see nothing in Ebay's thinking that will reverse this trend.