But in an attempt to give users a more consistent and professional
experience—professional as in free shipping, 24-hour customer service
and instant purchases—is eBay abandoning everything that made it work,
everything that made it the world’s largest and best garage sale? Sure, garage sales might be more efficient if they had self-checkout
and kiosks that listed all of the merchandise and networked POS units
ringing up orders while they update your POS card, but that’s not
likely what you went to a garage sale for.
This comment is not to suggest that free shipping and 24-hour customer service are not good services, but that understanding why customers come to you is much more important. If eBay becomes just like Amazon, why would this be good news for eBay fans?
It's obvious to the point now, that someone has even written a book about it. Analysts are even finally catching on to the real issues behind this:
Oct 12, 2007: $39.90 per share
Feb 23, 2009: $11.53 per share
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Update: Four days later, eBay shares hit their lowest price in seven years.
But now, six months hence, the stock price is on the way back up, and last I looked was over 20. Couldn't all this just be normal, economy-related cycles?
Posted by: Kathy Hunt | August 10, 2009 at 08:54 AM