posted on October 9, 2001 10:58:31 PM
Here is the REAL reason ebay is starting checkout... first AFA then this, This ebay seller is GONE!!!
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Ebay to Merge Half.com Into EBay.com
In Effort to Court Mainstream Shoppers
By Nick Wingfield
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
EBay Inc. said Tuesday it will gradually merge its Half.com subsidiary into the operations of its eBay.com Web site, a sign of the company's growing effort to court mainstream shoppers who buy fixed-price goods like compact discs and books rather than using auctions.
The move is likely to increase eBay's rivalry with Amazon.com Inc. EBay executives have talked publicly about the company's desire to be the leader in the online book, music and video markets, areas that Amazon currently dominates and which have been a focus of Half.com.
Later this quarter, eBay will enable users to use a single account that allows them to buy and sell goods on both eBay.com and Half.com, said Henry Gomez, eBay's chief spokesman. The San Jose, Calif., company will merge the "feedback" systems of Half.com and eBay, a keystone feature of both sites that lets users rate the quality of merchants and sellers. Sometime during the coming quarters, eBay will do away with the Half.com brand name entirely by merging all of the listings on Half.com into eBay.
"The goal has always been one eBay brand globally," Mr. Gomez said. "This is a clear signal that fixed price is a very important part of our future."
Previously, Half.com, which eBay acquired in July of last year, was operated as a separate subsidiary and Web site. Mr. Gomez said about 18 jobs would be eliminated at the company as result of the changes, mostly within Half.com's customer support and administrative departments.
The changes, which were expected by many in the industry, underscore how eBay is increasingly shifting away from its early days as an auction site geared largely toward collectibles traders. Half.com is a fixed-price marketplace, where independent sellers post for sale electronics, books, music CDs, DVDs and other consumer goods and buyers purchase them for set prices.
Likewise, the bulk of listings on eBay.com have begun to shift more toward what the company calls practical items, including computers, apparel and automobiles. Last year, the company began offering a fixed-price option on eBay auctions that lets buyers purchase an item immediately instead of waiting days for the bidding process to end. Nearly 35% of all eBay listings now offer buyers the option of purchasing an item for a fixed price.
Half.com still represents a small portion of eBay's business, but the sales are growing quickly. Jeetil Patel, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Alex Brown, estimates Half.com represented between 5% and 6%, or between $9 million and $11 million, of eBay's $180.9 million in revenue in the second quarter.
posted on October 10, 2001 04:52:07 AM
Don't count on the Justice Department to rescue anyone. Bigger monopolies have slipped through the hands of the JD. Say it loud! AOL/TIME WARNER....
