Whole E Bay And Amazon Com Auctions example essay topic

The name "e Bay" (web) 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. e Bay is also the 15th most visited site (web) on the web. In the face of large competitors such as e Bay, internet powerhouse, Amazon. com Auctions (web), is battling for online auction dominance over e Bay.

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. e Bay 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"e Bay: 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"e Bay: 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"e Bay: 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, e Bay 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 e Bay receives daily. This is evident in the searches conducted, where e Bay returned greater results and more bidding activity (see above). When registering as a buyer on e Bay, users are required to accept the terms on which e Bay 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 & z Shops 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, you can do the same with your bidders. e Bay offers free insurance to as much as $200 through the e Bay Fraud Protection Program, and has not gone as far as some sites and developed an in-house escrow service, nor can it compete with Amazon. com Auctions' more extensive insurance program, which provides coverage to as much as $1,000 if Amazon. com Payments, is used in the transaction (Altavista. com, 1999). e Bay's escrow partner, Trad enable, will hold your payment and send it off to the seller only after you " ve inspected your products and given your tick of approval. As a seller, you have the same opportunity to inspect and approve a returned item before the buyer gets refunded.

Amazon. com Payments is easy to sign up for and intuitive to use. It also supports every major and minor credit card. Most importantly, Amazon. com acts as a broker within all Amazon. com Payments transactions, enabling the service's sellers never being able to see a buyer's credit card number. Instead, Amazon. com processes the transaction through its own banking partner, credits the sellers account, and transfers all payments the seller's bank account once every two weeks - though you can request immediate payments for an individual item. (Note: You will have to provide the first five digits of your social security number in order to use Amazon. com Payments) On the whole e Bay and Amazon. com Auctions, provide plenty of buyer-focused services and information.

They both have similar features and resources, but e Bay stands unparalleled in terms of auction activity. e Bay has built more than just an online auction site, it has created an online trading empire. Amazon. com Auctions are simply unable to attract the traffic to be a genuine competitor to e Bay and should stick to what they do best, selling books. Auction Site's Ratings: e Bay: Amazon. com Auctions: Inventory: 4/4 Inventory: 4/4 Bidding: 4/4 Bidding: 2/4 Functionality: 3/4 Functionality: 4/4 Ease Of Use: 4/4 Ease Of Use: 3/4 Reference List Bunnell, D. (2000), The e Bay Phenomenon, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Canada Financial Review (2001), e Bay the online top dog, web (2000), Review on ebay, web (1999), Amazon. com Auctions Review, web.