posted on January 10, 1999 09:07:00 PM new
Java: I really do appreciate you taking the time to visit our site and your positive comments regarding the features you found. Yes, many are just the type of enhancements sellers have been asking eBay to provide.
Ultimately the argument you make for staying at eBay is one I hear constantly. In a nutshell, you said, we just don't have the traffic you need in order for me to make a living. I could dispute that but it would be pointless to argue because, for whatever reason, sales -- or enough sales -- didn't materialize for you during your test. (I'm not pointing a finger at your auctions but some common reasons for a poor performance include low or no feedback, "protectively high" selling prices, presentation of items that didn't sell initially on eBay or just no bidders interested in the item you offered.) Sales weren't always a given on eBay either. I noted in research done in early 1997 that sales were very poor in some categories such as art, services, travel and automotive. I'm sure the fair weather sellers in those categories abandoned eBay in those days. But some of the professional sellers stuck it out and built those slower trading categories. You know the routine. Dedicated sellers spent some of their time and effort in the early days talking up eBay at the local barber shop and flea market and antique show.
Those who came to eBay after the pioneers built it have had it easy. They just cashed in on their groundwork.
That groundwork was substantial and it is one of the competitive advantages that eBay has that even the millions we've spent on advertising have not been able to overcome so far. Java, for any other auction site to be a success, they are going to have to be the beneficiary of that kind of good word of mouth advertising. Missionary sellers are going to have to talk up other sites, post on newsgroups, post their customers to "check out my auctions on so-and-so site" and generally support their part of a second piece or even a third or fourth piece of "Internet auction" real estate. I don't want and wouldn't expect sellers to abandon eBay. Rather if they listed 400 items eBay last month, they might consider only listing 400 this month and push any growth in their business -- that additional hundred or two listings -- to whatever second site they choose. In this way, they're lowering the demands on eBay (could it make them more stable?) and consciously building their presence on another auction site for the future. Keep in mind too that the Internet is growing very rapidly. Things are changing and the competitive situation you as sellers face will change with it. What happens if all sellers decide to list only on eBay? How successful do you think you'll be on eBay when there were 5 million items up for auction come Christmas 2000? Looking ahead is tough so just imagine this for a moment. What if there had been only 750,000 items up on eBay this past Christmas and 300,000 items up on AU. Given the selection that 300,000 implies, wouldn't shoppers have visited both sites and wouldn't sales have been better for all? Yes, I'm here asking you to imagine this as a competitive industry. When I do, I see a healthier industry. It will take work on your part and also ours. You can bet we are working and listening to the needs of sellers -- but, despite our millions in advertising, it is going to take a partnership between sellers and AU to make it happen. We're going to make it happen. If you're not there now -- if you haven't persevered and gained the 20-30 or 100 positive feedback rating -- I guess you'll have to play catchup then.
neomax
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