Mini Research Project on eBay

About eBay

eBay was launched in 1995 and started as a place to trade collectables and hard-to-find items. Today, eBay is The World's Online Marketplace®, enabling trade on a local, national and
international basis. With a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses, eBay offers an online platform where millions of items are traded each day.

Purpose of eBay

eBay allows buyers and sellers all over the world to interact with one another and carry out online transactions in the comfort of their homes and offices. This is a major breakthrough as compared to the “brick-and-mortar” stores of yesteryear, where consumers have to visit a store that has a physical existence in order to do their shopping.

Business Model

ebay adopts a Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) online auction e-commerce business model whereby individual sellers pose their items for sale on its website, for other consumers to browse and make their purchases. Consumers can also exchange their items with one another on the website.

Mode of Payment

eBay provides a secured payment system. Payment methods available to consumers include PayPal, wire transfer, money order, cheque, credit card and cash on delivery. Most sellers prefer payment by PayPal as it is fast, secure, easy, cost effective, and global.

Website Features

eBay is organised into five main sections: Buy, Sell, My eBay, Community and Help. The links to these sections are at the upper-most right hand corner of the home page.

Buy

eBay’s products range from apparel to electronics to furniture, thus providing a wide range of items for buyers to choose from. Under the “Buy” section, products are categorised accordingly, which allows consumers to locate their preferred items with ease. Further sub-categories are put in place for more efficient browsing. The search bar is an additional tool that allows consumers to locate their desired items within the shortest possible time.

Consumers are required to register with eBay if they wish to bid, buy or sell on eBay. Buyers can bid or place their order with a mere click of a button, making it extremely convenient for them. When in doubt, they may e-mail the seller or have their queries answered by leaving a question on the seller’s auction page. Buyers have the option of “watching” their preferred item, which means that they will be aware of the latest updates regarding the item and be notified when the auction date draws near. On top of that, the auction page provides other information such as the seller rating, and links to other listed items for sale.

Sell

In the “Sell” section, sellers are encouraged to first research on items similar to those which they intend to sell. Through this process, they are able to gain access to more information on pricing, features, and key "buzz words" that will attract buyers. Other best practices that sellers may adopt are to start off the bid with low prices, tips on listing items, as well as tips on how to build and maintain a high positive feedback rating.

My eBay

Consumers are required to register and become a member of eBay before they are allowed access into this section. Upon signing in, consumers will be able to view a summary of their buying and selling activities. Customisation of this particular section is allowed, thus lending a personal touch to consumers’ online trading experience.

Community

The community page is a place where consumers can interact with one another and exchange tips and pointers. Varying topics are posted in the discussion boards and consumers are entitled to make their own contributions by replying to existing threads or starting a new one. “My World” is a category within this section and allows consumers to communicate with other eBay users. This way, both local and international members of eBay will be in touch, hence uniting the entire eBay community as one. General announcements will be posted in the Community section, and are archived according to their respective months.

Help

Commonly asked questions are located here, and consumers with queries may refer to this section for assistance. Help topics are listed according to an A-Z Index, so consumers may source for solutions efficiently. eBay also has a page dedicated to the protection of buyers’ interests. It lists several guidelines and processes that can help to resolve transactional problems or disputes with sellers.

Website Strengths

The sitemap located at the top right hand corner allows for easy navigation. Upon clicking the button, consumers are directed to a webpage with links to the respective sections of the website.

The “eBay explained” section provides guidelines for buying and selling, as well as information on eBay as an e-commerce platform. For instance, the buying procedures are explained in simple layman terms with appropriate pictures to illustrate the various steps. This makes it very user-friendly for first time buyers.

Buyers can also check the seller's eBay reputation by clicking on the Feedback rating (the number in brackets) beside the seller's User ID. They can read what other buyers have commented about the seller's reliability, product quality and level of service, before they decide to enter into a contract of sale with the seller.

The website ensures security as always. To assure consumers that eBay is a safe place to buy and sell, they will be asked to provide credit or debit card details. This is for verification purposes only. Sellers and buyers rank security as a primary concern when doing business online, and going through the verification process will enable you to confirm your identity, which would increase the security of the eBay and PayPal networks.

Website Weaknesses

The overall design of the eBay website is not as attractive or colourful as the personal websites of other online merchants.
Another drawback is the overwhelming amount of information available to consumers. Though it may prove helpful to consumers to have detailed information at their fingertips, there also exists the danger that the content and layout may prove too complicated for some users, resulting in confusion.

Conclusion

As a result of an increasingly fast-paced modern world, consumers are faced with tighter schedules, and hence have lesser shopping time. Most of them may turn to shopping online instead as it is more convenient and time-saving. Transactions are finalised through the click of a button, and purchased items are delivered right to their doorstep.
The need for shops to have a brick-and-mortar presence is gradually decreasing. As more people turn to e-commerce, websites like eBay will continue to prosper and grow in numbers. As information technology becomes more advanced, eBay will be able to reach out to more and more consumers in the years to come.