Time running from eBay?

Several blogs are reporting that eBay is starting to look less solid than before. That the giant online marketplace is at a crunch time in it’s history and need to decide on a new road ahead.

Some claim that eBay’s troubles are their own fault. I agree to some extend. But I also think that eBay has been overtaken by developments in net behaviour and that this is where the lesson lies.

The traditional model for eBay was online auctions. People would put up their stuff for sale, and potential buyers could bid on them in the hope that they would be the ones running away with a bargain. It could potentially save you money, but it was also time consuming.

So why is the model taking in water? Well, today less people just browse the web at random. If they do they spend their time on silly applications on Facebook or watch videos on YouTube. Sites like eBay are no longer places, where we just hang out.

As a consequence we don’t have the time to participate in online auctions anymore. Yes, we can set up robots to do the bidding for us, but seriously - what’s the point? At the same time a lot of the stuff you can buy or bid for on eBay is stuff you can find a lot of other places - and some times perhaps even cheaper. Hence the auctioning model just seems like a waste of time. It is so yesterday.

eBay is betting on the fixed price format (”Buy it now”) now, and I think that makes total sense. eBay could position itself as the place to search for stuff, goods - whatever product you can buy. Be the Google of e-commerce. Or an alternative to Amazon. But it needs to steer clear of the auction image.

So is there any room for online auctions? Yes, but only for highly specialized, vintage goods - the same kind of things you would be going to a bricks’n'mortar auction to buy. And even then it would need to be highly targeted and oriented towards serving a select audience with amble passion and amble time in order to be highly succesful.

Vad NU! is a consultancy company owned by Mads Kristensen and specialized in helping clients take advantage of the business opportunities created by new media. Click to learn how I can help you and your company.