posted on October 9, 2001 05:16:47 PM new
Well we all knowed this was going to happen sooner or later. eBay has stated many times they dont make profit on collectables and antiques. So eBay is planning on going from a large online auction to a large mass merchant. This may hurt them in the long run.
posted on October 9, 2001 05:18:31 PM new
What the article didn't say was whether payment for the (former) half.com items will have to be made directly through eBay. I smell Billpoint....
posted on October 9, 2001 05:20:06 PM new
Well, this is what eBay will do. On eBay.com, there will be 2 search choices: 1) all of eBay or 2) only eBay Plus! (or some other prejudicial name). eBay will be the eBay of now, plus Half.com. eBay Plus! will be Half.com & anything on eBay that a) requires Billpoint, b) uses Checkouts, c) does not require buyer-seller interaction d) has a "buy it now" option. Of course, eBay Plus! will offer some alleged "guarantee" that will try to encourage users to use it and shun regular eBay.
In other words, eBay will try to push as many buyers as possible into using their higher cost, controlled services. It'll happen slowly, but I bet it debuts about a week after AFA runs it course. They've probably been planning this a long time. So all you frogs out there, have you noticed that the water is almost boiling? If it isn't boiling now, it will be soon.
Maybe eBay doesn't want to kill regular eBay, they just want to make sure that ALL new buyers are using the higher cost services. Wait and see.
posted on October 9, 2001 05:24:55 PM neweBay has stated many times they dont make profit on collectables and antiques.
I rather doubt anyone at eBay has ever said that, but if Meg wants to meet her high & mighty goal, she needs more than a few million mom & pop sellers.
Welcome to the new eBay, where everyone is a number, no personal email will be allowed, all sales will go through the eBay servers, with all payment being via Billpoint.
posted on October 9, 2001 05:32:39 PM new
I don't think this has as much to do with billpoint or ebay doing away with buyer seller contact I just got a news alert that ebay is looking to merge half.com and become a market for fixed priced sales MSNBC reproted they are looking to do away with Auction format for fixed priceing.
posted on October 9, 2001 05:50:25 PM new
The new story I got is actually at Cnet and basically what it is saying is that they are lookinging to do away with the half.com name and make it part of ebay fixed price Stores..
posted on October 9, 2001 06:01:09 PM new
The frightening thing here is that they might try to charge 'listing fees' like they do on eBay. The magic of Half is that you can leave a book listed for months at no cost. The charge occurs when the book sells. eBay might see revenue in the prospect of charging some amount of money for each week or month the listing is active. Of course considering the current prices on half, this forcing of the Half.com peg into the eBay hole would be a disaster. Let's hope it doesn't happen.
posted on October 9, 2001 06:07:20 PM new
I think its to late to hope this wont happen according to the news I read ebay is ready to or is laying off up to 17 half.com employees makes up 50% of half.coms work force as part of the change.
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
Email [email protected]
[ edited by dman3 on Oct 9, 2001 06:10 PM ]
posted on October 9, 2001 06:10:43 PM new
This raises a lot of questions. For example, will they do away with "permanent" listings like on half.com? If they stay permanent will the book categories be swamped with thousands of listings for 25 cents? Or will those listings be segregated in their own part of ebay like the stores?
posted on October 9, 2001 06:22:41 PM new
also, if they are going to merge the FB, I sure hope they start letting buyers and sellers email each other. I have at least one "neg" in half.com as a result of my being unable to contact a disgruntled buyer.
posted on October 9, 2001 06:37:09 PM new
Hopfully we will be able to respond to feedback on Half.
The worst part of that story was that most of the jobs to be cut will come from Half.s' customer service. This is their weakest point now. Who knows how slow it will be later.
posted on October 9, 2001 07:24:07 PM new
Well.... this may force Paypal's hand. Either Paypal with have to start its own auction/sales venue or be at the mercy of eBay's system which can pull the plug on Paypal anytime it wants to.
This will probably effect Paypal's IPO too. Nice timing on eBay's part.
posted on October 9, 2001 07:27:03 PM new
Stuff I wanna know -
1) Fee structure for the merger - do we lose the post it and leave it and pay only when it sells
2) I have 200 half.com listings - they get good traffic, and turnover. They merge into my Ebay storefront which has NO traffic and few sales.. and this is a GOOD THING??!!??
3) Feedback - is Ebay's feedback going to change to half.com's version or visa versa
4) Payment method - this does smell of Billpoint only payments - which will kill Paypal Preferred sellers who still want to sell in the fixed price venue (whatever they call it).
I've only been at half.com for 4 months but have sold 97 items in about 40 orders and really like certain aspects of it. I'm really worried that one segment of my business is going to get killed in this process.. *sigh*
posted on October 10, 2001 03:52:16 AM new
"eBay has stated many times they dont make profit on collectables and antiques."
So they had all this money to buy Half from where then...? If they weren't making money from it, they wouldn't do it. This is largely an operational move. If it pits half items directly against eBay ones, you could see eBay's money arteries being severed. Separate sites work well because they are separate not because they are together.
posted on October 10, 2001 04:18:59 AM new
This is part of a PayPal email I received this morning.
Looks like they are working hard on a PayPal-Shop!!!
"PayPal Shops
Autumn has officially begun! Looking for just the right home accents to welcome the new season? Or perhaps you're searching for Halloween costumes and decorations? From homemade autumn wreaths to spooky Halloween masks, PayPal Shops offers you one of the Web's widest selections of merchandise......"
heikejohn everywhere else!
posted on October 10, 2001 04:27:21 AM new
I don't want a shop. I want a functional auction site. I already have a "shop" at Amazon for some of my books.
I feel like the scene in Toy Story where Woody says "no no no no NOOOOO".
Yeah, I know, it's "adapt or die" around here but enough is enough already, can't we have a moment's peace from one spasm or another? Pretty please?
posted on October 10, 2001 04:39:40 AM new
You guys know about the frog in the frying pan theory/story rights? If you put the frog in a hot frying pan, it will jump out. But if you put it in a cool one and keep turning up the heat, the frog stays longer and longer as it adapts to the pain. It seems to be the story of eBay this year.
I've gone from, "I can't wait for the xmas season on eBay," to totally neutral.
You can say it's business, it's not supposed to be fun, but I don't subscribe to that or I would have stayed a 9-5er.
I'm happy for the folks that have diversified as I have. But, occasionally I like the rush of the auction format also. Maybe Tomwiii is right, and this will be the comeback for Yahoo auctions.
By the way, I actually like a fixed price format very much, but eBay with all of it's changes, A4B, and attitude, etc. has just left me pretty cold. At this point, the only things I list are things that aren't appropriate for a B&M or Amazon.
posted on October 10, 2001 05:44:19 AM new
I liked Half. It was much less hassle to list and sell on Half than eBay.
Will the Half "setup" remain when its integrated into eBay? Will there be 3 eBay tiers -- 1)regular eBay auctions (normal eBay listing and FVFs), 2)eBay user Storefronts ($9.95 storefront fee, 5 cent listings and a 5% FVF), and 3)Half.com style fixed price listings (15% FVF only)? I wouldn't mind that!
If yes, then eBay auction and Storefront sales can still be paid via PayPal if you want. Half.com payments were always done through eBay's payment mechanism (BillPoint or whatever is behind the scenes) so there's little impact to PayPal directly.
If they start charging listing fees for Half.com items, then those types of listings will likely take a dive. Would give Amazon and other venues a new leg up on eBay.
posted on October 10, 2001 05:53:10 AM new
I like the thrill of the auction (maybe it's the horse trader in me). Can't have that with a fixed price format like half.com. I went there last night just to look around and felt like I was in some stuffy dusty store being glared at by people who were wondering why I was there! It felt cold and impersonal.
Only in an auction format can you list something for $5.00 that you have no idea what it is worth and have it grabbed up for $150 by some person who is just thrilled to get it!
Maybe Ebay is seeing all those listings on half.com and has started to add up how much they would be if they were in the stores, with the monthly fee and the listing fee and final value fee.
I'm not looking forward to this change as I just got in a bunch more old magazines from my own childhood collection that I was looking forward to selling on Ebay. Now I don't know what will happen.
posted on October 10, 2001 06:02:43 AM new
I read that Half.com has grown to 50 million listings. eBay is probably drooling over charging a listing fee on Half.com listings.
posted on October 10, 2001 06:23:00 AM new
I really don’t understand the move to merge Half.com with eBay. I sell books full time from Half.com and make a very comfortable living from doing it. The idea that the two sites will be merging has me very concerned and frankly a little anxious.
Personally I feel that having separate site is what attracts buyers to Half.com. Many buyers have no clue nor do they care one way or the other that Half.com is an eBay company. They see them as two individual entities. Both sites give buyers in my opinion different reasons to buy there. Both sites have their “attractions” combining the two I think will push people away who didn’t really care for the eBay format and who liked the fixed price, pay with your credit card and be done with it option of buying.
[mballai} said it well “Separate sites work well because they are separate not because they are together.” I don’t know what to expect from the merger but the way things have been going lately at eBay I for one am not very optimistic. I wish I could be because I normally am but they have been making things very stressful for sellers in recent times and I for one am getting tired of the constant changes. As for the adapt or die sentiment that proliferates this message board at times. I agree business people need to adapt and make changes or go out of business. I did it last year when my eBay sales were met with an influx of competition in the category I sold in. I found a different item to sell that not to many people were selling, something a little more unique and moved away from the other items that suddenly everyone and their dog was selling. I even added a different product line, books. I even diversified to another on-line site to sell them on which is Half.com. But I for one am getting tired of the constant changes because in many cases they just don’t make a lot of sense to me. These changes influence and sometimes transform my business and I have no say or input into them.
There are of course options. No one is holding a gun to my head “making” me sell on eBay or Half.com. I’m not in charge so if I don’t like their policies or procedures I can always leave. I can try and sell on some of the other auction sites out there although any seller knows eBay by far attracts more buyers than any other auction site at this time anyway.
Another thought is if eBay is gearing up for fixed priced store fronts and wants to cater to the “BIG” sellers and push away the very people who pioneered auction selling with them they can succeed at that goal and rather swiftly at that. The bottom line is, the people who paved the path that we followed will pave a path elsewhere but this time we will be with them. We will all find another home someplace and possibly the sheer numbers of people moving on to protect what they worked so hard to build will create traffic at another venue. It is possible, especially when American’s are pushed to their wit end amazing and sometime unbelievable things start to happen. eBay is a giant but even giants can be toppled.
The biggest mistake eBay could be making is pushing away the small seller and cater to the BIG guy. The small mom and pop who started it all and who hung in there through the changes, will either adapt or die. I for one think they will more than adapt. I think they will move on to a site where their knowledge, experience, perseverance, products and money will be appreciated. If this happens then the giant will topple and although hindsight is 20/20 a lot of people will be left asking themselves what happened to us. Then again the BIG companies and sellers may bring eBay precisely what they want and do well at it, in which case they won’t care because they were right all along. But something tells me you don’t pull the rug out from under yourself or destroy the very foundation you were built on, make changes sure but to totally recreate from the foundation up. Something has to give somewhere.
posted on October 10, 2001 06:23:47 AM new
You figure eBay would have a hard time pushing a listing fee on Half.com sellers. They're already charging a hefty, hefty 15% FVF. Add a listing fee on top of that and many users would remove their items from Half.
For example, say it's a 10 cent listing fee per month and you have 1000 listings, that would be a $100 in Half listing fees per month. That'd be hard to swallow along with a backend 15% FVF. It will take many months, if not years to move all the inventory you have on Half, so the fees would hurt before too long.
I'd probably just delete my stuff from Half and focus on Amazon Marketplace and BargainandHaggle with their free listings, instead.
posted on October 10, 2001 06:37:56 AM new
Raise FVF to 15% on merchandise + 30% of shipping charges as half has shown can work. Billpoint only? Sure, to justify the increase.
Of course this will be "to better serve our community".
posted on October 10, 2001 06:48:24 AM new
As much as we may want to return to "the good old days" it just aint gonna happen. Ebay is constantly evolving their business (as they should, being a publicly held company).
Their brand and market share are incredibly valuable assets, and they need to maximize their value. They have outgrown the small sellers.
I don't believe that most ebay customers really understand that these are individual sellers. When they have a problem (fraud or whatever) they will blame ebay. By moving to large sellers of fixed price items, ebay may have fewer sellers, but may be able to strong-arm them a bit more, in order to protect their brand.
There will be sites for small sellers, but these will be the equivalent of the flea markets. If you believe that these will become profitable businesses based due to small sellers leaving ebay, you could invest in these companies and share in their growth, but a look at the "other online auctions" forum here will be a good indicator of why ebay is leaving these markets to others.
posted on October 10, 2001 07:02:47 AM new
If Half.com is integrated into eBay, something will have to be done with listing fees.
If Half.com listings remain free after integration into eBay, then all eBay sellers will shift everything possible to the former Half.com format.
eBay most probably will have to change the Half.com fee structure after integration to avoid listing abuses. Can you imagine how many spam listing will show up if there are no listing fees ? How could the 10 identical listing rule be enforced ? Will there be fixed price quasi Dutch auction sales ?
If Half.com is completely absorbed into the eBay auction site, the fee structure will have to be changed.
This integration may have more changes for the Half.com listings than for the eBay listings.
I think there will be a lot of confused buyers with a fixed price format along with an auction format. I have buyers now that bid the BIN price but don't use BIN.
As far as eBay attracting large retailers to the site, it's not going to happen. eBay's "branding" scheme is poison to large retailers, unless the retailers get special treatment like Disney. There isn't one seller on eBay that has been able to develope their brand on eBay. No one buys from seller X, buyers ALWAYS refer to their purchase as "I bought it on ebay".
There is no large brand name retailer that is going to dilute their brand by listing on eBay unless it is just for distressed inventory.
This is becomming like the old Chinese curse- "May your life be full of changes".
posted on October 10, 2001 07:06:49 AM new
I do not understand this move (or half.com in general) much at all. EBay wants to be the big gun in books, video and music? Why? No one makes money at in these fields, the markups are minimal and the competition is cutthroat. BarnesAndNoble.com has never made a dime. CDNow.com has never made a dime. Amazon.com has never made a dime. Reel.com is long gone. Etc etc etc.
As I have said umpteen times: the ONLY way eBay works at all is because sellers like myself are willing to work long hours at less than minimum wage for a reasonable amount of independence. Their move to increase business in books, video and music is simply another way to say 'I don't think we've worn out these dealers yet, they've still got a little life in them. We can probably push the envelope a little more'.
Right now the largest feedback dealer on eBay (me) sells CDs. The number 2 guy sells videos. The number 3 guy sells computer games. I can tell you (and will tell eBay) that none of us are getting rich at this. The number 3 seller of music on eBay collapsed last month and is no more. He was not making any money. The number 1 seller of music on half.com (presumably moving to eBay) is strapped for cash.
Yes, I am concerned about the competition for my product. The used CD I buy at $5.00 that I sell for $7 at '1 Cent' auction won't sell for that much if another item listed alongside it is listed for $5.99 fixed price. On the other hand, the guy with that $5.99 offering won't get any bites as long as my '1 Cent CD' is offered below his, and my bids don't jump to reasonable levels until the last hour of nightly auction endings.
I have had long conversations with eBay about half.com. They cannot understand why more big players aren't selling music CDs there. I have explained: the markups on new CDs is less than 15% in many cases and never more than 20%: how can I possibly sell in an environment where I can recover nothing from s/h fees, and pay all the 'profit' back to half.com/ebay at a 15% fixed commission?
