Move to mobile killing eBay ??

[tonycea]

One has to wonder if the move to mobile devices is killing off eBay in general with the way things are going now days ??

Wondering what you all think the future is going to hold when the majority of users are on tiny screens ??

I still sit at home on a PC, but wonder how many of the general public still do, the people I talk to at the flea markets all tell me their computer is their phone, so I don't know how well that bodes for eBay down the road.

[thenobletuckylife]

I pegged you to be born in 1928...was my hint to Klassic correct?

Mr C

[tonycea]

No, I sell computer accessories and 95% of the customers tell me their computer is in their hand, they don't own PC's anymore.

[campesinoplastic2014]

You had good schools there   LOL

[thenobletuckylife]

Hi Camp,

My Father was an officer and pilot in the U S Army and was stationed in Germany during the Berlin Crisis. He never accepted a grade of A-.

Mr C

[campesinoplastic2014]

The "Cold War" shaped us all.

[godzilla_goose]

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@tonycea wrote:

Google could dump 10 times more traffic on eBay overnight if they wanted to, but they would have to build out eBay's terrible infrastructure and programming before that could be done, so they are one of the few companies that could do both.

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tonycea,

Again, I would have to respectfully disagree with you there.

Traffic does NOT necessarily translate into sales much like the number of watchers of a given eBay listing do not necessarily translate into an eBay sale.

You could have a bunch of people directed to your listings, BUT, what is the impetus that will actually make them spend their money and actually buy your products rather than someone else's?

[campesinoplastic2014]

I would expect him to know all about Karlshorst.

[sockmonkeydave]

@klassic*kids

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@klassic*kids wrote:

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@campesinoplastic2014 wrote:

I was 16 years of age when the Americans dropped the hydrogen bomb on Japan.

When the Berlin Wall came down, I was a senior citizen. The interim was the cold war. Our kids liked two shows... one was the exploits onf Ned Kelly, the other "The Jetsons".  The Jetsons is no longer a depiction of the future, but possibly the recent past. Things are changing fast. REALLY fast.

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Wow. My goodness.  Do you mind if I ask how old you are?

As a kid I absolutely loved the Jetsons.  Watched it all the time.  Now that there is drive-free cards I am sure flying ones will soon be.  Things are changing indeed, but I don't know if I am ready for these dramatic changes.

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The first flying car was in the late 40's early 50's, there is one still flying, last I heard.

They are not practical, like the car that is a boat also.

And everything looking like a mobile phone... not for me.

[thenobletuckylife]

If this was 2012 then I would say Google should absolutely purchase ebay.

Now that ebay has pretty much ruined it for everyone but their few pet sellers google would be WAY LATE to the game.

Once some of these Mega Stores begin falling away and no longer selling here on ebay or anywhere for that matter...ebay will be coming back on hands and knees trying to get past sellers to come back on board.

Ebay burnt their last load of fuel a few years ago when they opened the flood gates to the offshore sellers onto the US site. Problem is...they didn't realize that and now they are simply running on momentum.

If Etsy hadn't messed up so bad as well then there may at least have been an alternative out there for some but that site is all bogged down now as well.

Mr C

[tonycea]

Google has been throttling eBay's sales for years now, just like sellers think eBay throttles their sales, so essentially Google already controls eBay without owning the company.

[godzilla_goose]

campesinoplastic2014,

You made a lot of valid points in your post.

To me, as a long time eBay user since 2000, eBay's change in late 2006 to hide bidders' user IDs is what caused me to be far less active as an eBay buyer.

As I remember back then in 2006, auctions were still quite common as compared to Buy It Nows.

eBay, by telling me that SMI (Safeguarding Member IDs) was to protect me from Fake Second Chance Offers and SPAM and the like really, and I mean REALLY, INFURIATED me because I saw it as the loss of transparency in the eBay marketplace. With the loss of transparency, there is the loss of TRUST.

As far as I am concerned, eBay didn't hide user IDs to protect me from what eBay was claiming; eBay hid bidders' user IDs to protect eBay's OWN bottom line.

What I will always remember is what one eBay user wrote back then when SMI was invoked: eBay has shown its contempt for the users.

I know that some eBay buyers LEFT the site right after SMI was invoked because those buyers could no longer trust the eBay merketplace.

[newview]

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@tonycea wrote:

Yes, but many users say eBay's apps are no good by what I'm reading.

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Because eBay, in the shortsightedness that has become their hallmark, has turned the Ebay Mobile App into an ad delivery platform ... NOT a sales & purchasing platform.

Ebay ... is ... the new AOL.

[godzilla_goose]

Mr C,

As a long time stock market investor, I have to respectfully disagree with the notion about Google buying up eBay even as far back as 2012.

What reason would you (or anyone for that matter) have for Google (Alphabet Inc.) buying up eBay? To me, as a stock market investor, what value is there to the Google (Alphabet Inc.) shareholder?

Google's business, per its 2012 10-K filing, focussed on the following areas: search, advertising, operating systems and platforms, enterprise and hardware products.

eBay's business, per its 2012 10-K filing, focussed on three segments: Marketplaces, Payments, and GSI. Also, eBay is predominantly a transaction based business model and to a lesser extent, derived revenues from marketing services, classifieds and advertising.

If Google had bought up eBay back in 2012, what reason is/was there for Google to retain the Marketplaces segment? What reason is/was there for Google to retain the GSI business segment? The reason why I ask this is that Marketplaces and GSI are NOT prime businesses of Google so what financial incentive is/was there for Google to diversify into these areas?

eBay spun off its Payments business (PayPal) back in 2015.

Even today and looking out 5 years, I still can't see Alphabet Inc. acquiring eBay because I do not see what benefit there is to Alphabet Inc. shareholders given Google's business model.

Using Peter Lynch's word, it would be 'diworsification' if Google bought up eBay.

[thenobletuckylife]

Mornin,

As most know...I have little background to refute or argue anything and whole heartedly give you the floor, so to speak.

My understanding is that Google makes it's money from advertisement.

Since ebay at that time owned paypal and had tremendous activity it seems that this broader base of activity would encourage and produce more revenues on the advertisement side for google.

Once again...have only "gut" instincts to go on here...by the way...have another broody hen sitting...saw it coming 3 days before she did!

Mr C

[kaykeecorp]

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@newview wrote:

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@tonycea wrote:

Yes, but many users say eBay's apps are no good by what I'm reading.

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Because eBay, in the shortsightedness that has become their hallmark, has turned the Ebay Mobile App into an ad delivery platform ... NOT a sales & purchasing platform.

Ebay ... is ... the new AOL.

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OMG- this!

Interesting thread OP- IMHO mobile is not killing EBay, it's how badly the mobile apps work, and how difficult ebay has made it for sellers to adapt their listings to mobile.

I don't think its any individual seller's fault to get with the program, it's EBay's lack of support for them.