ESSAY PAPER
TOPIC: Ebay COURSE: Enterprise Information Systems May, 2015
Maša Omazić Mateja Radović
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Essay scope and purpose
Obviously, the case study research method is particularly well-suited to Information System research, and since the interest of this research was to study of Electronic Commerce in eBay Institution, the interest has shifted from technical to organizational issues.
The main purpose of this research was to verify a successful ecommerce business model, from a strategic perspective. eBay Inc., hence, selected to fulfil the research requirements, i.e. an accessible database, adequate research works, and most importantly distinctive business model.
1.2. Data sources and collection methods
Although we have long used the Web page, and heard a lot about it in everyday life, for this seminar, we had study carefully and we have dedicated ourselves to reading various articles, with a view to better write this paper in more detail and elaborate topic. List of articles and pages we have used: http://www.ebay.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay http://www.ebayenterprise.com/about/company http://ebay.about.com/od/ebaylifestyle/a/el_history.htm http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=EBAY https://www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/pay-on-ebay
http://www.dailyfinance.com/category/ebay/ http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/ebay/ http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/eBay/all http://abc7news.com/tag/ebay/ http://tamebay.com/ http://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/ebay
1.3. Content
PART TWO 2.1. Short description 2.2. Ebay homepage 2.3. Ebay screenshot PART THREE 3.1 Technical requirements PART FOUR 4.1. Ebay history PART FIVE 5.1 Ebay functions 5.2. Tutorial-how to use Ebay PART SIX 6.1. Profile creation PART SEVEN 7.1. Business usage PART EIGHT 8.1. Competition
PART TWO
2.1. Short description
Ebay is one of the most popular ways to buy and sell goods and services on the internet. It's a website where individuals and businesses can buy or sell new or second-hand items, from books and clothes to cars and holidays.
eBay’s key benefits and features: Using eBay is a good way to make a bit of money from clearing out your cupboards and getting rid of things you don’t need any more. To buy or sell on eBay, you must register, but this process is free.
Ebay gives you a choice when purchasing – to ‘Buy it now’ at a price displayed or to bid for the item in an online auction. You can check the reliability of a seller by reading feedback from previous customers. As a seller, eBay will charge you a fee, and as a buyer, look out for postage and packaging costs that might be added on top.
2.2. Web service homepage http://www.ebay.com/
2.3. Ebay screenshot
PART THREE 3.1. Technical requirements What are the requirements to sell on eBay? Before you can list your first item on eBay you'll need to: 1.
Provide with a valid credit card, debit card, or bank account information.
2.
Let know how you would like to pay your seller fees.
3. Select the payment methods you'll accept.
4.
Make sure your Feedback Profile is public.
5.
Become PayPal verified.
PART FOUR
4.1 Web page history
Bay was founded in Pierre Omidyar's San Jose living room back in September 1995. It was from the start meant to be a marketplace for the sale of goods and services for individuals.
In 1998, Pierre and his cofounder Jeff Skoll brought in Meg Whitman to sustain the success. Meg had studied at the Harvard Business School and had learned the importance of branding at companies such as Hasbro.
Meg culled her senior staff from companies such as Pepsico and Disney, created an experienced management team with an average of 20 years of business experience and built a strong vision for the company -- that eBay is a company that's in the business of connecting people, not selling them things.
They quickly shed the image of only auctioning collectibles and moved into an array of upscale markets where the average sale price (ASP) is higher. ASP is a key metric in determining eBay's transaction fees, so increasing the ASP became an important item. By forging partnerships with namebrands such as GM, Disney and Sun, eBay has managed to do exactly that. Sun has sold $10 million worth of equipment and it now lists between 20 and 150 items per day.
PART FIVE
5.1. Webpage functions
EBay serves two main purposes. The first is to effectively expose your item to millions of people on the web. eBay is the first place many people go to look for items, both new and used, so placing your item here means that you have a much higher chance of people finding out about it.
The second, and equally important reason, is that eBay gives your site and company tremendous exposure at a very low cost. For as little as 30 cents, you can create an auction which highlights your product—and can direct people to your web site. That’s incredibly cheap advertising that’s totally focused towards people who are searching for what you have to offer.
5.2. Tutorial-how to use Ebay
PayPal and eBay work hand-in-hand in order to add convenience for buyers on eBay when making purchases. The initial steps to set up your PayPal account with eBay may be a bit lengthy but the next time you buy on eBay using PayPal you will not have to go through all of the setup steps again. Once your eBay and PayPal accounts are linked, PayPal becomes the fastest method for making payments on eBay. eBay's the original place to sell stuff online, and nearly two decades after it was first launched it's still going strong. You can use it to sell anything from your used iPhone to an entire business' worth of inventory. And yet, it's changed surprisingly little over the years, and you'll get a flash-back to the '90's when you're listing stuff for sell. That's where this tutorial comes in. It'll walk you through the strange features of eBay you'll need to make use of as you start selling stuff on the original online store.
Welcome to eBay
Using eBay, users can buy, directly sell or auction almost any product imaginable. There are primarily two ways of selling products on eBay:
Product Auction: In product auctions, sellers determine a minimum starting price for their product, list it for a certain time period and invite buyers to bid for the product. The highest bidder at the end of the auction time gets the product.
Fixed Price Model: The seller lists the product with a fixed price and the first buyer to approach the seller gets the product.
There are thousands of success stories about common people who managed to start full time businesses using the strength and reach of eBay, but even if you’re not interested in using it as a full-time income generator, eBay is still very useful in helping you getting rid of any excess merchandise or domestic products that you no longer use. You’ll be surprised how much extra money you can make simply by selling things lying in the dark corners of your house!
What Can You Sell on eBay?
Almost anything! There are literally millions of products listed on eBay from every product category imaginable. The product categories consist of top level parent categories that are further expanded into several subcategories. Some of the main categories include:
•
Antiques
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Apparel and Clothing
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Art
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eBay Motors
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Baby
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Books
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Business & Industrial
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Cell Phones & Accessories
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Coins
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Collectables
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Computers
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Consumer Electronics
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Health & Beauty
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Real Estate
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Sports
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Travel
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Everything Else
• Each of these categories is further expanded into multiple subcategories. So really, there’s no limit to the kind of products you can sell on eBay - except for illegal products, of course.
Creating a Product Listing Creating a product listing on eBay is easy. But, developing the right content for your listing is crucial in order to attract buyers. There are millions of buyers and sellers on eBay, so at any given time, your product would be competing with thousands of other suppliers offering the same product. Therefore, it’s important to differentiate yourself from the others.
Thankfully, even differentiating yourself is not as hard as it sounds. A large number of suppliers on eBay never bother to list their products the recommended way. Many of them enter the most basic and minimum required information without which the product cannot be listed. However, if you spend a little extra time researching and filling out all the information comprehensively, your listing would look much better and more attractive than the others.
PART SIX
6.1. Profile creation Step 1:
Create PayPal and eBay accounts if you do not already have existing accounts on these 2 websites. The accounts must be created before they can be linked for using PayPal payment to pay for items on eBay. Use the "register" link above the search bar on the eBay homepage and fill out the online registration form if you need to create a new eBay account. Click on the "Sign up" link on the PayPal homepage and follow the on-screen steps if you need to create a new account for PayPal.
Step 2: Open the eBay website and log into the eBay account that you want your PayPal account to be linked to.
Step 3: Hover your mouse cursor over "My eBay" at the top of the page and select "Account."
Step 4: Select "PayPal Account" from the left menu options.
Step 5: Press the "Link My PayPal Account" button.
Step 6: Log in to the PayPal account that you want to link so you can authorize and complete the linking process (by proving that you are the owner of the PayPal as well as eBay account).
PART SEVEN 7.1. Business usage
Get great feedback and DSRs: The key to getting positive feedback and ratings is excellent customer service. Always represent your item accurately and honestly. Make your terms of sale easy to find and understand, especially concerning payment terms, shipping, and returns. Respond to questions quickly, be patient and courteous —and be sure to leave positive feedback to encourage your buyers to do the same.
Do your research: Before listing, learn all about how eBay displays search results and find out if your item does best in a Fixed Price format or an Auction-style listing. After listing, use the Listing Analytics app to get insight into the visibility, clicks and sales your listings are generating. Learn about your best and worst performers and revise listings right from the app to maximize sales. Detailed business analysis sets the most successful sellers apart. Track trends using third party tools such as Marketplace Research by Terapeak and analyze your eBay sales performance, understand key growth contributors, and identify opportunities and areas for improvement with eBay Sales Reports and your eBay Stores traffic reports.
Use the Seller Dashboard to monitor your performance. You can access this essential tool through My eBay. Among other important information, you can view details about your PowerSeller or Top-rated seller status, policy compliance, and buyer satisfaction.
Encourage multiple purchases: Offer combined shipping discounts to drive additional sales. Encourage buyers to purchase multiple items by offering discounts on multiple items. Or, use Markdown Manager for your Store Inventory or Fixed Price listings to create a limited time sale or free shipping to create a sense of purchase urgency. Use our new multi-variation listing format to create one listing showing all the sizes and colors you have of a single item.
Open an eBay Store: Get from up to 150 to 2,500 FREE listings* per month when you showcase your listings in a fully customizable eBay Store. You also get special access to advanced design, marketing, and reporting features plus dedicated toll-free customer support. When you subscribe to an eBay store you’re given a powerful suite of tools to help you build, manage, promote, and track your business on eBay. In addition, Premium and Anchor Stores receive many additional perks such as Selling Manager Pro for free.
Save time with seller tools: Whether you sell ten, a hundred, or thousands of items, eBay seller tools can streamline your work from start to finish. List more and automate your selling process to increase your efficiency, maximize sales, and increase profits. Start saving time by automating some of your every day tasks using Selling Manager and Turbo Lister. Both are free. More advanced tools are available as you grow. New applications by third parties are available directly in the applications tab of Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro. Take advantage of the applications' free trial offers to find the one that is right for you.
Drive more traffic to your listings: Increase your visibility among Internet shoppers to get more bids and boost your final selling prices. Optimize your listings for search engines by using keywords in your title and description. Share your expertise, enhance your reputation and drive additional traffic to your listings by writing Reviews & Guides about your top-selling products—it's easy, effective, and free.
Go global: Now that only domestic DSRs count towards seller benefits, you can reach buyers around the world risk free. Describe your item with global sizes, clearly specify shipping destinations and rates, and take extra care when communicating with international buyers. International trading is a great way to expand your market and your sales. The new ship-to location control feature makes it easier than ever to ship to only the countries you want to.
Source products on eBay: Increase profits by purchasing bulk lots for re-sale right on eBay. Find great deals by searching for wholesale lots in most categories on eBay.
Get tips and resources to grow your business: Visit the Seller Center for tips, best practices and important solutions to help your business.
PART EIGHT
8.1 Competition
Since participating in the auction industry requires only a web presence, at first sight the threat of competition looms heavily over eBay. In fact, two online heavyweights have entered the market, Yahoo and Amazon. Amazon in partnership with the well known auctioneer Sotheby's.
These (and many other) competitors have not only longer operating histories, but larger customer base and greater brand recognition. So why does eBay currenly control more than 80% of the online auction market, with Yahoo and Amazon lagging far behind?
In our opinion, the answer lies in a combination of penny pinching and first mover advantage. eBay utilized their first mover advantage admirably, quickly and constantly building a community of buyers and sellers.
The network effect is important in this market, since the number of buyers and sellers increases the value of the service for other buyers and sellers. If eBay remains price competitive with its competitors there is minimal incentive for the users to switch between auction sites, meaning it becomes more and more difficult for a competitor to displace eBay's trading community.
A different kind of threat is not a direct competitor but a service which can act as a substitute to auctioning, of which Half.com is a good example. Half.com designed a site which allows people to sell used books, music, movies and games at a fixed price. eBay dealt with that threat by buying the company and experimenting with adding their own fixed-price option to their auction listings.