HMV open third party retailer marketplace
HMV are set to launch an HMV Marketplace for third party sellers in the New Year. According to Retail Week they’re soft launching the marketplace and hoping to have 10 retail partners within weeks, with the first being DVD Gaming.
HMV say they’re going to start slowly to ensure test full functionality and ensure that everything works before launching next year with a wide range of partners. The aim is to expand their existing core offering and offer a greater choice of product to their customers.
The big question of course is will HMV succeed. How can they stack up against the likes of Amazon, Play.com and eBay? Whilst ten, or maybe as little as five, years ago HMV probably had a customer base who had never logged onto one of the major marketplaces, every 16 year old kid that’s into music and/or gaming has heard of Play.com and been browsing eBay and Amazon too.
Of course as a third party retailer it’s an attractive proposition so long as you can upload your inventory with little or no effort. You supply the stock and let HMV sit back and market it for you, if HMV succeed then so do you and if they don’t it’s probably stock you already have listed on other marketplaces, or stock that you intended to drop ship anyway.
We’ll watch this one with interest, HMV is one of the last survivors of it’s ilk on the High Street. Is it time for them to transform themselves into an ecommerce marketplace or is it too little too late?
Gary says
10:39 am on 23/10/2012
Just what the marketplace needs. Another marketplace outlet selling the same consumer media products by BIN as sold by everybody else.
Tesco marketplace was a total damp squid after all the hype and excitement of what was predicted to be a serious ebay competitor.
When are we going to get a serious ebay competitor for collectables and used product that offers the option of auctions with FVF fees of around 5% and without all the faffing around with DSR’s and feedback and constant hoop changes every 6 months and simply keeping it simple?
My guess never!
Mark says
11:32 am on 23/10/2012
Brilliant!! All Hmv has to do is pitch the % costs just uner Ebay and Amazon (forget play.com – they’re rubbish) and watch it fly!!! The high street need’s HMV and this can help them build a better base to work from. Who would you rather buy from – companies who pretty much don’t pay any tax to the UK or a good British company that contributes!!
elvis says
10:52 am on October 29th, 2012
If you look into hmv they actually pay very minimal tax, a bit like starbuck. Also, all their online sales were dispatched from channel islands for years avoiding vat.
Gary says
11:40 am on 23/10/2012
Alternatively could ebay launch a no frills marketplace with final selling fees of around 5% or less.
Basically ebay offer a lot of services that I pay for but don’t use. A basic site backed by ebay without seller reports, stats, all the account functionality, complex feedback arrangements, complex message arrangements, fewer rules and restrictions, reduced or limited customer support, limited or no advertising spend, and basically operated at a much lower cost to ebay would suit me (and probably a lot of other sellers like me) fine.
Why don’t ebay buy out ebid and market ebid with the ebid fee structure under the ebay branding?
Rich says
5:32 am on October 24th, 2012
This is a very good idea, I wonder why the super bods have not done this, as it would serve a gap in the market and kill off any potential competitor, my wish would be something ‘without the frills’, and one simple selling format, one INR procedure, one GNR procedure. It could appeal to the bulk buyer for instance.
Stuart says
9:36 am on October 24th, 2012
Why would you want to dilute a brand like that, it would make no sense at all. Customers wouldn’t know where to go, bit like the mess that was ebay express.
Ebay need to stick to what they are good at and keep on pushing as they have been the past few months with advertising.
Is 10% fees really that high?
Gary says
10:29 am on October 24th, 2012
ebay bought Gumtree. They could integrate ebid into Gumtree.
Rich says
1:04 pm on October 24th, 2012
They wouldn’t dilute it, it would be a different entity. Bit like when an upmarket brand takes over a lower end brand. Market diversity I guess, I think it is called horizontal integration or something and is a standard way of expanding.
rick says
2:24 pm on October 24th, 2012
ebay was and has evolved from just such a no frills site because it had no choice
you cant run a any reliable and successful business by cutting corners and skimping
Gary says
1:50 pm on 24/10/2012
ebay would be giving their customers (sellers) choice.
They could use the feature rich heavily marketed full blown ebay site and pay the 10% fees.
Or the feature poor “Gumbid” site with marketing pretty much based on buyer word of mouth and google search (NOT manipulated ebay search) and pay the much reduced fees.
Why is this diluting the ebay brand?