Going, going, gone? Furious fans have accused eBay, the Web site that brought auctions to the internet, of betrayal. They are upset by a company decision to lurch away from the site’s original format and instead allow major retailers to list thousands of products at fixed prices.
The trend, they warn, marks the beginning of the end for the online auction — leaving eBay looking less like a car-trunk sale and more like a shopping mall.
“Auctions in some categories are already pretty much dead,” said Chris Dawson, an eBay seller from Thatcham, Berkshire, in England, who runs a blog about the site. “Not many people bid for rechargeable batteries, Gillette razor blades, toothbrushes or even mobile phone handsets or DVDs — the kind of commodity items you pick up in a supermarket. EBay started out for the collectors’ market but it’s been overtaken by the business market. Buyers have become used to instant sales on the Internet and they expect eBay to be no different.”
Randy Smythe, a former eBay seller who now runs an e-commerce blog, said he believed “eBay’s drive for growth has killed the auction format. They are trying to compete with Amazon and the rest of e-commerce by giving you everything in the same search. ‘Buy it now’ and ‘fixed price’ added growth at first, but they’ve killed the golden goose.”
The changes have led some small sellers to accuse eBay of betrayal. Growth of the site’s worldwide active user base slowed to a relatively modest 1 percent in the past year.
Smythe, speaking from California, went on: “Sellers have decided they’re not going to eBay any longer. I’ve seen a lot saying that they’re going back to the things they did before eBay — the flea markets, the trade shows. It means those rare items aren’t on eBay any more.”
In the 13 years since it was first set up, eBay has become famous. But as it pursues more users, its owners have struck highly profitable deals with a string of major firms. Retailers such as Argos, Littlewoods, Orange and the shoe shop Schuh now offer thousands of items on eBay at fixed prices without the hassle of bidding.
These compete alongside items offered by independent small sellers in auctions that can take days. Of the two models, buyers are increasingly showing a preference for fixed price, with its promise of a reputable brand and instant delivery. Fixed price sales on eBay have grown by 60 percent over the past six years, eating away at the auction side of the business. They now comprise 43 percent of the value of all goods sold on the site, up from 39 percent a year ago. Analysts say it is only a matter of time before auctions are in the minority.
The shift has enraged eBay’s many fans. There was fury in the US after eBay signed a partnership with Buy.com that allows the web retailer to sell millions of books, DVDs, electronics and other items on eBay without paying the full listing fees. Buy.com’s presence has hurt many smaller sellers that compete in the same product categories.
It is one of several changes made by new eBay chief executive John Donahoe.
“Today fixed price accounts for over 40 percent of the value of all our sales. We’ll continue to innovate to bring parity to selling in fixed price alongside auctions and choice for buyers to shop whichever way they want,” a UK spokesman for the company said.
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