What eBay Express Means to Small Sellers
A Review of eBay Express
EBay recently added a new feature called eBay Express to help buyers find new items faster. It looks like a neat marketplace for buying new items. In this article, I will explore eBay Express, then consider it's effects on small eBay sellers.
How eBay Express Works for Buyers
From the main eBay Express page you can click on categories like Apparel & Accessories, Books, Computers & Networking, Consumer Electronics, Home & Garden, Jewelry & Watches, Sporting Goods,
and others.
I clicked on Jewelry and Watches, and ended up on a page with links to subcategories like Watches, Rings, Necklaces & Pendants, and Bracelets.
Under necklaces, you get a list of styles, materials, stones and prices. It's all about the products.
EBay Express is great for buyers who know exactly what they want, but what does it mean for sellers?
Before I answer that question, think about this. . .
I found 61,696 Pendants & Lockets listed on eBay Express. Let's pick a subcategory at random like Gold Plated (that should fit my budget!). There are only 992 gold plated ones listed.
Once you arrive on the gold-plated-only page, you get necklaces which appear to be in no particular order -- just gold-plated necklaces priced from $1.00 to $3,855.00.
Sure you can sort the results by price or even search for features like birds or cats on the pendants, but there is no way a seller can stand out except by price
To confirm this, I also looked at iPods on eBay Express, and got the same result. The buyer can select an iPod based on price, color and storage capacity.
It's a buyer's market. It is definitely not a seller's market.
Whoever offers the lowest price gets the sale.
What this means is that the low-cost, low-margin sellers will own eBay Express. Whether this will be Target, Wal-Mart, Sears or some other company, I don't know -- but it surely won't be the guy with a wholesale list selling a few items out of his garage.
Something to think about,
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Terry Gibbs has taught over 7,000 people how to make a good living on eBay. Terry's most recent eBay instruction manual is The Auction Revolution . The Auction Revolution is your guide to eBay and beyond. Here on Iwantcollectibles.com, you will learn about buying and selling antiques and collectibles, and about eBay.
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