posted on May 26, 2001 07:04:21 AM
Then some other changes they've instituted at Half.com may apply, further infringing on buyer-seller communication.
Half.com has this policy where the shipment you provide your customer cannot contain any promotional material apart from things strictly specific to that Half.com transaction. So if we sellers wanted to place a brochure advertising our external websites or other product offerings in packages we mail to customers, we couldn't do it without the potential for being kicked off Half.com (and soon eBay I presume). Of course customers would have to complain for us to face problems.
It appears eBay is going to control all buyer-seller communication and dictate how, when, and what we ship.
In addition it appears eBay will eventually change all their auctions to the format they've instituted for their new Half.com categories. You'll list auction items in a restricted and structured way, and upon closing the buyer will pay eBay via a Credit Card, and eBay would then take their cut of the total (buy price + SHIPPING as they do with new categories at Half.com) and pass the rest along to you. At Half.com they also strongly encourage you to pay for insurance and/or delivery confirmation, or be liable for chargebacks if customers claim they didn't receive their item and you can't provide proof of delivery. Luckily you ought to be able to dictate your shipping/handling fee to cover all expenses. You will have "cleaner" auction transactions, but there will be more pressure on the seller.
I like Half.com and I don't mind the payment mechanism and restrictions since you do move a lot of product on Half, but I'm sure others might. For some reason Amazon doesn't seem to have the same promotional restrictions when selling books and videos on their Marketplace venue, and they do allow links on their auction site.
posted on May 26, 2001 07:35:08 AM
Ebay is like a dictator, they only have to remember the downfall of numberous dot-com companies. Eventually they will be begging for sellers on seller terms. By then HOPEFULLY a new site will crop up and it will be too late.
posted on May 26, 2001 07:39:59 AM
I've tried some of these alternative sites but until they get enough traffic and increase sell-through it seems to be a waste of time (i.e. ePier and Bidville). It won't take much for eBay, Amazon and Yahoo to corner the entire market except for maybe a few niche players. eBay is a no-brainer but the other 2 could succeed as well with a little focus.
However, if the Big 3 start to collude, we sellers are in bigger trouble! For now they aren't. We do need alternative venues to spring up to keep them honest.
posted on May 26, 2001 07:55:38 AM
eseller: I dunno... listed 25 items over at www.sellyouritem.com in the last two days, have over 80 page hits (a couple items have as many as 7 to 10 page view hits) and TWO items with BIDS.
I ran about the same number of listings on eBay this past week, and while the page view counts were higher, the number of actual BIDS wasn't very impressive.
Yesterday, an item of mine ended with a BIN on eBay for about $18.00... but TWO items on SYI.com received bids totally $18.00, so in this instance, I doubled my money for the day. *smile*
I was able to purchase an advertising block on the HOME PAGE directly linking to my listings for $20.00 (for 30 days)... but there are 20 day and 10 packages for $15.00 and $10.00 which is really a bargain, in my opinion. (talk about getting some affordable exposure... try THAT on eBay!!!)
It's not the "be all, end all"... but it's an alternative site that has some loyal followers (because it's the same format as the old Gold's Auction) and in about a weeks time, the listings have already grown to over 2,000 and there ARE BIDS!
It has just about everything that a start-up site needs... Community LIVE Chat forums, Live Support Board, Bulk Loader, Feedback Forum that's truly indicative of your actual EXPERIENCE as an online Seller or Buyer... well, It's definitely worth checking out.
It doesn't hurt to diversify. I know that I keep saying this.... but I feel so passionate about the need for Mom & Pops (buyers and sellers) to grow alternatives, that I can't hold it inside!
posted on May 26, 2001 07:56:26 AM
"Half.com has this policy where the shipment you provide your customer cannot contain any promotional material apart from things strictly specific to that Half.com transaction. "
Now I've heard everything! And sellers actually go along with that?
(Welcome to half, now grab your ankles...)
posted on May 26, 2001 07:59:48 AM
the PTB at eBay knows that there are thousands of BUYERS on eBay that will NEVER give eBay their CC info. I can't imagine eBay would force buyers to have a CC on file
just to register & buy/bid on items.
They would also have to hire several thousand more CS staff to handle all the transaction complaints if they started handling the money. That's how it appears Half.com is set up, and for the amount of goods sold on eBay
it would be a freakin nightmare.
I'm not exactly sure where eBay is heading with all this, but let's hope they leave Half as Half, and eBay as eBay.
posted on May 26, 2001 08:01:03 AM
Congrats, Dottie! Hope you have success on that site. I just haven't had success on new sites like ePier and Bidville so I tend to be skeptical about any new site.
So is that your ad on the frontpage I saw with the title "Dottie"? Can't miss that ad! Caught my eye but couldn't figure what it was all about.
posted on May 26, 2001 08:05:01 AM
eseller: I guess it's not really an "AD"... but for the price, I just came up with something really quick in order to get the space! LOL
It's a direct link to my listings though... and I think it's worth it. Since I'm not shelling out listing fees right now on SellYourItem, I figure I can afford the HOME PAGE LINK... besides, it ALSO appears at the top of all the MAIN CATEGORIES too.
So far, it's really not costing me anything... since I have a few $5.00 credits from people using my name as a reference when they register on the site. I'm out NOTHING so far! *smile*
posted on May 26, 2001 08:15:41 AM
To Half's credit, they do take away the frustration (at times) in dealing with buyers. No deadbeats since the buyer pays immediately and you know Half will pay you at set times during the month. Saves time wasted on email communications. It is a cleaner transaction mechanism, although you never see the buyers email address. In comparison when you make a sale on Amazon Marketplace, Amazon does provide the email address of the buyer in addition to shipping details. I always use the email address to notify my buyer the Amazon shipment is coming. Amazon seems to encourage contacting the buyer but doesn't require it. Guess one isn't paranoid of users infringing on their customer base for whatever reason. Hope Amazon makes a real run at eBay since I much prefer dealing with them.
posted on May 26, 2001 08:56:29 AM
Ebay has not figured out, (or maybe they have), but they are two businesses. New Retail and Antique and Collectible.
I do not think that isolating antique and collectible buyers and sellers will benefit the transaction. If I am buying a $600 Roseville Pottery Vase, I want to know beforehand what kind of dealer I am dealing with.
If they have a web site I want to look at it.
I want to be able to try and gauge if they are reputable and are not trying to pass off a damaged, or repaired vase.
Every book on buying antiques states "know your seller".
It is not the same as buying a computer model number xyz.
Too me it still boils down to greed. I am in business to make a profit just like Ebay. But there is a point where plain old GREED and the current business practice of bigger biggger biggggger each and every quarter, does tend to corrupt what made you a success to start with.
And IF their goal is to get rid of the mom and pops, well just get rid of the antiques and colllectibles and we will see how much site traffic they have then.
posted on May 26, 2001 09:12:54 AM
My only problem with Half.com is that they require sellers to ship within two days of (payment, I guess). I'm not always in a position to do that. I probably can't get to the post office four times a week. This policy is ironic because eBay allows three days for contact. eBay's own eBay Store advertises shipping within four business days. They hold sellers to a higher standard than their own.
In CNN article quoted here (I don't remember which thread exactly) discussing eBay's shareholder meeting, Meg seemed to be saying plainly that eBay would eventually "become" Half.com. I don't see how that can work with antiquest and collectibles, but at this point I think eBay plans on simply getting rid of that type of item. It sounds incredible, but just look at the far-reaching changes of the last year. eBay is positioning themselves to dump antique/collectible sellers.
Hard to believe that no other auction house has succeeded in making even a dent in eBay's business.
posted on May 26, 2001 09:16:41 AM
Mildreds ...... I thought that's what feedback was for? I don't have a web site [for retail sales] but have had no problem selling collectible items for $2,000+.
posted on May 26, 2001 09:41:34 AM
In emails with several of my regular buyers, I've been told that the categories are somewhat confusing.
Plus, Amazon seems to be waking up a bit. Maybe they're reading these boards.
I don't think eBay is ready to dump the antiques and collectibles yet, as they've just begun to underwrite the Antiques Roadshow.
Half.com has its place, even for the A&C arena.
With all that eBay is implementing, it appears to be highly concerned about compeition.
Much of what they are doing, they have to do. You and I both try to keep ahead of our competition.
eBay's challenge is not only to satisfy the new buyers and sellers, but also to deversify.
Please remember that the antique and collectibles market quite tiny when compared with the whole economy. I thnik the more eyes that come to eBay the better for all of us.
But, their control features could turn to be their achilles heel from other competition.
posted on May 26, 2001 09:43:07 AM
Not putting advertising material in with the item, payment going through half.com and no communications between buyer and sellers was the business model of half.com BEFORE ebay bought them.
I do get a kick out of the new "the customer can get assurance that the seller is a legitimate business when he (the buyer) is able to see the seller also has a website or storefront"
This argument surfaced when ebay said they were limiting the links to websites. It was another argument devised to show how ebay "benifited" from the links to offsite web sites. If ebay had used a similar argument when there was the banner ads broohaha the users would have laughed in ebay's face.
posted on May 26, 2001 12:25:42 PM
I think eBay would love for everyone to have a Storefront, as long as it's an eBay owned and operated Storefront. The ultimate goal I believe is for eBay to get a large piece of every e-commerce transaction it's client base ever makes. It wants to be the paid venue for every transaction. That's understandable since they're a publicly traded company answering to shareholders, not we auction folk. Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo, and AOL likely have the same goal.
I doubt the eBay auction format will die. What will die is the current payment mechanism which will be replaced by the one used at Half.com. This allows eBay to collect the monies for all transactions up front whether from a fixed price Storefront sale or auction, hold the monies for a period of time in interest bearing accounts (billions of $$$s over the course of a year), and then disburse a percentage to sellers at regularly scheduled dates as they do at Half. eBay effectively eliminates the need for 3rd party payment mechanisms like PayPal or BidPay, and also profits by the ability to generate interest from the monies it holds. Amazon has already done this at their Marketplace venue since all buyers are required to use Amazon Payments, as are sellers. It does simplify the whole payment process.
eBay's Storefronts on the other hand will effectively eliminate the need for all other Storefront venues from 3rd parties. No need for them.
eBay's going to run a very tight ship and not allow any potential profits to escape.
posted on May 26, 2001 01:01:16 PM
I want the money for MY merchandise in MY bank, drawing interest for ME. I do not wish to be forced to endure CC sales...I don't want them. That is MY choice, for MY business.
I want autonomy. I am SELF-employed. Regardless of the obvious dreams of eBay, I do not work FOR them. I hire space from them...no more.
posted on May 26, 2001 01:06:07 PM
Hell I wish they could just get there darn search engines to work. The last few weeks the search engines obn both sites have been a real pain. I went to amazon and yahoo instead paid a little more to the sellers but it was a lot easier cause I didn't get all the search engine errors.
posted on May 26, 2001 01:20:01 PM
According to a news article from late yesterday ebay is moving Half to ebay.
(The Half offices and servers are about 4 miles from where I am staying in a new "office campus" type building in Plymouth Meeting, just outside of Philadelphia. I wonder if they will be moving to California?)
I don get how the move will work. From the article I can't figure out if eBay will change the Half format, or change some aspects of the eBay platform to be more like Half, or not change anything at all.
I also like MW's sales tax comment. It is very interesting considering eBay is "only a venue".
Friday May 25 5:47 PM ET
eBay, Half.com to Combine Sites
By BRIAN BERGSTEIN, AP Business Writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Features of eBay and Half.com, an eBay-owned Web site that offers products at set prices, will be combined over the next year, executives said at the company's annual meeting Friday.
EBay chief executive and president Meg Whitman said it didn't make sense to have eBay and Half.com remain separate platforms, with users having different identities and reputations on each site.
She said Half would be moved ``onto the eBay platform.'' EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove later said she didn't mean Half would cease to exist as a separate site, just that technologies specific to each site would be incorporated by the other.
For example, Whitman said people find that eBay has a more user-friendly interface than Half, while selling products on Half.com is much easier. Sellers on Half.com can upload information about products from their numbered bar codes, while eBay users have to write out descriptions of the items they're listing.
Of course, items in many of eBay's most popular categories, such as art and antiques, do not have bar codes, which would make the Half.com method impossible. But Whitman recently told The Associated Press that ``you will see some technology transfer (from Half to eBay) over time.''
EBay's head of technology, Maynard Webb, said his staff - and the outside developers in the company's initiative to link its trading platform to other sites - are already working on ways to integrate Half into eBay.
Whitman confirmed Friday that eBay plans to begin offering sellers ``storefronts,'' entire pages to themselves, in the next quarter. The move has been expected for months.
She also said in response to a shareholder's question that eBay has a ``significant lobbying effort for a company our size'' aimed at persuading Congress to keep Internet commerce free of new taxes.
If the government were to impose a special sales tax on e-commerce transactions, Whitman said she doesn't believe it necessarily would ``fundamentally change the marketplace on eBay.''
Whitman she added that she would not want eBay to be responsible for cataloging and reporting tax information on the millions of transactions it facilitates.
posted on May 26, 2001 06:16:38 PM
reddeer: Yes you are right about the feedback. I guess I would miss the personal contact. Most of the antique dealers I know love to talk antiques. And many of my customers in their emails talk about their collections etc.etc.
I love the money but I also enjoy the people contact through the emails. And many customers mention friendly, great emails in my feedback so I am assuming they like the personal touch also.
I do not want to be an employee of Ebays!!!!
I do not want them holding my money while I am taking all of the risks in buying, shipping, etc.etc..
It could end up being a good idea. Right now I am just tired of the constant changes. And yes I realize you have to continually change, but it is starting to feel so much like big brother, and I left the corporate world 7 years ago(not for Ebay) and am not sure I am ready to be dictated to again.
Still looks like Ebay is the big winner, which to a point they should be, but they are not taking any of the risk. Just the dollars.
I agree 100%. My earlier comment was directed at the web site links only.
The "personal touch" and direct contact with fellow buyers & sellers made eBay what it is today. If they take that away, everyone will suffer. One of my recent customers emailed me after the auction and explained to me why this particular item was so special to herself & her young son. It was a touching story & my wife & I decided to make this "auction item" extra special for her young son.
Today she left me a very nice feedback, and emailed me this:
Thank-you, Thank-you, My son Zachary just loves it. He thought the card was great. Thank-you from myself in making it a wonderful experience for my son.
Don't stop with your personal touches because it makes a world of difference
to people who you don't know. Thanks again. You are both very special people.
If eBay takes this kind of "personal touch" away from their site, it will be a sad day indeed.
posted on May 26, 2001 06:30:51 PM
Folks.. eBay is going to be just like the old company owned coal mining towns. They own us. Before you know they will be paying us in script, and we can only shop at the company store.
Paypal and AW as well as other secondary providers will be out of business too.
posted on May 26, 2001 11:06:37 PM
I think the following quote by Pursglove from the Yahoo News article is interesting. The bolding is mine.
QUOTE
"EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove later said she didn't mean Half would cease to exist as a separate site, just that technologies specific to each site would be incorporated by the other".
END QUOTE
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010525/tc/ebay_halfcom_3.html
I copied this from Half.com's Membership Agreement:
QUOTE
"9.4 Promotional or extraneous material. The Buyer name and address information is provided for the sole purpose of shipping the specific purchased product(s) and may not be used for any other purpose, either in connection with such shipment(s) or separately from such shipment(s). You agree not to include in your shipment to Buyers any promotional or other material that is not provided or approved by Half.com. This includes, without limitation, material that announces a website or invites the Buyer to visit a website other than Half.com, catalogs, business cards, business reply cards, bookmarks, coupons, flyers, solicitations or other marketing or advertising material. The inclusion of extraneous materials in a shipment may offend or annoy Buyers and may negatively affect your Seller rating. If Half.com receives a complaint relating to your shipments regarding extraneous materials we may take any action that we deem appropriate in our sole discretion, including without limitation issuing a warning, immediately terminating any pending sales, or immediately terminating your access to our marketplace. You agree not to separately contact any member beyond the shipment of purchases through the Half.com marketplace, unless the Buyer initiates such communication pursuant to the Buyer Protection Policy."
END QUOTE
http://www.half.com/help/index.cfm?helpsection=memberagree
I don't think there's any question that this policy will be applied to eBay's storefronts. I'm just wondering if they think they can get away with it in the auction section of their site. I believe there are many sellers who will argue with eBay about their right to retain their customers and that these customers DO NOT belong to eBay. The content of my private emails to MY winning bidders and any extra items I may decide to enclose in their package isn't any of eBay's friggin business!!!
posted on May 28, 2001 06:19:27 AM
My guess is if they are going to move in the direction of operating like Half.com it will begin with the new storefronts.
posted on May 28, 2001 07:35:30 AM
If eBay moves to Half.com payment platform, I'm gone!
We have established our web sites long enough and they are producing now at a rate that we can afford to walk away from eBay, and just promo through more reasonable auction sites.
We use promotional inserts in all our shipments and will continue to - I don't see that eBay has the right, morally or legally to tell me not to, and I won't stop, regardless.
I will not allow eBay to handle my funds, I went through that via Yahoo and their PayDirect, and learned not to use a monetary system directly connected with an auction.
I use eBay, but we post on MANY various auctions, and will continue to - there are sales elsewhere (in fact till Yahoo got stupid in January, we had moved all our auctions there for 1 year and doubled our sales over anything ever done on eBay) But Alas, Yahoo went nuts, and started not only charging (minor problem) but establishing and forcing rules about web connections, etc., and that basically ended us with Yahoo. We still post some on Yahoo and get sales; we post on a niche auction which is great; and other of the smaller auctions.
EBay can only get away with what its customers allow – apparently greed is more important to most sellers than their rights, so they go along with anything eBay says –
posted on May 28, 2001 02:35:43 PM
Actually it would be a brillant move on Ebays part to move to the Half.com pay structure. For those that don't sell on half.com the buyer pays half.com then half.com pays you about every 2 weeks.
For ebay to do this think of all the money they could collect in the time it is holding those millions of dollars being exchanged. They already have the system set up at half.com all they have to do it incorprate it into ebay site. There would be a lot less deadbeats for the sellers and it would be a lot easier for the IRS to figure out what sellers are really making on ebay. I am not sure if the latter part of the IRS is good or bad. You decide.
If it was a smaller auction site it would not pay but with the numbers of dollars that are going through ebay for them to have it and hold it, actaully use it, if they play it correctly could pay out very well for them. Most likely one of the reasons they bought half.com was to get the payment structure set up. It means more money for ebay and not much more hassles. Like on Half.com if I customer isn't happy they just refund the money I am told. The seller has little control over the refund granted with the way half.com is set up.
This time next year or a little later I think Ebay wil be set up this way. I think they are headed this way They will lose some sellers but most will just yell scream kick and go on selling.
posted on May 28, 2001 03:23:04 PM
The major problem I have with half.com due to their no-contact policy is the fact that buyers always choose media mail. With ebay and Amazon buyers I share the facts of life about slow or non-delivery to the West Coast from here, and many people upgrade to Priority which I think makes for a more satisfying experience all around [Amazon buyers either send me a small check or PayPal for the extra postage].
I have some anxiety about how this proposed change or merger will shake out. But clearly CHANGE is the name of this game and we'll all just have to adapt I guess...
It's survival of the fittest (or those most willing to change with the times). 
