Auction websites fail to benefit from economic slowdown as shoppers flock elsewhere

Auction sites are suffering a downturn in popularity. The last 6 months has seen the proportion of UK households saying they buy on eBay and other online auction sites drop by 4% according to the latest data from Point Topic’s series of consumer broadband surveys.Auctioneers are being hit the hardest but other retailers can’t afford to be complacent. The percentage of people shopping online, while relatively high at 69% in January 2008, is static over the...