I heard Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com speak last night in RTP with Holly MacDonald-Korth, VP of Overstock Auctions. Patrick was the closing keynote at ChannelAdvisor Marathon 2005.
Just as quick background, ChannelAdvisor is one of our portfolio companies and is the leader in online marketplace management and services. Marathon is an educational and networking event for some of the leading marketplace sellers (both prospects and current CA customers).
Incredible conference and I enjoyed hearing Patrick talk about Overstock Auctions. So did all the people in the packed audience (all big sellers on eBay).
Competiting for eBay buyers and sellers is hard. But with eBay raising their fees earlier this year, some eBay sellers are looking for alternatives.
What impressed me most about Patrick and Holly is that in order to build Overstock Auctions further, they completely understand they need to make their customers (sellers of products on Overstock Auctions) happy. The happier they are, the more product they will sell, the more revenue that flows to Overstock.com, etc. You get the picture.
To ensure this, here they both were up on stage during Q+A engaging the people out in the audience for feedback on Overstock Auctions. Great idea!
1. How can they make it easier to sell on Overstock Auctions?
2. The fees are much lower than eBay's, but are they still too high? How should they adjust it?
3. What else should they do to differentiate their business?
Patrick and Holly are pretty blunt in that they recognize that they are much smaller than eBay and that their story is evolving over time. And they are hungry for business. It was refreshing to see that they "get it" by asking the customer what they want.
