eBay® Options

One of the largest players in online shopping is eBay® and they have 200 million shoppers to prove it (www.ebay.com). What started out as an online garage-sale-style auction, has evolved into a global force in the retail industry. With its various formats for selling items and options for small and large businesses, as well as individuals, eBay® is “the place” to go when looking for every day discount items or unique collectables.

Like any form of business, there are benefits and draw backs to this colossal online system, regardless of the business size. For the individual, the enormous popularity of eBay® has all but eliminated any ability to make a profit, unless the item is unique or a collectable. Small business owners have difficulty making a reasonable profit on eBay® because with so many people selling the same items, the prices are too cutthroat to profit. Likewise, the fees that eBay® charges for use of the web site make a deep cut into small business profits. However, the marketing angle is invaluable to small businesses. A small business can reach customers on a global scale for just the monthly eBay® fee, and then use that access to convert shoppers to their own websites. Once the buyer is on their own website, eBay® is out of the picture, along with the cutthroat competition and the eBay® fees. Anything a customer purchases directly from the small business web site has a better profit margin and aids in creating a direct customer base for future business.

Similarly, large businesses recognize the extreme value of eBay®‘s marketing power. For the large business however, the fees for selling on eBay® are minimal compared to the costs of traditional selling and marketing methods. Likewise, the cutthroat competition does not affect large businesses because they are using eBay® to liquidate excess merchandise. They can