Flocks of eBay sellers were squawking on Thursday as the pioneering online auction Web site continued “bold changes” aimed at wrenching market share from Internet retail giant Amazon.
The California firm’s latest moves focus on making buying items at eBay more like standard store purchases, complete with electronic payments and fixed prices.
EBay is also altering its fee system, making it cheaper to post items but taking a bigger percentage of sales.
“These are some of the boldest changes we’ve ever made,” eBay spokesman Usher Lieberman said. “It is a shift in the business model for our sellers and for eBay. We are asking sellers to rethink their listing strategies and giving them economic incentives to do that.”
An online eBay chat forum teemed with complaints as sellers disparaged new rules, including a ban taking effect in October on making payments using checks or money orders.
“EBay used to be fun,” wrote an eBay user with the screen name Starfish2rcn. “Now it’s run like a dictatorship.”
EBay will require transactions be done using credit cards, debit cards or online services such as PayPal, which it owns.
Sellers complain that PayPal takes a percentage of each transaction, cutting into their profits.
“We are really recognizing e-commerce in general and what our buyers are seeing anywhere else online,” eBay spokeswoman Nichola Sharpe said. “It is going to make the process faster and more reliable.”
Electronic payments reportedly result in far fewer complaints when it comes to consummating deals.
EBay is cutting the price of “Buy It Now” postings to US$0.35 each and more than tripling the time they spend online to 30 days.
Sales of such fixed-price items reportedly account for 43 percent of eBay deals and are growing at a rate of 60 percent annually.
“We think auctions really work for unique items, rare items, hard-to-find items or one-of-a-kind-in-demand items,” Lieberman said. “Fixed price really works for multiple items.”
Anyone selling batches of identical items will be able to load them in single postings instead of having to list them separately, as is current practice.
The change saves sellers money and will also hopefully stop people from dominating eBay pages featuring search results for shoppers, Lieberman said.
“We are shifting most of the fees onto the back end, but we think that with the change in our listing fee we are extremely competitive,” Lieberman said. “The goal is to be the most competitively priced site on the Web.”
EBay is also reducing rates for sellers that ship items for free and for high-volume “Powersellers,” a move taken as a snub by some small merchants.
EBay revamped its fee structure early this year in the hope of invigorating a Web site where the population of active users has essentially stagnated.
Meanwhile, arch-rival Amazon has been flourishing.
“Amazon has been cutting pretty heavily into eBay sales and Amazon’s growth has been going phenomenally,” Enderle Group analyst Rob Enderle said. “I think the bloom is off the auction a bit. By and large people want to be able to go in and get things quickly.”
People can also “game” auctions, selling fraudulent items, balking on payments or “parachuting” in to make winning bids as time expires on offers, Enderle said.
“In the end, a regular commerce site came in and found a way to steal eBay’s thunder,” Enderle said, referring to Amazon. “EBay is bleeding and it’s going to have to step up and stem the bleeding.”
He added that it appears eBay is losing touch with buyers and sellers at a Web site long known for its sense of community.
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
‘EXTREME PRESSURE’: Beijing’s goal is to ‘force Taiwan to make mistakes,’ Admiral Tang Hua said, adding that mishaps could serve as ‘excuses’ for launching a blockade China’s authoritarian expansionism threatens not only Taiwan, but the rules-based international order, the navy said yesterday, after its top commander said in an interview that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could blockade the nation at will. The object of Beijing’s expansionist activities is not limited to Taiwan and its use of pressure is not confined to specific political groups or people, the navy said in a statement. China utilizes a mixture of cognitive warfare and “gray zone” military activities to pressure Taiwan, the navy said, adding that PLA sea and air forces are compressing the nation’s defensive depth. The navy continues to
MISSILE MISSION: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology said it does not make policy, but would be glad to obtain certification to assemble the missiles The Ministry of National Defense-affiliated Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is in the process of getting certified to assemble an additional 1,985 Stinger missiles on top of those from US arms sales, a senior defense official said yesterday. Washington is to send a team to Taiwan to evaluate the institute’s manufacturing capabilities and information security, said the official, who commented on condition of anonymity. The ministry initially bought 500 missiles for the army and navy, but later increased the order to 2,485 in response to an increase in Beijing’s military activities around the nation, and to meet the army’s urgent need
RSS