posted on May 4, 2001 01:11:48 PM new
Overstock.com is the latest company to try its hand at selling on eBay.The online liquidator is already experimenting with sales on the leading auction site and plans to list thousands of items on eBay by the end of the month, company CEO Patrick Byrne said. The company, which buys excess inventory from manufacturers and sells it at a discount, expects the auction sales will bring in new business and new customers to Salt Lake City-based Overstock, Byrne said.
"Twenty-three million people a month are going to eBay and we want them to know about Overstock," Byrne said. "They're bargain hunters and (bargains are) exactly what we provide."
Representatives from eBay did not return calls seeking comment.
eBay has made a concerted effort to move beyond its core collectibles market and attract more businesses to its site.
Overstock joins a growing list of companies trying to tap into eBay's community of bidders and sellers. Last month, eZiba.com, an Amazon.com-backed e-tailer of handcrafted goods, set up shop on eBay. Sun Microsystems and Ritz Camera's RitzCamera.com are also selling goods on the giant auction site. Meanwhile, government agencies such as the United States Postal Service and the State of Texas have also begun selling on eBay.
Overstock expects to sell from $1 million to $2 million worth of items through eBay each month on top of the $6.5 million Overstock sells monthly through its own Web site, Byrne said. The company plans to experiment on other online auction sites.
Byrne added that Overstock plans to act as a middleman between manufacturers who want to sell on eBay and the leading auction site. The company's experience with shipping to individual consumers should give it a leg up on competitors, he said.
"We have better fulfillment than the average guy," he said.
Musichotbid.com, a niche musical instrument and equipment auction site, yesterday announced that it has moved its auctions to eBay where it launched the Musical Instruments Mall, a co-branded page within eBay's music category.
Based in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and owner of Musicians Hotline magazine, Musichotbid.com went live in September 1999 and originally teamed with the FairMarket Network. The company's strategy included leveraging the market penetration of Musicians Hotline, a publication freely distributed since 1995, with a circulation of 30,000 throughout North America.
According to Jim Kersten, president and CEO of Musichotbid.com, the site is now better served by joining eBay rather than trying to compete with the online giant.
"We had visions of grandeur to take on eBay and dominate the music vertical [marketplace]," Kersten told AW. "But reality set in about a year ago that it wasn't going to happen. We figured we might as well align with the best, bring our assets to their music category, and build it up even more."
Brian Osborn, director of eBay Music/Tickets/Sports/Movies, acknowledged the value of Musichotbids.com's assets, and said eBay was pleased to team up with the firm to create an expanded marketplace for musical instruments.
As a value-added service, Musichotbid.com assists dealers with the look and design of their listings. Kersten noted that the newly launched mall--which was created using eBay's software--hopes to target dealers as well as sellers.
"There are 8,400 independent music dealers in North America," he said, "and we want to bring as many of them as possible to eBay through our mall. They're very familiar with our magazine."
As of today, the mall had six dealers and about 120 listings, ranging from a 1961-62 Marshall amplifier (with a high bid of $4,600) to 15 violin bows in a Dutch auction (getting $5 bids). Kersten said his first goal is to have 50 dealers selling on the mall.
According to Brian Majeski, editor of Music Trades magazine, the music products market is estimated to be around $15 billion, and analysts believe that online music products sales will exceed $1 billion by 2005.
posted on May 4, 2001 03:31:22 PM new
Man,I better sell my clarinet quick, before this monster takes over the music categories. Just another step in eBay's long-term goal of making us small sellers disappear or be very marginalized.
posted on May 4, 2001 04:12:03 PM new
I wonder if Overstock.com's prices will be better on eBay than on their website. Right now they should be called Overpriced.com. I have spot checked them for quite awhile now and haven't seen any really "great" deals.
Of course, like many of the so-called "big boys", they probabaly will gets bids over the "regular" guys! Just look at the USPS auctions. While you can find pages of auctions in their categories without bids, theirs seem to garnish more than their fair share....
Just another step in eBay's long-term goal of making us small sellers disappear or be very marginalized. 