THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW....AND NEITHER DID YOU, OR DID YOU?

[gifts_of_elegance]

This article is a bit out-dated but it shows how wrong we are!

http://gigaom.com/2009/06/13/is-john-donahoe-finally-turning-ebay-around/

[zarzuella]

It is interesting how little real improvement there has been since this article was written almost 2 years ago.

[westernstargifts]

So we are discounters like Costco??:|

Not me.

Free shipping boosts sell through rate?

It didn't work for me in the past and I didn't even raise the prices. Maybe they would sell through more if I raised the prices? Ahh, but then I would not be a "discount" place like Costco.

Lower my prices to be a discounter like Costco?

Not on your life.

[pierrelebel]

"little real improvement "

It depends who you are.

As a seller, things have not improved on eBay, we all know that. 😞

However, if you are a shareholder, the stock has doubled in the last two years, since the article was written:

[gifts_of_elegance]

I don't know anything about the stock market, but I do know when a market place looses sales, the the value of the stock usually goes down. Our sales have been declining dramatically in the past two years.

What made it go up?

[pierrelebel]

Your sales may be down but eBay's profits have been going UP, UP and away....

Overall, sales are up on eBay, both in the USA and international sites.

If you have some time to spare, take a look at their financial statements, available on the eBay.com site

[gifts_of_elegance]

Goes to show how little I know. I thought everyone's sales were suffering. I guess I was wrong.

[femmefan1946]

The article refers to eBay "investors" but it should say "stockholders". Better yet, "stock market gamblers".

Because eBay has never, no matter how profitable it is, declared a dividend, the only way to make money on the stock is to sell it when it is high.

In any case, the money spent on stock purchases does not help the company, which doesn't see a penny of that "doubled value". Again only the gamblers.

I should mention that I roughly quadrupled the tiny amount I spent on eBay stock several years ago, when it kept splitting. Then I discovered the Church of Saint Warren Buffett.

[zarzuella]

Agreed, Pierre. I was looking at it from a user-perspective.

It is also interesting to look at the stock prices over the last 5 years - at the time that article was written prices were at their lowest ebb, which makes the article look even more like a company 'plant'.

[pierrelebel]

"I thought everyone's sales were suffering"

According to Scot Wingo, CEO of the Channel Advisor, "across our wide range of over 3,000 retailers ($3 billion in sales), eBay accelerated slightly for our customers, coming in at 6.5% year over year."

My own eBay sales last year were up very substantially over the previous year.

[gifts_of_elegance]

Happy to hear that Pierre, nice to know that some are doing better. You are an inspiration to us all.