Well, eBay Express has certainly turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of 2006. Lots of sizzle but no steak. eBay promoted it, but where are the buyers?
The talk on Wall Street is the thing’s going to be scrapped:
“It’s a flawed concept,” says financial analyst Philip Remek from Guzman & Co., who thinks Express has little chance of success and will likely be scrapped. “This effort will bear little fruit and potentially will be a management distraction. I don’t see any revenue driver in eBay Express.”
I had hoped Express would provide a real alternative to Amazon Marketplace, but that’s a pipe dream now. And whatever happened to Half.com? I’ve had about five sales there all year!
Related posts:
4 Comments
Why Ebay didn’t promote Ebay for its auctions and Half for fixed priced items together in all their advertising is beyond me. Half is an established company. Most people who shop online know what it is. Why create another brand when an established one already exists.
A senior executive needing to justify his/her existence within the company is probably the reason Express came to be.
Can Ebay pump up Half for another shot at Amazon and Google? Stranger things have happened.
Jim, I agree completely.
I just read something today that suggested that Half has been up for sale for quite a while. If that’s true, that would explain why Half has been in limbo for a while.
However, that doesn’t explain why eBay tried reinventing the Half wheel with Express.
As they say, “If it ain’t broke….”
I had pretty good Half sales, until November, and since then, just a few sales a week.
Perhaps people are not being directed to half from Ebay anymore if it is for sale.
The Hindenburg photo is pretty funny!
Don’t ask me why I didn’t notice it until now. I think I’ll put my Led Zeppelin I CD in the stereo tonight for old times sake.