Type "Pujols (2001,01) Auto*" into eBay and...

[predatorkj]

I think ebay is catering to their true market. Collectibles make up a very small fraction of what is sold on ebay, both in terms of the number of listings and the dollars they bring in. Their big sellers are in electronics and books/dvds. People who sell those things are not going to sell them at auction. Thus, in order to lure more sellers away from amazon, they needed to give sellers an incentive to use the BIN/BO option.

I'd have to say that one of the biggest appeals of ebay for buyers was that not only could you find just about anything on ebay but you could also sometimes get it at a great price.If they go the BIN route completely...it will kill a significant amount of their sales.They may not see this for a little while but for a buyer...what motivation is there to buy things on ebay you can find on other sites if ebay only allows them to buy the stuff the same way you would on the other sites?Winning an auction for a good price is what drives the customer to keep coming back and actually being able to get rid of stuff is what keeps the sellers coming back.Take away an incentive for one and the other will surely follow the other out the door.

I personally think things can land a bigger price at auction than they can with BIN.

 

[JVC]

I think ebay is catering to their true market. Collectibles make up a very small fraction of what is sold on ebay, both in terms of the number of listings and the dollars they bring in. Their big sellers are in electronics and books/dvds. People who sell those things are not going to sell them at auction. Thus, in order to lure more sellers away from amazon, they needed to give sellers an incentive to use the BIN/BO option.

I'd have to say that one of the biggest appeals of ebay for buyers was that not only could you find just about anything on ebay but you could also sometimes get it at a great price.If they go the BIN route completely...it will kill a significant amount of their sales.They may not see this for a little while but for a buyer...what motivation is there to buy things on ebay you can find on other sites if ebay only allows them to buy the stuff the same way you would on the other sites?Winning an auction for a good price is what drives the customer to keep coming back and actually being able to get rid of stuff is what keeps the sellers coming back.Take away an incentive for one and the other will surely follow the other out the door.

I personally think things can land a bigger price at auction than they can with BIN.

Again, this is only looking at collectibles. You just wont find high volume sellers of electronics or books/dvds who are willing to sell their stuff at auction so they're over on Amazon instead. The idea is that ebay can charge lower fees than Amazon and the sellers can pass those savings on to their customers. Ebay is not concerned about the hit they're taking in the collectibles market at this time.

 

[predatorkj]

I think ebay is catering to their true market. Collectibles make up a very small fraction of what is sold on ebay, both in terms of the number of listings and the dollars they bring in. Their big sellers are in electronics and books/dvds. People who sell those things are not going to sell them at auction. Thus, in order to lure more sellers away from amazon, they needed to give sellers an incentive to use the BIN/BO option.

I'd have to say that one of the biggest appeals of ebay for buyers was that not only could you find just about anything on ebay but you could also sometimes get it at a great price.If they go the BIN route completely...it will kill a significant amount of their sales.They may not see this for a little while but for a buyer...what motivation is there to buy things on ebay you can find on other sites if ebay only allows them to buy the stuff the same way you would on the other sites?Winning an auction for a good price is what drives the customer to keep coming back and actually being able to get rid of stuff is what keeps the sellers coming back.Take away an incentive for one and the other will surely follow the other out the door.

I personally think things can land a bigger price at auction than they can with BIN.

Again, this is only looking at collectibles. You just wont find high volume sellers of electronics or books/dvds who are willing to sell their stuff at auction so they're over on Amazon instead. The idea is that ebay can charge lower fees than Amazon and the sellers can pass those savings on to their customers. Ebay is not concerned about the hit they're taking in the collectibles market at this time.

Actually I think what I said does make sense but perhaps your looking at it wrong.I don't buy things on ebay that are electronic nor books for one reason...I can get the same thing at the store.And chances are if I can't find at the Fry's Electronics or at Borders...I can call my local used bookstore or I can look around a few pawn shops and walla!

I wouldn't use ebay or Amazon to buy any of those things unless there was no other outlet to find them.And as of right now...I would hazard a guess there are far more users who live around these stores and can find these products and would much rather buy them in person and save on shipping than not.

Of course maybe I am wrong but unless we are talking about a super duper brand new gaming system or a book thats so out of print you couldn't find it in the Library of Alexandria...chances are I would rather just pick up the next time I'm out.

And like I said...for the most part...you'd probably save money doing so.

 

[JVC]

I think ebay is catering to their true market. Collectibles make up a very small fraction of what is sold on ebay, both in terms of the number of listings and the dollars they bring in. Their big sellers are in electronics and books/dvds. People who sell those things are not going to sell them at auction. Thus, in order to lure more sellers away from amazon, they needed to give sellers an incentive to use the BIN/BO option.

I'd have to say that one of the biggest appeals of ebay for buyers was that not only could you find just about anything on ebay but you could also sometimes get it at a great price.If they go the BIN route completely...it will kill a significant amount of their sales.They may not see this for a little while but for a buyer...what motivation is there to buy things on ebay you can find on other sites if ebay only allows them to buy the stuff the same way you would on the other sites?Winning an auction for a good price is what drives the customer to keep coming back and actually being able to get rid of stuff is what keeps the sellers coming back.Take away an incentive for one and the other will surely follow the other out the door.

I personally think things can land a bigger price at auction than they can with BIN.

Again, this is only looking at collectibles. You just wont find high volume sellers of electronics or books/dvds who are willing to sell their stuff at auction so they're over on Amazon instead. The idea is that ebay can charge lower fees than Amazon and the sellers can pass those savings on to their customers. Ebay is not concerned about the hit they're taking in the collectibles market at this time.

Actually I think what I said does make sense but perhaps your looking at it wrong.I don't buy things on ebay that are electronic nor books for one reason...I can get the same thing at the store.And chances are if I can't find at the Fry's Electronics or at Borders...I can call my local used bookstore or I can look around a few pawn shops and walla!

I wouldn't use ebay or Amazon to buy any of those things unless there was no other outlet to find them.And as of right now...I would hazard a guess there are far more users who live around these stores and can find these products and would much rather buy them in person and save on shipping than not.

Of course maybe I am wrong but unless we are talking about a super duper brand new gaming system or a book thats so out of print you couldn't find it in the Library of Alexandria...chances are I would rather just pick up the next time I'm out.

And like I said...for the most part...you'd probably save money doing so.

Amazon is not as big as they are because there are a ton of people out there who do not have electronics or book stores near them. They are putting those stores out of business! I think you need to check these online stores for yourself. The prices that you can pay for the same exact items online are MUCH cheaper than those that you would pay in a retail store. You can buy a brand new ipod/xbox/flat screen TV on Amazon or any one of several other sites for 20-30% less than you would pay in a local store even with the shipping cost factored in.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

While this may be true its also kinda ironic. Early Ebay public relations had us believe eBay was created to sell Pez dispensers.

I think ebay is catering to their true market. Collectibles make up a very small fraction of what is sold on ebay, both in terms of the number of listings and the dollars they bring in. Their big sellers are in electronics and books/dvds. People who sell those things are not going to sell them at auction. Thus, in order to lure more sellers away from amazon, they needed to give sellers an incentive to use the BIN/BO option.

 

[predatorkj]

I think ebay is catering to their true market. Collectibles make up a very small fraction of what is sold on ebay, both in terms of the number of listings and the dollars they bring in. Their big sellers are in electronics and books/dvds. People who sell those things are not going to sell them at auction. Thus, in order to lure more sellers away from amazon, they needed to give sellers an incentive to use the BIN/BO option.

I'd have to say that one of the biggest appeals of ebay for buyers was that not only could you find just about anything on ebay but you could also sometimes get it at a great price.If they go the BIN route completely...it will kill a significant amount of their sales.They may not see this for a little while but for a buyer...what motivation is there to buy things on ebay you can find on other sites if ebay only allows them to buy the stuff the same way you would on the other sites?Winning an auction for a good price is what drives the customer to keep coming back and actually being able to get rid of stuff is what keeps the sellers coming back.Take away an incentive for one and the other will surely follow the other out the door.

I personally think things can land a bigger price at auction than they can with BIN.

Again, this is only looking at collectibles. You just wont find high volume sellers of electronics or books/dvds who are willing to sell their stuff at auction so they're over on Amazon instead. The idea is that ebay can charge lower fees than Amazon and the sellers can pass those savings on to their customers. Ebay is not concerned about the hit they're taking in the collectibles market at this time.

Actually I think what I said does make sense but perhaps your looking at it wrong.I don't buy things on ebay that are electronic nor books for one reason...I can get the same thing at the store.And chances are if I can't find at the Fry's Electronics or at Borders...I can call my local used bookstore or I can look around a few pawn shops and walla!

I wouldn't use ebay or Amazon to buy any of those things unless there was no other outlet to find them.And as of right now...I would hazard a guess there are far more users who live around these stores and can find these products and would much rather buy them in person and save on shipping than not.

Of course maybe I am wrong but unless we are talking about a super duper brand new gaming system or a book thats so out of print you couldn't find it in the Library of Alexandria...chances are I would rather just pick up the next time I'm out.

And like I said...for the most part...you'd probably save money doing so.

Amazon is not as big as they are because there are a ton of people out there who do not have electronics or book stores near them. They are putting those stores out of business! I think you need to check these online stores for yourself. The prices that you can pay for the same exact items online are MUCH cheaper than those that you would pay in a retail store. You can buy a brand new ipod/xbox/flat screen TV on Amazon or any one of several other sites for 20-30% less than you would pay in a local store even with the shipping cost factored in.

I have looked around on Amazon and also at a few things on ebay when we were looking for some gaming systems and a new flat screen as well as a few dvds.They were no cheaper and in many cases were actually more than we paid for the things we purchased at a store.I will not argue with you though because it may be possible that we are both correct.Maybe there are a good handful of things that are more expensive or just the same price(as I found out) and there are most likely things that are cheaper.I suppose it just depends on what your looking for.I personally other than myself have never run into anybody who will buy any electronics from ebay.The main problem is everybody said they were worried about it not working and the hassel you'd have to go through to get it shipped back(lose money right there out of your pocket in some cases) and that they would rather go to sears or Fry's and buy something they could look at and make sure it worked and then take it home.That way...worse case scenario...if it doesn't work when you get it home or if you think it doesn't quite go good with your living room...you can take it back for just the price of the gas it takes you to drive over there.

I just don't think Ebay's main selling point has always been electronics.It may be now but ebay from what I understand was always about getting stuff by winning auctions.A place where both the seller and the buyer could benefit.And collectibles have always been a big seller.I was looking through just a few games and toys I remember as a child and there are literally millions of items on ebay and quite a few of them had bids on them.I was kinda shocked at the sheer volume of items on there.I would imagine if you added all the collectibles up versus non collectibles...you'd be hardpressed to say one was bigger than the other.

As for books...depending on the reason its being purchased...it could be considered a collectible too.