Was eBay a Fad?

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/06/was-ebay-a-fad/

by breily • 18 years ago

7 11 18 years ago

britannica.com

bprater• 18 years ago

With the economy slumping, I wouldn't be surprised to see a resurgance at Ebay.

andreyf2• 18 years ago

Or at a startup that's on its way to replace eBay :)

dmix• 18 years ago

This is in an industry of scale.

For that very fact alone starting a company in this area would be a really bad idea. It's not even on the decline yet let alone in a weak position.

andreyf2• 18 years ago

No. eBay was a good idea at the time executed without enough mobility.

Auctions are losing a ton of share, and fixed price has been gaining pretty steadily.

This might be because fixed price distributors have gotten smarter at setting prices, not because fixed price is inherently better than auctions.

babul• 18 years ago

Wasn't this article here last week? (albeit on another url)

bouncingsoul• 18 years ago

Yes: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=207995

jgamman• 18 years ago

britannica has the chutzpah to comment on anything to do with the web?

fbailey• 18 years ago

I'm not sure about Brittannica, but I would say that Nicholas Carr has earned the right to comment on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Carr

dant• 18 years ago

It doesn't really say that ebay are doing less auctions than before, just that fixed price are gaining share. I doubt auctions will die off completely.

antidaily• 18 years ago

You just can't find some of the stuff on eBay elsewhere, which makes me think it'll stick around. Also, they have http://www.express.ebay.com/ now.

patrickg-zill• 18 years ago

No, I think eBay shot themselves in the foot by acting arrogant towards both sellers and buyers.

Was eBay a Fad?

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