I think EBay will be death by a thousand cuts... niche sites offering similar functionality (national/international auctions, community trust rating), but targe

I think EBay will be death by a thousand cuts... niche sites offering similar functionality (national/international auctions, community trust rating), but targeted a particular interest. My example here is Reverb.com, an online auction site for musical instruments and gear (particularly rock instruments, not classical). Reverb.com provides a gorgeous, Etsy-like interface, terrific targeted marketing, etc. It's backed by a major used instrument vendor (Chicago Music Exchange), and is quickly gaining momentum. Once sellers can have the same chance of sale and the same kinds of prices that EBay fetches, and buyers have enough selection to make the site really sticky (it's practically designed for window-shopping), some people will simply stop using EBay altogether in favor of Reverb. Etsy is another case in point. They've been around for a while, but they offer a far superior customer and vendor experience within their fairly narrow niche of handmade crafts. I'm sure we'll also see custom car seller sites (most of the old ones are as antiquated and ugly as EBay), toy collector sites, all the things EBay covers in its one-size-fits-all approach. EBay is lousy for window-shopping, but that's what collectors and nerds want to do. That's where the disruption will happen.