http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0508action0508.html
Shopping-mall feel taking away from eBay's quaint appeal
May. 8, 2006 12:00 AM
Is it just me, or have you noticed that eBay has changed?
It was once the world's greatest garage sale. If you wanted a hubcap for a 1952 Buick, it was there. If you were looking for a specific piece of Depression glass, it was there. Somebody somewhere was cleaning out their stuff and you didn't have to drive to Biloxi, Miss., to find it. It was great.
That hubcap and the Depression glass are still there, but it's no longer sold by some guy cleaning out his garage or attic. That's because eBay has become the world's largest shopping mall. It seems like every time I look for something, it's being sold by an eBay merchant or store. advertisement
It probably shouldn't be a surprise. According to Scot Wingo, the author of eBay Strategies: 10 Proven Methods to Maximize Your eBay Business, there are now 430,000 people making their living off eBay. That number is almost the entire population of Mesa and more than live in the city limits of Atlanta. It means one out every 700 people in the U.S. consider eBay a real job.
Some of them are cleaning out other people's junk. They buy things at garage sales Saturday morning and auctions Saturday night and then resell them. More and more of them seem to be selling new stuff at set prices. You don't bid, you just buy.
Don't misunderstand me, there's nothing wrong with this. I just miss the old days when you were buying from someone who actually used the item you're trying to get. It hung on their wall or sat on their shelf. More and more of my eBay purchases are just click and purchase. I miss competing with some guy in North Dakota to see who could snipe it away at the last minute.
I find myself looking on Craigslist.org more and more these days instead of eBay. If you haven't been there yet, it's just a giant collection of classified ads selling everything from cars to clothes. You can break it down so you're only looking in the Phoenix area. There's no bidding, just the classic garage-sale negotiations. You drive over, look and buy.
eBay still has an important role in rescuing one man's junk to become another man's treasure. But like so many things, it's become big business. I just miss eBay's good old days.
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