ONLINE AUCTIONS

 

Q1: eBay is one of the only major Internet “pure plays” to consistently make a profit from its inception. What is eBay’s business model? Why has it been so successful?

eBay’s business model is a Brokerage model. eBay  is an online auctioneer acts as a broker, bringing buyers and sellers together and facilitates the transaction. eBay,  generates revenue through listing and selling fees and through advertising. eBay conduct advertisement on different media and become an interest to a consumers. It also offers goods which is often cheaper than in retail which is attractive to customers. In addition eBay is constantly researching ways for improvement and customer satisfaction. They always look and use customer feedback which help them to make strong consumer loyalty that is why eBay is so successful and popular on online  auction.

Q2: Other major web sites, like Amazon.com and Yahoo!, have entered the auction marketplace with far less success than eBay. How has eBay been able to maintain its dominant position?

eBay has been able to maintain its dominant position on online auction. The Amazon sells products by itself but eBay does not sell goods by itself. The seller registers and sells through eBay. Everyone can sell and buy on the eBay, it is more freedom.  It delivers good service at lower price, it offers free to bid and has its own safe payment method which provides security to its customers.

Q3: What method does eBay use to reduce the potential for fraud among traders on its site? What kinds of fraud, if any, are eBay users most susceptible?

eBay offers  safety procedures such as, identity safety, computer safety and how to avoid fraud through its security center . Security center has a reporting facilities where users can report fraud. eBay allows all its members to use PayPal as a method of payment. PayPal helps to protect financial information of customers. eBay also use to reduce the potential fraud through its use of feedback. This allows eBay to know about people trying to scam the system.

Types of fraud that eBay users are susceptible are:

· Identity theft

· Sellers fraud

· Fraudulent emails

Q4: eBay makes every effort to conceptualize its users as a community (as opposed to, say "customers" or "clients"). What is the purpose of this conceptual twist and does eBay gain something by doing it?

eBay makes every effort to conceptualize its users as a community than as clients or customers to help  users feel more involved in its services . It allows customers to feel part of a community and it is helpful for them to feel comfortable in the auction. Being a community member also help users feel more secure and gives a sense of trust in using eBay services.. eBay’s success is based on its community members success. 

Q5: eBay has long been a marketplace for used goods and collectibles. Today, it is increasingly a place where major businesses come to auction their wares. Why would a brand name vendor set-up shop on eBay?

A brand name may choose to set up shop on eBay because of the high number of users in eBay. This is an opportunity for the brand name to create awareness and interest of customers. Potential buyers may also be looking for discounted brand name products rather than paying full price in physical stores. Online vendors also can reach to customers who are geographically far.

Q6. I have a few businesses, and I have used eBay for about 12 years on and off. Currently I have about 600 books listed on eBay (seller name ozrural). I stopped selling on eBay for a few years but they changed the rules this July and it is viable again (for me). What do you think changed?

In july 2010 eBay changed its fixed price listing in the books and music categories.The new basic store fees for books and music are designed to help media sellers optimize their profitability by lowering the cost of listing on eBay.

Source:http://pages2.ebay.com.au/News/InsideSelling/New_Fees_for_Books_and_Music_Listings

Retrieved May11,2013

DIGITAL AUTOMATA

A. Write a one paragraph describing the Turing test and another paragraph describing an argument against the Turing Test, known as the about the Chinese room.

The Turing Test is a method for determining whether or not a computer is capable of thinking like a human. The test is described as a test that assesses a machine’s ability to think or understand. The test is named after Alan Turing, an English mathematician who pioneered artificial intelligence during the 1940s and 1950s. According to this kind of test, a computer is considered to have artificial intelligence if it can imitate human responses under specific conditions. In Turing's test, if the human being conducting the test is unable to consistently determine whether an answer has been given by a computer or by another human being, then the computer is considered to have "passed" the test (Techtarget 2013).

The Chinese Room developed by John Searle, is an argument against the possibility of  Artificial Intelligence. The argument talks about thought experiment in which someone who knows only English sits alone in a room following English instructions for manipulating strings of Chinese characters, such that to those outside the room it appears as if someone in the room understands Chinese. The argument is intended to show that while suitably programmed computers may appear to converse in natural language, they are not capable of understanding language. Searle concludes that the experiment underscores the fact that computers merely use syntactic rules to manipulate symbol strings, but have no understanding of meaning or semantics. Chinese room argument is a direct challenge to the supporters of Artificial Intelligence. This argument also has broad implications for functionalist and computational theories of meaning and of mind. There have been many criticism to the argument (Cole David 2009).

References:

Cole, David (2009). The Chinese Room Argument. Retrieved May 3, 2013 from

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-room/

Techtarget. 2013).Turing Test. Retrieved May 3, 2013 from

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Turing-Test


B. Can virtual agents succeed in delivering high-quality customer service over the Web? Think of examples which support or disprove the question or just offer an opinion based on your personal experience.

We can see gradual changes towards digital development .Virtual agent will eventually be able to successfully delivering high quality customer service over the web.  Virtual agents are used by big companies, and hundreds of smaller businesses to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs. The internet has many virtual agents. Companies as Google have agents, when a user put in a word or question into the search engine the agent gives a reply with similar websites. Virtual agent can chat to thousands of people at the same time, delivering instant 24/7 customer service.  Main purpose is to have conversations with site visitors and direct them to the part of the website that fits their needs. Customer doesn't have to wait in a queue for an agent to become available. They click to chat and the majorities have a good experience, getting the help they need. This is helpful to save precious time and money of every business.

References:

Artificial intillengence (2011). Retrieved May 4, 2013, from

http://business.nab.com.au/artificial-intelligence-171/

Rappa M. (2006) Digital Automata. Retrieved May 4, 2013, from

http://digitalenterprise.org/transcripts/automata_tr.htm