leapingcat

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25 Comments

    • Wed Nov 12th 14:01 PM | Rating: +2 0
      Commented on:
      Should We Really Bail Out the Big Three Automakers with $73.20 Per Hour Labor?
      May I be allowed to make a comment or two from across the pond! The British experience has been that sometimes the cost to the economy of allowing an industry to go to the wall can be greater than that of subsidising it to give it the breathing space to reorganise and become more efficient. I'm of course not qualified to know whether or not alleged greedy unions or management are really the cause, but any industry hit by such a sudden downturn in demand would be in trouble in any case. Unfortunately, US cars are regarded as irelevant in Europe, eg in spite of a weak dollar and strong marketing, Cadillac have sold an average of about 200 cars a year in the UK per year, yes that's two hundred in a market of over two million, perhaps if the industry had been more outward looking then it would not have been in such trouble.
      We have always admired your economy's ability to fight back, and I'm sure that in time it will recover, I just hope that it doesn't repeat the mistakes of the past. When you sneeze, the rest of the world catches a cold!
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    • Mon Oct 20th 12:30 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      eBay Q3: What it Means for Sellers
      I have been trying to interpret these figures and have come to the startling conclusion that unlike in the past when increased fees led to increased revenue, for Q3 increased fees have led to REDUCED revenue. Does this mean that Ebay's fees are now so high that sellers are no longer finding the site viable, or are the policies of Ebay's management turning away sellers. Either way they have a bit of explaining to do; as Eunice and many others have pointed out, the current economic climate should be favouring Ebay.
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    • Mon Oct 20th 05:45 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      eBay: Getting Something for Nothing
      GSlusher I can sympathise with your problems, although I have never had any difficulties with bad sellers or buyers; it may be that it applies to some categories more than others. I am certain though that this is due to Ebay cutting corners to save money in the short term by abdicating any responsibility for policing its site, while at the same time claiming to put in policies to give the illusion that it is a safe place to buy or sell.
      I had also thought that Paypal could be the one thing that would maintain some value for the company as a whole, but I am now beginning to doubt this. The events of the last few weeks have led to calls here in the UK from both politicians and regulators for tighter control of financial institutions and as far as I can tell the same views are being put forward in the US. Can anyone see Paypal surviving a closer scrutiny of its existing practices? I feel that the share price still needs to fall some more before investors could truly be getting 'something for nothing'.
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    • Mon Oct 13th 16:52 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      eBay Caps Shipping Rates: What Is the CEO Thinking?
      An update, this nonsense is now spreading to the UK. The cap on postage for books is the most stupid thing of the lot, as it will be the equivalent of about $4.70 regardless of size. The UK postage rates are based on a combination of weight and size, so a comic will cost about $1.10 plus packing to post, which is OK, but a larger hardback book, such as a textbook costs about $7.00 on postage alone. The only books it will practicable to sell will be thin paperbacks or expensive books where the loss on postage can be absorbed. The result will be less choice for buyers; I can't see how this will improve their 'experience'.
      It is obvious that Ebay mangement have never even picked up a book, let alone opened one and read it.
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    • Wed Oct 8th 07:31 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      eBay: A glimmer of Hope for Feedback
      KISS. One straightforward measure to tell whether or not a buyer or seller is reliable or not, a simple percentage of positive feedback against total feedback. Buyers and sellers can both leave feedback. A system to investigate allegedly unfair feedback and remove it if necessary. NPBs cannot leave feedback. This seems to work pretty well for Ebid, and no doubt some other sites. I wonder if it could ever work for Ebay?
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    • Mon Oct 6th 15:33 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Big eBay Developments: Layoffs, Gobbles Up BillMeLater
      How long before unsuspecting users of Danish classified sites find out that their adverts are invisible because of a 'best match' that doesn't work and that buyers can only pay with Paypal?
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    • Sun Sep 21st 04:12 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      So Much for That: EBay Looks To Sell StumbleUpon
      The JD here is a clever spoof who has not only captured the style of the original but also his cluelessness. Nice one JD, I hope that you continue to keep us amused.
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    • Mon Sep 15th 04:32 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      eBay Is a Losing Bid - Barron's
      Let me put the buyers perspective. Buyers aren't interested directly in the woes of sellers, eg fees, feedback changes etc, those don't affect them directly. What they are concerned about is that when they want to find the interesting and unusual items that they used to see Ebay as the first place to look for, they will be finding instead that their search has been manipulated to show instead bulk listings from box shifters like buy.com and fake Chinese rubbish clogging up the collectables listings, and that they they are unable to pay in the way that they prefer. This more than anything is why Ebay will not survive; they will lose their existing buyers, and other potential buyers will go direct to the large sellers' websites where they will have more protection and customer service.
      For those looking for collectables, can I suggest a visit to specialistauctions.com... It is a still relatively small site and UK based, but has many US members, and auctions are monitored by experts to reduce the likelihood of fakes being listed or items listed in the wrong category.
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    • Sun Sep 7th 11:23 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      eCommerce Stock Pair Trade: Amazon vs. eBay
      Shelley, for the first few months of this year, the STR for BINs for books (one of buy.com's main categories) was approx 30%, not 2.5%; this shows what buyers [i] really[/i] want. This is the type of statistic that shows how bad this sort of deal will be for Ebay's buyers, sellers and investors. I can see nothing in Ebay's thinking that will reverse this trend.
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    • Sun Sep 7th 04:54 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      eBay: Triple Whammy Weighs on Stock Price
      I don't think that I could add much to the comments above which give an excellent overall summary of the situation, so I will look at just one aspect. Conversion rates ( I think these are also known as sell-through rates) are down not because of the new finding system (I can find what I collect just as easily) but because the sellers of collectable items are leaving in droves and are being replaced by the likes of buy.com selling commodity items with an abysmal sell-through rate, and, it is rumoured, lower fees. (Check the Medved statistics for different categories over the last six months for confirmation) If fees are being geared more to sales than listings, then look no further for the reasons for the predictions of Ebay's price.
      This is typical of allowing a company to run by mangement consultants relying on figures wthout being able to interpret them and without a clue as to how their market really works. Shareholders , kick them out and replace them by real business people if you want to see your investment do well.
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    • Wed Sep 3rd 04:42 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      What Will Be the Impact of eBay's Rate Changes?
      I agree with your analysis, but I would question whether Ebay are actually moving to a traditional retail model, let alone do it successfully. Retailers own their stock and provide customer service, Ebay do neither.
      Ebay's fees have only gone down for large sellers of mass-market commodity products, fees have gone up for the small sellers of individual and difficult to find items. Ebay are in danger of losing what has made them distinctive without any compensating gains.
      I think that you're right, Paypal should continue to flourish; it has an established customer base and is convenient for buyers. Your article seems to support the case for breaking up Ebay, and letting Paypal realise its true value.
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    • Mon Aug 25th 04:46 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      eBay: The Next 4 Months
      'Everyone keeps talking about eBay spinning off PayPal & Skype - these are their best businesses and the future of the company. Why would they spin them off? '
      I suggest that based on current price and P/E ratio, the auction side of Ebay is dragging down the value of the whole company. The initial overpayment for Skype has effectively been written off, and Paypal is getting an increasing amount of its revenue from non-Ebay sources. Break up the company, let the parts with potential for growth realise their true value, and sell off the auction side to someone who really understands the business.
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    • Thu Aug 21st 11:15 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      EBay's Aim at Amazon: Off Target
      Another response to Redbaron:

      Some excellent points about Ebay and collectables, I agree with much of what you said, but I approach it from a different angle. One of the great successes of Ebay was the way in which it created a vast transparent market for collectables, which meant that they were able to find a true market price and not one artificially inflated by speculators. I was able to add to my collection at an affordable price, and as my tastes changed, easily sell the items that I wanted with low fees and no dealers profit margin to reduce the price that I got.
      That is the market that Ebay are rapidly destroying by their changes in policies and constant fee increases, and their attempts to become an Amazon clone. Alternatives such as ebid.net are starting to fill that vacuum by providing the sort of environment that collectors want, the latest changes can only speed that process. In the meantime, if I want to buy a book or DVD, I would still look at Amazon first. I feel more confident dealing with a company that still seems to make items easy to find and provides a hassle free service. Perhaps this is in part a reason for the different P/E ratios.
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    • Mon Aug 18th 12:55 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Amazon vs. EBay: Looking Beyond E-Commerce
      I agree with everyone else that that is a very well-written article, and shows just where the two companies are heading.
      Amazon charge lower final fees to large sellers (pro-merchants), charge higher fees than Ebay (although Paypal fees can level this out to a certain extent) and have drop-shippers listing hundreds of thousands of books that they don't have in stock and with feedback ratings in the low 90s. So, Ebay should have no trouble in seeing off Amazon as a competitor, yet they flounder while Amazon go from strength to strength. Perhaps ease of use and reputation count for more than meaningless figures when valuing a company; if so then investors are starting to get it right.
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    • Thu Aug 14th 11:11 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Has eBay Reached the Limit of the Network Effect?
      Ebay is basically an immature company in a mature market. The network effect has served it very well but that has now stabilised and the numbers of users and listings has now reached a plateau rather than a peak. It must now accept that there are limits to growth. It can survive and prove a good investment by providing better customer service and developing services such as Paypal and Skype, but by rushing round like a headless chicken, trying to compete with Amazon where it hasn't the ability to and constantly increasing fees and interfering in the free operation of the market it has created, it is likely to destroy that network and disappear down its own plughole!
      View article »
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