Oh, three points, I guess.
BIDS in most cases never takes possession of this product, rather they act as a middle man...
Assuming this is true (I'm genuinely curious to know if it is, and how you know), how is this different from drop-shipped goods, a practice followed by thousands of companies everywhere? Physical possession isn't required for it to conform to standard practices for reporting revenue, and in fact it's sharp business to avoid it. BIDS at minimum takes legal possession, in that they're billed for the goods and re-sell them. [Edit: in fact, I'd guess that physical is less important than legal possession, as consignment stores don't report as revenues the goods sold by them but the commissions generated thereby]
Not to belabour the point (which has been dealt with on this thread many times, most capably by Cameron in an extensive and well written post a few days ago), but EBay's model is entirely different. They take a fee for permitting goods to be posted on their site, and a commission on the sale. Your (undefined) method of calculating revenue is appropriate for them; they never take even legal possession of the goods, much less physical.
And no, I don't believe you're so naive as to believe your own definition, or you're not as sophisticated as you make out you are. I'm expanding on the subject so as to explain to others who may not understand how different the business models of the two companies are.
Finally, are you recommending to UBid and other Bid.com-similar auction companies that they, too, restate their revenues? Are you busy on those threads enlightening their shareholders?
WUWT |
