PeteMorris Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Online auction sites are not like mobile phones. If you choose the 'wrong' phone it'll still probably make calls & texts at least. If as a seller you choose the wrong auction site, you wont sell your stuff or you'll get a very low price. So all the sellers naturally go to the biggest site, it becomes a natural monopoly. Ebay is a very well established, very well known, rich & well advertised site. It'd take an immense marketing effort (lots of money on advertising, etc) for a new site to compete directly with ebay. There don't seem to be many companies with the money, power & the will to take ebay on. There's Amazon, but not much else that I can think of. I didn't suggest mobile phones are akin to auction sites. They were just examples of companies having huge monopolies, only to be usurped by something alternative coming along. It's surely defeatist to have the attitude of "well they're the biggest and richest....so we won't even contemplate rocking the boat" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 I didn't suggest mobile phones are akin to auction sites. They were just examples of companies having huge monopolies, only to be usurped by something alternative coming along. It's surely defeatist to have the attitude of "well they're the biggest and richest....so we won't even contemplate rocking the boat" Just saying, it's a much stronger 'monopoly' than apple ever had with anything. You can't compare two markets that are so different. You realise that Samsung made phones before Apple did & didn't stop? A better comparison might be the Microsoft Windows monopoly & how that was broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bladesman Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 People tried with gumtree. eBay went and bought Gumtree. There is still room for another attempt though and I would welcome it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghozer Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 *sigh* - let's try again... This is why I stopped using eBay long ago, the fees have got so high it's getting to the point of not worth selling via ebay for some items, as you could get more (after all eBay fees etc) at somewhere like CEX (even though you still get less than it's worth) eBay basically get 3 or 4 lots of fees from each sale... 1) Listing Fee 2) Sale Fee (% of final value) 3) PayPal Fees from buyer for fund xFer to seller 4) PayPal Fees from seller (doesn't always happen depending on if they xFer, or withdraw to bank, and what sort of PayPal acc't they have etc) I sold something a couple of years ago for £600, I would have been paying about £180 in fees out, meaning I only came away with £420 - and the item was worth WAY more than that, the buyer also knew this and said that if I cancelled the auction, said I had dropped the item, he would accept it, come collect and pay in cash... let's just say, I did this, and it was much better..... Any ways.... It wouldn't take that much of a marketing effort to take on eBay.... You need the idea (new way of placing ads/paying / bidding) (I have) You need the website (I don't yet have) You need the finances (to pay for the website / hosting, until money starts being made) (I don't have) Once you have the above, it's just time... You can do Advertising online easily, at little or no cost, if you know how and where to go... Honestly, it's something that needs doing, otherwise the fees are just going to keep going up and up to the point it won't be worth using ebay for small/low cost items and then it will slowly die (will take a few years obviously) - at which point alternatives will emerge then, some using the same method, some using worse, and some better.. Jumping in now, when the ocean is fresh is the best thing to do, it's the right time to do it... :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteMorris Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Just saying, it's a much stronger 'monopoly' than apple ever had with anything. You can't compare two markets that are so different. You realise that Samsung made phones before Apple did & didn't stop? A better comparison might be the Microsoft Windows/Office monopoly & how that was broken. My point is....no company is untouchable, simply because they currently have the monopoly. I agree with your analogy in regard to Microsoft. Oh and yes I did realise Samsung made phones before Apple (amongst other stuff), but I presume at that time Nokia was top of the hill. Additionally. Just from all the negative comments on here so far, it's clear that Ebay have simply got too big for their boots, and far too greedy. I don't think there's been a single post in their favour. So if something alternative, that 'worked' came along. Don't you think all of the disillusioned people might want to give it a try? I would!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Ghozer are you being serious? You're going to compete with a company that spent $2.4 billion on advertising in 2011 & probably spends more now? At little or no cost? No surprise your posts get deleted, you've lost it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bladesman Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 *sigh* - let's try again... This is why I stopped using eBay long ago, the fees have got so high it's getting to the point of not worth selling via ebay for some items, as you could get more (after all eBay fees etc) at somewhere like CEX (even though you still get less than it's worth) eBay basically get 3 or 4 lots of fees from each sale... 1) Listing Fee 2) Sale Fee (% of final value) 3) PayPal Fees from buyer for fund xFer to seller 4) PayPal Fees from seller (doesn't always happen depending on if they xFer, or withdraw to bank, and what sort of PayPal acc't they have etc) I sold something a couple of years ago for £600, I would have been paying about £180 in fees out, meaning I only came away with £420 - and the item was worth WAY more than that, the buyer also knew this and said that if I cancelled the auction, said I had dropped the item, he would accept it, come collect and pay in cash... let's just say, I did this, and it was much better..... Any ways.... It wouldn't take that much of a marketing effort to take on eBay.... You need the idea (new way of placing ads/paying / bidding) (I have) You need the website (I don't yet have) You need the finances (to pay for the website / hosting, until money starts being made) (I don't have) Once you have the above, it's just time... You can do Advertising online easily, at little or no cost, if you know how and where to go... Honestly, it's something that needs doing, otherwise the fees are just going to keep going up and up to the point it won't be worth using ebay for small/low cost items and then it will slowly die (will take a few years obviously) - at which point alternatives will emerge then, some using the same method, some using worse, and some better.. Jumping in now, when the ocean is fresh is the best thing to do, it's the right time to do it... :S How would you deal with disputes? Also how would payments be sent and taken? Nochex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghozer Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 There's still some details that need working out, which won't be possible until the site is actually complete, and made... But peoples biggest problem with ebay, is the fees, so find a way to eliminate those, while still being able to make money as a company is the key... You can offer various payment options for people, there are alternatives to PayPal, as well as offering PayPal as an option (you'll still be saving vs ebay, due to how listing fees work) and yes, with the power of social networking, and the internet, you can take a company and grow it at little cost in a matter of a couple of years... and Pete's point about everyone being so annoyed at ebay, so would at least TRY an alternative, is my point, it's the right time in the market to launch something, because people are so put-out by ebay, they will go to another if the option is there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 The ocean is not really fresh, though, Ghozer. My eBay account is over 13 years old For the non-professional (seller), eBay is still the best place to use to offload unwanted items. I've lost track of the number of times I've listed something on here (e.g. per sig currently), priced it at the lower end of the eBay average (current at time of listing/posting, auctioned items only/not buy-it-now) and it's not sold (no demand and/or only chancers offerring less than half-value ), then listed on eBay on the next free listing weekend, and sold it for way more than I was asking on here (it's all in how you phrase the listing and take the photo(s)- feel free to check my earlier auctions via my feedback, userID ambro25). Only last week or week before that, DS game (Winx Magical Party or somesuch), was asking £10 on here, sold on eBay for £16 (without P&P). I put it down to the audience/market size multiplier effect, and not much else. I always list stuff on here and Gumtree first, because it's less hassle and there's less scope for chancers to have a go. Been doing that since I joined in '08, and for years before that before I came across SF. But eBay is where most of that stuff goes fastest for the best (net) price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghozer Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 I always list stuff on here and Gumtree first, because it's less hassle and there's less scope for chancers to have a go. Been doing that since I joined in '08, and for years before that before I came across SF. But eBay is where most of that stuff goes fastest for the best (net) price. FWIW it's almost always electronics/gaming-related items. That's the key, right there.... What if there was an alternative to eBay, that is as hassle-free as here or gumtree... was cheaper than eBay etc... And I know eBay has been around for years, but there is still room on the proverbial Ocean, the internet is a big, there's lots of room! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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