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Could we see a decline in online auctions?

The huge success of online auction websites can be attributed to the monster online auction website eBay. EBay was established in September of 1995 for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and small businesses.

Ebay claims to have a community of more than a hundred million members from all around the world, making it the largest and most popular shopping destination on the internet.

However, with this being said does the term "auction website" no longer hold the same meaning as it once held 12 years ago? When I think of "auction website" I think of a place where items are listed for a minimal price and then members bid on the items for a specified amount of time and at the end of the time the member with the highest bid wins the item.

Now EBay offers other solutions to sell products on their "online auction website". They offer Buy it Now and Fixed Price options. With the Buy it Now feature members can still bid on the items but have the option to immediately purchase the item at the higher buy it now price. For example there might be a cell phone listed for a starting bid of $30 and a buy it now price of $100. Members can either bid the minimum bid of $30 for the cell phone and hope they win or if the think the $100 price tag is a good deal they can immediately purchase the phone for $100. The fixed price format is basically like a physical store price. You set a price for the item and if a member wants to purchase the item immediately they can for the specific price. Sellers can also list multiple items with the fixed price option and the item will be avaliable until all the items are sold.

My point with this article is to show you that the original concept of an online auction is slowly vanishing. More and more sellers are listing items for Buy It Now and fixed pricing and also setting up Ebay stores which only allow fixed pricing and buy it now purchases. It's getting harder and harder to get a "great deal" on items because sellers are pushing for higher profits.

I'm not saying that EBay itself is falling as a company, it's obvious from looking at their balance sheet that their profits have continued to increase over the years. I'm just saying that the concept of online auctions is slowly falling. More and more registered sellers are choosing the buy it now, fixed price, and Ebay stores as an option to sell inventory. As this continues I think it will be harder to find those once great deals you used to be able to find with online auctions!

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