1990's eBay

[valuestore]

Amazon was just starting out, little brother to eBay. Auctions format dominated the landscape, fixed price was Amazon. eBay was exciting, open a bid at a penny, set your limit to $10. Press send, within seconds auto out bid $10.01. you count your coins and try again for $12.02 or bow out like poker. It was a different eBay, miss it. 

[valuestore]

Rogaine, I was battling with them day one of their company creation. I lost big time, been here long time. 

[mam98031]

When buyers were more patience, auctions were lots of fun.  Ebay doesn't sell anything on the site, nor do they compete with their sellers like they do on Amazon, which is a good thing.

It is buyers that decided they didn't want auctions as much anymore.  Around 2014 or so buyers started liking to get their stuff faster.  They also wanted to shop, find what they want, purchase it, pay for it and get it shipped as quickly as possible.  Ebay didn't change, buyers did.

Since that time there has only been a handful of categories that still have auctions successfully.  Sadly now auctions are only about 15-18% of Ebays active listings.

Much has changed over time.   Some good things and some not so much.

[chapeau-noir]

I actually think online auctions were a specific site fad that died an inevitable death as C2C online sales evolved. The excitement had more to do with the novelty than any real inherent value. I understand that excitement, I was caught up in it myself, but also that in most cases it was artificial. Many auctions are useless and no more than an annoyance, even at 15-18% volume, because there is no real reason for most of them.

It would be nice if an auction site evolved for items that really DID merit auctions (I guess that's Hibid?), but that would lead to all kinds of controversy with complaints that that tatty Nike shirt or mass market title DOES merit an auction because of [no real reason at all]. So I guess we have what we have - easier shopping for most stuff and at least periodic very exciting auctions, with the rest just being whatever.

[johnrj1226]

Here is a song about those days >>>>>>  

Peter & Gordon - Yesterday (1965) - YouTube

[chevymontecarlo88]

Those days were a lot of fun, but fraud was out of control in many categories. Some of the protections we have today were not in place in the beginning. 

[tex-421]

OK, I'll 'fess up to it, I landed a job at eBay in 2004 in San Jose (doing what shall remain a mystery), the break room was always loaded with fresh apples, peaches, plums, and other fruit, there was fresh Starbucks flowing like a river and the fridge filled with V8 juice and bottles of Calistoga water.  eBay's motto was "people are basically good".  Ah the air was soooo fresh back then.

[bbcardzman]

THAT was really helpful. Nothing else to do today??

[sreu3058]

‘OK, I'll 'fess up to it, I landed a job at eBay in 2004 in San Jose (doing what shall remain a mystery), the break room was always loaded with fresh apples, peaches, plums, and other fruit, there was fresh Starbucks flowing like a river and the fridge filled with V8 juice and bottles of Calistoga water.  eBay's motto was "people are basically good".  Ah the air was soooo fresh back then.’

I was an Account Executive (not for eBay!) in the Bay Area during these years- all the offices had food- excellent eats- business was flush, intelligent.  Those were the days, the good old days.

[tarotfindsandmore]

Amen.  Some of the craziest stuff I ever saw was on this platform during the final years of the 20th century.  It seemed to sneak in kind of slowly in the late 90s and then just go bananas around 2000-2002.  People selling organs, dirty knickers, rights to name their children, and endless supply of counterfeit everything...and then never shipping. It was the wildest of wild wests, but it was a lot of fun.

I'm not sure I miss it.  I do kind of miss the really big "wins" where you'd list a thing for fifty bucks and it would sell for thousands, but I don't miss the stress that came with that (ref. post on biggest fail/loss).  I find it comforting to know what I will get for a thing if I'm willing to sit tight.  I also appreciate not being liable for other people's emotional states and impulsive bad choices.  I remember watching auctions thinking, "STOP! STOP! STOP!" when people were clearly losing their marbles in a bidding war, and then feeling guilty when it came time to send an invoice because they hadn't.

[mam98031]

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@tex-421 wrote:

OK, I'll 'fess up to it, I landed a job at eBay in 2004 in San Jose (doing what shall remain a mystery), the break room was always loaded with fresh apples, peaches, plums, and other fruit, there was fresh Starbucks flowing like a river and the fridge filled with V8 juice and bottles of Calistoga water.  eBay's motto was "people are basically good".  Ah the air was soooo fresh back then.

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They still use that saying as far as I know.

[tex-421]

eBay was founded in 1995 on the simple premise that people are basically good — and fueled by the belief that commerce should be accessible to all. With this in mind, we’ve built a model of universal, inclusive entrepreneurship — where anyone, anywhere in the world can sell, buy and succeed online.

https://www.ebayinc.com/company/our-purpose-in-action/

[chapeau-noir]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@tex-421 wrote:

OK, I'll 'fess up to it, I landed a job at eBay in 2004 in San Jose (doing what shall remain a mystery), the break room was always loaded with fresh apples, peaches, plums, and other fruit, there was fresh Starbucks flowing like a river and the fridge filled with V8 juice and bottles of Calistoga water.  eBay's motto was "people are basically good".  Ah the air was soooo fresh back then.

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They still use that saying as far as I know.

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Kind of like Google's "Don't be Evil" - only I think people are actually basically good. Google I'll reserve judgment on lol.

[mam98031]

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@tex-421 wrote:

eBay was founded in 1995 on the simple premise that people are basically good — and fueled by the belief that commerce should be accessible to all. With this in mind, we’ve built a model of universal, inclusive entrepreneurship — where anyone, anywhere in the world can sell, buy and succeed online.

https://www.ebayinc.com/company/our-purpose-in-action/

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IDK why this post, but OK.  What I said is actually correct.  IDK if you have heard it recently or in the past years, but I have.  It isn't a big deal.

I know when Ebay was founded.  I've been here since 1999 and have been an active, regular seller since that time.  24/7/365

https://www.ebayinc.com/company/human-rights-policy-statement/#:~:text=eBay%20was%20founded%20on%20t....

[iamalwaysright]

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@tex-421 wrote:

OK, I'll 'fess up to it, I landed a job at eBay in 2004 in San Jose (doing what shall remain a mystery), the break room was always loaded with fresh apples, peaches, plums, and other fruit, there was fresh Starbucks flowing like a river and the fridge filled with V8 juice and bottles of Calistoga water.  eBay's motto was "people are basically good".  Ah the air was soooo fresh back then.

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I recall seeing you in that break room a few times back then. 

If you come and see it here now, it's much different. 😀

[carlmarxx]

Buyer or seller fraud  ?  Considering  FBI  reports    back  then  through the years  to current  ,Have  buyer fraud  surpassed seller Fraud .  Also  the retail  Lost & theft prevention site   report numbers  have    buyer fraud   out paced  seller merchant  fraud  and employee theft ..   In the last couple  years  Both online/Named branded  merchant retail's  have  made major chances  on their return  policy's   do to buyer  return   abuse  theft and fraud.