http://www.examiner.com/x-312-Auctio...ws-users-input


eBid just released a new 2009 company investment plan and seem to be approaching the online auction market very agressively.
eBid, has been around for quite a while and it has it's fans. In fact according to Powersellersunite.com, it's #2 behind eBay in listings, and has been for a while. However, #2 in this case is 2,406,00 to eBay's dominating 24,000,000 items listed.

That said, the following release sounds enticing if they are serious about the plan they tout.

The parts I especially took notice of were, "part of our investment will include regular and ongoing cash back promotions for both buyers and sellers as thanks for helping us take a large chunk of the online auction market" and "2008 was a period of rapid growth for eBid and this investment program, which follows feedback from our subscribers".

Obviously, when your a big company you can't make everyone happy, so a statemet such as "we have an investment program which follows feedback from our subscribers" is kind of a generic balloon to float. But still, being smart enough to know that they need to float it shows market intuitiveness and saavy.

Here's the release about the plan:

To support its 2009 growth ambitions eBid.net will re-invest its 2008 profits into US marketing initiatives to include key strategic partnerships and national advertising. Additionally, to make its site slicker, quicker and easier to use, eBid is investing in technical and design improvements. These include its ‘Ninja Lister’ desktop software application to enable offline auction creation and ease the transfer of auctions from other sites; its first public API to support third party applications and widgets; sales tax calculations for US and Canada; the creation of a Who’s Online System to bolster an already huge and vibrant online community and the introduction of non-English versions of the site.

At a time when, according to the Financial Times, the US will see 62,000 companies go bust this year, compared with 42,000 in 08 year and 28,000 in 07, eBid is gearing up for growth.

Says eBid Co-founder, Mark Wilkinson: "We are continually reinventing ourselves as new technology and designs become available. 2008 was a period of rapid growth for eBid and this investment program, which follows feedback from our subscribers, will further improve and promote our business.”

As it celebrates its tenth year, eBid remains committed to person to person online trading. Offering free listings and low or zero selling fees, it has experienced 7 - 15% consecutive monthly growth with listings doubling to 2.4 million across 9,000 categories since its US launch in September last year. Today eBid is a vibrant international business spanning the US and Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australasia.

A survey byNew Media Age on consumer spending habits in 2009 shows that cost conscious consumers plan to spend more online this year than last. Out of 1,957 people surveyed, 36% plan to shop more online and less on the high street. For 18-24 year olds this rose to 45% and to 44% for 25-34 year olds. With the recession looming 34% of respondents plan to use price comparison sites such as Google Product Search when making a purchase online and 22% will make use of online auction sites.

Adds Mark: “In this tough economy, we want to ensure that sellers make great profits on our site and buyers, who are increasingly looking for second hand or discount items, get the best deals around. To help our community during these tough times, part of our investment will include regular and ongoing cash back promotions for both buyers and sellers as thanks for helping us take a large chunk of the online auction market.”

Good luck in 2009 eBid.