Recently I've been reading the Business Journal, starting with this article on pay-per-tweets. Another article that grabbed my attention was the report that EBay CEO is 'cautiously optimistic'.
I guess it is good news for eBay that their decline has leveled off, but I don't think the performance of online businesses are an accurate measure of the economy. There are too many advantages online businesses have and not enough of the same underlying factors that real-world companies have to rely on. For instance, online businesses are right there in your own home. You can access them from your computer, and the products come to your door (plus, if you have the patience, the standard shipping is most often free). This does not require a lot of time on the consumer's part, nor the need to use oil - which is still rising in many parts of the country. If eBay's numbers start to rise, this may mark a turn around in consumer spending, but that doesn't mean a turn around in the economy anytime soon. After all, if you're looking for a product on eBay, your most likely trying to get a better deal than what you'd find in the store. This in mind, it will be some time before this spending climbs back to what companies will need to stay afloat.Above is my comment which I posted on the article. I just thought about it more and realized I might not have been dead on. Disposable income is disposable income and I think that consumers are spending it at all is a good sign rather than saving and preparing for the worst. The only wonder I have is if other businesses are seeing similar patterns right now. Are they really at rock bottom? I don't know how you feel, but I think things are going to get much worse before they get a lot better.
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