posted on February 13, 2001 11:47:04 AM
Okay, I've mentioned in more than one of the ongoing co-op threads that I think a co-op can only succeed if it is designed to take a niche of the market completely away or very nearly completely away from eBay in terms of committed sellers and therefore committed buyers in that niche.
There is already a paradigm in place for this. The ban by eBay of all firearms. eBay literally threw away this niche market because it feared the legal liability. But because it had an ample seller and buyer base it moved elsewhere and continues to thrive.
For those folks who really must have a co-op as an alternative to eBay I will once again suggest that you get together and find a niche market and work to build the co-op into the preferred marketplace for that particular item or category. And then expand to related categories.
Agree to list items that fall under the category only with the co-op. Continue to list everything else with eBay or the other established sites so that you aren't disrupting your cash flow.
Recruit one or two of the major sellers in the category to co-op membership. Those sellers, with their inventory and knowledge would be the primary asset of the co-op and would be afforded preferential treatment (no fees) and a promise to subsidize them during the transition from eBay to the co-op.
What category to start with? That is for the co-op members to decide. Hopefully, the category will serve as the common ground to bring enough folks together to make the co-op actually work.
It might help to identify niches, the major sellers and customers, the volume of sales, the sell through rate, the average value, the related (crossover) categories.
With that kind of information you can make a reasoned choice of how to proceed. If you are going to subsidize one or two big time sellers in the category then it might make sense to pick a category with fairly low final values. Or pick a category that has only one or two major sellers but has a wealth of related categories.
Well WAAAAAAY back when these talks first started it was about how ebay is squeezing out the "little guy" that sells "fleamarket" stuff.
As we all know that is how ebay got started and grew.
People looking for that particular item to maybe fill a collection, or re-live a childhood fantasy.
It was sellers of "antique" "vintage" & "collectable" items.
That to me would and could be our niche.
The BIGGEST grip I see about ebay is how GAWD awful cluttered it in with "retail" stuff.
If I want NEW I will go to town and buy it and save myself the postage.
I wouldn't object to have "HOT" items listed.
Like around Christmas time when things are impossable to find in stores.
And....I think the sight would do well to form a "reference book" on vintage and collectable items. And have a chat board for help in identifying your collectable.
Provide a link on your auction page to the "reference book" to help buyers be better informed about what they are purchasing.
In this reference book point out the difference between a fake and the real thing.
It could reduce significantly the amount of fakes being sold.
