I must admit that this past holiday season was a true milestone for me personally. I never once set foot within a major shopping mall or even a Walmart this past Holiday season. The fact is that I purchased every single holiday gift either online through Amazon.com, Buy.com or eBay.
While that may not be a surprise for those of you tech and Internet savvy readers... but I would wager that the major retailers in America are cringing at the reality of those words. America is now shopping On-Line more extensively and if you are paying millions of dollars per month for retail space in crowded malls, you're probably not liking this new version of retail reality.
As eBay sellers we are strongly positioned to take advantage of this new and exciting (for us) online retail acceptance. eBay itself is trying earnestly to morph into a destination which makes the traditional American mall type of shopper comfortable enough to forgo the entire crowded holiday mall shopping experience.... Amazon.com has already seemingly made that transition.
eBay is strongly looking at what Amazon.com does to provide buyers with an online purchasing experience that makes them comfortable and brings them back time after time. If eBay is at least somewhat successful in modifying the eBay shopping experience - in a good way - to compete with Amazon.com, we all will be more successful eBay sellers.
eBay cannot compete with Amazon.com or many other eCommerce retailers because of higher than average shipping costs for sellers resulting in higher than average shipping charges to consumers. This has been a thorn in the side of eBay for many years.
eBay has attempted to address this problem through enforcement of rules for sellers concerning shipping along with making the shipping charges on each item for sale on eBay more visible to consumers. This second innovation has greatly reduced sales in our opinion. Sellers can not survive if they charge less than costs for shipping and eBay seems to be encouraging sellers to do just that. There has to be a better solution...
We suggest looking at a new shipping model which could compete with Amazons shipping calculator and even with Amazon Prime (a yearly subscription based model which provides Amazon Prime members with free 2 day shipping) to provide a more stable and satisfactory experience for buyers on eBay.
Proposal - The eBay Powersellers Shipping Alliance
This is just a proposal you understand, but we think if a program were to be developed where sellers could join a shipping co-op through eBay and promise to ship within a specified amount of time in exchange for a reduction in shipping charges as arranged and negotiated by a large association of successful eBay sellers (Powersellers).
With a little work and negotiation, along with enforcement of strict guidelines concerning shipping on-time, eBay could compete favorably with Amazon.com and Amazon Prime on many levels.
This program is not currently available to eBay sellers, but I dare say that if it were made available this program would be valuable to sellers, buyers and eBay alike. It's amazing how much negotiation power is available when you combine all of the Powersellers on eBay - Just look at what Amazon has done and know that with their volume that they pay significantly less to ship each package than any individual eBay seller does, no matter the volume of that seller.
Shipping costs are a major concern for eBay and all eBay sellers. We must find ways to lower our cost to the consumer for shipping if we are to compete in 2008. This is just one idea which could solve part of the buyers perceived shipping friction found on eBay.
Proposed shipping discounts aside...
If you’re not already selling product on Amazon.com, we strongly encourage you to look into this second channel for your eBay business.
Amazon’s North American third quarter sales in 2007 grew 42% compared to the third quarter of 2006 (and you can expect similar growth for this past holiday season). Amazon has over 78 million active customers that you could reach at no cost (there are no listing fees). As we have said before, it is imperative for the stability of any business to have more than one income stream. Relying completely upon eBay to bring in customers is less than wise.
Check out the minutes from Amazon's quarterly report included below to make your own judgments about selling your products through the Amazon Marketplace.
Scott Pooler - http://www.AllBusinessAuctions.com/blog & http://www.iBusinessLogic.com
Read the Amazon Quarterly Report Here: Continue Reading
