EBay Colossus Starting To Shake?

EBay has been the towering titan of the auction sites for years. It has seen off all the smaller competitors and appeared indestructible. Until now. EBay has, over the last few years made a number of unpopular changes that have angered many of its sellers who have shut up shop and moved on. The biggest gripe sellers have with eBay is the cost of selling which has been rising slowly over the years. It has not become known as “feebay” for nothing. There have also been a number of policy changes that have upset sellers.

The problem that angry sellers have had is where to go if they shut up shop on EBay. There have always been a number of smaller auction sites competing on the fringes waiting to take in EBay refugees. The problem with these sites however has not been their ability to attract sellers. Sellers are constantly on the lookout for alternatives. The problem has been attracting buyers.

There’s no point opening a shop on a site which few people visit. This has been the strength that EBay has flourished on. Millions of people go to EBay every day searching for products. Unaware of other sites. However, as more and more sellers decide it is simply too expensive to sell on EBay and leave other sites are starting to come into their own. Ready to mop up this market of eager sellers looking for a new home.

Developers have been chipping away at the EBay monolith while the EBay management, like all managements of monopolies have become arrogant and smug. Believing they can issue fee rises and policy changes at will with the attitude that if you don’t like it then leave. The result of this off-handed policy is an army of sellers just looking for somewhere else to jump to.

They may not have long to wait. Alternatives to EBay are starting to appear, they are armed with many advantages, like for example, the ability to import their listings from EBay. This is an attractive function for someone with an eBay shop containing hundreds of products. The new players also have bulk-loading facilities built into their sites. They look mean, keen and sleek and appear to mean business.

They also appear to be overcoming their biggest challenge which has eluded many trying to break into EBay’s market, namely the ability to attract enough buyers to their sites. Without hungry buyers no auction site can survive.

Who are these new kids on the block? There’s eCrater, launched in 2004 is thriving. A number of new stores have also arrived on the scence; Wigix, Bonanzle and Atomic Mall to name a few. They are been helped by new technology which is making ecommerce sites easier to use and search-engine friendly. Google Base is allowing people to display their products without the need for EBay.

There’s little doubt that changing technology and a ready market for alternative auction sites is driving new players into the market. The question is how will EBay react? If it continues to issue unpopular policy changes and keep squeezing sellers for more fees it may go the way of the dinosaurs. If it accepts the challenges heading towards it may survive and thrive. For online seller the growing choice can only be good.