The customer experience of selling on eBay

The interweb has created a generation of entrepreneurs as the opportunity for anyone to set up a cottage industry from their garage and market to the world has evolved. While simple site builder websites have become more affordable and simple to use the easiest route to market for many is eBay (www.ebay.co.uk). Set up an account with a corresponding paypal account and you are ready to rock selling anything from second hand cars to home made jewellery. For the seller the website offers step by step guidance to list an item with smart detection algorithms prompting you for improved listing names and then suggested categories to list your items in maximising any search results. In addition the web site and possibly even more straight forward is the mobile app that hooks straight into your photo library allowing you to photo you items from your phone and upload directly without having to convert anything for the site. The app includes a bar code scanner to auto populate your items details and make available library images of your product if you prefer to use these. Once up and running the selling service includes secure direct messaging to answer any potential buyers queries and a mediation service if there were ever a dispute over goods. The genius of the site though is that this is rarely needed as it relies on customer feedback so suppliers have to work to earn a reputation and threaten having this risked if the deliver poor service and receive bad feedback. Epic business model for eBay. 

Doing your bit for the environment - the Gumtree customer experience

Gumtree (www.gumtree.co.uk) offers a great service to households looking to advertise their unwanted goods. For many, eBay (www.ebay.co.uk) is just too scary with auctions and PayPal accounts resulting in feedback and a consumer profile, check out an earlier blog on eBay here ( http://goo.gl/rjXH5s ). Gumtree offers an alternative to this for those not wishing to take on the beast of eBay. With Gumtree you take a photo of your unwanted but once loved product uploading it to the website with a snappy description demonstrating how much value it could be to a new home and owner. You state your price and you decide how you want to be contacted either by phone or email. Simple. You have to go through the steps of meeting your buyer in the flesh and maybe some haggling to agree a price but with no extra effort your goods can be whisked away to be loved by someone new and you get some cash in your pocket for your troubles. The added bonus that you can feel all environmentally friendly in recycling stuff rather than adding to landfill. Well done you!  Gumtree makes its money through advertising and commercial sellers using the service but also through teasing you into paying to list your goods as a premium product. For a weekly fee you can elect to have your goods bumped to the front of the queue and catch sellers eye early. Gumtree is a modern solution to the classic notice board but gives you a broad audience and a straight forward customer experience. 

The eBay virgin customer experience

The tech giant that is eBay (www.ebay.co.uk) has been with us now since 1995 and a success story of the dot com era outlasting many other tech start ups. In the UK there are over 10 million registered users with a peak level of 13 million reached in 2008 with around 178,000 of these being small businesses that would not have survived without the online auction site. For many the prospect of using eBay is too daunting a task requiring creation of profiles and corresponding PayPal accounts permitting linkages into bank accounts. Bidding, selling, feedback, dealing directly with people, nightmare!  eBay has a very loyal customer base and supports its multi billon annual revenues but does it do enough to open its doors to new customers, the less tech savvy and auction inquisitive?  eBay may well have a strong foothold with 10% of the UK population but that leaves opportunity for the remaining 90% and arguably in a market where it enjoys a monopoly position.  The customer experience for newbees needs to be the focus with corresponding promotion activities demonstrating the simplicity and safety of using the site.  More work on this untapped marketplace would really strengthen the companies position and deliver a broader epic experience.