eBay, Ebid, Tazbar

Hello there, and welcome to another one of my blogs concerning the goings on at eBay.

There have been more changes on the eBay auction site in the last 12 months than at anytime during their history. Theses include, changes to the way the Feedback system works (Buyers can't get Negative Feedback no matter what), changes to the Search Engine, and changes to item international visibility to name just a few. These changes combined with the current global credit crunch going on is making it very difficult for many sellers.

Some blame the state of the economy, others put the blame for loss in sales entirely down to eBay and state they are immediately moving to alternative auction sites to progress their business. eBay can prove expensive in listing fees if you are not getting the sales.

Unfortunately, rival auction sites like eBid and Tazbar, simply do not currently have enough traffic. While it is perhaps alluring for a struggling Seller to go there, when the average buyer thinks of Auction sites, they naturally just think of eBay. Unless a major mover like Google or Virgin enter the fray, this is unlikely to ever change. ebid and Tazbar simply do not have the money for advertising to take on the mighty eBay.

Below is a graph (source:Alexa) of web traffic between eBid and Tazbar.



As you can see eBid is a lot busier than Tazbar. But lets put this in to context. Lets compare eBid with eBay.com.



As you can see, in comparison, the eBid traffic graph is barely registering. From a business point of view then, compared to eBay, eBid and Tazbar are simply not worth the effort. Sellers are flocking there, but sufficient Buyers are not. It is a lot cheaper to list items on these sites, but does it make sense to pay cheaper rent for a shop in a Mall that nobody goes to?

Currently, eBay has no serious rival, and I think they are well aware of the fact.

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