
Was eBay a Fad? - breily
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/06/was-ebay-a-fad/
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babul
Wasn't this article here last week? (albeit on another url)

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bouncingsoul
Yes: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=207995>

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andreyf
No. eBay was a good idea at the time executed without enough mobility.

 _Auctions are losing a ton of share, and fixed price has been gaining pretty
steadily._

This might be because fixed price distributors have gotten smarter at setting
prices, not because fixed price is inherently better than auctions.

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antidaily
You just can't find some of the stuff on eBay elsewhere, which makes me think
it'll stick around. Also, they have <http://www.express.ebay.com/> now.

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dant
It doesn't really say that ebay are doing less auctions than before, just that
fixed price are gaining share. I doubt auctions will die off completely.

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patrickg-zill
No, I think eBay shot themselves in the foot by acting arrogant towards both
sellers and buyers.

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bprater
With the economy slumping, I wouldn't be surprised to see a resurgance at
Ebay.

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andreyf
Or at a startup that's on its way to replace eBay :)

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dmix
This is in an industry of scale.

For that very fact alone starting a company in this area would be a really bad
idea. It's not even on the decline yet let alone in a weak position.

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jgamman
britannica has the chutzpah to comment on anything to do with the web?

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fbailey
I'm not sure about Brittannica, but I would say that Nicholas Carr has earned
the right to comment on it <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Carr>

