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eBay numbers are in, it's not good, but antiques do well at auction on the site
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Neilsen numbers are out and things don't look good for eBay. Let me say that I am not complaining, here, just reporting what has the online merchants buzzing.
I'm running a couple of months of eBay auctions from an antiques estate trust that are going very well. The reasons my auctions are doing well are because:
1) The items are exceptional.
2) I have low starting bids of $9.95 and no reserves, (real auctions).
3) My shipping policy is reasonable
4) So many good dealers have left eBay that I have less competition.
That all said, I have been very critical of what I think have been major eBay blunders in the past, and it looks like the company has a long way to go to pick itself up out of the mud.
I hate to say I told you so...OK, maybe not true, everyone loves to say I told you so, even if they say, "I hate to say I told you so", but here is what happened according to Dinah Balk at seekingalpha.com.
The story:
Most eBay sellers enjoyed a nice turkey dinner yesterday with all the trimmings but I suspect John Donahoe, eBay (EBAY) CEO found a generous portion of crow sitting in the middle of his plate because Nielson's numbers are in and confirm buyers, sellers, and shareholders worst fears – John's disruptive innovations backfired!
The numbers tell the story. 1) Nielson reported a steady decline in eBay traffic all year but in October traffic dropped by slightly more than one third over last year; 2) Medved charts indicate sell thru rates at the lowest point I've seen in years; and 3) eBay stock is making new 52 week lows – none of which occurred prior to John's disruptive innovations that began earlier this year...
Click here for the rest of this story
So here's the thing, eBay will likely ALWAYS produce good results for people like me who subscribe to the auction format in it's purest form. People are always looking for great quality antiques to invest in and always will.
So eBay is still performing well in this area. What they do with the rest of their site is on them, I'd like to see it get better for everyone else again, but trying to get eBay to listen to reason has not worked so far and it may never. In case they ever DO decide to listen, I'll sound the drumbeat I think they need to hear one more time.
eBay,
Get a few licensed auctioneers on your board.
Take 1/3 of you ad budget and put it into customer support.
Split the site into two factions 1) "auctions of unique items only" 2) Whatever else you want to call the rest of that mess.
Thanks for reading,
AW
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