Word: ebay
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...become seriously profitable, Half needs to emulate eBay further by selling more high-priced items. Kopelman's plan is to move into consumer electronics. That could be a hard sell, however, because consumers who buy used books over the Internet may not be as willing to take a chance on a used Palm Pilot...
Half has also done an end-run around the fraud issues eBay has never been able to fully shake. The company bills the buyer and pays the seller, which means there's no danger that a seller will have to grapple with a bounced check. What's more, Half offers a buyer-protection guarantee on all sales. "You might be buying it from Bob in Des Moines, but you're also buying it from Half," says Kopelman...
...major reason for Half's success--in November it hit No. 3 in the e-commerce rankings--is that Kopelman has replicated eBay's strengths. It is a "many-to-many" site, hooking up millions of users to buy and sell, which means it offers millions more trading (and profit) possibilities than Amazon or eToys, for instance. And like eBay, it is a "virtual" site. It doesn't have to shoulder the cost of acquiring, storing or shipping goods...
...just as impressive is the way in which Half's business model is different. Kopelman saw something the folks at eBay were slow to appreciate--just how much demand there was for fixed-price deals. "There are people who love the thrill of bidding and winning," says Kopelman. "But there are other people who don't want to win an auction, they just want the CD." Kopelman's goal was to make it easier to sell an item than to throw it away. He's not there yet--garbage still doesn't need to be bubble-wrapped or taken...
...eBay is clearly delighted with its new acquisition. Management is allowing Half to remain unusually autonomous, with Kopelman firmly in charge and its corporate offices still in Philadelphia. And eBay CEO Meg Whitman recently paid the site the ultimate compliment. She quietly began selling her old Princeton textbooks--at prices ranging from$3 to $17--on Half...