USBrit

I just logged into my Half.com account to confirm a sale, and at the top of my account page there is a notice:

Important Announcement: We are NOT going to close Half.com on October 14, 2004 as previously planned and communicated to you. In fact, we will keep Half.com open indefinitely.

However, when I click on the Read More link that's posted after the announcement, it only mentions the current eBay free listing offer, and the previous announcement to extend the integration deadline to October.

Are they just getting my hopes up?

[Edit - Anyone know how to remove the "?" from my thread title? Mods need to do it? Thanks.]

USBrit

The link's now been updated and it's confirmed:

Seller Alert: Half.com NOT Closing
Sep 23, 2004 12:00 PM
Dear Sellers:

In our last announcement earlier this summer, we said that Half.com would be closing on October 14, 2004. We have decided NOT to go forward with this plan and will keep Half.com open indefinitely.

Over the last year and a half, our efforts to prepare for a consolidated marketplace for Books, Movies, Music and Video Games on eBay have helped many Half.com sellers transition to eBay, especially during this past back-to-school season. Many of you have reported being successful on eBay while growing your overall sales by selling on both platforms. This has contributed to the biggest back-to-school season ever experienced on eBay. However, with all the growth in the Books, Movies, Music and Video Games categories on eBay, we have not seen a corresponding drop in business on Half.com. In fact, loyalty to Half.com has remained strong as we witnessed yet another outstanding back-to-school season on Half.com. The buying and selling activities of the eBay and Half.com communities have proven that the Books, Movies, Music and Video Games marketplace can be more vibrant with both Half.com and eBay.

We have heard from many of you that you want the Half.com site to remain open and to have the option to sell on both platforms. Your input, as well as the data and experience we have gained during the transition efforts, are the basis for our decision to keep Half.com open. There will be no substantive changes to Half.com in the foreseeable future. We encourage you to sell on both Half.com and eBay to maximize your sales, as many of you have already done throughout the transition period. Going forward, we will invest in both platforms and allow sellers and buyers the flexibility to benefit from the unique opportunities they each allow.

If you have further questions, please read our Frequently Asked Questions page or attend one of the following live interactive Q&A sessions with eBay and Half.com executives:

- Thursday, September 30 @ 10:00am PT -- REGISTER

- Tuesday, October 5 @ 4:00pm PT -- REGISTER

We appreciate and look forward to your continued loyalty to Half.com.

Sincerely,

Mike Aufricht VP/GM, Half.com

Jeremy517

Laser Movies

It's great news Half is staying open but I thought they were being forced to close because of a lawsuit.

Copenhagen

Great news indeed!

Chew

Just saw this myself. Great news.

matome

Got the same email. Excellent!

darkside

Great news, but what happened to the lawsuit?

pilot

removed ? from title per USBrit's request

USBrit

Not sure about the lawsuit. You'd think I'd care (attorney), but honestly can't say that I do, so long as they are staying open. You have to wonder if that issue was just an excuse. Now that they've seen they can make plenty of $ leaving both open (plus apparently many responses from P.O'd sellers who may have moved to Amazon etc. and not "transitioned" to eBay) they've changed their tune.

Pilot - Thanks for making the change.

Spiderbite

I just got the email myself. This makes me very happy as I never planned to "transition" to Ebay as a seller. I make more purchases off Half than Ebay as well so this is excellent news!

tonyc3742

Wow, I like that.
I might actually have to send them an email or something saying 'thanks for listening.'
Ebay is great for what it does, Half.com is great for what it does, but IMHO, they are two different marketplaces for two different types of product. And I personally get sick of doing a search on Ebay and finding a Power Seller with 150 auctions for the exact same dvd/game, exact same price, 7.00 shipping. And if half.com closed down, I wouldn't be migrating most of my stuff to Ebay.

Plus, if they closed down, if I lived in Half.com, Oregon, i'd be pissed

ruk

just received the e-mail, great news

Eric F

There definitely was a lawsuit. It's easy to find, just Google.
I guess they decided it was more beneficial to stay open.

Good- eBay isn't the best for some things, in fact I prefer Half.com for most of my selling.

btlives

Awesome...A great place to get bootlegs that
are sold as original releases.
Or if one is lucky ex-rentals resealed as
brand new.

Now where are them $5 coupons at???

Dabaomb

this is great news. I just got the e-mail a few minutes ago.

D-Ball

Good news that they're staying alive. As for the lawsuit, ebay was ordered to pay around $35 million, but I don't think an injunction was issued that would have caused half.com to close down. Also, ebay appealed the decision. So it's possible that either ebay reached an agreement or was succesful in their appeal.

uteotw

EXCELLENT. 100% happy with this wise business decision...