The evolution of Ebay to a fixed price platform explained

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by pbspelly

Interesting article. It reaches the conclusion that much of the decline in auctions is due to consumer demand (consumers prefer not to wait for auctions to end), rather than particular actions by eBay or changes in the type of people who are selling on eBay. Which is not what I had thought. It also says that most of the people who buy things at auctions on eBay now are the professionals, and that they tend to get a discount by doing so, whereas ordinary consumers prefer buy-it-now, and pay higher prices for the convenience.

Interesting yes, but I would not accept their conclusions as gospel. I would venture to say that many of the items that sit in eBay stores for months at museum prices wound command more interest from consumers if they were in 99 cent auctions. In the good old days the mean sales price would define the market value, with an equal number above and below the mean. Sellers have less risk with fixed price sales to be sure, but buyer "convenience" is a stretch to explain the decline in auction volume in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I would like to hear the authors' take on Dean's Cards.

The business model of Dean's Cards would not seem to be consistent with the conclusions of the article.