Disadvantage of E Commerce e-commerce e-commerce e-commerce
Disadvantage of E-Commerce
As there are transaction going, there are risks comes to both buyer and seller. There will be some
challenges which seller might have to face. For instance, additional costs and fees, fakes and
frauds, customer services and customer issue, delivery issue and keyword issue and any others.
Sometimes, the additional costs and fees might occur while sellers have to pay insertion fee and
a final value fee. These costs often cut the profit and make seller earn less. Furthermore, Ebay
also provides upgrade to listing and some customization such as bigger frame for photo,
customized picture on puzzle which will cost extra. When seller selling something cheap or socalled low price, that can result in low profits and suffer from those time spent to answer
customer’s question and manage the listing.
Second, customer has to be alert for seller selling fakes on ebay such as counterfeit product.
Some seller might intentionally sell the product that did not match the description. Another
disadvantage is that, buyer have to bid for the item they wanted in ebay and no matter how many
bidders are there, the auction will only close at specified time. Sometimes, seller can prematurely
close the auction, even though you already bid it. Or, bidder might refuse to pay or return the
item after receiving. In this case, ebay encourage both buyer and seller to solve the problem with
one other. If either buyer or seller does not responding, they can look for ebay Resolution centre.
Thirdly, we all know that ebay is not the formal seller for every buyer, this means anyone can sell
on ebay and buyer will never know what kind of seller they facing and what kind of customer
service is coming. These are the issue might happen, for example slow respond to customer,
shipment might be delay, or seller deliver the wrong item to buyer. In this case, buyer can try to
go through seller’s review and some feedbacks before bidding for auction. It will gives customer
a basic sense of the seller and his/her customer service. On the other hand, they will also meet
some difficult customer, which means those who are not obey the rule of buyer. This kind of
customer will often complain for nothing or even a small reason, or intentionally leave the
negative or bad feedbacks. In this case, seller can protect themselves by making proper
description on item, and ebay also offer a return policy. This policy stated that there will be no
returns and item are sold as it is.
Fourth, the other disadvantage for e-commerce is that buyer can not enjoy the convenience as
they can’t get the item after purchase it. Buyers have to wait for shipment after bidding,
sometimes the seller will not stated clear about which carrier they are using.
Last but not least, for the keyword issue, this makes a lot of customer suffer into and create an
invisible barrier. Sometimes, you will not be able to find the item without the specific keyword.
Therefore, it is hard to sell those items that are not trending or hot keyword been used in this
keyword driven marketplace. Generally, artists, crafters and authors will realized that, unless the
item they selling is something that common or homogenous and often searched by customer or
linked to a popular keyword, or it will be hard to dig buyers out on eBay.
Technical issues faced by Ebay
Ebay as an elephant in the room in e-commerce region, it has a strong competitor which is
Amazon. There is no other online shopping website or so-called online retailer is as threatening
as Amazon. We all know that Ebay used to advocate that they provide the simplest way to look
for niche item. In this case, Amazon also provide those items and deliver them to member for
free without process of auction. Moreover, Amazon owns quite a number of its own warehouse,
therefore shorten the time of shipment to make it efficient. In spite of Ebay, ebay is consider an
independent seller or intermediary with inefficient shipping. Due to the inefficient shipment, a lot
of customer will shift their loyalty and purchase behavior to another website like Amazon which
can offer efficient shipment.
Other than that, for the system designated for buyer and seller of ebay, it is more in favor of
buyers than sellers. This is a potential problem that they should have solve in order to attract
more small and medium business categories of seller. Ebay should also keep watching on
behavior of seller which represent ebay in some ways. For instance, fraud and fakes issues are
having huge impact on profit of ebay. Ebay should figure out some counter measure and
implement in to prevent or reduce this kind of issues. Last but not least, for the keyword issue,
ebay is now working on its ranking in Google Search Result. The recent changes in Google
Search Ranking has hurt Ebay badly. According to ebay’s CEO, they are “trying to bring more
stability in search result”. This issue cause a lot of customer unable to locate their item without
appropriate keyword or some specified keyword. The last issue is the most classic issue that,
tactile sense of e-commerce website. When people can not touch the products, feel the products,
smell the products, how to build up customer trust will become Ebay main concern.
Recommended strategy to address technical issue
While we talking how Ebay should fight against Amazon, we will concentrate on their
warehouse. In this case, Ebay should build their own warehouses in order to adopt the changes or
some emergency issues. Let’s assume if Ebay did own their warehouse, they will be address their
shipment in an easier way. Those goods to be deliver or goods that are delivering will not mess
with each others. Secondly we look at delivery issue and payment system issue, some customer
claimed that they are difficult to locate their item during transmission process, or some item will
be deliver not in time, so-called delay. Therefore, ebay should also establish their own delivery
system, or carrier. This means that Ebay could specialized and completely rely on their own
carrier with only one system and order given, so there are less likely to produce mistakes. With
the use of own carrier, Ebay is able to arrange their transmission time and able to locate every
item anytime and then shorten the delivery time. As well as the payment system, some customers
complained that there are only few choice of payment such as visa, credit card. Some of them
could not make it in limited resource. Therefore, Ebay should also create its own particular pay
trust system which is affordable and acceptable for everyone and make sure it can be used on
Ebay.
Now we look at the keyword issue, some cannot find out the item they want just because they
did not key in the perfect match key word. Or, some of them said that they do not know what to
key in for their desired items. In this case, Ebay should create a system which can accommodate
those word which is related to key word, such as ‘long pant’ to ‘jean’ which means homogenous
key word. In addition, establish some categories to narrow down the range for the customer
desired item. For example, categorized into Clothes, Furniture, Craft and so on. Last but not
least, for those late adopter which cannot afford the tactile sense of shopping. To acquire and
build up the customer trust and attract them, Ebay must advertise more and more in every
channel they can. The purpose of it is because, when normal people get into a strange
environment, their will go for those who makes them feel familiar unconsciously. This is the
reason why I recommend Ebay to advertise as much as they can, because people will tend to
choose those company which are very famous and well-know or high reputation.
Feasibility and Adoptability of counter strategy
As mentioned above, is it feasible for ebay to have their own warehouse? The answer is Yes
without any doubt. As we all know that Ebay is on the top of the ranking of e-commerce website,
the top of the pyramid and making significant profit every year. It is feasible for them to
purchase the warehouse to fight against Amazon and thus making higher profit. It is adopt for
changes that fit the customer needs and wants in this era. Most of the customer expect to receive
their item shortly after purchasing, with the own warehouse of ebay, ebay will able to control the
time of delivery and make sure it is all in time. As we mentioned Ebay is making significant
profit every year, it is also affordable for them to establish their own carrier and communicate
with various bank to have their unique pay trust system. It will be accepted by everyone provided
the carrier is working in good situation and the pay trust system can be used by every user on
Ebay. No matter how the financial situation has changed, as long as Ebay own their pay trust
system, it will hardly to be affected by changing situation.
We also know that Technology is the only factor that motivating and towards human being.
World is changing in every single second just because our technology is improving constantly.
As the saying goes, everything could happen with technology. So, it is possible for Ebay to
create their key word system and the system can be modified anytime to fit in the changing era.
Lastly, to advertise as much as Ebay can to get customer attention. It is actually what Ebay doing
and they can do it further to advertise much more.
References
1. The Disadvantages of eBay | Techwalla.com. (2016). Techwalla. Retrieved 3 November
2016, from https://www.techwalla.com/articles/the-disadvantages-of-ebay
2. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Selling on eBay today - The Whine Seller. (2016).
The
Whine
Seller.
Retrieved
3
November
2016,
from
http://thewhineseller.com/2011/08/advantages-disadvantages-selling-ebay-today/
3. Improve performance by solving problems. (2016). Pages.ebay.com. Retrieved 3
November 2016, from http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fixing-problems.html
As there are transaction going, there are risks comes to both buyer and seller. There will be some
challenges which seller might have to face. For instance, additional costs and fees, fakes and
frauds, customer services and customer issue, delivery issue and keyword issue and any others.
Sometimes, the additional costs and fees might occur while sellers have to pay insertion fee and
a final value fee. These costs often cut the profit and make seller earn less. Furthermore, Ebay
also provides upgrade to listing and some customization such as bigger frame for photo,
customized picture on puzzle which will cost extra. When seller selling something cheap or socalled low price, that can result in low profits and suffer from those time spent to answer
customer’s question and manage the listing.
Second, customer has to be alert for seller selling fakes on ebay such as counterfeit product.
Some seller might intentionally sell the product that did not match the description. Another
disadvantage is that, buyer have to bid for the item they wanted in ebay and no matter how many
bidders are there, the auction will only close at specified time. Sometimes, seller can prematurely
close the auction, even though you already bid it. Or, bidder might refuse to pay or return the
item after receiving. In this case, ebay encourage both buyer and seller to solve the problem with
one other. If either buyer or seller does not responding, they can look for ebay Resolution centre.
Thirdly, we all know that ebay is not the formal seller for every buyer, this means anyone can sell
on ebay and buyer will never know what kind of seller they facing and what kind of customer
service is coming. These are the issue might happen, for example slow respond to customer,
shipment might be delay, or seller deliver the wrong item to buyer. In this case, buyer can try to
go through seller’s review and some feedbacks before bidding for auction. It will gives customer
a basic sense of the seller and his/her customer service. On the other hand, they will also meet
some difficult customer, which means those who are not obey the rule of buyer. This kind of
customer will often complain for nothing or even a small reason, or intentionally leave the
negative or bad feedbacks. In this case, seller can protect themselves by making proper
description on item, and ebay also offer a return policy. This policy stated that there will be no
returns and item are sold as it is.
Fourth, the other disadvantage for e-commerce is that buyer can not enjoy the convenience as
they can’t get the item after purchase it. Buyers have to wait for shipment after bidding,
sometimes the seller will not stated clear about which carrier they are using.
Last but not least, for the keyword issue, this makes a lot of customer suffer into and create an
invisible barrier. Sometimes, you will not be able to find the item without the specific keyword.
Therefore, it is hard to sell those items that are not trending or hot keyword been used in this
keyword driven marketplace. Generally, artists, crafters and authors will realized that, unless the
item they selling is something that common or homogenous and often searched by customer or
linked to a popular keyword, or it will be hard to dig buyers out on eBay.
Technical issues faced by Ebay
Ebay as an elephant in the room in e-commerce region, it has a strong competitor which is
Amazon. There is no other online shopping website or so-called online retailer is as threatening
as Amazon. We all know that Ebay used to advocate that they provide the simplest way to look
for niche item. In this case, Amazon also provide those items and deliver them to member for
free without process of auction. Moreover, Amazon owns quite a number of its own warehouse,
therefore shorten the time of shipment to make it efficient. In spite of Ebay, ebay is consider an
independent seller or intermediary with inefficient shipping. Due to the inefficient shipment, a lot
of customer will shift their loyalty and purchase behavior to another website like Amazon which
can offer efficient shipment.
Other than that, for the system designated for buyer and seller of ebay, it is more in favor of
buyers than sellers. This is a potential problem that they should have solve in order to attract
more small and medium business categories of seller. Ebay should also keep watching on
behavior of seller which represent ebay in some ways. For instance, fraud and fakes issues are
having huge impact on profit of ebay. Ebay should figure out some counter measure and
implement in to prevent or reduce this kind of issues. Last but not least, for the keyword issue,
ebay is now working on its ranking in Google Search Result. The recent changes in Google
Search Ranking has hurt Ebay badly. According to ebay’s CEO, they are “trying to bring more
stability in search result”. This issue cause a lot of customer unable to locate their item without
appropriate keyword or some specified keyword. The last issue is the most classic issue that,
tactile sense of e-commerce website. When people can not touch the products, feel the products,
smell the products, how to build up customer trust will become Ebay main concern.
Recommended strategy to address technical issue
While we talking how Ebay should fight against Amazon, we will concentrate on their
warehouse. In this case, Ebay should build their own warehouses in order to adopt the changes or
some emergency issues. Let’s assume if Ebay did own their warehouse, they will be address their
shipment in an easier way. Those goods to be deliver or goods that are delivering will not mess
with each others. Secondly we look at delivery issue and payment system issue, some customer
claimed that they are difficult to locate their item during transmission process, or some item will
be deliver not in time, so-called delay. Therefore, ebay should also establish their own delivery
system, or carrier. This means that Ebay could specialized and completely rely on their own
carrier with only one system and order given, so there are less likely to produce mistakes. With
the use of own carrier, Ebay is able to arrange their transmission time and able to locate every
item anytime and then shorten the delivery time. As well as the payment system, some customers
complained that there are only few choice of payment such as visa, credit card. Some of them
could not make it in limited resource. Therefore, Ebay should also create its own particular pay
trust system which is affordable and acceptable for everyone and make sure it can be used on
Ebay.
Now we look at the keyword issue, some cannot find out the item they want just because they
did not key in the perfect match key word. Or, some of them said that they do not know what to
key in for their desired items. In this case, Ebay should create a system which can accommodate
those word which is related to key word, such as ‘long pant’ to ‘jean’ which means homogenous
key word. In addition, establish some categories to narrow down the range for the customer
desired item. For example, categorized into Clothes, Furniture, Craft and so on. Last but not
least, for those late adopter which cannot afford the tactile sense of shopping. To acquire and
build up the customer trust and attract them, Ebay must advertise more and more in every
channel they can. The purpose of it is because, when normal people get into a strange
environment, their will go for those who makes them feel familiar unconsciously. This is the
reason why I recommend Ebay to advertise as much as they can, because people will tend to
choose those company which are very famous and well-know or high reputation.
Feasibility and Adoptability of counter strategy
As mentioned above, is it feasible for ebay to have their own warehouse? The answer is Yes
without any doubt. As we all know that Ebay is on the top of the ranking of e-commerce website,
the top of the pyramid and making significant profit every year. It is feasible for them to
purchase the warehouse to fight against Amazon and thus making higher profit. It is adopt for
changes that fit the customer needs and wants in this era. Most of the customer expect to receive
their item shortly after purchasing, with the own warehouse of ebay, ebay will able to control the
time of delivery and make sure it is all in time. As we mentioned Ebay is making significant
profit every year, it is also affordable for them to establish their own carrier and communicate
with various bank to have their unique pay trust system. It will be accepted by everyone provided
the carrier is working in good situation and the pay trust system can be used by every user on
Ebay. No matter how the financial situation has changed, as long as Ebay own their pay trust
system, it will hardly to be affected by changing situation.
We also know that Technology is the only factor that motivating and towards human being.
World is changing in every single second just because our technology is improving constantly.
As the saying goes, everything could happen with technology. So, it is possible for Ebay to
create their key word system and the system can be modified anytime to fit in the changing era.
Lastly, to advertise as much as Ebay can to get customer attention. It is actually what Ebay doing
and they can do it further to advertise much more.
References
1. The Disadvantages of eBay | Techwalla.com. (2016). Techwalla. Retrieved 3 November
2016, from https://www.techwalla.com/articles/the-disadvantages-of-ebay
2. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Selling on eBay today - The Whine Seller. (2016).
The
Whine
Seller.
Retrieved
3
November
2016,
from
http://thewhineseller.com/2011/08/advantages-disadvantages-selling-ebay-today/
3. Improve performance by solving problems. (2016). Pages.ebay.com. Retrieved 3
November 2016, from http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fixing-problems.html