June 3, 2005

The Progression from Ebay Seller to Shopping.com Merchant

The announced acquisition of eBay and Shopping.com got me thinking about a friend who is an online retailer. Several years ago, he sold computer cables on eBay to make extra money while in college. Rapid turnover lead to a growing inventory that soon filled every nook and cranny of living space, like a scene from the movie, The Blob. Eventually, his catalog grew to over a thousand products, and he went from the simplest website possible (one-page .txt file!) to a more advanced shopping system. Along the way, he tried a range of online advertising, from direct graphical advertising on popular content sites to PPC ads from Google/Yahoo. After all this, he is just now getting ready to test the comparison shopping engines.

People can debate the current level of merchant synergy in this deal, but perhaps it makes a lot of sense when viewed over the long term?

I'm guessing my friend coulda/shoulda started advertising at the shopping engines years ago. Could a combined eBay/Shopping.com have expedited that transition? Hmmm...

The Progression from Ebay Seller to Shopping.com Merchant
Posted by Sean O'Rourke on June 3, 2005 at 12:05 PM
Archived at Shopping.com