It seems from our end of the World that the Australian governmental agency ruled in favor of it's citizens and merchants. I understand eBay's position in wanting to make PayPal the only payment service available on eBay but I do not think the plan will work as long as eBay charges final value fees on listings.  In an article I wrote late in 2007 I made the proposal that eBay could look at a fee free based service with a PayPal only option for payment processing. 

Do I really think would ever happen?  No, but the days of double & triple dipping at eBay with the pre-sale charges, post sale charges (final value fee) and payment processing charges seem to be causing the selling public to re-evaluate the venue. 

Free listing services like CraigsList and now Walmart's free classifieds will take an ever increasing portion of eBay's market share.  Would a Free eBay make more sense to consumers if PayPal were the only option?

We may never know....

It seems to make more sense to determine where the best suppliers are located and then go from there. Location could have something to do with motivation, supply, labor pool etc... I doubt it has anything to do with online sales success. Online, your location is your presentation, your website, your eBay store front. 

The only real advantage to physical location in my book is if your shipping from the exact center of the USA for flat rate domestic shipping calculations. 

Anyway, eBay released this information a week or so ago, and I never got around to writing about it. 

Hurrah for these markets - you are the most industrious eBay sellers of all.  I think it says more about you than it does your city. But hey, if your town is on the list... Be proud anyway!

eBay Inc. Reveals the 10 U.S. Markets Selling the Most on eBay

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is known for more than just its hot beaches: It’s also one of the hottest locations for Americans selling goods on eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY). The fun-in-the-sun vacation destination is a top-10 selling market¹ for the online retailer, with residents there generating over $630 million in gross merchandise volume (GMV) or sales last year, according to a study of eBay marketplace activity across the United States.

Busy eBay sellers in Los Angeles; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Dallas; Orange County, California; Washington, D.C.; Houston; Nassau–Suffolk, New York; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, helped their markets become the top-10 eBay selling markets in the country, with Los Angeles leading the charge. In total, sellers in these 10 markets generated over $7 billion in GMV in 2007, accounting for 55 percent of all sales by U.S.-based eBay sellers.

“eBay is great for the economy because it gives sellers a platform for pursuing entrepreneurialism on a global scale, with nearly 1.2 million individuals selling on eBay in the top 10 markets alone last year,” says Marsha Collier, eBay selling expert and author of the book “eBay for Dummies.” “Additionally, a recent eBay/Nielsen survey² discovered that the average U.S. household has 52 unused items around the house originally worth $3,100, meaning almost everyone can find existing unused items they can sell to generate additional income. When the going gets tough, the tough sell on eBay!”

According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of eBay³, Americans are cutting back on spending in general, most notably in these categories: apparel (52 percent); consumer electronics and appliances (46 percent); automobiles and automotive care (45 percent); and furniture and home decor (38 percent), all of which map back to the best-selling categories for entrepreneurs in eBay’s top-10 selling markets. These results speak to the profound impact eBay sellers can have on Americans’ wallets during these challenging economic times. In fact 42 percent of U.S. adults are currently turning to sites like eBay to save money on purchases.

“Our research has shown that the local business climate is one key factor in fostering entrepreneurs,” says Todd Stottlemyer, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, America’s leading small-business association. “eBay clearly offers everyone additional opportunities to start, grow and maintain a business, whether they’re looking to market globally or simply to earn additional income in the current economic climate.”

Here is a snapshot of the top-10 eBay selling markets last year by rank:

1. Los Angeles–Long Beach, California – 196,089 Los Angeles residents sold 24,051,645 items for a total of $1,396,037,518. Best-selling categories for Los Angeles sellers were cell phones and their accessories as well as clothing and accessories. Los Angeles sellers were also the most charitable eBay sellers last year, donating the most of any city via eBay Giving Works, eBay's program that helps people buy and sell for a cause, turning e-commerce into a force for good.

2. New York – 158,859 New York City residents sold 12,621,651 items for a total of $1,045,503,913. Best-selling categories for New York sellers were jewelry, gems, watches and clothing and accessories.

3. Chicago – 172,972 Chicago residents sold 10,229,844 items for a total of $908,708,440. Best-selling categories for Chicago sellers included toys and sports memorabilia.

4. Philadelphia – 120,900 Philadelphia residents sold 7,069,212 items for a total of $584,383,915. Best-selling categories for Philadelphia sellers included collectibles and toys.

5. Dallas – 85,484 Dallas residents sold 5,003,292 items for a total of $754,493,210. Best-selling categories for Dallas sellers included jewelry, gems and watches, and clothing and accessories. Dallas sellers also made more money on sales of cars and trucks than did sellers in any other top-10 U.S. seller market.

6. Orange County, California – 75,486 Orange County residents sold 6,945,490 items for a total of $636,654,084. Best-selling categories for Orange County sellers were auto parts and cell phones and accessories.

7. Washington, D.C. – 112,462 D.C. residents sold 5,024,888 items for a total of $393,720,726. Best-selling categories for D.C. sellers included books and toys.

8. Houston – 76,450 Houston residents sold 4,297,389 items for a total of $528,872,858. Best-selling categories for Houston sellers included health and beauty and collectibles.

9. Nassau–Suffolk, New York – 70,714 Nassau–Suffolk residents sold 5,396,880 for a total of $400,253,200. Sports memorabilia and health and beauty were best-selling categories here.

10. Fort Lauderdale, Florida – 39,623 Fort Lauderdale residents sold 2,838,954 items for a total of $631,845,063. Best-selling categories for Fort Lauderdale sellers included home furnishings and auto parts.

The eBay survey by Harris Interactive also found that one in 10 U.S. adults (11 percent) is currently selling personal or household items to generate extra cash, with the majority (59 percent) doing so via online sales or auction sites like eBay. Additionally, 30 percent of all adults say they are likely⁴ to sell their personal or household items over the next three months to earn extra cash.

Detailed information about sales in each of the top 10 markets is available on request⁵.

About eBay

Founded in 1995, eBay Inc. connects hundreds of millions of people around the world every day, empowering them to explore new opportunities and innovate together. eBay Inc. does this by providing the Internet platforms of choice for global commerce, payments and communications. Since its inception, eBay Inc. has expanded to include some of the strongest brands in the world, including eBay, PayPal, Skype, StubHub, Shopping.com, and others. eBay Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.

¹ The term “market,” as used throughout this release, refers to Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

² The survey was conducted online by Nielsen Customized Research for eBay and included the following: a nationally representative survey among online population in the U.S. of 1,000 randomly selected household decision makers; a nationally representative survey among 1,000 randomly selected eBay members. The respondents were surveyed between March 7 and March 20, 2007. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent at 95 percent confidence level.

³ The Current Economic Climate survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of eBay between April 7 and April 9, 2008, among 2,363 U.S. adults ages 18 plus, of whom 215 are currently selling personal or household items to earn extra income as a result of the current economic climate. This online survey is not based on a probability sample, and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Dariana Lau or Aziza Johnson.

⁴ The percentage cited refers to a net of the percentage of respondents who selected "somewhat likely," "likely" and "very likely."

⁵ To identify the top-10 eBay selling markets in the United States, the survey examined eBay seller transactions between the period of January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2007. The top 10 markets were then determined using a weighted measure that took into account the number of sellers, quantity of items sold and amount of sales generated within each market.

As sellers we are left to react to the changes - wouldn't it be nice to have an idea about the master plan?

I don't think eBay will be revealing the complete master plan any time soon...

Either because they do not have one (a possibility proffered in multiple other blogs and chat rooms) or, more than likely, eBay knows each change brings with it a cloud of worry and concern from the users of the site.  If they were to set out the overall plan all at once, it would be met with so much resistance from the community the transition would become almost impossible. 

Once again we are left to speculate - and with speculation comes opportunity. 

Opportunities to dream, opportunities to succeed...

An opportunity to think about what could be...

Lets take a look at what eBay has to work with...

1. eBay has traffic - Internet Traffic - In comparison, the local super mall in your community would be envious of the numbers of people "walking" through the eBay doors each and every day.
2. eBay has infrastructure -Computing Power like no other single website in the world, eBay processes more calls to it's API than any other site or service except possibly one - Google.
3. PayPal - the king of payment processing now accepted as the gold standard of reliability by buyers all over the world (a view not necessarily held by all sellers).
4. eCommerce - With eBay Stores, eBay Express and eBay Prostores - You would think eBay would have enough resources at their disposal to develop a full eCommerce channel that works for merchants.
5. Trust - eBay, even with certain lapses in public relations has developed a history and a feeling of overall trust for the name.  Some of the information they release themselves erodes that trust to a degree but buyers are more likely to trust the site today than in the beginning.

Speculation - What is eBay's new focus and direction?

The past is an open book... eBay as created was a place of equal access and opportunity. Yet eBay has grown into what Pierre Omidyar intended the site to fight against - Big Business. 

So what is the future of eBay? 

All indicators seem to point towards a more business like or big business style retail like website.

This is not speculation, eBay has clearly stated in no uncertain terms that the site will evolve into a more retail like experience and eBay will not be the same place in 2009 as it was in 2008.  The Buy.com deal brings with it an end of any uncertainty of what it eBay wants to do with the site.  I think we can all safely assume that the management does have a plan, even if they are not real communicative about what the plan is...

Does this new focus at eBay, eliminate opportunity for small business on eBay?

I don't believe so, not if small business wants to accept the fact that they will have to adapt and act more like a small business.  eBay needs small business to raise the bar, to treat customer service as only small business can. Big business is not the king of customer service and eBay knows that. But there are to many sellers on eBay who treat the business of selling as if it were a weekend garage sale activity. 

eBay's message - bring up your business skills or move on, this is not a part time sellers venue any longer.

What will make all of this change easier for small business to swallow?  What is it that eBay does not provide, which if they did would make almost any sacrifice on the core site worthwhile for merchants of all sizes?

eBay should take a step back, realize what the entire Internet merchandising world is looking for...

Real business is attracted to eBay for only one reason - traffic. 

In a nutshell eBay is a traffic machine, a fire hose of consumers.  All of the other stuff is considered as a barrier to entry, the feedback system, the complicated fee structure, fraud etc...

eBay knows what the main draw card is for bringing merchants to the venue and they have historically leveraged the traffic asset to raise fees. Now eBay is looking at lowering listing fees or eliminating them altogether.  eBay has determined every seller in Australia must use PayPal, they seem to be moving towards a payment processing business model versus a fee for listing model.

PayPal is now the cash cow of eBay and while a preponderance of the transactions completed on eBay are processed via PayPal, the eBay site itself is not growing as it once was. If PayPal is to see continued growth they must devise a way to make PayPal the predominant payment processor on sites outside of eBay.

Up until now, eBay has protected it's fee structure mainly by not allowing any direct outside links to eCommerce platforms from the site.

This self protection strategy was essential in the early days and it helped eBay become what it is today.  But this adherence to protecting listing and final value fees by limiting outside linking was developed prior to owning PayPal. 

The world is now very comfortable with using PayPal, but there are competitors out there like Google check out which can and will increasingly take bites out of PayPal's market share unless eBay does something to drive traffic to external sites using PayPal.

This is what merchants want, they simply want to get traffic to their own sites from eBay.

Why Not?

• Allow merchants to link to off eBay eCommerce sites which offer PayPal?
• Insist these merchants offer consistent levels of merchandise on the eBay site but allow them to send traffic to their own site in return.  A Win Win situation.
• Covert eBay into a massive feeder of consumer driven traffic to the sites who agree to offer PayPal as a primary payment processor.
• Dominate the payment processing in the world of eCommerce

PayPal is the money engine now - eBay is losing that game, why not simply use the eBay site as a feeder for PayPal payment processing on sites all over the world?  No restrictions, No final value fee on off eBay sites, No requirement to use a poor ProStores product, just confirmation the merchant site checkout offers PayPal. 

Consumers are comfortable with PayPal, and the merchants want eBay traffic. PayPal wants to control the world of payment processing... Seems like a simple exchange to me...

What do you think?

Recently numerous media outlets and blogs have detailed the legal developments between these two very popular and highly ranked marketplaces. 

While each marketplace has its loyal followers and vehement detractors, neither one will ultimately be monetarily damaged by the law suit recently sensationalized in the press.  

Damages to reputation are another matter altogether...

First, let me say that I personally use both of these websites, eBay and Craigslist. I use them each for different purposes as both a buyer and a seller online. I am not an investor in either but I have spent both time and money on both which in my mind allows me to speculate and pontificate on this feud.

As a user of each website I have my own opinions of both. Each has good points and both have had well documented problems.

• eBay's difficulties and odd occurrences seem to get reported more readily, but in my mind, Craigslist can be a much more dangerous place to shop and sell.
• Craigslist has the very unique position of being a mostly free service for its users and this unique proposition brings out the very worst types of sellers. The prevalence of porn and other adult activity on Craigslist is a real turn off for the average user. While others flock to the site for just this reason.
• eBay is a more complicated and much more expensive service to use, which in the end simply provides opportunity for more sophisticated fraudsters.
• eBay has and is trying very hard to change this impression and to remove the unscrupulous sellers from the site.
• I have seen no effort on Craigslist to do the same.
• Both sites are the home base of millions of honest hard working sellers. eBay has nurtured the development of its users in a more organized fashion but Craigslist sellers are just as passionate.

(Warning - Speculative Content)

In the most recent fiasco, which started when a Craigslist investor sold his stake in the company to eBay for a reported $250 Million... Neither side has come out ahead. It seems obvious, from eBay's not so wise leaking of the recent lawsuit, that eBay bought a piece of Craigslist with the full intention of building a more stylish replacement "free" service (KijiJi) with intelligence learned at the boardroom table of Craigslist.

eBay's Master Plan

My supposition (and this is taken from news reports, press releases, and my study of the actual lawsuit) is...

eBay planned on slowly making changes to Craigslist (from within its own boardroom) and to learn how Craigslist works. Then slowly remove what works from Craigslist to make the Kijiji offering more attractive to the public in the process. 

Once Kijiji had taken hold, and with the changes put in motion by the Craigslist board, (prompted by eBay's planted member at Craigslist) had reduced the overall value of Craigslist... eBay would then offer to buy out the remaining shareholders of Craigslist.

When this small step in the overall master plan had succeeded (it never did) and Craigslist was then owned completely by eBay...(see Meg Whitman's attempted offer to buy the entire company... via email), eBay would then either merge Craigslist into Kijiji or simply shut it down.

Furthermore, I speculate that soon after this had been accomplished, eBay would then let Kijiji slowly die off with little or no support. Ultimately removing free nationwide Internet classifieds from the competitive landscape. - Big Win in ebay's plan for World Domination

(Its OK we all have moments of magnanimous self indulgence, eBay just lets these moments go too far sometimes).

Craigslist - Too Smart

Mr. Newmark and Mr. Buckmaster at Craigslist saw all of this coming, maybe not from the very first day (see Wall Street Journal article below) but very soon after eBay sent their representative down to the Craigslist boardroom. You can bet Meg Whitman never stepped foot in the Craigslist offices...

In any case, these two executives (One the founder of Craigslist) took steps to protect themselves and the company from what was sure to be a rocky road ahead. From the information I have read in the publicly released law suit, it was almost as if Buckmaster had a crystal ball at his disposal.

Craigslist never actually courted eBay as an investor. The shares eBay purchased were at the time over valued and I personally do not think anyone else but eBay would have purchased them at that price - Including Newmark and Buckmaster.  When eBay bought the shares from a third party, it seems Newmark and Buckmaster evaluated the true intentions of eBay quite accurately.

When Meg Whitman later sent the now infamous email, ( "We would welcome the opportunity to acquire the remainder of [Craigslist] we do not already own, whenever you [and Newmark] feel it would be appropriate," ) offering to buy out the rest of the stockholders, the true intent had long been revealed within the Boardroom of Craigslist.

eBay Outwitted

• eBay essentially spent $250 Million for a stake in a company they ultimately will not control.
• eBay spent untold amounts of money developing a competitor (Kijiji) to Craigslist, the company they had invested in.
• eBay used intelligence gained from their investment in Craigslist to develop Kijiji and yet Kijiji has a minuscule user base with very few listings on the site.
• My supposition - eBay never really expected or wanted Kijiji to succeed, they only proposed to the Craigslist board that Kijiji would succeed.

Craigslist boardmembers and the public seem to have been too smart - neither bought into Kijiji as anything but what it was. eBay seems to have all but given up on Kijiji now that prospects of controlling Craigslist have dwindled.

From TechCrunch

Kijiji’s visitor stats are still less than 10 percent of the 26.7 million people in the U.S. who went to Craigslist in January, but comScore puts Kijiji as the sixth most visited classifieds site in the U.S. (after Craigslist, sites owned by Dominion Enterprises like Homes.com, AutoTrader, Cars.com, and Apartments.com). Kijiji is ahead of classifieds sites like Oodle (No. 9, with 1.3 million U.S. visitors in January) and Vast (No. 20, with 444,000).

What Now?

eBay is not happy that the master plan failed. 

Therefore - Not only do they file suit against the company they ultimately wanted to squeeze into oblivion (because they wouldn't roll over and play dead in the process), but they then decide to make this law suit public.

It is confusing to think someone at eBay or from outside, advised eBay that it would be a good idea to air this entire fiasco to the public. What purpose do they have to release this information?

Does eBay really want to look this bad in the eyes of investors and users alike? Or, does John Donahoe want Meg Whitman to look this bad?

I see no real reason for eBay to do this, other than the supposition above or simply in spite for Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster. The suit will continue, and one can never tell how these things will play out... But if I were the CEO of eBay, I think I would have written off that $250 Million as a bad investment by his predecessor, sell the stake to Yahoo and move on.

There is nothing to be gained here, Craigslist is stronger than the day eBay bought in with the intent of shutting it down or limiting its growth. Now eBay has been legally and artfully placed in a corner which will not allow them to change these circumstances. (results of the suit not yet in... but does anyone expect eBay will win?)

Henry Blodget on the Silicon Alley Insider website last month estimated that Craigslist has $80 million in annual revenue and $25 million in operating profit. But Craigslist is run like a nonprofit, he notes.

To get a look at Craigslist's true value, one would have to make certain assumptions about its earnings power, which leads Blodget to conclude that it is a business with the potential to $750 million in revenue and $500 million of operating profit, giving it a valuation of $5 billion

eBay can not win every battle, and this one is not worth making public - too late for that - but why keep the pot bubbling? What else will come out in the trial to make eBay wish they had never heard of Craigslist?

What other gems did Meg Whitman send out in email?

References: The unique and sorrid details of this fiasco have been made public in many other publications...

The Start of the Craigslist/eBay not so symbiotic relationship is available here:

Wall Street Journal - eBay Buys Stake in Craigslist

And now it has boiled down to this...

Craigslist CEO: eBay lawsuit reeks of hypocrisy

By Jacqui Cheng | Published: May 05, 2008 - 09:29PM CT

UPDATE: 05/14/2008

Craigslist Counter Suit Filed:

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/63003.html?welcome=1210821791

We have listed this boat twice on eBay.com and now have it running on OnlineAuction.com

2003 18ft Renegade Nomad Flats Boat - No Reserve Auction

For Sale on OnlineAuction.com or in Person. This boat is located in Largo, Florida. But it is a Michigan boat with most of its running time in Fresh Water! The boat is in great shape with two brand new batteries and everything regularly serviced - ready to fish!

• 115 H.P. ELPT4S Mercury 4 Stroke Outboard Motor
• 260 Hrs on Engine
• Owens & Sons 2004 Aluminum Slide On Trailer (See Photos)
• Boat is from Michigan with mostly Fresh Water Use
• Minn Kota 24V 65lb Thrust Trolling Motor
• Stainless 3 Blade Propeller (See Photos - Small Nicks)
• Bimini Top
• Removable Bow Cushions

This Renegade outboard center console has a fiberglass hull, is 17.58 feet long and 80 inches wide at the widest point. The boat weighs approximately 900 pounds with an empty fuel tank and without any gear or passengers

• VFlex Steering
• Console Rod Holders
• Comfortable Helm Seat
• Lowrance LS-240 Fish Finder
• Dual Batteries - Both Brand New - March 2008

Great flats boat with alot of class- 4-ss prop-trim tabs-fish boxes and live wells-dual battery set up with switch-poling platform-pop up cleats-deluxe gauges-Lowrance x 67 at helm-Motor Guide trolling motor-boat shows like new-new Aluminum Slide On trailer

Similar Renegade Nomads have sold recently for up to $21,000.00
Additional Photos Available Here: Renegade Nomad

Recently I have advised my readers here at the TAJournal that blogging about the items you sell is a great idea to drive traffic to your listings, no matter where you post them.  One reader mentioned that I seem to not be practicing what I preach.  This is true to some extent, but mostly because I do not want to load up the Trading Assistant Journal with post after post of items I have for sale.  

I have posted here with items we have listed for sale in the past (See: Diamond Ring)

From the diamond ring listing I have unscientifically determined this strategy works - try blogging for your listings and see if it helps boost sales and awareness of your brand.