eBay

haute_again · ‎01-13-2017

An analyst proposes merging the online retail firms. One way to take on Amazon.com.

By

Emily Bary

Jan. 13, 2017 6:36 p.m. ET

What if eBay combined with Etsy in an attempt to take on Amazon.com?

Think of the possibilities: a company that helps you sell the stuff you found in your basement joining forces with a company selling homemade crafts that might one day wind up in your basement.

It just might work, says James Cakmak, an analyst at Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co.

It’s still growing on its own, but eBay might want to consider some outside help, as well, Cakmak wrote in a research note yesterday. One opportunity that could make sense: a merger with online crafts-marketplace Etsy.

With the PayPal side of the business spun off, eBay has had to focus more on its marketplace. The company has made some progress there, expanding its StubHub ticket-resale segment and increasing its overall “take rate” -- the portion of merchants’ sales that the company keeps for itself.

The combined company would have a “longer tail of goods,” Cakmak wrote, helping it to compete better with Amazon. “The core to Amazon’s philosophy is expanding selection.”

Amazon has its own crafting business, called Handmade, but Etsy’s selection is 100 times larger. “Any way to differentiate with Amazon is a win,” Cakmak wrote.

EBay could help grow Etsy’s overseas business and also promote some of its own items on the Etsy site, Cakmak suggested. He noted that both companies are looking into ways of using machine learning to improve search functions.

Etsy is the more efficient business, with a take rate of 13%, while eBay’s is just 8.5%. So Etsy’s know-how could help boost eBay’s profits.

Cakmak has a “Buy” rating on both companies.” He sees 36% upside for Etsy and 17% upside for eBay.

Big Picture: Online marketplaces eBay and Etsy could make for a nice marriage, one analyst says. A merger might help both companies better compete with Amazon.

http://www.barrons.com/articles/a-growth-plan-for-ebay-buy-etsy-1484350617

dhbookds · ‎01-13-2017

lol...........I'll bet Etsy sellers would REALLY applaud that one..........

ten_o_nine · ‎01-13-2017

A Growth plan for Etsy: Buy ebay.

cell.buyer · ‎01-13-2017

No one can beat Amazon, they have 70% of the richest families hooked on Prime, so give up the ghost on that idea.

What you have with this idea is a stock trader trying to pump up two dead stocks in the hope of some sort of merger.

gramophone-georg · ‎01-13-2017

Typical Corporate America garbage that'll just thrill all the sellers who went to Etsy so they could get away from eBay to death.

Chaos is NOT an "industry standard".

ekmadonna · ‎01-13-2017

I sell on betsy and there is nothing there accept outrageously priced items not worth 1/4 of the asking price and more chinese carp than ever before plugging up the few and limited catogories that you can put items in. i sold 65 items in my 1st year and a half over there with never more than 100 items listed and i have sold 4 in 12 months since. that sight is a ghost town now since they went to pay to play with google also. combining the 2 sites would have absolutly no benefit to anyone IMO.

auctionpet · ‎01-13-2017

@ekmadonna wrote:
I sell on betsy and there is nothing there accept outrageously priced items not worth 1/4 of the asking price and more chinese carp than ever before plugging up the few and limited catogories that you can put items in. i sold 65 items in my 1st year and a half over there with never more than 100 items listed and i have sold 4 in 12 months since. that sight is a ghost town now since they went to pay to play with google also. combining the 2 sites would have absolutly no benefit to anyone IMO.

I'm in agreement. Combining the two would only flood an already oversaturated marketplace, flooding it with more Chinese stuff and more competition when trying to sell any vintage. The last thing this place needs is more sellers!

rixstuff · ‎01-13-2017

I sell there and honestly alot of sellers over there USED TO BE sellers HERE but maybe got bounced back when Ebay was hard core about the feedback and disputes - those sellers wont come back here. And Etsy IS international already. I think it gets some buyers who want handcrafts and vintage and dont want to deal with all the cheap China or Walmart cwap. They are quite hard core over on Etsy about items being vintage. They also have direct pay in addition to paypal so you build up a payment account that gets deposited to your bank every week. There are far fewer disputes too. It is just different - better in some ways worse in others but it balances out. Some things sell better there somethings HAVE to be listed here because they dont fit the categories there (non-vintage and items you dont make yourself cant go over there but work fine over here). Oh and none of teh ads for other competing big businesses like here. But their board mods are a pill and will restrict your posting in a new york minute!

rixstuff · ‎01-13-2017

@ekmadonna wrote:
I sell on betsy and there is nothing there accept outrageously priced items not worth 1/4 of the asking price and more chinese carp than ever before plugging up the few and limited catogories that you can put items in. i sold 65 items in my 1st year and a half over there with never more than 100 items listed and i have sold 4 in 12 months since. that sight is a ghost town now since they went to pay to play with google also. combining the 2 sites would have absolutly no benefit to anyone IMO.

Sorry to hear that - I make about really good money with vintage and repaired (upcycled) jewelry over there.

ekmadonna · ‎01-13-2017

I agree, the limited catagories are a real handcuff, i mean if you have a antique decoy where am i going to put it? fine art or home and living? collectibles? it's a huge problem. i have filled out the surveys and I guess betsy does not see it as a problem. NEVER had a single complaint or problem buyer there, very different than here. very relaxed atmosphere to sell. and i must say I have purchased items here to flip there but NEVER could buy something there and flip it here. overall it's mid to lower level stuff with RUBY LANE asking prices. I do not even bother trying to look for deals there anymore.

ekmadonna · ‎01-13-2017

happy to hear that you do well in that specific niche, I am definatly not a big jewelry guy even though I was a toolsetter in the jewelry industry for 25 years. Jewelry is not my thing.

garmentvarmint2004 · ‎01-13-2017

kristen...

wELL FOR the sake of Esty sellers, I would hate to see the merger you are talking about. Ebay is i already badly managed. I can just imagine the kind of harm they would wind up doing to Esty.

sharingtheland · ‎01-13-2017

The beginning of the article says "take on Amazon." It ends , after a lot of nonsense, with "help both companies better compete with Amazon."

Approximate 2015 gross revenues:

ebay: 6.75 b

etsy: 275m

Amazon: 107b

Danger, Will Amazon Robinson !

Sherry

=^.^= =^.^=
( ) ( )
" " =^.^= " "

slippinjimmy · ‎01-13-2017

@sharingtheland wrote:
The beginning of the article says "take on Amazon." It ends , after a lot of nonsense, with "help both companies better compete with Amazon."

Approximate 2015 gross revenues:

ebay: 6.75 b
etsy: 275m
Amazon: 107b

Danger, Will Amazon Robinson !

That's a useless comparison, Amazon "revenues" include the value of everything sold on the site including sales by 3P sellers.

Revenue at eBay and Etsy is only the fees they collect on sales.

That said Amazon GMV is exploding but in spite of that eBay makes more profit in one year than Amazon has made in it's entire history.

The aims of investors are diametrically opposed to the needs of sellers.

victorjunkman55 · ‎01-13-2017

LOL With eBay stock around $20 and Amazon $600 a share, This will NEVER happen. Amazon Building new shipping centers in 6 states Including right here in Michigan, 1000's of American Jobs. while eBay ships their jobs overseas to save a buck. eBay may be located in the USA, but is NOT an American Company any more, if you don't believe me, Call 'em. Good luck to you.