uBid backs off of its head-to-head charge against eBay
UBid Inc.’s uBid.com has decided not to play second fiddle to eBay, CEO Christian Feuer tells InternetRetailer.com. Instead, uBid.com is refocusing itself as a retailer that sells guaranteed, brand-name consumer electronics.
Feuer, a former marketing executive of Spiegel.com who took over as head of uBid in mid year, says uBid realized that it will be virtually impossible for any web site to replicate the critical mass of c2c activity reached by eBay. “We intend to continue to be the 2nd-largest auction site on the Internet, but we realized there is a fundamental difference between us and eBay,” he says. “We don’t believe that a combined business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer setting works well for us.” UBid ceased all c2c transactions last month.
In a survey of uBid’s customers earlier this year, the company found that many were confused by its mixture of products and sales alternatives, Feuer says. “We realized we had to make some dramatic changes,” he says. “So we narrowed our focus from a product perspective, and broadened our product offers within the categories of computers and consumer electronics.”
UBid launched its online Electronics SuperStore earlier this month around the same time that eBay launched its own online electronics store. But while eBay’s store offers a mixture of fixed-price and auctions sales, in both c2c and b2c versions, uBid’s electronics store offers only fixed-price b2c sales. “We’re very happy and encouraged with the results so far,” Feuer says.
Shoppers on uBid still have the option of linking to auction sales outside of the SuperStore section. All products on uBid, whether they’re offered at fixed-price or in auctions, are sold directly by uBid, which also handles fulfillment. UBid buys both new and refurbished products directly from manufacturers and passes on the original product warranties to its customers.
Feuer says uBid expects to differentiate itself from other sites that sell consumer electronics by standing behind everything it sells while offering the options of auctions and fixed-price sales.
UBid will continue to offer apparel, jewelry and other products, though these categories are considered secondary markets that will not be merchandised as heavily as computers and consumer electronics, Feuer says.
UBid is a majority-owned company of CMGI Inc., a venture capital firm that invests in Internet businesses.
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