Posted at January 27, 2006, 12:53 pm:
EBay can do almost anything to us because we have no other viable alternative high-traffic marketplace online. I have been thinking for a long time how online auctions should be run. Forgive me my musings, as I may be totally off base -- but for one thing -- we, the customers, must fight monopolies. Do not allow them to raise fees any time they please. Do not allow PayPal to freeze our accounts whenever they have some minor excuse to do it. (And in fact, they love doing it.)
What these corporate giants are failing to grasp is just one simple precept: Treat Customers with Respect and Dignity. EBay/PayPal consortium is clueless about this fundamental concept.
Customers vote with their wallets. I have voted with my wallet by stopping to use eBay altogether -- but the thing is -- online bazaars, marketplace and communities are a WONDERFUL thing. If only a venue was more amenable and less antagonistic then eBay. Pierre Omidyar started eBay with great visions and noble goals -- but now most of his ideas are out-the-window. EBay is now a corporate multi-billion dollar giant, driven by giant Wall Street corporate investors. Pierre is a billionaire sipping Dom Perignon somewhere in Paris. He is all set.
And I am still sitting here with this utopian - albeit hopeful - vision that things could be changed. Could somebody please create a viable alternative to eBay! And so several months ago, I embarked upon a crazy project. I decided that I wanted to fight eBay (even though it is somewhat akin to David and Goliath encounter). I hired a tiny team of wonderful developers and with my considerable software management experience, some time to burn, and good amount of seed investment, jumped into a new auction site development. Now I would really love to tell me what you think.
I do hope this is not considered a shameless self-promotion, but a plea for some feedback from all you good ladies and gentlemen who are all fed up with eBay/PayPal monopoly.... What do you think ?Mark J.
Chief Guardian & Custodian of
www.GreatCOW.com
Original of the message was taken from http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/
Replies:I went there the other day, too.
What are your selling propositions to attract buyers and sellers away ...
I would love to see another option to eBay and PayPal.
jkccharming, Reed, briteyes - This is fantastic! I appreciate your res...
To answer one of my own questions, I believe without a 7 figure budget...
Marcus;
I very seldom post on any forums but after seeing your au...
Cheryl, I thank you so much for your kind words! I will definitely sta...
Mark, your concept sounds interesting.
Reed, our payment system and auction bidding system are completely int...
Mark, maybe you mentioned your level of experience with auctions but ...
Yes indeed.
Chuck,
Thanks for your feedback.
Marcus,
I found this thread via Google, and it's VERY interesting...
Here's a list of alternatives :
Good and bad
http://www.
Your false premise that 'monopolies are bad' invalidates anything you ...
Mark,
I'm not a fan of the way ebay does business either, and I'...
I have to agree with Peter's views on "monopolies".
Gentlemen,
I thank you so much for your comments.
Marcus, your challenge is not getting a good site up and running.
Once again, thank you for your very thoughtful observation, Hank.
Don't forget about free publicity.
Marcus, I am not sure where you got your information from, but it is f...
Hank, first of all let me tell you that I have nothing but highest res...
If you want another auction site, why not go to Yahoo Auctions? They a...
Yes, Yahoo is free but are prices strong? Also, who wants to advertis...
Marcus, I will say this.
I wonder why we have to challenge ebay, let them do their business and...
What I think you need is a "hook.
Open your own webstore.
Tradguy makes total sense.
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