posted on June 26, 2001 09:05:15 AM new
Somebody out there with some money, please start an auction site that will give Ebay some competition!! At this time, they have none. Ebay is still #1, expensive but still #1. Yahoo, Amazon, Excite, and the others don't even compare. We need a super auction site to give the Monopolizing Ebay some competition.
posted on June 26, 2001 03:12:37 PM new
This is not going to happen to the degree that you would like to see. I list on BidVille and Epier and do have sales, I went back to Ebay and listed a few items (about 1/3 sold and at one bid) so I am staying with BidVille, it does take away from Ebay but probably not enough to hurt. Yahoo (before fees) was really starting to be a competitor, but now they are the laughing stock of the auction community.
posted on June 26, 2001 03:38:08 PM new
actually, everyone, PLEASE check out AW's "other online auctions" forum. There is a brand new co-op site that is up and being beta tested right now. This could be a significant opportunity for us all- it will only be as big as WE make it, and although it might not challenge Ebay as far as general huge-ness, I think what we are all after is a way to support ourselves without also supporting a bunch of stockholders that we don't know and could care less about.
(NOT to be confused with auctionpie- which is no longer a co-op by the way- this is a whole different effort.)
the other small auction sites are OK too, but wouldn't you guys rather work to promote a site YOU own, where YOU and the other members make the rules? I would.
[ edited by CAgrrl on Jun 26, 2001 03:44 PM ]
posted on June 26, 2001 08:10:29 PM new
The front page isn't particularly impressive--not at all professional. Why should this one be any better than those already established?
posted on June 26, 2001 08:54:41 PM new
obars: Your plea should be "will someone with brains please start an auction site that will give Ebay some competition.
My gentle answer to you, my friend, is that they already HAVE!
Now if sellers (with brains) would just start using them..........
posted on June 26, 2001 09:27:05 PM new
I don't know anything about Gegy but it looks like they have some money to back up their site. Any site that can challenge eBay's stranglehold on the online auction community should be welcome. Just so users know, and eBay knows, that sellers aren't bound to sell at eBay. Even if the site wasn't in direct competition with eBay, it would be a check on eBay's power.
However, ultimately, if Gegy is successful, I wonder whether we're simply building another eBay. They welcome us with open arms, but then it's Soylent Green. It seems any successful company uses dirty tactics ala Paypal any more. When I see a site offering free referral bonuses, I just shudder.
The co-op movement is a grass-roots movement. It allows sellers to peddle their wares at cost, while additionally saving expenses by combining their buying power. I believe a lot of this involves self-esteem. Are we, as sellers, so incompetant that we must pay third-party services to do something we could easily accomplish ourselves? Do we believe we are helpless in the face of corporations, and that we should happily place our heads on the chopping block? Do we really need a third-party listing service, payment service, accounting service, picture hosting service, etc., etc., or are we able to get organized to the degree that we can provide these services for ourselves?
Gazing into my crystal ball, I don't see eBay or any other service lowering fees. The cost of running online auctions has increased far above the rate of inflation. Even the USPS is joining in the feast. We are being milked by big money, and when we are all spent, they will discard us without shedding a tear. We need to act together, not run to yet another auction startup site.
posted on June 26, 2001 09:34:27 PM new
EBay has competition for me as a buyer. I've started looking to the other sites now. Not only have I found the items I was looking for (admittedly these aren't rare items) I found them for less.
I won't spend more to avoid eBay and I won't sell collectables on a site that has few buyers, but I am shopping elsewhere now.
posted on June 26, 2001 11:35:32 PM new
I probably sound like a broken record in saying this, but one of the key pieces in the puzzle is GETTING BUYERS TO USE MULTI-AUCTION SEARCH SITES (like AW's, or any that would be better-designed) rather than search on specific sites like eBay.
Remember when AW first came out with universal search? Ebay went ballistic, trying to block AW's access to listings. They KNEW that if it caught on, it would let other, lower-fee sites into the game on a much more level playing field.
It took some habit modification to get me to use AW rather than the eBay site (hint: Make the search page extremely bookmark-friendly). The effort was well-rewarded, though, back when Yahoo was viable and most of my Yahoo bids would win unchallenged.
posted on June 27, 2001 12:04:27 AM new
One more thought: How about a competing site that's based OUTSIDE the U.S.?! I'm sure that eBay's legal costs have gone through the roof in the last year or two, and an offshore competitor might have an advantage there. No doubt there are all kinds of pros and cons to going offshore, but then to most of the world Ebay is ALREADY offshore, and they deal with it.
Heck, if the Europeans can incubate Airbus, maybe they can get into the auctions biz...I'll take competition from just about anywhere at this point.
posted on June 27, 2001 03:38:56 AM new
Yahoo may be a laughingstock, but lately I've made some good sales there. Never a bite on Bidville, nor have I EVER seen the word Bidville in print anywhere but here.
As a buyer, I've made my first purchase at Yahoo, and will continue to shop there when I need something, but ebay's search mechanism is superior. I just find what I want easily on ebay. It's either not there on Yahoo or I can't find it, which amounts to the same thing. I am therefore trying to list items for the most part that folks might be likely to find by either keyword searching or in a less-crowded category for browsing.
The hits have been great, but Yahoo buyers seem to be timid little bunnies about actually ponying up a bid! Uh, mixed metaphor...
posted on June 27, 2001 08:00:41 AM new
I don't believe there will be another major site within the next few years.
YAHOO was the most recent large listing count venue with about 3,000,000 auctions but their sell thru rate and average value per sale still resulted in something like 5 to 10 % of eBays results.
Several smaller sites have proved effective for some users and Amazon Marketplace is an example.
New sites hold promise.
The co-op movement is just developing.
Web sites maintained by individuals have and will continue to be productive.
Classified listings and user groups are another sources of sales.
I personally fear that if another free standing privately owned auction site was to become successful that it would risk the fate of Half.com. Profitable for the owners but just another eBay subsidiary.
I believe the answer lies in a member owned gateway/pathway system.
A customer gateway to all online buying opportunities offered by the joint members including their eBay listings and every other venue or web site they are using. This would have to be promoted by the joint effort of members.
The pathway part would be information and linking. The Merchant Plaza, originally started by users at OTWA and now located at Soupgirl.com, is an example of basic cooperation and linking.
Owned by the members, operated for the general good and bringing together all of the diversified marketing opportunities that individuals find productive in meeting their needs.
No one place may ever be bigger than eBay but everything tied together is now and will be larger than eBay.
All we have to do is work together and make it happen.
