Ebay Analysis

The name "eBay" (http://www.ebay.com) is synonymous with "online auctions". Founded in September 1995, the company qualifies as a genuine cultural and economic phenomenon (Bunnell, 2000, p.vii). The site can be credited with creating and defining an entire industry and has remained the dominant force in the online auction world, with anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of the person-to-person online auction market. eBay is also the 15th most visited site (http://www.MediaMetrix.com) on the web. In the face of large competitors such as eBay, internet powerhouse, Amazon.com Auctions (http://www.amazon.com/auctions), is battling for online auction dominance over eBay. Amazon is not just a bookseller but also a genuine e-commerce platform for online merchants. With the addition of online auctions to its already colossal department store, Amazon is a major player for online auction supremacy.

eBay is able to condense over four million items into thirteen main categories that are quite user friendly (ApnaGuide.com, 2000). They are easily navigated and buyers are able to find what they're looking for without any troubles. Whereas Amazon.com Auctions can get a bit category crazy. Not only do some categories become needlessly rough (Jewellery), while others are just too general (Tools), but sometimes there is no clear division between subcategories. Take, for example, Home Accessories, Home Appliances, and Household Items in Home & Garden, where buyers have multiple places to look for the same type of item and might miss an auction in which they would have participated. Just to demonstrate the popularity of both sites, below are three searches that were conducted:

Search Item: "Throwing Copper"

eBay: 30 results, 7 of which had bids, highest number of bids: 2

Amazon.com Auctions: 1 result, of which 0 had bids

Search Item: "the matrix dvd"

eBay: 41 results, 28 of which had bids, highest number of bids: 14

Amazon.com Auctions: 38 results, of which 1 had bids, highest number of bids:1

Search Item: "the hobbit"

eBay: 146 results, 65 of which had bids, highest number of bids: 10

Amazon.com Auctions: 21 results, of which 0 had bids

From a buyers perspective, with inventory and selection, eBay stand in a league of their own. Browsing the site for items, you'll find everything from baby strollers and rubble from the Berlin wall to cutting-edge mobile phones and talking Teddy Bears (ApnaGuide.com, 2000). On the other hand, at Amazon.com Auctions, even though there is a substantial amount on offer, it just does not receive the magnitude of traffic that eBay receives daily. This is evident in the searches conducted, where eBay returned greater results and more bidding activity (see above). When registering as a buyer on eBay, users are required to accept the terms on which eBay offers you access to their services as described in the 'User Agreement' (please find enclosed both sites user agreements). At Amazon.com, no such process exists, and if users of the service wish to view such agreements, they must go in search for it themselves, which can be tedious and time consuming, as it is buried in the help section of the website (Help > Using Your Account > Marketplace, Auctions & zShops > Participation Agreement).

Both sites have appropriate security measures, featuring secure server's, usernames, passwords and verification services. When signing in, users are given the choice of logging in using a secure or standard server. In both cases, the secure server takes longer, but means that personal information is kept safe 100% of the time. Once logged in, users are able to view the auction sites privacy agreement, detailing the privacy practices with customer information. If buyers are cautious in any way, both sites enable you to instantly check the reputation or business practices of anyone. The feedback forum is a place where users leave comments about each other's buying and selling experiences. If you're a bidder, check your seller's feedback profile before you place a bid to learn about the other person's reputation with previous buyers. If you are a seller,