Internet Marketing
Project #3 9/30/03
by Dave Reiss
I researched www.half.com as an example of a large website that
targets multiple market segments. An eBay company, half.com sells
new, overstocked, discontinued and used products at discounted
prices. Unlike eBay auctions, all sellers set the price for items
at the time an item is listed. The site's expanding marketplace
currently includes books, CDs, movies, video games, computers,
consumer electronics, sporting goods, and trading cards.
The site was broken up into tabbed links to all the categories.
There was a subcategory list of links along the left side of the
screen as well. The site boasted DVDs for $9.99 to high-end laptop
computers for several thousand dollars.
I searched for a high-end Apple laptop for my research. A product
finder window is integrated into the screen once you select a
category. This window allowed searching by manufacturer, technical
specifications, and price. I selected "G4" as my only
criteria under laptops. A screen was presented of 120 products.
Each item was listed with columns for hard drive capacity, processor
speed, processor type, RAM, and price. Each of these columns could
be sorted, which was a very nice feature. I sorted by price to
see the high-end units. After looking into several of the laptops
offered, it was clear that most items are offered by the largest
eBay sellers, also known as eBay stores.
Another nice feature on some of the laptops offered was a price
comparison chart (powered by epinions.com) included in the description
page, although the prices listed were mostly retail. The sellers
were also rated by purchases on a 1-to-5- star system; 1 being
the worst and 5 being the best. At the bottom of each item description
page was an eBay window with a sampling of auctions of the same
or related items. I found this to be very helpful as I could see
what people were actually paying for the same models. What was
interesting to note that was the eBay auctions that were charging
close to the retail prices were getting no bids at all; instantly
their tool showed me the market value of the computer.
Realizing that this site was limited to those businesses selling
goods on eBay, I tried another search for a more general item,
DVDs. I searched using the tabbed DVD/Movie category, and searched
for an old Film Noir Classic, "Double Indemnity." A
screen presented only one DVD for $40, with VHS and even laserdiscs
available. I tried a search for the more contemporary "City
Slickers," and was rewarded with three hits and bargains
under $10, but not many vendors to choose from. I also tried looking
at television sets, and was presented with eight pages full of
links to various models for sale. The list could be sorted by
"best selling," "most wanted," and "just
in," which was an interesting feature. Looking for a new
model TV I sorted by "just in," and was greeted with
a list of very high-end and expensive sets.
Although well-designed and user-friendly, the limited vendors
offered in this eBay portal hinder the usefulness of this site
for most buyers. Half.com is really a hybrid fixed-price Website
for eBay sellers. That can be useful to some in finding a bargain,
but for many shoppers it is a frustrating experience, and most
will turn to other retailers, either on-line or at brick and mortar
stores.