Have you heard of eBay Express? What about Half.com? If not, you arent alone.
I have seen a lot of those goofy commercials for eBay on TV but I havent seen anything about Express or Half. While Half.com has been around for years, it never seemed to garner much attention. eBay Express is new this year and it too seems largely unknown although it is an emphasis of the company.
I think eBay is a victim of its own success in somwe ways. There is so much stuff there, the experience is overwhelming for many people and that creates a major barrier to entry for new customers.
One way to address this problem is by brand extension - create new companies that slice of pieces of the eBay pie and privide a specialized service that is more targeted and easier to use. Hence Half and Express. I totally think that is the right way to go for eBay but it is proving slow if not difficult for them.
EBay's Bid to Go Beyond Auctions Isn't Selling Well
December 20, 2006
Wall Street Journal
Earlier this year, Shelley Mitchell enthusiastically signed up to the eBay Express site launched in April. The Hollywood, Fla., resident was already selling vintage punk clothes on eBay's main site at a Web page called Addicted to Rockabilly and Punk. The main site lets people sell merchandise either through an auction process or at a fixed price with a feature called "Buy It Now," but eBay Express lists only fixed-price items, to appeal to online shoppers who aren't comfortable bidding on items from a stranger.
"I was excited at first because I thought [eBay Express] would really give me good exposure," Ms. Mitchell says. The eBay Express link is prominently listed under "Specialty Sites" on eBay's main site, or can be found at express.ebay.com3.
But last month, while Ms. Mitchell sold $2,180 of merchandise in 59 individual sales on eBay's main auction site, she didn't sell anything on eBay Express, where she had listed some clothes at a fixed price. It "doesn't seem to be any help," she says.
This is bad news for eBay, which has made eBay Express a pillar of its holiday-shopping efforts. EBay makes its money by charging sellers commissions on auctions and on goods sold through Web pages on the site. When the San Jose, Calif., e-commerce company was launched 11 years ago, it became a Silicon Valley darling, as early Web users flocked to its quirky online auctions. These days, many new shoppers coming online are less tech-savvy and less comfortable bidding for items in eBay's auction process. That trend has hurt eBay: Its stock has dropped nearly 25% in the past year amid slowing revenue growth.
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Certainly, eBay Express doesn't look like eBay. While eBay displays links to popular categories like "antiques," eBay Express plays up just a few popular, new products instead of the hard-to-find, used items eBay is known for. On a recent Sunday evening, the front page featured images of the T.M.X. Elmo toy, an iPod Nano and a PlayStation 3, and the tag line, "Find it fast, get it new, buy it now!" Buying an item on eBay Express is as simple as clicking a button labeled "Add to Cart" and entering payment information. That's a departure from the main eBay site, which doesn't give shoppers a way to buy several items from different sellers at once.
"There were a lot of shoppers out there who were looking for a more convenient, fast and easy shopping experience," says eBay's Ms. Housser. "It was that need that led us to design this new site."
But the site has already undergone some revamping. At first, eBay Express only listed brand-new items. EBay later added used merchandise, as long as it gave shoppers the "Buy It Now" option, by listing a fixed price. (Now many of the items listed on the site are used.) In September, eBay tried to promote eBay Express using a multi-million-dollar online and television advertising campaign meant to attract back-to-school shoppers. Now, during the critical holiday-shopping season, the main eBay site not only displays the link to eBay Express but has also added new features such as a "wish list" added in November that lets people create lists of their favorite items.
