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I find it amusing how much Amazon has reminded me of the rise and fall of eBay. eBay was a fun experience when it first blew up. Then enough people decided they
by Pigo 7y ago
I find it amusing how much Amazon has reminded me of the rise and fall of eBay. eBay was a fun experience when it first blew up. Then enough people decided they were going to leverage it into becoming a business, and it turned into an annoying mess of ads.
It's not a perfect parallel of course, so some lessons were learned I suppose. It just seems like it was somehow fun at first, and then the people who sell on it find a way to ruin the experience.
- djsumdog 7y agoYou realize Amazon went their route because of inspiration from eBay? There's a good ReplyAll podcast about that. All the big mega-sites (NewEgg, Amazon, eBay, Reverb, Etsy) are really just sites for tons of marketplaces.
- jotm 7y agoeBay never fell, you probably just stopped using it. It's still good, better than Amazon. You can see what you're buying and most of the time, where you're buying from (either in the listing, or when paying with Paypal). And the feedback system seems much better than Amazon. I dunno, I always get what I want from eBay, and any issues are resolved quickly and fairly, while Amazon it's pay and pray :/ This is in the EU, btw.
- ethbro 7y agoAmazon forgot that their core value proposition was shopping experience, not price or shipping speed. And they've managed to improve the latter while ignoring the former.
- Scoundreller 7y agoThing is, Ebay is a skill. You get better prices, but the barrier to entry for buyers is substantially higher than Amazon.
- JohnFen 7y agoI don't think that's really true. At least, it's not true in the way that I use eBay -- I never participate in the auctions. If I'm buying something from eBay, I always go with "buy now". If you use it that way, the barrier to entry is no higher than with any other retailer.
- Scoundreller 7y agoThat’s just one aspect. Then you have to make the internal calculation « do I want from locally today, nearby soon, or from Asia, but in 6 weeks? » There can also be a sales tax optimization game included. True for Canada anyway. Then you have a hundred sellers selling near duplicates that may or may not be identical. Do you just buy the cheapest? Do you buy it slightly cheaper in $AUD from Asia or in your local currency? I’ve bought bike lights that used 2032s, then the same looking units a year later that had smaller heating aid cells. Then there’s the lack of reviews, so you gotta détermine quality based on cues. maybe that vendor has sold a thousand units and Ebay links to some feedback for that exact listing. Vastly differing return policies. And remember: when it comes from Asia and doesn’t work; just say it was lost. When Ebay asks you to return it, it’ll cost you more to ship it back than the whole item cost incl. shipping. Just what is up with that account that has 3k listings but just 24 feedback? But it’s definitely cheaper if you can manage all that. A lot is product category dependent.
- JohnFen 7y agoWell, I always search for items that are physically as close to me as possible, and I'm not looking for the cheapest price for anything. If I'm buying from eBay, it's because I couldn't find the item anywhere else (except Amazon, which I only use if eBay doesn't have it). The lack of reviews doesn't bother me at all, as my experience is that reviews are worthless anyway. So, I guess it entirely depends on how you're using eBay and what your goals are.
- Scoundreller 7y agoWhen I want to pay the lowest amount humanly possible: Ebay (or maybe even Aliexpress). When I need it tomorrow: Amazon. At least in Canada, there isn’t much in-between on the massive marketplaces.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago> It just seems like it was somehow fun at first, and then the people who sell on it find a way to ruin the experience. Just like the internet.
- Pigo 7y agoPoint well taken... oh man, that's depressing, I did completely describe the Internet as a whole.