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0 points_delirium13y ago0 comments

While it's true that eBay pivoted to a more profitable niche, their original niche was still quite profitable: they were a successful IPO and pulling down cash back in the days when most sellers were regular people. So if they're abandoning that market to focus on a more lucrative one, it might [1] leave an opening for someone else to focus on it, and make good, even if not eBay-sized, profits.

[1] With all sorts of uncertainties I haven't properly investigated, such as whether there's been a significant shift that would make old-ebay-style auctions much less profitable today than they were 10 years ago.

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wisty13y ago

Since this is meant to be HN:

There's a lesson to be learnt. If you want to build a niche, build one that anyone can access. Better still, build a niche which stops people being locked out. Later on, you can screw the unwashed masses, and turn it into a B2C channel. See - Youtube, eBay, the iApp stores, the internet in general.

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