Is eBay s move from a pure consumer to consumer auction marketplace to inviting large and small business to sell to consumers and other business sometimes at fixed prices a good long term strategy why?

Answer 1

It's a very good move.

As a pure consumer website, Ebay relied on products sold on the street, which was all well and good when the street was alive (not in a recession), ensuring that Ebay worked as a kind of - Global car boot sale, of sorts.

When it moved to a consumer auction marketplace, it opened up to even more people, excluding the fixed fee required to purchase items, making the auction aspect popular among those who perhaps couldn't afford street pricing for certain commodities.

Ebay's next step - opening up to businesses, both large and small, was the next move, as it allowed companies to operate both on the street and online easily, and without having to run their own website which would've incurred increasing costs to run and maintain.
It also prevented certain companies from disappearing entirely as they were suffering in the long run from people going online to purchase items.