ebay - sales lower than expected

Oh no, I agree with Dave Brooker.

Will John Donahoe still get a huge end-of-year bonus?

Yes.

At the bottom of the ladder, incompetence is rewarded with the sack. At the top, with huge WODGING amounts of dosh.

ts_aly2000 wrote: »

eBay are going to the wall.

In times of hardship people become frugal and start hunting down the bargains. On eBay though, they've driven everyone away.

Let's look at some facts here. Yesterday they announced their 2nd quarter earnings for 2008.

Revenue
$2.2 BILLION Vs $1.8b in 2007 Q2

Profit
$460 million Vs $376m Q2 '07 (20% up)

Paypal Revenue
$602m Vs $454m in Q2 '07 (33% growth in 12 months?!?!)

Total GMV (Value of Items sold through eBay)
$15.68 Billion Vs $14.64 Q2 '07

Active users (at least 1 transaction in 12 months)
84.5m Vs 83.3m

Active listings
666.9m Vs 559.2m Q2 '07

Bear in mind that these figures are only for a 3 month window - for annual results, multiply by 4 (ish)

Their projections for 2008 revenue have been adjusted, but they are still expecting make $8.8bn to $9.05bn in revenue, at a gross margin of 32%.

It's hardly a sign of "going to the wall" is it? If I ran a business that grew by 33% in an uncertain economic climate, AND took full year earnings to $9bn, I'd be expecting a $25m annual package as well.


The BBC story relates to the fact that in recent years eBay have upped their year-end earnings projections, but this year they have not - due a number of internal and external factors. Remember, eBay make their money by a percentage of the final value fee, so if the average selling price drops (becasue people are buying cheaper items in times of lean) then so do the earnings per sale - however, if ebay are growing at 33% year on year, the average selling price will have to take a huge drop to offset this...

ts_aly2000 wrote: »

In times of hardship people become frugal and start hunting down the bargains. On eBay though, they've driven everyone away.

Although ebay maybe charging fees to sellers, I think it is the individual sellers on ebay that set the prices, usually based on market forces such as supply and demand, rather than eBay saying "You will charge the buyer £150 for this scanner"

Here; Misco - A3 Mustek Scanner, £85inc. http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=290889&CatId=727

And here; eBay - A3 Scanner, beggars belief. £175, £149, £95, £154. http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=a3+scanner

Let's look at this from a different perspective.

You are a private individual and you have a Mustek A3 scanner for sale, so you come to MSE and ask "I have a scanner, where can I sell it for the best price?" MSE members say "Ebay, as they are on there for up to £175..."

Also look at the amount of posts on here that are along the lines of "I sold one of my old toys for £50 on eBay, and just to think I was going to lob it in the charity bag" - and everyone goes :T

As a buyer, you say "I want a Mustek A3 Scanner, where can I get it cheap?" MSE Members say "They are on eBay for £47 inc delivery" Ok, so that example is a refurb, but if price (money saving) is the key factor in your decision, then refurb is not a major issue.


So what's the answer?

In my opinion, it is to compare like for like across various venues depending on your needs. Sometimes ebay will win, sometimes it wont. Sometimes, people can not be arrised to search through comparison sites, and just assume "ebay is cheaper" so go straight to it and splash the cash...