posted on September 15, 2000 01:40:37 PM
I just ran into some commentary piece at ZDNet, entitled "eBay at five: Babe or brat?", listed as being by "Dennis Prince, Auctionwatch.com, Special to ZDNet"
It provides a summary of eBay's history and the controversial changes of late, and was (at the moment) only two clicks off the main ZDNet page.
posted on September 15, 2000 01:46:58 PM
My God, an article gets it right!
Great quote, from the article:
eBay has now graduated to the same glitz and gaudiness of the local mondo-mall, with all the neon, Muzak and other distractions that keeps shoppers from achieving their original goal: finding an item they want to buy.
[ edited by jamesoblivion on Sep 15, 2000 01:47 PM ]
posted on September 15, 2000 02:44:35 PM
ebay can't. it's too late. Ebay is now a public corporation and must please its stockholders -- not it's buyers or sellers.
posted on September 15, 2000 03:26:57 PM
The irony about pleasing the shareholders is that to do that, the company has to please enough of its customers and/or attract enough new customers, or the earnings decline, the profits decline, the stock declines, and the shareholders are not happy. (I know I'm oversimplifying, but I still think a large chunk of it boils down to this. )
IMO, eBay is obviously going for the "attract enough new customers" clause more than the "please enough of its customers" idea at this point.
If the former doesn't end up flying well in the end, and the latter is crashing, look out below! Of course, I can't predict the "flying" and I don't know whether the "crashing" is really even happening.
Nonetheless, capotasto is right: we, as buyers and sellers, are now second at best in eBay's eyes -- and it shows.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
posted on September 15, 2000 03:44:07 PM dc9a320: Interesting ideas, but I have a definite feeling that they, themselves, at eBay are very concerned about the same scenario you depict. In other words, I suspect that this was NOT so intentional, as it may appear in some of our analyses.
posted on September 16, 2000 12:49:24 PM
Dennis Prince's article is an excellently condensed and reasonably objective overview of eBay's history. His growth analogy is apt and thought-provoking. Eventually eBay will have to decide what it wants to be when it grows up, but in the interim the endless mixed messages predominate. Some simply a matter of strategy; others, simply a matter of indecision.
posted on September 19, 2000 08:27:16 AM
Such is life, eh? Happy Birthday Ebay. I wish you all the best. Just like our local swap meet that lost all of its interest and charm when they allowed major crapola sellers
on board. Now one cares to visit. These days you will find rows and rows of the like kind merchandise (made in Korea) there. Gone are the unique antiques and interesting home made crafts that drew us back in week after week. The bidding process was so exciting in the early days as well.
I have no interest shopping at Ebay any longer. Wading thru your new jungle of 'rare' items is no longer fun.
!!!
.