Niche Auction Sites

Is it possible to compete with Ebay on any level?

[iseff]

Does anyone know if it is possible to launch a successful niche auction site - that could compete with Ebay on a category level? Or is Ebay's stronghold so strong that competition shouldn't even enter.

I ask because when Ebay first became popular many people opened niche auction sites and people said they worked - but that sort of dropped off the earth 3 or 4 years ago...

Is it doable, with the right market? And if so, whats the best market?

Ian

[sun818]

if it is possible to launch a successful niche auction site

The smaller auction sites don't receive the traffic from buyers to make it worthwhile for sellers. One niche market I know of is TIAS. They build antique storefronts for niche sellers. They also have a good understanding of SEO.

[1milehgh80210]

e-Bay has a zillion categories to cover any niche.
A true competitor would have to offer something to the buyer/seller that e-Bay can't or won't.

[Essex_boy]

If you were niche ask yourself, how long would it be before Ebay picked afight with you? I know who id put money...

Dont bother attempting this one.

[bakedjake]

Dont bother attempting this one.

Hehehehehe..... Naysayer!

Go for it Ian. :) We do it in our niche, and do it successfully for a number of reasons. Lots of content (15,000+ pages of reviews), a good community section, etc.

eBay is our number one competitor. We successfully compete within our niche, and are often recognized as "the place to go" instead of eBay.

eBay's site architecture leaves a lot to be desired... ;-)

[bakedjake]

sun818 made me think of something else, too:

One of the reasons the auction is successful is the fact that we do have such a big community presence. All of the who's who in our niche know who we are. So they come to us first for the news, and check our auctions first to find rare stuff they may be looking for.

But it wouldn't be nearly as successful without the huge community features and lots of content.

[lukasz]

Answering your question:
Yes,it is possible to compete with Ebay.
I have one example. Yahoo Japan Auctions.
One of the most succesfull internet business in Japan - Auction itself brings more than 1M usd in profit each month.
Tere is no ebay in japanese - I think there used to be, but they quit.
So the best option will be to focus on specific geographical location (city, town, state), or focus on other languages.

[pbreit]

I think it's absolutely possible to compete with eBay with a niche site. The problem most auction sites have had is trying to be general. In fact, you can make an argument that eBay is so big that it wouldn't stand a chance against a well-executed niche site. The key is identifying a niche where you can add value and having laser-like focus on serving that niche. A good example is StubHub with tickets. Tickets have some peculiarities that eBay's one-size-fits-all service doesn't lend itself as well for.