Warmed-Over eBay

indicated that all together he saved about $30,000 by buying construction
materials on eBay.
Warmed-Over eBay
Although included in the Business Marketplace, Office Products which
includes computers and other office equipment, is not specifically
Business Marketplace stuff. This is simply a subset of the normal eBay
auctions and not unique to the Business Marketplace.
Future B2B Auctions
What does the future hold for the eBay Business Marketplace? It’s
hard to tell. Clearly, eBay has captured the consumer-to-consumer
market and the small business-to-consumer market. Its hold on these
markets will be tough to break.
The B2B market, however, is fragmented and specialized with plenty
of competition. It may never be dominated by one Web auction the
way eBay dominates the consumer markets. Nonetheless, eBay’s B2B
effort has enjoyed reasonable success and has tremendous potential for
growing and for providing a useful outlet for used goods and equipment,
for excess inventory, and even for new goods and equipment.
eBay is smart to focus on small business. Big business will continue to
develop its own B2B transaction hubs and processes. Small business
will look to eBay and eBay’s competitors to establish smoothly functioning
auctions to accommodate small business B2B needs.
Summary
eBay has established a solid foundation for its Business Marketplace.
It’s business will increase, although in smaller numbers than consumer
activities. If eBay had strong local auctions, the B2B market
would be better served (low-cost delivery for large or heavy items). But
eBay hasn’t quite figured out local auctions yet, and the B2B market450
EBAY THE SMART WAY
place doesn’t have the dramatic high volume enjoyed by the consumer
auctions.