| As an eBay Consultant and Power Seller with over | | | | needed items, many consumers sit at their desk and |
| 13,000 sales, am often asked questions like, "Do you | | | | place their orders on-line. Busy moms don't have to |
| think eBay is on the way out?" or, "With the | | | | take their crew of small children to the store, and |
| economy's downturn, aren't you afraid your eBay | | | | senior citizens can comfortably shop from home |
| business will fail? Doesn't that make you nervous?" | | | | without the hassle of parking, walking, or carrying |
| My answer is, "Absolutely not!" Here's why. | | | | packages. |
| 1) eBay offers less expensive alternatives to traditional | | | | 3) As gas prices continue to climb, internet shopping |
| consumer purchasing. For example, I sell mostly | | | | becomes more attractive. Resourceful shoppers will |
| apparel and shoes. Consumers can purchase my | | | | stay at home and shop on-line as opposed to |
| products for a fraction of what they would purchase | | | | unnecessarily using gas. |
| them for in a traditional retail setting. So, actually, if the | | | | 4) According to the eBay 6/07 quarterly report, eBay |
| economy suffers, eBay sellers have more job security | | | | has over 244 million users with 133,000 signing up |
| because more consumers will come to us to purchase | | | | every day. eBay continues to grow. |
| our items - our products are more affordable. | | | | 5) According to "eBusiness and eCommerce |
| 2) Internet shopping is the trend of the future. Many | | | | Solutions," internet opportunities grow with the number |
| people rely on the internet to shop, compare prices, | | | | of internet users. The World Wide Web is globally |
| and for fast shipping of purchases. We live in an | | | | pervasive. The internet has attracted more users in |
| instant society - people want things immediately. | | | | more countries than any other communication tool in |
| Internet shopping is a time saver for many consumers. | | | | history." |
| For example, instead of spending their lunch hour | | | | 6) The internet has 1.1 billion users globally - more and |
| getting into their car, driving to the mall or other retail | | | | more of them are coming to eBay. |
| store, possibly getting stuck in traffic, and searching for | | | | |