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The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

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Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#21

Post by organsnyder »

abtinf wrote: post #19
magduf wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Amazon, you don't know which seller's goods are being shipped to you, if it's "fulfilled by Amazon" or from Amazon directly. So if two sellers are selling the same item, with the same exact SKU, and both send their inventory to Amazon to be warehoused and shipped, Amazon will happily send you either seller's item, depending on which is more convenient to send. (Perhaps seller A's stuff is in a warehouse closer to…

I was under the impression amazon does not commingle it’s own inventory with FBA inventory. Is that false?

If nothing else, the UX makes it hard to keep it straight. eBay has always been more consistent with this, since they're solely the broker.

Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#23

Post by adventured »

jedberg wrote: post #10

It’s funny how Amazon feared eBay, and then failed to beat them — in 1999. But when I worked at eBay in 2003, they had the mailroom put a sticker on every amazon box that said “Next time get it on eBay!” And now the tide is swinging back a bit as people get fed up with fakes and commingling at Amazon. At least with eBay you know the product you’re getting is actually from the seller you bought it from.

> And now the tide is swinging back a bit as people get fed up with fakes and commingling at Amazon.

That isn't actually happening at all. That comes across as what you wish were occurring. Unless you're referring to eBay's share of online commerce persistently contracting as they stagnate. It isn't a new problem, eBay as a force in ecommerce has been eroding for many years now.

It's why eBay has a $22b market cap and their market platform has entirely stopped growing. Their stock multiple is so low because nobody believes in their growth story (it doesn't have one). Over four years they've seen an average of about 6% annual growth, although that includes other non-auction businesses they had acquired. It's also why they're a juicy takeover target: the lack of growth gives them a cheap valuation, combined with good margins and a difficult to remove quasi-monopoly position in auctions. There is no future for eBay other than in the belly of someone larger, and soon.

Amazon of course has been going gangbusters on growth during that time, becoming ever more dominant in online retail. The exact opposite of what you're describing.

Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#24

Post by AnssiH »

magduf wrote: post #18
Goronmon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least with eBay you know the product you’re getting is actually from the seller you bought it from. Wait, how is this different with eBay compared to Amazon?

On Amazon, you don't know which seller's goods are being shipped to you, if it's "fulfilled by Amazon" or from Amazon directly. So if two sellers are selling the same item, with the same exact SKU, and both send their inventory to Amazon to be warehoused and shipped, Amazon will happily send you either seller's item, depending on which is more convenient to send. (Perhaps seller A's stuff is in a warehouse closer to…

> seller A was powerless to stop it

They could select the "Amazon barcode" option (instead of the default "Manufacturer barcode") under "Barcode preference" which prevents commingling (but requires the seller to apply seller-specific barcode labels to all units).

Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#25

Post by kirse »

jedberg wrote: post #10

It’s funny how Amazon feared eBay, and then failed to beat them — in 1999. But when I worked at eBay in 2003, they had the mailroom put a sticker on every amazon box that said “Next time get it on eBay!” And now the tide is swinging back a bit as people get fed up with fakes and commingling at Amazon. At least with eBay you know the product you’re getting is actually from the seller you bought it from.

At least with eBay you know the product you’re getting is actually from the seller you bought it from.

The likelihood is generally higher, but I've received drop-shipped items from eBay that come directly from Amazon & Walmart warehouses. Took me by surprise at first, but it was still the lowest available price. Unsure if they are still cracking down on that.

eBay has always been fantastic for used/refurbished electronics compared to anything else.

Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#26

Post by scout4 »

jedberg wrote: post #10

It’s funny how Amazon feared eBay, and then failed to beat them — in 1999. But when I worked at eBay in 2003, they had the mailroom put a sticker on every amazon box that said “Next time get it on eBay!” And now the tide is swinging back a bit as people get fed up with fakes and commingling at Amazon. At least with eBay you know the product you’re getting is actually from the seller you bought it from.

And now the tide is swinging back a bit as people get fed up with fakes and commingling at Amazon. At least with eBay you know the product you’re getting is actually from the seller you bought it from.

I rarely use Amazon for this reason, and order from Target, Walmart, and Ebay instead.

Amazon also plays games, like not letting you sort search results by "Best Selling."

Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#27

Post by holdenk »

abtinf wrote: post #19
magduf wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Amazon, you don't know which seller's goods are being shipped to you, if it's "fulfilled by Amazon" or from Amazon directly. So if two sellers are selling the same item, with the same exact SKU, and both send their inventory to Amazon to be warehoused and shipped, Amazon will happily send you either seller's item, depending on which is more convenient to send. (Perhaps seller A's stuff is in a warehouse closer to…

I was under the impression amazon does not commingle it’s own inventory with FBA inventory. Is that false?

So I've seen several folks say that they do.

Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#28

Post by wolco »

abtinf wrote: post #19
magduf wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Amazon, you don't know which seller's goods are being shipped to you, if it's "fulfilled by Amazon" or from Amazon directly. So if two sellers are selling the same item, with the same exact SKU, and both send their inventory to Amazon to be warehoused and shipped, Amazon will happily send you either seller's item, depending on which is more convenient to send. (Perhaps seller A's stuff is in a warehouse closer to…

I was under the impression amazon does not commingle it’s own inventory with FBA inventory. Is that false?

This is false based on my impressions which were based on twitter / medium outcries for help type messages confirming this.

Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#29

Post by wolco »

Scoundreller wrote: post #13
aluminussoma wrote: post #12

eBay is a fascinating story for their early impact to the commercial internet. It is also fascinating to see how they've fared: it is still around but now it is being eaten up by competitors like Facebook Marketplace in the US, MercadoLibre in Latin America and others. PayPal is on a somewhat similar trajectory. The lesson here is to keep your customers happy or someone else will. Also found it interesting to read ab…

eBay has a lot of attackers: You have FB Marketplace on the local C2C side. They own kijiji (annihilated CraigsList in Canada at least), but it probably cuts into their eBay revenue. Then you have Amazon on the B2C side. And Aliexpress doing their damage on the low-margin direct-from-Asia side.

Aliexpress increases ebay listings (and Amazon).

Facebook Marketplace competes with kijiji/craigslist. Doesn't really compete with ebay.

Amazon, Wallmart take brand name product sales. Ebay is left with what is rare. Ebay's problem is shipping.

Re: The untold origin story of eBay that I lived (2018)

#30

Post by j79 »

kirse wrote: post #25
jedberg wrote: post #10

It’s funny how Amazon feared eBay, and then failed to beat them — in 1999. But when I worked at eBay in 2003, they had the mailroom put a sticker on every amazon box that said “Next time get it on eBay!” And now the tide is swinging back a bit as people get fed up with fakes and commingling at Amazon. At least with eBay you know the product you’re getting is actually from the seller you bought it from.

At least with eBay you know the product you’re getting is actually from the seller you bought it from. The likelihood is generally higher, but I've received drop-shipped items from eBay that come directly from Amazon & Walmart warehouses. Took me by surprise at first, but it was still the lowest available price. Unsure if they are still cracking down on that. eBay has always been fantastic for used/refurbished electr…

I tend to cross check both Amazon and eBay and can often find items lower on eBay (with FREE shipping!). Glowing seller reviews like "SUPER FAST DELIVERY" typically indicates drop shippers. So I'll take a chance and often, a day or two later, the expected arrives - an Amazon Prime box!

But it makes me think -- Are they taking a hit on the sale to offer the item lower on eBay? I canceled Prime a few years back, but with a list of known eBay dropshippers, I can take advantage of Amazon Prime like prices at-cost (or lower) when compared to Amazon.com. And all without paying the Amazon Prime fee (obviously, I don't get the other benefits, but it's the 2 day shipping I'm primarily after!)

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