George Tuvell

Should Amazon and eBay merge?

I use Amazon to purchase all of my music and books. They are linked to Last.fm, and a million other sites, and it makes purchasing new media as easy as a couple of clicks. Quick and painless, which I love.

I used eBay consistently for many years, however, just the other day, I had to recover my login because it had been so long since I’d been on eBay. I now use Craigslist, and everything else I buy on Amazon.

eBay has had some hiccups lately, such as the CEO leaving, as well as being stuck with $2.6B Skype, which they’ve failed to integrate successfully. I personally think people are growing tired of the classic eBay. They are a great company, but could do some things better, like not charge ridiculous fees upfront to sell items. It should be commission based only. This is a big reason I don’t sell items on eBay anymore.

Amazon and eBay

Amazon and eBay would be a great merger from a features perspective. Imagine if you could see the full spectrum of item availability before buying anything. We shouldn’t be hostage to only seeing new items, or used & new items only available through Amazon affiliates. If we’re truly harnessing the power of the internet, I’d like to see ALL options. For example, It would be nice to see if John Doe around the corner has the same item for a lower price, posted on eBay, and it would be cool to be able to contact him via Skype, or even do a video chat right on the web if I have questions.

Linking these two platforms allows consumers to see all options, from the average Joe selling on ebay, to the high end e-tailers and bricks and mortar shops. Add communication tools like Skype on top of it, and it’s a pretty nice one-stop-shop to buy things online. Right?

EBay could use a lift, just look at the stocks over the last yr. (200% vs. negative)

Disclaimer: There are probably 100 reasons financially and otherwise why this would be a bad proposition for both companies. Feature wise – I think it’s a home run.

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