QuikDrop Closes eBay Drop-off Store Franchise
QuikDrop is closing its eBay drop-off store franchise business at the end of the month, but franchise stores will be able to continue to use the QuikDrop name, logos, and signage. A conversation with the company’s cofounder Jack Reynolds on Wednesday netted a laundry list of complaints about the challenges of selling on eBay that contributed to his company’s demise, beginning in 2006 with the Stores search and fee changes.
QuikDrop storeowners did not seem surprised at the news of the closure, which arrived via email from QuikDrop headquarters on Friday night - and some actually seemed relieved.
The number of QuikDrop stores shrunk from a high of 95 in mid-2006 to under 30 stores today. Reynolds said the store closings, combined with a number of stores who were unable to pay franchise royalties, led to the decision to close the corporate franchise office.
In late 2005 and early 2006, Reynolds said eBay worked on joint marketing with QuikDrop and things were going well. eBay discovered that consumers who visited drop off stores became more active as buyers on eBay, so the auction site marketed to people who weren’t sellers to promote eBay Trading Assistants. But things took a downward turn in 2006, he said.
Read more in an article by Ina Steiner in Auctionbytes.com
In a related article here on Let’s Talk Franchising you can read about the troubles of another eBay drop off franchise having troubles: iSoldit Announce that it has troubles in an open letter to franchisees
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Comments
[...] Cross posted at Let’s Talk Franchising [...]
The iSoldit debacle foreshadowed the problems that this industry had.
Ironically, given all these failures, a proper franchise system could be constructed. The network effects would depend upon the physical franchisee’s screening for counterfeit, fakes, or stolen property.
eBay is being sued by Tiffany’s for allow fakes or counterfeits on the system; if they win their lawsuit there is going to a huge opportunity here.
But the drop-off idea is a non-starter; a better idea is to network together various physical second hand, pawn, or the like and build in the proper reputation checks.
Bit of a shame as it was a good idea for people that werent after a full on business.
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