posted on October 18, 2001 11:47:31 AM
I've read a lot of talk on this board about the wish to find a good alternative to eBay. I know many of us use other sites like Yahoo, Bidville, and Amazon, but the majority opinion seems to be that eBay is still the best because that's where most of the bidders are... yet most of us are tired of the constant changes, new "features" and new fees, etc. Plus eBay is pulling away from the collectibles market and smaller sellers in favor of more retail-type sales.
In light of that, do you think we "restless natives" would be more willing to migrate to a general auction site which is similar to earlier incarnations of eBay, or could niche auctions -- such as those for specific categories of items such as vintage goods, sports items, or Hollywood memorabilia -- be successful?
I tend to think that a general auction site would be more successful because it would draw a larger buyer and seller base. However, there are already a number of general auction sites, and none have been able to achieve anything close to the success of eBay. The audience for niche auctions would be much smaller, but if done right it seems like they could attract a more loyal following.
Assuming eBay continues on its current course toward being more of a retail venue than an auction site, what do you think it would take to make another auction site successful? Attracting bidders, of course... but what would do that, besides an abundance of listings? Is it impossible for another auction to truly succeed unless eBay actually jettisons its current auction format?
