SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Technology Stocks : eBay - Superb Internet Business Model -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: WMG who wrote (619)11/1/1998 9:53:00 PM
From: thebeach  Respond to of 7772
 
Ebay website is down currently,please help get it running,I need to bid on a bunch of investor manuals.



To: WMG who wrote (619)11/2/1998 1:21:00 AM
From: zurdo  Respond to of 7772
 
WMG,
Thanks for the viewpoint! You may be right, but you've got to remember they've been saying that about many stocks that keep going up, up, and up...How do you really measure overvalue??? Everybody has a different idea about what constitutes overvalue...Ebay looks to me like it is positioned to go up for a decent period of time before it is affected by the bad things you talk about.....A lot of money can be made on Ebay before that happens...You give it a year..That is a long time...I would not short it if I were you...By the way, Barrons negative article is a very bullish sign to me...They want to pull it down for their fat cat clients to gather up and then make a killing on it.... Happy Trading!!!!



To: WMG who wrote (619)11/2/1998 3:23:00 AM
From: BomboochaBoy  Respond to of 7772
 
Not so long ago, Barron's was NEGATIVE on Amazon.com.

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, Barron's is quite the contrarian indicator. Just ask the Amazon bulls and shorts.




To: WMG who wrote (619)11/2/1998 4:24:00 AM
From: Doug Fowler  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 7772
 
First, Barron's has been bearish about the overall market since the Dow crossed 4000.

Sure, the barriers to entry for online auctions are relatively small.

But, what is a huge barrier to success, is a large volume of buyers and sellers.

Right now, nobody else comes even REMOTELY close to the combination found on eBay.

Yahoo Auctions are currently a big joke. Nobody (well, almost nobody) is bidding/buying. All other things equal, all the sellers on eBay would move to Yahoo in a minute, because Yahoo is FREE.

But all other things are NOT equal. With eBay, a seller gets a lot more traffic (a lot more people looking at his/her auction), and a lot more bidding.

The seller gets a better price, such that even when you subtract the eBay fees, the seller still makes more money than selling it through the trafficless Yahoo Auctions.

Would you rather pay $500 a month rent to be in a mall where you had foot traffic of 1000 potential buyers a day, or would you rather get rent for FREE, and foot traffic of 10 people per day?

That is the competitive advantage of eBay.

Until such times as the competitors can change that dynamic, eBay will dominate. And eBay's margins will remain high until then.

And the longer Yahoo screws around and doesn't get inventive in bringing in BOTH quality buyers and sellers, the harder it will be for them to "catch up" to eBay. Yahoo seems to think all they have to do is put a little button on their home page, and offer auctions for free. That is the sum total of their strategy for beating eBay.

eBay CAN be beaten, but so far, nobody is employing the right strategy. Hint: What is BETTER than free?

I will agree with you that eBay stock os overvalued right now, but I would contend that Onsale stock is even more overvalued, and Yahoo stock is certainly not cheap.



To: WMG who wrote (619)11/2/1998 9:31:00 AM
From: McNabb Brothers  Respond to of 7772
 
WMG,

Thank you for the Barrons article, and a special thanks to Barron's for the negative article, for I feel very very good about my long position in EBAY now! Never ever go with how Barron's reports! Should be a very very good day for the longs in EBAY thanks to Barron's!

Hank