Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

James, you are exactly right.  Microsoft, for example, relentlessly shuts down auctions for Microsoft software (as the rights owner, Ebay gives them the authority to end auctions).

I`ve has personal experience with this.  Way back in the beginning, when I was still trying to figure out what to sell on Ebay, I was at a flea market one day and came across a brand new, unopened, fully retail licensed copy of Office 2003.  The seller wanted $5.00, but I`m an Ebayer, so I bought it for $2.00.

Much to my dismay, within hours of posting the auction,  Microsoft took it down.   I actually had to take pictures of the box`s UPC code, and open the box and take pictures of the COA, and send them to Microsoft, who then relented and allowed the auction to continue.   I think it sold for $200.00 - my best ROI ever!

-Kevin

 

 

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Sleep is for the uninspired

http://www.inflatablemadnessdvd.com
http://www.buybackmadness.com

Thanks for the e-bay experience.  I guess I can understand everybody`s point of view in these transactions.  The creator does not want to get copied.  E-bay does not want litigation for selling fake stuff.  E-bay does not want to spends lots of time and money to become an "investigator" or fact finder in lots of cases.  The seller/reseller does not want to get shut out of the opportunity. 

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

Hi Kevin,

I saw you speak with SuN at eBay Live!  It was inspiring.

I sell $8K - 10K each month in women`s suits on eBay.  Shining-Star-Suits 
 
My questions for you:  What is your 2-3 year outlook on eBay sales overall?   Do you see the market becoming more competitve for eBay sellers or will new buyers match seller growth? 

Do you see any threats to the health of the eBay ecosystem?

Thanks,

Michelle


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Warmest regards,

Michelle Waldorf -- eSeller Street -- eBay Market Research

Hello Kevin,

   The Blogs on eBay are very helpful.  My son has been selling/buying from eBay for several years now and the addition of Blogs, he says, has very much helped him.

    I also agree with MiteyMite.

Thanks.

Ron

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Hi Michelle,

You`re certainly in a good category - I`ve got to think there`s good demand for your product on Ebay.

My 2-3 year outlook for Ebay is as follows, and comes after seeing firsthand whats going on, and paying attention to ecommerce trends and investor analysis:

Ebay has a maturing market issue at hand - growth is still healthy, but slowing, especially in the US. 

Another troubling issue is the number of registered users on Ebay vs. the number of users that actively bought on Ebay in the past 6 months.  The "active" users are actually shrinking relative to the number of registered users.   I draw the conclusion here that people are having bad buying experiences on the site and not returning.    Ebay Express is hopefully an answer for this problem.

The last issue for Ebay is the 500 pound gorilla in the room - Google.   From my point of view, Ebay has been spending the last 6-12 months developing strategy to cope with Google`s increasing intrusion into Ebay`s turf.  Blogs, wikis, reviews, guides, etc - all anti-Google tactics.   Ebay`s partnership with Yahoo - Google.   Google has now introduced a payment system to compete with PayPal, and has introduced a commerce site of sorts with Google Base.

Ebay has never faced any real competion - several companies have tried to compete - Yahoo, Overstock.com, etc, but they have not succeeded.  Google may prove to be the much needed competition that Ebay needs.

So, the long answer to your question is - the future is much more cloudy for Ebay now than it has been in the past.

-Kevin

 

 

 

 

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Sleep is for the uninspired

http://www.inflatablemadnessdvd.com
http://www.buybackmadness.com

Kevin - That is very interesting. Thank you! I have only sold on eBay a few times, but I buy a lot. I have been burned a few times in the past couple of years - and I always check the sellers feedback before making a purchase. It`s a shame. I can see why some people refuse to buy there. Thankfully with me it was on small items that were less than $15.

I would like to say i am an ebay specialist. In 2003 I was 19 years old and my friend introduced me to ebay. I fell in love and we found a couple wholesalers to sell us cutlery and fantasy knives. Our business was thriving, we sold over 10,000 a month the first month. After about 7 months of that everyone started selling knives and not knowing enough about marketing, budgeting, business in general we just gave up and figured that if we couldnt import directly not to even try to compete on ebay. There is no easy way of finding great suppliers and I thank god its like that considering if it was easy to find suppliers your competition could find your product and compete with you once again. I am now selling on ebay once again in a couple different catg. but all my suppliers came from calling companies up and researching. If you find a particular product unless its being imported from china, which alot of products are just call the manufacture and ask them, how to get ahold of there product in smaller quantities from a wholesaler. They should be able to help you out considering they want there products to sell.