Showing posts with label Fees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fees. Show all posts

Saturday, 12 July 2008

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.




www.jenkin7.co.uk - Giftware & Collectables. Egyptian figures, Gothic skulls, Wicca / Wiccan, Gargoyles, Fairies & Angels & much morewww.the-imbroglios.blogspot.com The Imbroglios Blogwww.freewebs.com/jeeppants The Jeep Pants News Network
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Saturday, 7 June 2008

eBay: PayPal Compulsory on all Listings

There have been many changes of late on eBay. Most not very popular, as the company try to bring back buyers in this World of current economic gloom.

As from 3rd June 2008, all listings on eBay now have to offer PayPal as a form of payment. PayPal is a company also owned by eBay and charge a fee on each payment made using their service. In essence then, a Seller is charged once to List their item, then a Final Valuation Fee when it sells, and then another Fee when the Buyer pays. With this new compulsory PayPal payment ruling, profits at eBay can only rise even further. eBay hold such a stranglehold on the Market with such a high level of Web-Traffic attracted to the site , it is extremely unlikely that there will ever emerge a serious competitor to threaten this dominance.

To be clear... PayPal only has to be offered in the list of acceptable payments by a Seller. A Buyer can still pay by Cheque or Postal Order if they wish and the particular Seller states they will accept them.

eBay's reasoning for this is that they want to enhance the safety of the eBay marketplace to ensure buyers and sellers are increasingly protected and confident transacting on the site. PayPal now also have the right to hold back funds on, what they consider to be, high risk items and will only release funds to the Seller after the Buyer is satisfied.

All this is GREAT news for the Buyer. If these new measures are strictly followed then eBay should become a much safer Marketplace to buy from. Fraud should theoretically reduce. Gone will be the days, that a Fraudulent Seller can Sell thousands of high end items like Plasma Televisions at £1000 a go and then suddenly vanished with all the honest buyer's money.

Undoubtedly however, it is very likely that more Fraudulent buyers will start using the site and many small and hobby Sellers may find this difficult to live with. Sadly, the days when finding a unique item could suddenly be gone and the marketplace transformed into one of those faceless identical major chain store High Streets.

It certainly looks as if eBay are evolving into something else as a Market platform and only the long-term will play out what that could be...


jenkin7 - Giftware & Collectables. Egyptian figures, Gothic skulls, Wicca / Wiccan, Gargoyles, Fairies & Angels & much more
www.jenkin7.co.uk