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eBay: Mike will be giving you a brief overview of the Half.com transition. He'll also be addressing many of the issues that we have heard from Half.com and eBay members since our first announcement about the transition last summer. Mike will also take your individual questions about the transition. eBay: Welcome Mike! Mike: Hi, I'm glad to be here and I look forward to answering your questions about the upcoming integration of Half.com into eBay. Hopefully, this session, as well as other information sessions we have planned over the next few weeks, will help you determine if and how you want to transition your Half.com business to eBay. Mike: I know a lot of sellers have been very successful selling on Half.com and are disappointed that it no longer will be available as an independent trading platform. Through one-on-one conversations, meetings, surveys, focus groups and board discussions, we have spent a lot of time with Half.com sellers understanding your concerns about transitioning to eBay and we believe we are making the eBay platform improvements and marketing investments to allow you to sell successfully on eBay. Mike: We have also done a lot of research with Half.com buyers to understand and address their concerns about eBay. We hope that when you see our plans, you will agree that eBay provides a great opportunity for Half.com sellers and buyers. I'm sure we'll cover a lot of our plans in this discussion, however for more information, please go to the following URL: http://www.ebay.com/transitionannouncement. Now, let's take some questions… aprildiamondsminn: When will Half.com close? Mike: On July 13, 2004 buyers and sellers will no longer be able to transact on Half.com. Up until July 13, you will be able to list and transact on Half as you do today. On July 13, new user registration will end, inventory will not be able to be loaded on the site and users coming to Half.com will be redirected to eBay. Half will continue to exist as a redirect as long as buyers are coming to Half.com, so we can hold onto as many of them as possible. You will, however, be able to access the "My Account" section of Half.com until October 13, 2004. dbmcavoy: Are you going to eliminate our inventory on Half.com that we have worked so hard to accumulate over the years? Mike: You have the opportunity to move your inventory from Half.com to eBay. The first thing you need to do is register with eBay as a seller if you have not done so already. If you are a large seller with over 200 items on Half.com, we will be notifying you of a program you can opt into where we will move your inventory for you from Half to an eBay Store. We may expand this program to smaller sellers as well, but for now if you have fewer than 200 items on Half, we have two solutions that could facilitate the transfer of your inventory: 1. "List is on eBay" is already live on Half.com. This is a function that you can find in the "Manage My Inventory" section of Half.com and it shortens and simplifies the process of moving inventory from Half.com to eBay. 2. Existing seller tools such as Turbo Lister are already available. This is compatible with eBay's catalog, and will allow you to upload listings in bulk. After July 13, 2004 you will still be able to access the "My Account" section of Half.com until October 13, 2004. So, from the "My Account" section of Half.com you'll be able to download a file and still transfer your inventory to eBay post-July 13. For more information on eBay Seller Tools visit: http://pages.ebay.com/sell/tools.html lablanche1: Does eBay offer a feature suitable for selling items which are not high-demand, such as esoteric books that may be listed 6-12 months on Half.com or Amazon.com before selling? Mike: Yes. That feature is called an eBay Store. There are two changes you need to know about in eBay Stores. The first is a reduction of the listing fee. The listing fee for eBay Store items was reduced February 1 from $0.05 to $0.02 per listing per 30 days. For more information on eBay Stores fees visit: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/pricing.html Mike:The second change is that Store Inventory Format items will soon be discoverable in eBay's main search. The way that Store inventory listings will appear in eBay's main search will depend on how many core listings appear in the search results. When a search returns 10 or fewer core listings, a separate merchandising area will appear on the main search results page that will show up to 20 Store inventory items that match the user's query. When a search returns greater than 10 core listings, a link will appear at the bottom of every search results page, informing users that there are additional items in eBay Stores. You can get more information on this upcoming change here: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/latestnews.html Mike: So the trick is determining what to list on the main eBay site, and what to list in eBay Stores. We recommend that you list faster moving items on core eBay, where greater discoverability and higher sell-through generally offset higher listing fees. What defines a fast-moving item will differ by seller, but as a starting point, think about items that sell at least 1 unit per 14 days, or roughly 2 a month. For slower-moving items, we recommend listing in Store inventory format. With 2 cents per listing per 30 days, fixed-price format, "Good 'Til Cancelled" durations, and the improved discoverability in eBay's main search, eBay Stores are a good alternative to selling on Half. For more information on eBay Stores visit: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/seller-landing.html animalboys: Half is great. Why can't we just leave it as it is? Mike: Thank you. We think Half is great too! Our goal is to combine the best features of Half.com with the vast buyer base, resources and brand recognition of eBay. We want to build the world's most robust marketplace for Books, Movies, Music and Video Games, which means more business for you. We believe the best way of doing this is by maximizing the potential of one consolidated marketplace. We don't think we are "getting rid of Half.com," rather we are integrating into eBay what has made Half so successful, thus making the consolidated platform the best it can be for our buyers and sellers. We truly believe that once the dust has settled, Half.com and eBay combined will be bigger than they were independently and that this will benefit our community. mamarichal: I find that in general, the lower priced items, such as those that I sell on Half.com, do not command the same prices on eBay or in some cases, get NO bids. Do I lose MORE money when these items don't sell? That is a major advantage on Half.com. There isn't that timeframe requirement to sell an item and no penalty if it doesn't sell right away! Mike: In a recent sample of best-selling and standard favorite titles - books, movies, music and video games - on Half.com, we found that these same titles had an average conversion rate of 79% on eBay, meaning that 79% of the items sold successfully within the initial 7 day listing period. This indicates that popular commodity type items on Half.com also sell well on eBay. Where eBay hasn't done as well is slower moving items that sit on Half.com for 2-3 months or longer before selling. These products haven't sold well on eBay because either they haven't been listed for the 2-3 months necessary to sell them or they have been in an eBay Store whose inventory wasn't discoverable enough. With the new lower $0.02 Stores Inventory Insertion Fee and increased Stores discoverability, eBay will be a much better platform for selling slower moving items than it has been in the past. And this is a big opportunity for sellers. Half has more than five times the number of unique titles listed than does eBay. And we know from research that buyers come to eBay to find these titles and aren't able to. Now with the changes to Stores Inventory Format, smart sellers will be able to fulfill this unmet demand on eBay. fkalps: I've stopped listing on eBay altogether because it's such a difficult lengthy process now. How do I go back to the simple listing formats of 1998? Mike: We've taken, and are continuing to take, a number of steps to simplify the listing process on eBay. It began in the fall of 2003, when we launched pre-filled item information. Pre-filled item information is eBay's term for the catalog. We use the same catalog on eBay as we do on Half.com. When you list with Pre-Filled Item Information, you can list with an ISBN, UPC or product title and get the same quality stock photo and catalog item description and information as on Half.com. This substantially simplifies the eBay listing process and saves you time. Of course, you can still add your own description or comments and other personal touches if you want to. For more information about Pre-Filled Item Information visit: http://pages.ebay.com/Pre-filledItemInformation Mike: We'll be streamlining the listing process further in May when we launch Express Sell Your Item. With Express SYI, you will be able to simply enter an ISBN/UPC, price and condition and be ready to sell. You won't need to select a category or make as many choices as you do when selling on eBay today. You will still have additional listing options and features available if you want them, but Express SYI will allow you to create a listing on eBay in about the same amount of time it takes to create one on Half. Mike: eBay also has seller tools available today, specifically Turbo Lister and Selling Manager Pro, for mid-volume sellers that want to bulk-load listings and/or retrieve orders in bulk. Mike: And there is one other thing I want to mention. eBay offers a great time-saving fulfillment option where you can print shipping labels with postage and delivery confirmation conveniently on your computer. eBay will automatically fill-in the buyer's shipping address and package information. You and your buyers can track the shipment status directly in My eBay or the View Item Page, and you can pay for postage and keep track of all your shipping expenses using PayPal. Further, if you use eBay's Online Postage together with the U.S. Postal Service's Free Carrier Pick-up service, you can save a trip to the Post Office. And there are no additional fees or surcharges for this service. For more information about eBay Shipping Services visit: http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/shipping.html bestbetmedia: How can I search for an item by UPC or ISBN? Mike: In April we will be launching improved search intelligence which will allow for easy and accurate ISBN searches from any search box on eBay. It will also provide suggestions for people who incorrectly enter an ISBN or UPC, or incorrectly spell a title or a name. happygolarkin: Will condition ratings still be included somehow? Mike: They will be. We will be adding condition as a sortable attribute to the product detail page at some time in the future. I don't have a date as yet, but it's definitely coming. iamsparkli: Will people be able to buy on eBay with a credit card like on Half.com, with there being no connection to the PayPal site? Mike: Yes. PayPal can act as an intermediary, without the hassle of handling payments. Buyers have to register for PayPal to be able to use a credit card, but PayPal is fully integrated into the payment process, and very simple to use. Other than PayPal, sellers have the option to have their own merchant accounts and accept credit cards on their own. georgiasales: One of the things I love about Half.com is not worrying about payment from the buyer. I love that money is automatically deposited after each sale period. How are you going to handle this without losing sellers like myself who appreciate this? Mike: With PayPal, funds are immediately available in the seller's PayPal account upon a buyer's payment. So you don't have to wait two weeks to get your money as you do with Half.com. You can set it up so your funds are automatically transferred from your PayPal account to your bank account. You can withdraw funds at ATMs using your PayPal debit card. Or you can spend directly from your PayPal account, wherever PayPal is accepted. You can also use PayPal to pay your eBay fees. sableonline: It appears your payment system requires the use of PayPal. Does a seller have to pay a fee to receive a payment? Mike: PayPal is not required as a payment method on eBay, though about 90 percent of listings on eBay offer PayPal as a payment option. So you can choose to offer PayPal or not. If you do decide to offer PayPal, there is no fee to open an account, although PayPal does charge a transaction fee of 30 cents plus 2.2 to 2.9 percent per transaction. The percentage varies depending on the size of your business. And it's per transaction, not per listing. This rate is equivalent to merchant accounts, and is similar to what Half.com charges, although Half's rate is bundled in its total commission of 15 percent. rosabay755: Will fixed price sales be available at eBay as they are on Half.com, or must they be auctions? Mike: Yes, fixed price sales are currently available on eBay. There are 4 ways you can buy and sell on eBay: auction, fixed price, fixed price with an auction, and Stores inventory format, which is also fixed price. And on eBay fixed price is referred to as "Buy It Now". Roughly 30% of listings on eBay close at a fixed price. fastneasy: Will my customer feedback be transferred to eBay from Half.com? Mike: Yes. There is one feedback system across the two platforms today, so you can accumulate feedback on Half.com or eBay, and your feedback will remain when you can no longer sell on Half. You can also use your same username and password on eBay. drconsie: I need a valid reason from both a sales and economic point of view to use eBay over something closer to Half.com such as Amazon. Mike: With the changes we have made to the eBay platform that I've talked about so far, selling on eBay can be more profitable for you than selling on Half.com. We believe the same could be said about selling on eBay vs. selling on Amazon, because the costs of selling on Amazon are higher than those of selling on Half. Amazon charges a fixed fee of $0.99 per item sold or a subscription of $39.99 per month, in addition to a 15% commission. Further, on Amazon, as on Half, sellers do not get to keep all the shipping charges that buyers pay. Amazon keeps $0.65 to $1.23 (depending on the type of item) for domestic Media Mail shipments, which is more than Half keeps. Of course, on eBay, the seller keeps everything the buyer pays for shipping. Mike: Further, Amazon places restrictions on sellers. Amazon requires sellers to ship within two days of purchase, has rules about how you can price your items, places "velocity limits" on sellers that limit the amount of selling you can do in any rolling 28-day period, requires you to use Amazon Payments and only allows you to list items on the marketplace that Amazon has in their catalog. On eBay, you can ship, price and accept payments according to your own business policies, sell as much as you want, and sell books, movies, music and video games that are or are not in the catalog. Mike: Finally, eBay is the world's largest online marketplace, whose sole purpose is to create a platform for our sellers and buyers to successfully trade. Amazon, on the other hand, is the largest online retailer of books, movies and music whose primary business is selling these items and thus is a potential competitor to many of you. We believe that with the integration of Half into eBay, there will be no better place for you to build your business than on eBay. Pj Marx: What will the book buyer's experience be like on the new eBay books site? The same as a typical eBay shopper, or will anything be unique for book buyers? Mike: There won't be anything unique specifically and only for book buyers, but there will be unique features for all buyers of books, movies, music and video games. You may have seen Product Titles in Search, which launched in January. The easiest way to explain Product Titles in Search is with an example. So, for example, when you search for "The Lion King" on the home page of eBay, you get over 1,500 listings that include DVDs, VHS, CDs, video games, posters, toys and other items. Many buyers love the fact that they can get so many different types of items relating to an area in which they are interested. However, some buyers would prefer to zero in on exactly what they are looking for and not have to wade through so many listings. With the launch of Product Titles in Search, which is live today, your search for "The Lion King" will still result in 1,500 listings, but on the top of the search results page, above the 1,500 listings, you will see a box that highlights three-to-six particular products. For "The Lion King," the box will include "The Lion King" VHS, "The Lion King" DVD, "The Lion King: Simba's Pride" VHS, "The Lion King 1 ½" DVD and "The Lion King 1 ½" VHS. These are the top selling titles in the catalog that match the search, "The Lion King." When you click on one of these product titles, you will go to a "Product Details Page" that includes only the product title that you selected. So, if you clicked on "The Lion King" DVD, you would see a Product Details Page with 82 listings for "The Lion King" DVD and nothing else. No VHS, CDs, video games, toys, etc. Try it. The next phase in the evolution of product titles on eBay is something we are calling Express Product Search, which will be available in May. Express Product Search offers a buying experience very similar to that on Half.com. Unlike eBay's main search, which displays listings that match the search term from all categories, Express Product Search displays product titles (no listings) only from the categories you have specified. So, if you used Express Product Search to search for "The Lion King" across all of Books, Movies, Music and Video Games you would get search results that showed the top 3 best selling Lion King books with the ability to see all 93 matches in Books, the top 3 movies with the ability to see all 46 matches in Movies, the top 3 Video Games, etc. A search in just Books would show all 93 book product titles. Remember, these are product titles, not listings. When you click on a product title, you will go to the Product Details Page that includes only listings that match that product title. Please go to the following URL for more information about this new feature: http://www.ebay.com/epsmockup shaughnyb: My favorite Half feature is "On Vacation." Will this be available in eBay Stores? Mike: That's a great feature. I can't give you specific information at this time, but it's one we're working to bring to eBay. Another feature that users have asked us about is Wish List, and it's another one we're working to bring to eBay as well. So you're likely to see both of those in the future. bleakwailarvinger: How will the merger of Half.com and eBay affect fees? Will they increase, and if so by how much? Mike: No, fees will stay the same. We talked about the Stores listing fee already - and in fact that's gone down from $0.05 to $0.02 - but the integration will not affect fees on the core site. If you do decide to list and sell on eBay you will have to pay listing fees, called insertion fees. Insertion fees on eBay are determined by the price at which you list, and range from $0.30 to $0.60 for items that are priced up to $24.99. Fees are higher for items priced over $24.99. These listings have a finite duration of up to 7 days. So for example, if you list a book for up to 7 days at either a fixed price or an auction starting price of $9.99 on eBay.com, you will pay a non-refundable insertion fee of $0.35. However, eBay only charges a final value fee - or commission - of at most 5.25 percent, while Half.com charges a commission of 15 percent. So, for that $9.99 book, final value fees on eBay would be $0.52 - $0.98 less than the $1.50 commission you would pay on Half.com. For more information about eBay fees visit: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/questions/seller-fees.html Mike: In addition, on eBay, sellers determine what to charge buyers for shipping, and get to keep everything the buyer pays for shipping. On Half, as you know, shipping charges are fixed, and sellers get a shipping reimbursement that is less than what buyers pay. Half keeps from $0.60 to $1.09, depending on the type of item, of what a buyer pays for shipping with Media Mail. On eBay, you get to keep that extra .60 to $1.09 instead of Half - and more if you decide to charge buyers more for shipping. This additional revenue source alone more than offsets the insertion fee. Mike: Finally, you can also open an eBay Store and list in store inventory format for only $0.02 per listing per thirty days. All Store inventory format listings are fixed price. So for example it would cost you only $0.24 per year for a Store inventory listing, and you could include an unlimited number of items in the listing. Or another way to think of it is that it would cost only $20/month to maintain 1000 Store inventory listings. Note that this does not include the Stores subscription fee, which is a fixed monthly fee that starts at $9.95 for a basic Store. For more information about eBay Stores fees visit: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/pricing.html eBay: Thank you for a wonderful chat. Unfortunately, we are almost out of time - do you have any parting words for us? Mike: Thank you for attending and submitting your questions. All of the questions and answers from today's session will be posted at http://pages.eBay.com/event/halftransition/index.html . If you had asked me a year ago whether Half sellers and buyers could successfully transition to eBay, I would have had to say, "no." There were simply too many important differences between Half.com and eBay. However, we have been listening to you and working with you to address these differences. Today, with a reduced Stores Inventory Format Insertion Fee of only $0.02, greater Stores Inventory Format discoverability in main eBay search, the addition of catalogs, new listing tools and simplified listing processes, new easier ways for buyers to find what they are looking for, ISBN/UPC search capabilities and corrective intelligence, the addition of Condition on Product Details Pages, the integration of PayPal, easy ways for you to move your inventory from Half to eBay and other improvements, I feel very confident that Half.com sellers and buyers can and will be very successful on eBay. And the changes we have discussed today are only the beginning. There are more improvements to come. We hope you decide to come to eBay and we look forward to having you join the eBay community. Thanks again. eBay: Thank you for joining us for this Live Town Hall with Mike Aufricht. We hope that we answered most of your questions. If you would like to review a transcript of this event, please bookmark this link. http://pages.eBay.com/event/halftransition/index.htm. We will publish the transcript as soon as possible. We'd also like to invite you to attend our next Live Town Hall event with Michael Dearing, Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising, on Wednesday 3/31 at 1pm PST. eBay: To get to the General Announcements board, click "Community" from the navigation bar at the top of any eBay page. Next click the "General Announcements" link in the News square. A Production of LiveWorld. Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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