EBay’s Bubble has Burst
After the latest round of changes and studying the impacts it has had on my sellers account it seems that Ebay’s attempt to move to the BIN format (Amazon Model) seems to be working, the one bid auction seems to be the norm…
Simple statement:
“Has Ebay Burst their own Bubble….”??
June 11th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Yep, they are milking the auction format for all they can at this point.
Randy Smythes last blog post..Innovate or Die! eBay at the Crossroads.
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June 11th, 2008 at 3:37 am
I find auctions very much still alive with the right items, after all, it still only takes two, though more is always nice.
For items with an established price, the items you can find in any offline store, I think the buyer has caught on quicker than the seller that there’s no need to play with the auction format. This even goes for a lot of collectibles, once thought rare, which are now known to be more common thanks to the worldwide market for them created by eBay.
I still use auctions, but since last fall (before the most recent changes) started attaching Buy it Now’s to them. It worked for me during the Holiday rush, so I stayed with it. I leave the Buy it Now tag off items that I personally believe will find action at auction or that I know are actually rare. Sometimes I get burned, but that still seems to even out even with less overall action.
I also use Best Offer on most items, which allows me to set prices a little higher. Some people buy it at the marked price, others send offers, others wait for me to run a 20-30% off sale, which is usually what I’ll take on the offers anyway.
There are a lot of buyers, and I’ve found a lot of personality when it comes to their buying habits: some still love the action of the auction, others want to wheel & deal w/Best Offers, some wait for the sale so they feel like they got a bargain, others just pay sticker.
It’s all working pretty good right now!
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Mike reply on June 11, 2008 5:25 pm:
Thats sounds pretty much how I structure my listings, I have however all but stopped using the Auction format and find playing the BIN vlaues utilising the best match a great way to max my earnings in line with my taregts.
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June 11th, 2008 at 3:41 am
Heh, forgot to answer the main question posed in the post!
eBay –> No, I think it’s healthy.
Auctions –> Yes, I don’t think they ever should have been as hot as they got.
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