GBStamp.co.uk

Let me put my cards on the table at the outset; I am a huge fan of eBay. In my opinion they are one of only a few online trading sites that is capable of delivering regular buyer traffic to sellers and their offers. While the road hasn't been entirely smooth through its ten years, eBay have successfully balanced the sales costs they impose with the traffic buyer quality, sales volume and marketing response they deliver. List a quality item on eBay at a competitive starting bid and you can be confident a sale will result. That's not something you can say with anywhere near the same degree of certainty on other P2P trading sites.

So why does eBay succeed for stamp dealers compared to a dealer's individual website or any alternative venues? Quite simply it's down to marketing - and what really matters in online marketing - the time, effort and money spent attracting and keeping hold of buyer eyeballs.

Since the arrival of eBay and its rapid growth the site has been the target of many dealer's annoyance, condemnation and criticism. Yet at the same time it has continued to grow, generate increased stamp sales and, unsurprisingly, now provides stores and sales facilities to a lot of professional UK stamp dealers. Names that were openly critical toward eBay some years ago now offer stamps and covers on the auction site. I doubt they all like paying eBay's fees, but - like it or not - it seems they've all recognised this is a venue that will generate them results.

The question I ask is why the stamp dealers haven't tried to exploit the online marketplace better themselves? I accept there are numerous dealers operating their own websites online but I doubt few, if any, are getting the level of sales on these sites that they hoped for when setting them up.

In my opinion the trade itself has been slow to spot the potential the internet offers dealers and how it could or should have breathed a new lease of life in to the trade societies and associations. For example, why hasn't the PTS (Philatelic Traders Society) put together an online trading platform for it's members? A marketplace doesn't work properly until there are several sellers in competition with each other. Buyers, even subconciously, know this which explains why eBay remains popular as do many "comparison sites" for all kinds of products.

But if a site existed where, for example, all PTS members could list items for sale then wouldn't this be a genuine benefit for PTS members? Wouldn't such a site generate healthy competition between dealers and a great range of offers to attract the public? Couldn't the PTS seriously help their members (and themselves) by offering such a benefit to members? I'm not saying the site has to be free for PTS members to use but it could be significantly cheaper than eBay and, in my opinion, PTS members working together could seriously rival eBay in terms of a competitive site that appeals to buyers.

I'm not a member of the PTS, and never have been, so I don't know if this idea has been or is being considered. If it has been discussed and nothing has come of it then I'd like to know what "expert opinion" was involved? Is it a case that stamp dealers are too competitive and simply incapable of working together on a project even when it would benefit them all?

As a webmaster I spend a fair number of hours each week examining ideas for new websites. Usually most of this "blue sky effort" comes to nothing but every now and again a good idea starts to grow and merits development. One such idea I considered was to develop an eBay like sales marketplace but exclusively for stamp dealers. The idea is still bubbling away on the back burner but I freely admit the flaw I see in my idea is the need to earn my profit from participating dealers paying fees. This means any site I build could easily be undermined by a few dealers getting together to cooperate on a site themselves or perhaps even a body like the PTS realising it's now in the 21st Century.

An increasing percentage of phlatelic sales are taking place online and, in my opinion, it's a trend that will only increase in the foreseeable future as the internet generation matures. Until the stamp trade recognises the need for its own cooperative online marketplace then it seems eBay is destined to suck a high percentage of the UK stamp trade's marketing spend out of the hobby forever. A fan of eBay I may be but I would dearly love to see UK stamp dealers work together to offer some serious competition to the San Jose giant.

I'd be very keen to hear and publish the views of other UK collectors or dealers on this subject. Is there a case for a jointly owned, cooperative website exclusively for UK stamp dealers to service collectors? Send your thoughts for publication.

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