Free Updates

Let us tell you when new posts are added!

Email:

Navigation

Categories

Search

Archives

<January 2009>
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
28293031123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
1234567

More Links


 Thursday, January 31, 2008
Antique Trader Question of the week - Can eBay remain relevant?
Posted by Antique Trader Staff

Everyone in the antiques business - collector and dealer alike - have an opinion about eBay. However you feel about it now, it's played a major role in antiques commerce over the last decade. The role, however, has been changing rapidly in recent weeks.

Ebay has suffered a well publicized decline in market share in the last year - something like 14% - in its auction business and has not seen it's Marketplace feature do as well as investors would have like to have seen in the face of Amazon and Google's growing share.

This all culminated last week when it was announced that Meg Whitman, the CEO who guided eBay to glory in the late 1990s, was resigning to "spend more time with her family." That last bit was mine... I just put it in for dramatic effect...

Whitman's resignation, and her successors pledge to amp up the Marketplace and "Buy It Now" features while de-emphasizing the auction business, along with a reduction in listing fees and a tweak to the feedback system - which many sellers fear will lead to shady buyers not being weeded out - have given eBay more press than its had in a few years. Whether it's positive remains to be seen.

Here's what Trader wants to know this week: With a leadership change, lower listing fees and a shift in selling focus, can eBay remain a relevant force in the marketplace?

Post your answer to the new Antique Trader Blog at www.antiquetraderblog.com/atblog, or send your response to noah.fleisher@fwpubs.com.


 | Antiques | Antiques, blog, question of the week | eBay
1/31/2008 10:05:52 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [1]
2/1/2008 3:44:08 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Ever have this problem...? eBay insulted me when a dealer "blocked" my bid..and refused to allow me to buy from his advertised item on his site (this sure seems illegal for some "inter-state" reason..)..evidenly thinking I was going to buy and then re-sell his items that he says are old illustrations from comicbooks, he has reprinted and put on discs and he sells these discs ..now claims they are "copyrighted" by him though many I am sure have run out of copyright,how can he do this? I have sold a few comics and other items,,but I am not a dealer! The same with another listing-dealer.. that will not sell old-time-radio mp3 discs..to anyone they suspecet as a "Dealer"... They refuse bids by blocking them. eBay supports this and says if a bidder uses another name, he will be thrown off eBay. I remember in the 1950's-1960's.. trading old-time-radio programs on tape with other collectors as all of us would build up our collections this way......The New EBAY Rates give a little reduction on a listing..but takes-back and much more selling fee.. ...when sold....with the new rate. Same ole' story!
Name
E-mail
Home page

Comment (HTML not allowed)  

Enter the code shown (prevents robots):