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Technology Stocks : OnSale Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CoffeePot who wrote (1575)	11/10/1998 1:53:00 PM
From: j_b	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4903

<<I just don't think too many consumers will find the idea of buying someone else's used equipment that appealing........>> I think the millions of people that buy at flea markets would disagree with you. It appears that you are limiting your outlook to computer or electronic equipment. Far more is being auctioned, including antiques, collectibles, used books, etc., all of which are, of course, used. Realistically, there is no limit on what EBAY or the Yahoo/ONSL auctions can sell, including much of the new or refurbished equipment currently seen on the ONSL site. <<ONSl will probably do more business last Q (57mm up from 24mm) than EBAY will do all year>> Maybe, but with EBAY it's all margin. To do a fair comparison, you'd have to figure out EBAY's gross merchandise sales amount. Otherwise, all you can compare would be ONSL's margin with EBAY's margin. How do those compare (I haven't bothered to look, because EBAY is priced so ridiculously high right now). <<the company prefers to be able to control what it buys by purchasing directly from the manufacturer/retailer as opposed to acting solely as a agent,, possibly because margins are higher this way. >> One big factor in owning the merchandise, is you can control the quality of the merchandise, the shipping, and the sales experience. One of the major issues EBAY is dealing with is potential fraud (and unhappy customers). That's why they provide an escrow service (for an additional fee). EBAY can never really gain the customers' trust, where ONSL can.