Comments on: Five Things eBay Can Do http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/ Trusted Insights and Conversations on the Next Wave of Technology Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:17:51 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: #49. Read ‘The 1001 List Of Quality Reads’ « 6ixx http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-883877 #49. Read ‘The 1001 List Of Quality Reads’ « 6ixx Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:58:03 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-883877 <p>[...] between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 762. Top 5 Reasons for Multiple Blogs Under a Single Domain 763. Five Things eBay Can Do 764. 10 things you should do before installing Windows Vista on a computer 765. 10 Easy Things You [...]</p> [...] between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 762. Top 5 Reasons for Multiple Blogs Under a Single Domain 763. Five Things eBay Can Do 764. 10 things you should do before installing Windows Vista on a computer 765. 10 Easy Things You [...]

]]> By: GigaOM And finally eBay opens up « http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-171363 GigaOM And finally eBay opens up « Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:33:07 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-171363 <p>[...] party developers, hoping to catch some of the ‘open web’ magic. (This is something we had talked about [...]</p> [...] party developers, hoping to catch some of the ‘open web’ magic. (This is something we had talked about [...]

]]> By: Nick Hebb http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47380 Nick Hebb Sun, 07 May 2006 21:21:56 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47380 <p>Jen - you're right about eSellerate and Digital River. Mea culpa.</p> Jen – you’re right about eSellerate and Digital River. Mea culpa.

]]> By: Jen http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47379 Jen Sun, 07 May 2006 17:56:07 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47379 <p>I don't think eSellerate is owned by Digital River, though I think they're the only one of the shareware ESD services that isn't.</p> <p>I also don't think shareware reselling is anywhere near profitable enough for eBay to take up.</p> <p>eBay needs to get their act together better before expanding. Right now they own half.com and PayPal, but I can't use PayPal to pay for anything I buy on half.com.</p> I don’t think eSellerate is owned by Digital River, though I think they’re the only one of the shareware ESD services that isn’t.

I also don’t think shareware reselling is anywhere near profitable enough for eBay to take up.

eBay needs to get their act together better before expanding. Right now they own half.com and PayPal, but I can’t use PayPal to pay for anything I buy on half.com.

]]> By: Nick Hebb http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47378 Nick Hebb Sat, 06 May 2006 07:33:13 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47378 <p>Re #4: I don't think eSellerate is on the table. They're owned by Digital River, which has been on an acquisition spree of its own for the past several years. Also, eSellerate and Microsoft are teaming up on Digital Locker, which sounds like it's going to be a big online software store. Lastly, from what I understand it's not that difficult for software vendors to sell their software on eBay right now.</p> Re #4: I don’t think eSellerate is on the table. They’re owned by Digital River, which has been on an acquisition spree of its own for the past several years. Also, eSellerate and Microsoft are teaming up on Digital Locker, which sounds like it’s going to be a big online software store. Lastly, from what I understand it’s not that difficult for software vendors to sell their software on eBay right now.

]]> By: Dennis Howlett http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47377 Dennis Howlett Tue, 02 May 2006 04:33:30 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47377 <p>Has anyone realised that accounting applications are specialised? eBay/PayPal can take a degree of pain out of the processes of double entry book-keeping, but they can't do it all. Users would need professional training. The accounting vendors will tell you this is their single biggest challenge to successful adoption and customer satisfaction.</p> Has anyone realised that accounting applications are specialised? eBay/PayPal can take a degree of pain out of the processes of double entry book-keeping, but they can’t do it all. Users would need professional training. The accounting vendors will tell you this is their single biggest challenge to successful adoption and customer satisfaction.

]]> By: Robert http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47376 Robert Mon, 01 May 2006 18:55:43 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47376 <p>http://www.cooqy.com is how eBay looks in the Web 2.0 world</p> http://www.cooqy.com is how eBay looks in the Web 2.0 world

]]> By: Jackson http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47375 Jackson Sat, 29 Apr 2006 17:55:29 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47375 <p>"Come up with Ebay 2.0" is somewhat of a vague suggestion. What would Ebay 2.0 be like? Ebay already has a considerable advantage over the likes of Yahoo! and Google in that it's revenues are not entirely advertising based - they provide a service that people actually pay for. Although I use Yahoo! and Google fairly frequently, I have paid neither even a penny. And with Click fraud on the rise, Yahoo! and Google have plenty to worry about that Ebay doesn't. Most advertisers will eventually realize they have spent way too much on Y!/G, and gotten very little in return. </p> <p>Ebay should just focus on it's core business and continue to expand on it (B2B markets, auctioning of services such as contractors, etc., expand in foreign countries). Paypal has been well integrated. Skype was a mistake, Ebay will eventually come to see that it plays no role whatsoever in the Ebay environment. The Paypal acquisition, however, made sense from the very beginning.</p> “Come up with Ebay 2.0″ is somewhat of a vague suggestion. What would Ebay 2.0 be like? Ebay already has a considerable advantage over the likes of Yahoo! and Google in that it’s revenues are not entirely advertising based – they provide a service that people actually pay for. Although I use Yahoo! and Google fairly frequently, I have paid neither even a penny. And with Click fraud on the rise, Yahoo! and Google have plenty to worry about that Ebay doesn’t. Most advertisers will eventually realize they have spent way too much on Y!/G, and gotten very little in return.

Ebay should just focus on it’s core business and continue to expand on it (B2B markets, auctioning of services such as contractors, etc., expand in foreign countries). Paypal has been well integrated. Skype was a mistake, Ebay will eventually come to see that it plays no role whatsoever in the Ebay environment. The Paypal acquisition, however, made sense from the very beginning.

]]> By: Jesse Kopelman http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47374 Jesse Kopelman Fri, 28 Apr 2006 17:15:21 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47374 <p>You forgot mobility, Om. Maybe it just goes without saying. Tying SMS functionality (or even a slimed down version of Skype IM that can run on phones without killing the battery) into bidding would be a huge upgrade and make mobile carriers smile too. Trying to leverage PayPal as the standard for carrier-neutral mobile-commerce would not make the carriers smile, but would be the right thing to do for both E-bay and the carriers.</p> You forgot mobility, Om. Maybe it just goes without saying. Tying SMS functionality (or even a slimed down version of Skype IM that can run on phones without killing the battery) into bidding would be a huge upgrade and make mobile carriers smile too. Trying to leverage PayPal as the standard for carrier-neutral mobile-commerce would not make the carriers smile, but would be the right thing to do for both E-bay and the carriers.

]]> By: Steven Maroulis http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47373 Steven Maroulis Fri, 28 Apr 2006 16:13:30 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47373 <p>Personally I think Ebay needs to focus A LOT on integrating Skype. I don't think Ebay bought Skype to use as a standalone VoIP platform. Again the $60m revenues vs the $2.6bn purchase price is insane so this solidifies my view.</p> <p>I believe that Ebay did two things with this acquisition: (1) Skype can synergize with PayPal for payment processing (that's READY revenue low integration skills required) (2) Skype can plug-in into Ebay's "future" marketplace - a marketplace which moves from consumer oriented to enterprise oriented auctions on services rather than products</p> <p>We have to wait and see, but I do firmly believe the Consumer auctioning is reaching market saturation and maturity as such the only "logical" next step would be to evolve to Enterprise / B2B & Services auctions. It would be like off-shoring only virtual 24/7 made available from a unique and Web-based Platform :)</p> <p>Either way, EBAY 2.0 Skype would make a killer app/platform especially if they start exploring/integrating at the core features like Presence/IM in addition to Voice..</p> Personally I think Ebay needs to focus A LOT on integrating Skype. I don’t think Ebay bought Skype to use as a standalone VoIP platform. Again the $60m revenues vs the $2.6bn purchase price is insane so this solidifies my view.

I believe that Ebay did two things with this acquisition: (1) Skype can synergize with PayPal for payment processing (that’s READY revenue low integration skills required) (2) Skype can plug-in into Ebay’s “future” marketplace – a marketplace which moves from consumer oriented to enterprise oriented auctions on services rather than products

We have to wait and see, but I do firmly believe the Consumer auctioning is reaching market saturation and maturity as such the only “logical” next step would be to evolve to Enterprise / B2B & Services auctions. It would be like off-shoring only virtual 24/7 made available from a unique and Web-based Platform :)

Either way, EBAY 2.0 Skype would make a killer app/platform especially if they start exploring/integrating at the core features like Presence/IM in addition to Voice..

]]> By: DJ Joy http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47372 DJ Joy Fri, 28 Apr 2006 15:04:38 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47372 <p>The Paypal angle needs to be developed if only to defend against the impending Gbuy release in June. Google's payment system enjoy's 2 advantages at the outset:</p> <p>1) Google search is a fantastic start for online purchases 2) Existing merchant relations through adsense/words and a monolithic platform launch in Base, etc.</p> <p>Turning Paypal into the next Citi is an opportunity, as the Citi model is antiquated and in need of overhaul as is. For Citi and other banks right now, too much of the conversation with consumers is about pricing (look at credit cards, savings accounts, fee-less checking, etc.) and we all know this is not sustainable and creates no incremental gains for anyone in the system.</p> <p>An outside shot: Ebay should take a look at leveraging a combo Skype-Paypal offering for emerging social networks and MMPORGs, as an all-in communication banking transaction platform.</p> The Paypal angle needs to be developed if only to defend against the impending Gbuy release in June. Google’s payment system enjoy’s 2 advantages at the outset:

1) Google search is a fantastic start for online purchases 2) Existing merchant relations through adsense/words and a monolithic platform launch in Base, etc.

Turning Paypal into the next Citi is an opportunity, as the Citi model is antiquated and in need of overhaul as is. For Citi and other banks right now, too much of the conversation with consumers is about pricing (look at credit cards, savings accounts, fee-less checking, etc.) and we all know this is not sustainable and creates no incremental gains for anyone in the system.

An outside shot: Ebay should take a look at leveraging a combo Skype-Paypal offering for emerging social networks and MMPORGs, as an all-in communication banking transaction platform.

]]> By: aye http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47371 aye Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:27:25 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47371 <p>You must be joking. I guess we shouldn't listen to McKinsey and Om.</p> You must be joking. I guess we shouldn’t listen to McKinsey and Om.

]]> By: Al http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47370 Al Fri, 28 Apr 2006 10:10:48 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47370 <p>Hi Om, I have to say how much I agree with you but it's not 5 things it's <a href="http://www.folknology.com/blog/1/1/2006/4/28/410" rel="nofollow">4 things</a></p> <p>I quote : </p> <p>"Nice one, but unfortunately moving forward it makes eBay even more of a closed shop. Remember we are now in the Web 2.0 age, it's about open APIs and mashups , remixes etc.. What the customer needs is a product that will work with eBay and google and shopify or even their own web site and has an API to get your data out along with connections to AdSense etc.."</p> <p>Check out what we are up to, it is obviously very relevant given this post and your podcast..</p> <p>regards Al</p> Hi Om, I have to say how much I agree with you but it’s not 5 things it’s 4 things

I quote :

“Nice one, but unfortunately moving forward it makes eBay even more of a closed shop. Remember we are now in the Web 2.0 age, it’s about open APIs and mashups , remixes etc.. What the customer needs is a product that will work with eBay and google and shopify or even their own web site and has an API to get your data out along with connections to AdSense etc..”

Check out what we are up to, it is obviously very relevant given this post and your podcast..

regards Al

]]> By: Angus McDonald http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47369 Angus McDonald Fri, 28 Apr 2006 01:51:26 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47369 <p>For #2 they could do worse than buy NetAccounts.com … at least they have a web version of the typical small business accounting package, and they even have an API to allow others to mash-up with it.</p> For #2 they could do worse than buy NetAccounts.com … at least they have a web version of the typical small business accounting package, and they even have an API to allow others to mash-up with it.

]]> By: Sam Donaldson http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47368 Sam Donaldson Fri, 28 Apr 2006 00:12:51 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47368 <p>Some really good advice.</p> Some really good advice.

]]> By: Paul http://gigaom.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47367 Paul Thu, 27 Apr 2006 21:14:11 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/04/27/five-things-ebay-can-do/#comment-47367 <p>Om is right, ebay has no real idea of its strategy: I know it fro, there, and has lost its start up flair. Skype and PayPal are crown jewels though and should not be estimated. Intuit buy is a good idea as it would fuel the US business which is not growing as much as people would like, but it is not solving the global issue (Intuit is nearly not existant in Europe/Asia) growth. eBay more than anything has to reinvent itself while solving lots of internal issues such as its brand, its value proposition, its positioning, its technology …</p> Om is right, ebay has no real idea of its strategy: I know it fro, there, and has lost its start up flair. Skype and PayPal are crown jewels though and should not be estimated. Intuit buy is a good idea as it would fuel the US business which is not growing as much as people would like, but it is not solving the global issue (Intuit is nearly not existant in Europe/Asia) growth. eBay more than anything has to reinvent itself while solving lots of internal issues such as its brand, its value proposition, its positioning, its technology …

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