Hitwise just released a graph that will make eBay sellers unhappy.
Apparently, data has been being collected over the course of almost three years – and it doesn’t look good for the online auction site. Results of the study show that searches for the word “auctions” are declining, as consumers are coming to favor “classifieds” instead. “Auctions” maintained its spot on top of Bill Tancer’s graph until March of 2007 or so, but then a battle began.
Tancer noted:
“Summer 2008 marked the first sustain lead in ‘classifieds’ v. ‘auctions’ searches. During the last months of 2008, however, ‘auctions’ regained the lead, signaling the utility of auctions for holiday gift buying. 2009 however, has been the year of the ‘classifieds’ as the economic downturn has fueled our desire to save money by buying second-hand goods.”
What does this mean in real world terms? Basically that sites like Craigslist and local classifieds search are going to be edging out even more of eBay’s share of the market.
eBay’s stock has lost roughly 43 percent of its value since June of 2006 – about the time Tancer’s graph of search terms begins:
(Credit: Hitwise)
Tags: auctions, classifieds, Ebay