I saw some interesting Nielsen data posted at Silicon Alley Insider the other day about traffic levels at eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY). They seem to be on the decline. I don't want to spend time repeating a bunch of the numbers here, but suffice to say that trends in unique visitors and page views on a year-over-year basis have not been favorable to the online-auction entity. One quick example would be the 33% drop for the page-view category seen in October.
What the heck is going on? Man, I remember when eBay was loved unconditionally and considered to be the best yard sale on the block. Heck, it wasn't just for closet-cleaning exercises; a person infused with even a modicum of an entrepreneurial spirit could easily start a business on the site. And its brand was second-to-none in this space. Well, eBay's brand equity remains high, but the bloom has definitely come off the rose, at least from my perspective.
On an anecdotal basis, I've heard many complaints about eBay, especially from the point of view of the sellers. But there's no question that eBay has to do something about the declining stats. People are spending less time at the site, and that surely won't do much in terms of appeasing the sellers.
You'd think that surfers would be utilizing eBay as a way of finding deals in a falling economy. Obviously, management has its work cut out for it in terms of keeping its image value up and maintaining a strong competitive stance against the likes of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO).
Speaking about Amazon, check out this item at auctionbytes.com. It posts an interesting look at Amazon traffic data as it compares to eBay. Amazon seems to have held up much better in October than eBay did.
eBay is going to need to do some serious marketing to get the eyeballs back to its digital-auction asset. I have to say, the latest data on eBay makes me quite bearish on the stock. I certainly wasn't bullish when I covered the company's Q3 earnings last month.
With the economy still suffering, and with the consumer not so willing to spend those discretionary dollars, I think eBay is still a stock that should be avoided. If you do see value in it, make sure you don't need your investment monies back right away.
Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
12-03-2008 @ 10:40PM
PaCorvetteLover said...
WELL EBAY STOCK HOLDERS
AS
OF
11 / 22 / 08
EBAY HAS REMOVED
OVER
648
Items
FROM MY STORE
CAUSE I REFUSE TO USE THEIR NEW
PAPER LESS PAYMENT LAW !!!!!!
My MONTHLY EBAY BILL
WAS APPROX: $178.00
A MONTH
THATS OVER
$2,000 a YEAR
NOW HOW DOES IT FEEL
THAT YOUR
COMPANY
THAT YOU INVESTED
YOUR HARD EARN MONEY
IS DOING THIS TO THE PEOPLE WHO MADE EBAY !!!!
I BEEN MEMBER SINCE 1997
MY EBAY DAYS ARE OVER
I SPENT MANY WASTED
HOURS / DAYS / MONTH
BUILDING UP
A
STORE
TO HELP EBAY TO GROW !!!
ONLY TO BE EVICTED
AND
ALL MY HARD EARN TIME
&
MONEY TO BE THROWN
OUT THE DOOR
WITH
NO COMPENSATION
OR
EVEN
A
THANKS FOR BEING A LOYAL
CUSTOMER TO EBAY
AND ITS WORKERS
AND
STOCK HOLDERS
OVER
THE
LAST
11 YEARS
JUST LIKE YOUR STOCK MONEY
BEING THROWN OUT THEIR
FRONT DOOR
I HOPE THEY HAVE TOLD YOU
THIS
I WONDER HOW MANY OTHER STORES THEY ARE DOING THIS TOO
HAVE THEY TOLD U
HOW MANY SELLERS ARE FLEEING EBAY !!!
NOT BECAUSE
OF
BAD ECONOMY
BECAUSE
OF
BAD MANAGEMENT
AND
MAINLY
GREED !!!!!!!
PRETTY SOON
EBAY WILL BE LIKE A MALL
WITH MANY STORES
BUT EMPTY SPACES
I WAS SUSPENDED
CAUSE I WROTE THIS STUFF IN THEIR CHAT ROOMS !!
CAUSE THEY DIDNT WANT OTHER SELLERS TO
SEE THIS !!!
SO I WASNT ABLE TO WRITE
NO MORE COMMENTS
IN CHAT FORUM !!!
SO HERE I AM
WHERE THEIR STOCK HOLDERS
COME
GO VISIT MY
EBAY STORE !!!
A BLAST FROM YOUR PAST !!!
SEEE HOW MANY ITEMS ARE IN THERE NOW
SEE HOW MANY HAPPY CUSTOMERS
I HAD
USING
POSTAL MONEY ORDERS ONLY
OVER THE
LAST
11 YEARS !!!
THANKS FOR READING THIS
EMAIL ME ANY TIME WITH YOUR COMMENTS !!!
PS
I HAVE A STORE ON
EBAY
THATS
UP FOR AUCTION
OR
FOR SALE !!!!!
12-05-2008 @ 8:12PM
NYM Arts said...
If one was doing a Case Study :
As a Seller I left Ebay for the Following Reasons:
1) I will never use PayPal Strictly because of the TONS of Phishing Emails I used to get...sent by the Very People INSIDE PayPal. That's Right, The Scammers are Roosting INSIDE PayPal.
2) I MAINTAIN my right to accept Money Orders & Checks.
3) Detailed Seller Ratings are the contrivance of NO - MIND / NO - TALENT NITWITS.
4) I will NEVER go Paperless as That is Godless, Invisible Currency, a Cardinal NO - NO according to the Rules of NYM (Arts). "In God We Trust".
5) Listing & Final Value Fees are at UNcalled - for Levels.
Ebay Sells Nothing. They sit on their Butt and collect Fees. We are the ones doing ALL THE LABOR.
The Value of Ebay's Service is now WAY Over Rated.
Sign the Petition to REMOVE JOHN DONAHOE.
Search it.....SIGN IT.
12-12-2008 @ 12:12PM
Mark Benedict said...
Establishing 10 years of 100% feedback is apparently not good enough. They have restricted me from listing items I habe sold on ebay for a decade. Only response is that it is because of trust& safety issues. So, 100% feedback for 10 years is no good. Then I look at plenty of listings by people with worse feedback and much less time selling the items I am restricted to sell. I quit. Ebay has lost a long time client.
12-29-2008 @ 3:19PM
tree411 said...
eBay seller here for over 10 years. I have been hunting down an alternative for about a year and came into Bonanzle...Never left..Great community of sellers and YES buyers..You can import feedback and listings..No fees to list. Small fee for sales..I call it the breathe of fresh air place...Check it out... http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/tree411