After reviewing the e-bay selection I believe a major fact in this selection that stood out to me was that eBay has become the world’s leading Web-based community of consumer-to-consumer auctions using an entertaining format that allowed people to buy and sell collectibles. This site has given people the ability to connect to others and not just sell them things. In 2003, the company had over 2.6 million auctions per day and over 94.9 million registered users. EBay revenues have grown from $32 million in 1996 to more than $2 billion in 2003 which equates to an impressive 82.6% compound annual growth rate. With more than 447.2 million in profits, eBay has become the Internet’s leaders in terms of financial performance. By the start of 2004, eBay was on its way to meeting the ambitious goals it had set for itself in earlier years which was revenue of 3 billion dollars.
EBay then ran into a problem: As, the company expanded beyond the online auction industry with the use of fixed pricing formats, rival industry such as Amazon began to step up as well (E-Business, 2009). This situation left eBay wondering how to once again position itself as a clear top competitor in both online auctioning and e-tailing. (To analyze this case a bit more accurately, I would most likely need more current facts about eBay and its online auction/e-tail competitors.)
In an effort to maintain its stellar growth against the threat of competition, there is a multitude of problems with the company that eBay could attempt to fix. Common complaints that consumers have about eBay include their higher fixed prices and PayPal fees, and dishonest sales (Thomas, 2013). Also, sales are down more than usual in the online auction/e-tailing industry because of the current state of the economy.
In order for eBay to stay on top, the company might consider lowering some of its prices on items that have not sold in a timely manner. With the wake of the recession they should extend their marketing to...