week 8 questions

WEEK 8 E-BUSINESS QUESTIONS

1) eBay is one of the only major Internet "pure plays" to consistently make a profit from its inception. What is eBay's business model? Why has it been so successful?

Ebay’s business model is the auction brokerage model.  Ebay has been so successful because it lets other people upload their items to be auctioned off. Whereas, most other companies eg. Amazon, only use there products.

2) Other major web sites, like Amazon.com and Yahoo!, have entered the auction marketplace with far less success than eBay. How has eBay been able to maintain its dominant position?

As explained in the last question, ebay has been so successful due to allowing other users upload their products to be sold as well. They have also built up trust over the years which allows users to breath easier when using ebay.

3) What method does eBay use to reduce the potential for fraud among traders on its site? What kinds of fraud, if any, are eBay users most susceptible?

ebay has no tolerance for fraud users leading to a team of over 2000 trust and safety professionals who work around the clock to protect and assist members in account security and safe trading. There internal systems and technologies monitor the key areas of the site that would be targeted in fraudulent activity. Ebay also has a good relationship with authorites (eg. Police) which can be brought in if needed. The main types of fraud are sellers fraud, buyers fraud, identity theft and phishing emails. (ebay, 2011).

Reference:

Ebay (2011). Online Fraud. Ebay Security Centre. Retrieved on the 8^th of May, 2011 from http://help.ebay.com.au/Help/Security/Avoiding_scams/Online_fraud

4) eBay makes every effort to conceptualize its users as a community (as opposed to, say "customers" or "clients"). What is the purpose of this conceptual twist and does eBay gain something by doing it?

Ebays purpose for the community concept is to incorporate every user together as part of the ‘ebay family’. This led to a increase in trust by users which gains more people to use ebay leading to a bigger marketshare.

5) eBay has long been a marketplace for used goods and collectibles. Today, it is increasingly a place where major businesses come to auction their wares. Why would a brand name vendor set-up shop on eBay?Brand name vendors need to set up shop on ebay due to the amount of users on ebay. This is due to the migration of consumers online. This will  open up another different way to source income for the company.

6) I have a few businesses, and I have used eBay for about 12 years on and off. Currently I have about 600 books listed on eBay (seller name ozrural). I stopped selling on eBay for a few years but they changed the rules this July and it is viable again (for me). What do you think changed?

I could not find anything on the changes in July, however I presume it had something to do with reducing fees that the sellers had to pay for.