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Technology Stocks : eBay - Superb Internet Business Model -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: McNabb Brothers who wrote (2481)	4/5/1999 3:20:00 AM
From: Doug Fowler	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7772

Hank: Thank you for the kind comments. My views toward eBay are primarily bullish, and Tom provides a good counter-balance. (I happen to think my projections for the 1st quarter will be close, but that Tom has brought to light a problem that will affect eBay if it doesn't pick up on the traffic.) I believe MediaMetrix is where Tom gets his data, With regard to people getting petered out on eBay: I think it is quite true that MANY people, when first exposed to eBay, go through a phase of infatuation, and buy a lot of stuff. (I know it happened to me.) It wears off after a few months, and then I think people still buy from eBay - they just don't buy as much. However, there are still a lot of people who have not yet discovered eBay. So, there are still a lot of people who will go through that infatuation period. Here is where I see the real opportunity for eBay: items that you and I would have tired of in the past, and allowed to gather dust, or perhaps even discarded, are now items that we can get some money for. We are willing to take much less than what we paid, even though the condition may still be very good. On the other side, people will pay us $30 for something they might have to pay $100 or more for. eBay is poised to destroy the (classical) classified advertising business, and at the same time, make the market for classified advertising much bigger than it ever was. Running a classified in a local newspaper is a pain in the butt, and I am not too fond of strangers coming to my house to "kick" the tires, and barter me down. eBay is cheaper, more convenient, and gives me nationwide (even international) exposure. I also feel a lot more confident that I got a fair price. I must say I am a bit concerned about Amazon's entry into this market. I hope eBay sees it as a call to get very aggressive in bringing in the buyers, and as an opportunity to get a little more friendly with the sellers.