

It's Time to Replace eBay - danw
http://fourstarters.com/2007/07/24/its-time-to-replace-ebay/

======
ivankirigin
A bigger division between stores that sell thousands of items, and more
regular users, would make sense.

While the information architecture is fine, the site is really ugly. There has
to be something functional and beautiful, and not just functional and bare
like craigslist.

The rating system is idiotic -- an early form of karma whoring where the
marginal cost of high ratings is too low. Perhaps it would make more sense to
gain a point a per day or hour, and a 10 point rating system, where you need
to allot scarce points when giving reviews.

The payment problem is solved with PayPal and others, so that is a non-issue.
People actually trust it.

Better templates that allow for easy and beautiful sales pitches would be
nice. Some of the 1996 era junk makes me want to run for the nearest far-more-
pretty myspace page.

Community would make a lot of sense for particular items, like bobble-head
dolls and replica light-sabers. Buyers of one rarely have the other, which
beckons for sub-culture. Though I did know a guy who had mock light-sabers and
a collection of StreetFighter 2 bobble-heads.

~~~
cbetta
Amen, you totally get what I meant with the article, Thank you.

------
palish
Heh.. Good luck. Network effect that strong seems almost impossible to break.
Come to think of it, does anyone know of any examples where strong network
effect was broken, and how? Not just in the online world, either (although it
seems network effect in the offline world is only broken through war).

~~~
Goladus
Break is really the wrong word for it. Strong networks by definition simply
can't be broken. But, a network can be dwarfed or subsumed no matter how
strong it is, and a network may weaken over time if the facilities that bind
it together are made obsolete. A weakened network may disintegrate suddenly.

One example: Everquest. Its network-effect was dwarfed by World of Warcraft,
and the gameplay didn't keep pace which led to a gradual weakening.

~~~
dood
I would suggest the word 'sidestepped'.

------
kieranoneill
So it's time to replace eBay because you can't add the seller as a friend?
Right...

~~~
cbetta
Never said that, just said that there is no social control or value in eBay.

------
rsheridan6
Would it be feasible for a competitor to use Ebay's network effects? If users
gave an Ebay-killer their Ebay passwords, their feedback could be imported,
helping to get the initial activation energy.

A superior auction/marketplace meta-search application could also help kill
Ebay. If people preferred to use it, buyers would see auctions at competitors'
sites, not just Ebay. Creating a meta-search site might be a good first step
for an Ebay-killer.

------
patrickg-zill
It's time for the mice to put the bell on the cat.

------
cbetta
What patents would be a problem then? I think there is real legroom for a
product that ignores the eBay sweetharts (super-resellers) and focusses more
on the individual occasional sellers that use common sense and trust to make a
transaction.

~~~
kieranoneill
The "long tail of auctions" :) What would individuals want that power sells
wouldn't?

~~~
ph0rque
Idea: make a _network_ of ebays, with each one specializing in a certain
category: cars, collectibles, etc. That way, a community forms around each
ebay, and each community can develop its own quirks that make sense/are
convenient for that particular ebay, have its own experts (perhaps with karma
to differentiate those experts), etc.

~~~
sharpshoot
This is edgeio's buisness plan right there.

------
Tichy
They have disabled comments for a reason, I guess to avoid pointless
flamewars. Just a thought - not everything might be as stupid as it seems at
first sight. I agree that ebay is not as good as it could be, though.

~~~
cbetta
Well, closing an option down completely for the sake of spam-control is never
a good option I believe. One should work towards a solution, not abolishment.

------
brlewis
One big issue in going head-to-head with ebay is that you can't ignore
software patents the way you would in most web projects.

~~~
immad
why not? What strong patents does ebay have?

~~~
brlewis
It's not necessarily ebay's own patents. MercExchange might be your biggest
worry. But to answer your question, see <http://www.pagebox.net/bm4.html>

------
jamiequint
auctomatic.com anyone?

~~~
rebonuk
They're building on top of eBay, rather than instead of it.

~~~
rebonuk
Ah, you beat me to it harj! Shouldn't have left the window open before
replying :-)

