[draftable]

"Has anyone under 30 ever bid on something on eBay?"

What a load of shit. I'm 25, and I use ebay all the time.

Sure, you can make the argument that Etsy and Amazon are taking business away from eBay. But suggesting that they have replaced eBay as a platform is ridiculous. This is also a very USA-centric view to take. I'm from Australia, so using Amazon is a pain due to manufacturer export restrictions, and the often prohibitively expensive shipping costs. So in many cases eBay is a better alternative. And as for Etsy, it serves a niche. If you want to set up an online store to sell kitschy homemade toot, knock yourself out and use Etsy. But if I want to sell some of my second hand stuff, eBay is what I'm using.

[tomflack]

For a company run by Sarah Lacey (who takes pride in having a Chinese presence) Pando Daily is a shockingly north American centric publication.

I also get the sense they want to be the first to say something is happening rather than could happen, at the expense of accuracy.

[jacques_chester]

Australia is partly to blame for its own woes there -- Amazon have said in the past that they won't set up a .au subsidiary while there are parallel import restrictions on books.

All hail the luvvies, who made all books more expensive for all Australians, so they could protect a handful of novelists, playwrights and poets.

[damian2000]

Explain how there's parallel import restrictions on books here? Last I heard there isn't any. I thought the only reason Amazon & co don't setup shop here is that its cheaper for them to ship books direct from the UK than pay Aussie-level wages.

[jacques_chester]

If there is an "Australian" edition of a book, it is illegal to import copies printed elsewhere and resell them. Or, as it's also known in polite circles: retarded protectionist bullshit.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/business-old/shorten...

As for "cheaper to ship from the UK", you're thinking of the Book Depository, who take advantage of subsidised export rates.

[chris_wot]

This is true. We have largely removed all tarrifs and disincentives to import here, but when it comes to books the local publishers have a stranglehold over the market.

Ironically, they are dying anyway because you instead of reselling the books here, consumers just buy them directly from sites like amazon.com.

Meanwhile, Angus & Robertson and Borders have closed, and it's damned hard to find a bookstore any more. Which means that publishers can't sell there books as there are very few retail outlets they can sell their material. I'm really not shedding any tears - books are far too expensive in Australia.

[ajtaylor]

When I moved to Australia last year, I simply couldn't believe the prices for books. A simple trade paperback would likely set you back 15-30 AUD! And don't even get me started on technical books...

[chris_wot]

There are a lot of people who are pirating technical books in Australia.

[damian2000]

Yeah - I've used Book Depository, they're excellent. Also there is an Amazon subsidiary who I've ordered off as well - Amazon.co.uk - their official address is in luxembourg or something (obviously some tax dodge).

[brimanning]

You, being merely a single example of an individual who does not fit her statement, does not invalidate her point that it's a marketplace that an older demographic audience uses.

If she (and you) could demonstrate that as being true (or false) with research and statistics, then she (and you) would have a leg to stand on.

[DanBC]

Draftable isn't getting paid to peddle anecdotes though.

[bobsy]

Most of my friends and younger brothers friends have used eBay to sell second hand stuff and buy tickets for various events. I have never heard of Etsy.

I am not a great fan of ebay but if you want to shift something second hand its pretty effective.

A handful of people do not make a trend. However, I feel the comment on eBay being abandoned by under-30's is one of those statements made by someone living in a tech bubble and not in the real world.

eBay isn't hip or cool. That said when you want a good price for something, whether buying or selling doesn't matter. You want a good price and you don't want to get conned. eBay nails both of these.

[john_flintstone]

I stopped using eBay 6 years ago, and for 5 years before that I used it every week, for buying and selling. eBay is fast becoming irrelevant. And I'm not in the US either.

[batista]

>I stopped using eBay 6 years ago, and for 5 years before that I used it every week, for buying and selling. eBay is fast becoming irrelevant. And I'm not in the US either.

What part makes the above statements not anecdotal?