In eBay's early days, it was a place where buyers and sellers of collectible items congregated to conduct business. Eventually it grew into the "Sell Everything" site that we see today. The changes that eBay has made over the last couple of years in addition with future changes might very well send collectors to "niche" or "specialty" auction sites to buy and sell items with others who have a common interest. Niche sites can bring collectors of a similar interest together and these collectors can form the basis for a strong community. Etsy is a prime example of a niche site making a big splash. As niche sites in other areas begin to take hold, buyers and sellers with a common interest will rely less on eBay and more on each other and the community they build outside of eBay. Loss of many of these collectors and and the reduced number of collectibles for sale on eBay will dilute and erode the site. It was collectors who built eBay into the site that it was in it's prime 5-8 years ago. It might very well be those same collectors who make the biggest contribution to eBay's descent into mediocrity.
There are many different niche sites out there and here are a few of them
Mommy Auctions (www.mommyauctions.com). A place where young mothers can gather to exchange tips, socialize and of course, buy and sell new and gently used children's clothing, toys and othe ritems.
Chase The Chuck Wagon (www.chasethechuckwagon.com). Auction site for video game enthusiasts.
Money Auctionz (www.moneyauctionz.com). Auction site for collectors of coins and other currency.
eRock (www.erock.net). Auction site for music and memorabilia buyers and sellers.
Comments
Good article. I have been absolutely convinced for some time now that niche is the way to go. I am extremly pleased with how well I am doing on Delcampe.com(First Day Covers) and ArtByUs.com(Art, obviously). I think it is only a matter of time before the niche sites take over the online auction industry.
Good article - certainly a lot of us old time ebayers are fed up with the neverending series of Beta tests that ebay continues to put us through (why couldn't they just do a release - ebay 2.0? - or is that too organized? If they had, it'd be easier to roll back - oh well. Not really betas though as they are cast in stone no matter the end result. Anyway, for antique toys and models a good site I've found is www.toymart.com - more for buying but very interesting nonetheless.
I'm surprised you didn;t mention Delcampe too. Over 20 Million items for sale internationally now.
Hi, I have mentioned DelCampe in previous articles but DelCampe is more of a "Super Niche Site" and not really specialized in a single area. I plan to do more articles on DelCampe in the future as I get more feedback on the site from members.
There is another yet need for an eBay alternative, even if you are satisfied with eBay, or some of the above mentioned sites. This need is to find a niche site, to sell items that are perfectly legal to own and sell, but are banned on eBay and other sites. There is a niche site that allows the listing of these legal but banned items, it is Ealtbay, you can list those items for free, pay very low final value fees, accept payment in any form, and give full feedback about the transaction, give it a try.
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