Is eBay Losing Sheen?

I was speaking to a friend yesterday who thought despite competition stepping up heat, eBay looks too invincible and difficult to be replaced.
We recently covered Bambi Francisco writing on steady decline of eBay traffic - wherein the point made was -The longer eBay's performance stays in this humbled state, its hiring abilities get affected. The best and brightest flocking to Google, Yahoo's - the competition for talent is intensifying.Importantly, if eBay's business model appears to be growing more vulnerable, entrepreneurs will become more encouraged to challenge it. There is no compelling reason for any seller to limit to eBay's marketplace when the entire Web is the marketplace? It may be that eBay's just getting ready for Act II, and its setback after 10 years may mark the start of a new beginning. This report continues the assessment of eBay's future.With roughly 150 million registered users, eBay Inc. ranks among the world's most powerful companies, online or otherwise. It had more than 1.4 billion items listed last year. For every $100 spent online worldwide, $14 was spent on eBay. Entrepreneurs grumble that executives pander to big-ticket electronics vendors and industrial manufacturers - not the teddy bear enthusiasts and numismatists who were faithful a decade ago, when eBay was founded and enjoyed a kitschy obscurity. They complain about shoddy customer service, including site crashes and anti-fraud software that too often mistakes a legitimate business for a huckster.EBay executives are looking for new revenue as growth slows in North America and competition heats up from Amazon, Yahoo Inc., Google Inc. and startups. eBay faces daunting obstacles, such as cracking the asian e-commerce market and broadening the audience for PayPal, the online payment division that still does 71 percent of its transactions through eBay. EBay foes concede that it would be nearly impossible to eclipse the world's largest online auction company. But that hasn't stopped them from carving out niches where they perceive eBay to be weak.