posted on August 21, 2006 11:16:49 AM new
I read in the latest Auction Bytes about strikes in England & Australia & supposedly one in US tomorrow (8/22/06). Anybody know what this is anbout & how do you strike?
posted on August 21, 2006 01:10:30 PM new
"Police are preparing to control the city park where a cardboard village is being set up to provide shelter for the strikers who are staying overnight."
Let me guess. Is the cardboard village made of Priority Mail boxes?
posted on August 21, 2006 01:20:39 PM new
A friend e-mailed me this morning that she'd heard on the news (somewhere) that Meg was about to leave eBay. Anyone else hear that, or is it just wishful thinking?
posted on August 21, 2006 01:31:37 PM new
Didn't hear that, we can hope can't we.
I did hear on PBS Nightly Business Report the other day that ebay.fr had a lawsuit filed against them other day. Something about counterfeit items being sold on ebay. Now there's a supprise, LOL.
1 out of 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Take a look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem alright, you're the one! - Kyle Stubbins, CMS
posted on August 21, 2006 01:46:10 PM new
Here's the latest word I could find:
"By MYLENE MANGALINDAN
The Wall Street Journal
Despite a recent swoon in eBay Inc.'s share price, Wall Street seems willing to give Chief Executive Meg Whitman the benefit of the doubt. EBay's merchants beg to differ.
Some of those who sell merchandise through the Internet auctioneer's Web site recently have called for drastic action and management change at the San Jose, Calif., company. They are particularly upset at the deterioration in the company's flagship auction site, where they say they are seeing fewer transactions and declining sale prices.
"EBay's core (auction) performance is suffering tremendously," says Steve Grossberg, a longtime videogame seller on eBay. He says he now lists an item four times on average in order to sell it, up from two listings two years ago. Adds Andy Mowery, an eBay seller of home and garden gear: "It is time for new leadership at eBay."
The sellers' gripes about Ms. Whitman and some of her team come as eBay's revenue- and earnings-growth rates have slowed, even as the company has expanded into new countries and areas such as Internet calling, classified listings and comparison shopping. In the second quarter, eBay's auction-related listings grew 22 percent from a year earlier but were unchanged from the first quarter, while less-profitable store listings grew faster than auction listings.
Overall, transaction revenue per listing - the average amount that eBay receives on an auction or store listing - declined to $1.67, down 10 percent from a year ago, according to Citigroup Global Markets analyst Mark Mahaney, who rates eBay a buy. Citigroup owns shares of eBay, which has been an investment-banking client in the past 12 months.
EBay shares have declined almost 54 percent over approximately the past 20 months. In 4 p.m. composite trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, eBay's shares fell 42 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $27.25, giving the company a market capitalization of $38.43 billion.
Yet investor sentiment toward Ms. Whitman remains sanguine. "The problems eBay's got are a function of the fact that they're a large company," says Ken Smith, a portfolio manager at Munder Capital, which owns eBay shares. "I don't think management change is necessitated."
Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Safa Rashtchy says, "The best team to solve (any problems) is the team that knows the problem in and out. Meg knows and understands the problem." Mr. Rashtchy, who doesn't own any eBay shares, has a market perform rating on the stock. Piper Jaffray doesn't own eBay shares, nor has it done any business with the company recently.
An eBay spokesman says the company has acknowledged some issues the merchants have raised. "We've said the marketplace business growth is good, but we can do better," says spokesman Hani Durzy. He says the company is taking "aggressive steps," such as a fee increase for store listings to "reinvigorate" the auction marketplace. The increase may discourage some merchants, while prompting many others to move more items more quickly through auctions. Mr. Durzy adds that eBay has the right management team, including Ms. Whitman, to guide the company.
Why the dichotomy in opinion between Wall Street and the merchants? For one, Wall Street may believe it has little choice but to stick with Ms. Whitman. Some of eBay's most senior and experienced executives recently have announced plans to exit the company, including Jeff Jordan, president of eBay's PayPal online-payment unit, who is leaving later this year. Mr. Jordan's departure has raised questions about succession because he was considered by some as an heir apparent to Ms. Whitman.
There have been questions about how long Ms. Whitman will stick around ever since her dalliance last year with Walt Disney Co. regarding the top job there. She has said in the past that no chief executive should stay at a company for more than a decade, and she is approaching her 10-year anniversary at the helm of the Internet auctioneer, which she joined in March 1998.
But Ms. Whitman appears to be working to tamp down such talk. She recently said she has "no plans to go anywhere." Mr. Smith of Munder says eBay has indicated to him that Ms. Whitman will stick around "for a minimum of a few more years."
The company has been courting Wall Street in other ways. On eBay's earnings call last month, Ms. Whitman addressed concerns about the company head-on. "Today, there are doubts about the strength of our core business and the potential of Skype," she said, referring to the Internet-calling unit. But "you will see eBay stay on track to deliver the community experience and financial results you have come to expect."
EBay recently held a series of investor meetings in New York and Boston. EBay also recently announced a $2 billion stock buyback, its first such program.
Kevin Landis, chief investment officer of Firsthand Capital Management, which owns eBay shares, says much of the hand-wringing by merchants is overblown. EBay "isn't exactly a turnaround situation," he says. "You still have a very healthy, growing profitable company." He notes eBay's price/earnings ratio of 36 is comparable with those of Amazon.com Inc. and Yahoo Inc., which have multiples of 39 and 33, respectively. But eBay's forward P/E multiple of 20, which incorporates earnings estimates for next year, looks like a steal, he says. In contrast, Amazon 's richer forward P/E multiple is 40, and Yahoo has a forward P/E of 42.
"Unless these guys are done growing, that's cheap," says Mr. Landis, who believes eBay will keep growing.
That long view contrasts with those of eBay sellers, who feel a sense of urgency in fixing eBay's problems, as some have livelihoods at stake. Some sellers say there is a growing gap between eBay's confirmed registered users - people who have registered information about themselves on eBay's site - and its "active" users, who have bought, bid on or sold something in the past year. That suggests buyers are exiting the site at a growing pace.
Jeetil Patel, a Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. analyst, adds that eBay's advertising costs are rising amid slower growth and declining demand on its site. "The talk of Meg leaving, coupled with the significant amount of departures, suggests that they need to overhaul the management ranks and take a fresh look at the business in the context of slower growth and higher advertising costs," says Mr. Patel, who has a hold rating on eBay. Deutsche Bank owns eBay shares and has done investment business with the company.
Mr. Durzy, the eBay spokesman, says the company is "pleased" it has been able to retain much of its management team while adding new blood to its ranks. "We're confident we're on the right path," he says."
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on August 21, 2006 08:42:01 PM new
When we can get rid of the BS, maybe someone can give us a correct answer. I really get tired of the Southbound end of a Northbound horse giving smartaxx answers. When I ask a serious question, I would appreciate a serious answer. You may think you are funny, but I don't give a shikxx6t about your attemp to make jokes.
posted on August 21, 2006 08:55:38 PM new
Sanmar...About the only information available has been in the articles in Auctionbytes. You'll have to go back a few days to find them all. Tomorrow, being the day the fees increase, is the day many sellers have chosen to close their stores. That is the extent of the "strike" Hopefully the press will pick up on it and put Ebay in a bad light. There will be no adverse financial impact to Ebay. In fact, this is exactly what they want, to get rid of a large number of stores they feel are cluttering their site and costing them money. If enough sellers don't participate in the strike, and keep their stores open with thousands of slow moving, low dollar items, you can expect another fee increase in the near future.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on August 22, 2006 03:43:53 AM new
The eBay seller's "strike" is as usual a bit unorganized and lackadaisical in nature. (Visualize trying to herd kittens and you get the picture.) Local competitors of eBay in the UK and Australia have being sending out press releases to the effect that they welcome the influx of aggrieved eBay sellers, and touting the savings compared to the foreign infidel (eBay). However those same PRs fail to mention the market size of the local auction sites compared to eBay, or sell thru rates and other useful data. Here in NZ there has been no eBay ""strike" as hardly anyone bothers listing on them as 95% of the local market belongs to FairFax's Trade Me.
1 out of 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Take a look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem alright, you're the one! - Kyle Stubbins, CMS