posted on October 23, 2000 08:38:34 AM new
EBAY is unstoppable i just cant believe their earnings per share arent higher then what they reported last week
posted on October 23, 2000 08:55:57 AM new
eBay's recent earnings beat Wall Street expectations by a penny.
eBay is UNSTOPPABLE. Period!
eBay is based upon the idea of opening commerce to EVERYONE.
In comparison, a place like amazon.com is archaic, a relic of the Industrial Revolution, founded upon a monomanical goal of being, initially the Biggest Bookstore (YAWN) on the planet, and nowadays to be the biggest e-commerce platform selling everything.
eBay will succeed.
eBay is UNSTOPPABLE.
eBay is an idea whose time has come.
eBay is ushering the world into the postmodern era of the 21st Century.
Because critics of eBay are so attached to their negative emotions about same, they cannot see the obvious, and thus any plan they come up with to combat the negatives of eBay are bound to fail, for their plans are based upon STEALING EBAY MARKETSHARE, not on providing a better site, not on combatting the problems - but on combatting eBay.
eBay will be entirely successful.
Indeed, I predict that at a future date, at least a decade hence, not sure how far into the future, that an individual or individuals at eBay will be granted the Nobel Prize in economics.
eBay is REVOLUTIONARY.
Meantime, IMO, because of the stupid tactics of its corporate ""competitors"" eBay will continue to establish partnerships with other mega-corporations, similar to Mr. Mouse. And eBay will both survive and thrive.
But eBay actually belongs to the people.
It will take time before this is 100% functional.
Meantime, people like most of us are fully dispensible and it doesn't matter what happens to us; History is not fair - indeed, History is a strong taskmaster.
posted on October 23, 2000 10:02:54 AM new
Well, it seems if you can't post or get maximum bidding because the eBay machine ain't workin, you're boycotting by default anyway!!!
posted on October 23, 2000 10:02:58 AM new
Don't ask me why this posted twice. Maybe eBay slipped a technician into the AuctionWatch staff...
[ edited by RebelGuns on Oct 23, 2000 10:04 AM ]
posted on October 23, 2000 10:26:02 AM new
The boycott worked. Pierre took back his notorious "it's only a dollar" increase and lowered the reserve fee to fifty cents.
posted on October 23, 2000 10:41:24 AM new
If we boycott Ebay, Where would we go? The ugly fact is, Ebay has the bidders. If you have tried selling on other venues, The rapid bidding action just isn't there. I here all of the complaining about Ebay, but no one has been able to come up with a viable alternative. I do pretty well on Ebay, but I wouldn't quit my day job to base my life on it. If everyone could agree on someplace else to build up, count me in, a Boycott of Ebay with no concerted effor to go someplace else...count me out.
What was fascinating about eBay was its great appeal to the masses -- initially, it truly was a grass roots movement, built by The People on the basis of a visionary idea, provided by accomplished genius, Pierre Omidyar.
It grew by word of mouth and by the authentic enthusiam of its users.
The 2nd day I ever surfed the web, I found it being discussed at some chatboard. It was direct word of mouth advertising with genuine enthusiasm -- not some creepy manipulatory fake meme viral marketing. From online person to online person, one by one we came to eBay.
That day is LONG LONG LONG gone.
IMO, nowadays, eBay is simply the battleground for a buncha rich ol' businessmen who are greedy and simply drooling over eBay's profit margin and eBay's ability to be the ONE successful e-commerce website.
IMO, the battle of a buncha rich businessmen is excrutiatingly BORING, and there is NOTHING that we can do.
The power does NOT reside with the people.
The Power remains with the MONEY.
For each individual who decides to boycott eBay, someone else who does not will simply have a higher bidding population for their goods.
For each individual who de-registers from eBay, that one individual will be replaced by over a couple thousand NEW users.
The individual does NOT matter in this battle of the rich businessmen and rich vulture capitalists.
"Is there a contradiction in all this "call to arms" to boycott for "the future good"? Doesn't the term "greedy", when used as above, really mean "looking out for one's own best interest"? And couldn't it also be that "boycotting for the future good" is the boycott participants looking out for their own future best interests and therefore they are actually also being "greedy"?
And is there also a similar contradiction when a person labels others as being only concerned with their own monetary well being but at the same time crows about his/her "free success"?
Of course, except that it seems to be the case that those with the least dollar interest are the loudest to holler for boycotts and other activity in kind.
So maybe 'greedy' could be replaced with 'hopeful'? Or 'dreamy'? I'd hate to use 'addled' or 'unrealistic' or 'delirious'.
I predict that things will get much worse, before they get better. I mean really, nowadays the major competitors of eBay are simply the techno-Elite, and although they do want want want the money that eBay represents, I believe that such Silly Valleyians sneer down their collective Nose at the liddle widdle sellers as sheer Useless Feeders.
In other words, they are more enrapt with their sense of superiority and their proud disdain of microbusinesses and the sole proprietors who run them gives them a, let us say, "righteous" (lol) sense of self-glorification, for they believe we are very very stupid and fit objects of cybereugenics.
The vulture capitalists and the Big eBizzies have assaulted eBay - and eBay not only survived, eBay actually thrived -- not so, of course, all of the liddle widdle itsy bitsy teesie weensie microbusinesses that use eBay.
But the techo-Elite are basically so grandeously narcissistic, that they do not really even understand what eBay is, nor that eBay has changed virtually EVERYTHING.
Soon, that basic FACT will be readily apparent.
LOL!
And that day will come, when REAL Big Business - established, traditional OFFLINE Big Business comes to really examine and analyze eBay, and by that time, anyway, e-commerce will be so much better generally understood, and TRUE Big Business does have the actual BRAINS and the true INTELLECT and the motivation & will to successfully delineate what eBay really is, and then I believe there will be a true battle for THE CUSTOMERS ..... ya know, alla those billion+ people no longer browsing & buying offline in 3-D shops, but by that time, all firmly ensconsed and busily selling and buying from oneanother at eBay.
I believe that when those conditions finally arise, that that time will thereafter be considered to constitute the first credible corporate threat that eBay ever faced.
Meantime, it's just a buncha Silly Valley Vulture Capitalists and a buncha Captains of the Failing Dot.Cons and they will NOT defeat eBay, notta chance, LOLOL.
posted on October 23, 2000 01:41:01 PM new
considering the state of my auctions, the boycott has already begun, and it's the bidders who are leading the way.
posted on October 23, 2000 06:25:21 PM newKRS, get your facts straight. Items up to $24.99 have a reserve price of fifty cents. Also, the reserve fee is refunded if the item sells. Both those concessions were the result of threatened boycotts at the time of the "it's only a dollar" increase.
posted on October 23, 2000 07:04:36 PM new
Oh, are they, twinsoft? I wouldn't put a reserve on such a cheap item, and so don't have your breadth of knowledge in those arenas, but I do not recall that you made that specification in your initial post.
Now as to ANY concession being a result of any threatened boycott, as you claim, I disagree. Ebay saw that there was general unhappiness with the initial program as brought out, which, you may recall, also set percentile limits for starting bids of (was it) 1/4 reserve price. That was the cheif objection to the entire proposition since it would require a seller of a $1000. reserve item to begin bidding at $250. which would be difficult and which would expose the reserve price and deter bids.
That ebay appeared to back down at all was, I believe, part of their original plan. As any divorce lawyer could tell you, or any lawyer at all could do, you ask for the moon so as to be able to settle for the amount of cheese that you originally desired.
And that's what they did.
Ebay would not have any problems if two million members boycotted, or five. The whole premise of such activity is a joke.
Nothing more than group whining. Tell me, do you hold hands and hug a lot?
posted on October 23, 2000 07:14:43 PM new
There really isnt any need for a "boycott" because ebay is doing it theirself. Yahoo will soon be listing 3 million auctions a day compared to ebays 4. Its just a matter of time before yahoo takes over. BTW I love the Yahoo success stories on their site. Makes is more family like.
posted on October 23, 2000 07:14:48 PM new
Boycotting will do nothing.
But if ebaY is down, why not list on other sites? If you have limited time to list, and you are sitting around frustrated because ebaY is down, try listing somewhere else. Put a price on the item that you want to get, and give it a whirl. It's better than sitting around being mad at them, and it does create a certain degree of satisfaction for some people....
posted on October 23, 2000 07:16:08 PM new
Whatever, KRS. It wouldn't kill you to admit you were wrong, instead of making excuses. It wouldn't lower you in my estimation.
posted on October 23, 2000 07:35:19 PM new
I was thinking earlier today about ebay and some of those thoughts might figure in to this discussion.
In my category (mainly old glass)there aren't enough bidders. Many, many things go on the very first bid (not just my things, everybody else's too). And while there are a number of routinely *hot* items, it's not like we sellers can go order several gross more of those.
I listed a bunch of things yesterday and haven't gotten a single bid yet. The same happened this past week, when what I sold all got bids only on the last day. I'm spending a lot on no-sale listings. Sometimes they sell the second time, sometimes not til the 4th time.
I think there are too many ITEMS being sold on ebay (certainly in my category) -- bidders can't possibly browse through all the listings to see what's there and so resort to the Closing Today list to give them a manageable group to browse through.
So as far as I'm concerned, I am not at all happy about the thought of ebay getting any bigger. It needs LESS sellers in my category, but EVEN MORE -- it needs more bidders. There are limits to growth, IMO -- or should be.
I LOVE the idea of a boycott, tho truth to tell I agree with others -- it would be like shooting an elephant with a pea gun.
But actually, we already have a boycott movement of sorts in place -- all we need to do is support it. IN FORCE.
It's called the Million Auction March.
Here's what I'd like to see happen (and I hope ToyRanch will see this).
I'd like to see every single one of us invest a LITTLE of our time and energy listing elsewhere. Not only that, but SELL those OTHER sites in our EOAs.
One of the pieces of auction management software I use (AuctionTamer) offers the functionality to send automated email to non-winning bidders too -- this would offer a great opportunity to *sell* some of these other sites. "Thanks for bidding on my whatchamacallit. I hope you'll look at my other auctions on ebay, but for some REALLY exciting auction items (or bargains, or whatever), please see my auctions on Such and, Thus and So, and oh yes, ThisOneToo. The URLs are below. I offer free shipping if you're the winning bidder on two or more items from any of my auction sites."
That's just an idea, you could maybe offer something different, or even nothing *extra* at all. The idea is to get MORE BIDDERS --what ALL the other auctions need is MORE BIDDERS (well, some need more sellers, but ALL could use more bidders).
I think this kind of effort would be the best type of boycott, especially if done in a concentrated way.
It's foolhardy, as someone wisely pointed out already, to have all our eggs in one basket. It's foolhardy to continue to blindly support an organization that continues to demonstrate its lack of reciprocal support. I'm not suggesting we abandon ebay, but simply help other sites grow. Maybe go out of our way to BID on things on other sites too.
Another idea. I'd like to see MAM organize some special promotions, and get more publicity for its members and other auction sites. Maybe some giveaways, drawings or something for bidders (some of us Sellers might be willing to *donate* items for this -- I surely would be).
One thing's for sure -- if we sit here and do NOTHING to improve our lot, most likely nothing will change for the better. Or, we can take our futures in our own hands and do something proactive.
posted on October 23, 2000 07:43:24 PM new
I just looked up auctions that I had reserves on. My reserve was $27.99 and I paid $1.00 reserve fee and on a auction that I started at $20.00 and put a reserve of $75.00 I paid an insertion fee of $2.00 and reserve auction fee $1.00 and on a auction I started at $9.95 with a 27.99 reserve I paid an insertion fee of $1.00 and reserve fee $1.00. As I understand it that they raise the insertion fee if you put a reserve on the item. Now isn't that raising fees instead of lowering them? I now start my auctions where I want my reserve to be so I only pay an insertion fee.
posted on October 23, 2000 08:14:56 PM new
The more technology changes, the more PEOPLE stay the same! The more we get, the more we want, and we call THEM greedy! LOL!!
There was a time in America when the simple act of selling involved loading up the suitcase with your wares, and hitting the road - countryside by countryside, door by door. Months were spent on the road, traveling through small, nearly unnamed towns in the middles of many nowheres. Hotel rooms, diner food, raw knuckles, and a whole lot of shoeleather were the everyday bane of the salesman. And that was for the successful ones!
Today, all one has to do is turn on his computer to access millions of people all over the world. But don't let that stop you. You go right ahead and keep talking about boycotts, and Ebay sucks, and all that crap.
In the meantime, I'll keep reminding myself that I'm saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by NOT having to lease airtime on primetime television to reach HALF of the people I do from my livingroom.
I see you reflecting...stop that...get back to your bitching!
posted on October 23, 2000 08:16:38 PM new
Oh, man. I can't believe the seller search is down again!CleverGirl, I think you are right. Many bidders don't even see the item until the last day. Featured auctions don't work any more because everyone uses the "Going, going, gone" search. I have gone from 10-day auctions to 3-day auctions and lowered the prices on some of my items by almost half. It works pretty well.
One thing a seller can do is put a link in their email to their web site or their auctions on Yahoo. A web site is a great way to showcase your goods. Also "opt-in" mailing lists are allowed by eBay and you can ask customers if they'd like to be included in a regular promotional "newsletter."
You can charge anything you want at your web site, including giving your eBay customers a flat 10% discount. Yahoo! PayDirect has free individual shopping carts so customers can buy directly from your web site with a credit card. Yahoo does not allow chargebacks which means more security for the seller. Get your own domain name and server space for about $100 bucks a year.
posted on October 23, 2000 08:48:57 PM new
There is no defending a so-called professional internet operation who can't operate. A year ago I said this was typical of internet companies founded by computer geeks with lots of comp tech. savy but little business sense. Their cyber~brains outpaced their ability to learn to operate a responsible enterprise.
Good thing eBay staffers didn't decide to make auto tires instead.
posted on October 27, 2000 02:40:53 AM new
Looks like I'll start my move over to Yahoo this weekend. After looking over the site and several others, it seems that Yahoo is the only real alternative auction site at the moment.
Sad thing about eBah is, from three years ago to about a year and a half ago, this place was hopping. But that buy-sell bubble burst when the internet mobs hit. Guess we all got a little too spoiled in the "good ole' days."
Now eBah is loaded down with junk trinkets and every imagineable piece of garbage under the sun. I think people raid landfills just to find stuff to loadup the eBah servers with.
I'll start this weekend by moving 25% of my stuff to Yahoo.
Those who think eBah is god can bow three times towards the West and kiss their eRabbitfoot (the one with the dangling eBah logo on it?).
or any lawyer at all could do, you ask for the moon so as to be able to settle for the amount of cheese that you originally desired.
