[LINK] Ebay vrs Bricks

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

It's no surprise to us that, today, Ebay specifically notes Australia as
one of their fastest-growing regions for growth ..

In the last two weeks, we've purchased 4 items from 3 suppliers via Ebay.

We've also Ebayed frequently before this, & never had ANY trouble at all.

This time, the four items ..

1. A new car headlight which was simply un-obtainable anywhere else after
phoning a dozen or so possible suppliers both interstate and in Melbourne.

2. Another car part, a new softop-roof for a convertible vehicle, (& they
do need replacing eventually) for which we were quoted $1,000 & requiring
an 8 hour there-and-back visit to Melbourne to collect. On Ebay, a better
quality softop was $340, which included delivery to our country town post
office which is a five minute walk away, & it arrived 3 days after buying.

3. Two second-hand and smallish LCD monitors as a main and a repeater for
my radio station public server. Rarely used so 2nd-hand is fine. Localish
computer shop quoted $100 each, plus a one hour pickup drive. On Ebay, we 
bought two 8 month old Samsung monitors, for $19 each, in perfect, as-new 
condition, and delivered to the local post office three days later. 


For country Australia, Ebay and your post office is a killer combination.

Ebay e-commerce is a no-brainer for country Aussie folk and for business.

>From our experience the traditional retailers GST argument is a nonsense.

No wonder Australia is a "premium sales growth" area for Ebay e-commerce.

--
eBay a little shop of horrors for struggling retailers 

By Eli Greenblat, January 24, 2011
<http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/ebay-a-little-shop-
of-horrors-for-struggling-retailers-20110124-1a1jf.html>


EBAY, the world's biggest online retailer, has named Australia as one of 
its fastest-growing regions.

Adding to the fears of traditional retailers, the chief executive of 
eBay, John Donahoe, said Australia had trounced the average turnover for 
the company's global operations.

The site has nearly 100 million online users and shoppers.

In a briefing of analysts to discuss eBay's fourth-quarter earnings, Mr 
Donahoe said that last year the company increased its global revenue by 9 
per cent and gross merchandise volume by 11 per cent. 

But he added that Australia, along with Britain and South Korea, had 
grown more quickly than that.

The chief financial officer of eBay, Robert Swan, also mentioned 
Australia as generating premium sales growth.

The acknowledgment at eBay headquarters about the booming Australian 
business is certain to feed into the ire of traditional retailers who 
believe their sales are leaking to popular online sites such as eBay and 
Amazon.

Last month a coalition of retailers, led by the businessmen Gerry Harvey 
and Solomon Lew, and the department stores Myer and David Jones, launched 
a campaign to clamp down on what they view as a loophole which leaves 
overseas purchases of less than $1000 on the web GST free.

They blame the tax-free threshold in part for accelerating the exodus of 
buyers from their bricks-and-mortar shopfronts to the internet, saying 
the tax-free threshold for overseas purchases puts them at a disadvantage.

The Retail Coalition, which includes Mr Harvey's business, Harvey Norman, 
Mr Lew's family and public companies, such as Just Jeans, Portmans, 
Smiggle and Jacqui E, Myer, David Jones and the bookseller Borders, has 
taken out full-page newspaper advertisements drawing attention to the tax 
issue and calling for reform.

Some retailers blame online retailers for gutting their businesses and 
threatening the jobs of Australian workers. The anger peaked before 
Christmas with Mr Harvey saying internet sales were swamping the gift-
giving season.

A better picture of how retailers performed during December will begin to 
emerge today when Woolworths, the nation's biggest supermarket chain, 
releases its second-quarter sales figures.

An analyst at RBS, Daniel Broeren, said a survey showed the apparel, 
electronic and hardware segments in December reported like-for-like 
growth of -3.6 per cent, -4.2 per cent and -3.8 per cent respectively.

Mr Harvey and the chief executive of Myer, Bernie Brookes, declined to 
comment on eBay's growth in Australia.

--

Cheers,
Stephen