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“For years TAG has been hearing from eBay users all the 'If Only’ statements. If only a commercially viable site would take on eBay; If only a site would spend some real money on TV, radio, magazine and online advertising in the same markets eBay advertises in; If only a site would make an effort to make sure sellers and buyers are legitimate before they are allowed to buy or sell; If only a site would provide real customer service by phone. So TAG now asks, why not Overstock?

Overstock is doing all these things. They are an established online marketplace for new and refurbished end lot merchandise at very good prices, with a reputation for excellent customer service. In September they opened a person to person auction marketplace with a buy it now feature. They have been and continue to advertise
through major outlets, are sending emails to folks who use their retail outlet, focusing lots of buyer attention on their site to auctions, and have even lowered their fees.

On 26 Feb 05, Overstock's sent an email from Patrick Byrne (their Chairman and President) Holly MacDonald-Korth (their VP of auctions and Sam Peterson (their CTO of auctions) to their auction users. In the email they talked about what they had done to make their fees lower than eBay's and why sellers should use Overstock. They also said, "You will not get a fair shake from eBay until a legitimate competitor develops, and we want to be that competitor, so help us."

They talked about their ad campaigns, and how they were switching from a campaign to bring in sellers, to one that would attract buyers. Overstock continued their message with, "We sought and received excellent advice from posters on our message board, advice we incorporated into our new buyer-oriented radio ad, and the new TV ad that is being arranged." And, "We (you and Overstock.com Auctions) have one chance to make this work. You gain, we gain. Given the confluence of eBay's fee hike, our fee drop, our integration with ChannelAdvisor, and our focusing advertising on auctions, now is that chance. They asked everyone to contact other eBay users, saying, "Each of you knows thousands of eBay buyers. Now is the time to contact them and tell them to try Overstock.com Auctions." And "In sum, if there were ever a time to strike, now is that time." Overstock concluded with, "We are doing our part. We built and tuned the site, staffed customer service, cut fees, made a deal with ChannelAdvisor to get good listings, and devoted a six figure budget to auctions advertising. Please do your part by telling thousands of eBay buyers to try us now. You'd be doing us a favor, we know, but you are doing yourselves a favor too. Your humble servants"

TAG knows that Overstock is far from perfect, (one huge flaw is the fact that international sellers and buyers can't use the site) and that there are many things Overstock would need to do to be something other than just another eBay clone with a small fraction of eBay's sell through rate. But we do think sellers and buyers
should make an effort to at least try to use Overstock to build another place to buy and sell items, along with places such as Bidville, Amazon etc. There is always a chance that Overstock will listen to their users, and treat them more fairly than eBay.”