

Ebay to buy Shutl as it aims for one-hour delivery in UK - JoWilkin
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24637668

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basicallydan
Regardless of eBay's plans, this is good news for Shutl and a win for British
startups. Good job!

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joeldidit
Startups tend to die (not go anywhere) after being acquired by eBay. I'm just
hoping this isn't another one of those cases.

I don't think eBay can really outdo Amazon. The only thing that could happen
is that Amazon could stop "killing it" allowing their service to degrade until
it's at the level of everyone else. I always price compare when buying, and I
usually end up going with Amazon. Usually because they are cheaper, but
sometimes because of the convenience (long history, shipping speed) even when
they aren't the cheapest option. eBay doesn't have that kinda hook. Also,
every time I buy something on eBay there ends up being something wrong with
it. Even these days.

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AsymetricCom
Go ahead and build an auction site with better customer service and better
features than eBay and tell us how that goes.

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joeldidit
There will never be another auction site like eBay. They completely trounced
any chance of anyone getting into that business. And as for eBay, I think it's
been made clear that they are trying to move toward buy it now items to be
more like Amazon. That means the auction market (save small niches) dies with
the auction arm of eBay.

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Diamons
Another example of eBay's shift in markets. They started out being about the
small guy auctioning stuff online. Now as of late they've been all about the
warehouse in China selling stuff in masses and being more like Amazon.

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sudomal
One thing eBay seems to be doing better at than Amazon, is having well known
retailers using them as an outlet. I also find it amazing how PayPal has
morphed from a payment option that people may have used on suspect e-commerce
websites, to something that is expected when customers check-out at a major
retailer.

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abirfrankel
They have been taking active steps to partner with retailers, their
relationships seem to sour quickly, at least in the case of Neiman Marcus. The
partnership was abruptly shut down because Neiman Marcus said, "It did not
meet all our expectations." Hope eBay can set appropriate expectations.

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milesskorpen
eBay works with most major retailers out there ( like:
[http://www.ebayenterprise.com/news_events/news_releases/gsi_...](http://www.ebayenterprise.com/news_events/news_releases/gsi_commerce_expands_relationship_with_toysrus_inc_to_include_etoyscom_baby/)
is still going strong). I have no idea what happened in the Neiman case, but
it definitely seems like the exception, not the rule.

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benbristow
Amazon use Royal Mail and generally use 2nd class unless you pay extra for
delivery ('Super Saver Delivery'). I'm not going to pay extra just for a day
or so.

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vidarh
Unless you have Prime, which in the UK gets you next day delivery on almost
everything at no extra charge. I frequently find myself ordering stuff at
6-7pm rather than going to a store after work because I know it'll arrive at
the office the next day.

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sGrabber
ecomm market heading towards more competition. it will be good to watch this
space :-)

