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Much Ado about EBay

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There is a lot that can be said about EBay on the occasion of its 10th anniversary convention here in San Jose, CA. Its statistics speak for themselves. Online currency system PayPal’s president Jeff Jordan said that PayPal transacted $6.2 billion in the first quarter of 2005 �� accounting for nine percent of e-commerce in the US. But PayPal has its history, and its detractors. It is rumored that Google intends to launch an online payment system of its own.

In December, 2004 EBay launched a special area dedicated to used computers and other electronics, EBay Rethink.

Used computers are unique among reuse and recycling markets because almost every owner of a personal computer is now connected to the Internet. Every single EBay user owns at least one computer, is active in the market and is connected to the Internet. The Internet may or may not be a great vehicle for enabling glass and newspaper recycling, but the Internet, and EBay, are definitely places to make computer reuse, recycling and responsible disposal opportunities known, inexpensively and efficiently.

But consider the differences between disposal and resale or donation. What are some of the defining characteristics of disposal, donations, and resale ? What about other kinds of electronics, like video players, MP3 players, cell phones and game boxes ?

The EBay marketplace benefits from odd, unique and collectible items being shown to many millions of users. But consumer electronics are not like that, they are mass manufactured. The contents of one model is completely interchangeable with another like it. They are made of complex parts, the technology is rapidly advancing, and there are a lot more available every year.

EBay wants to increase its sales overseas, right now more than one third of its total sales. Is it necessary to sell or donate used consumer electronics over great distances, when the parts are exactly the same? EBay is known for bringing a common market to a huge geographic range, so people in New York City can easily view and purchase items from Texas, Alaska, California, and thirty two international markets. But is it efficient to send a single computer thousands of miles, when it is very likely that there is a good customer in your neighborhood? These questions deserve consideration, and the answers are changing as markets develop.

There are other online sources of market-based transactions - RecycleNet being one of the oldest. Overstock.com and Amazon are often mentioned in the commercial sector, sites like the nonprofit LA Shares and California’s CalMax are other examples.

Looking at the whole computer and electronics life cycle, EBay is only part of the answer.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 25th, 2005 at 11:48 pm and is filed under Systems, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Much Ado about EBay”

Administrator Says:
November 3rd, 2005 at 3:58 pm
note: EBay has just finished a promotion, called Rethink Week Oct. 24-31 2005, encouraging its sellers to use and promote ReThink. stay tuned…

One Response to “Much Ado about EBay”

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