Wasn't this article here last week? (albeit on another url)

Yes: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=207995

No. eBay was a good idea at the time executed without enough mobility.

Auctions are losing a ton of share, and fixed price has been gaining pretty steadily.

This might be because fixed price distributors have gotten smarter at setting prices, not because fixed price is inherently better than auctions.

It doesn't really say that ebay are doing less auctions than before, just that fixed price are gaining share. I doubt auctions will die off completely.

No, I think eBay shot themselves in the foot by acting arrogant towards both sellers and buyers.

With the economy slumping, I wouldn't be surprised to see a resurgance at Ebay.

Or at a startup that's on its way to replace eBay :)

This is in an industry of scale.

For that very fact alone starting a company in this area would be a really bad idea. It's not even on the decline yet let alone in a weak position.

britannica has the chutzpah to comment on anything to do with the web?

I'm not sure about Brittannica, but I would say that Nicholas Carr has earned the right to comment on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Carr

You just can't find some of the stuff on eBay elsewhere, which makes me think it'll stick around. Also, they have http://www.express.ebay.com/ now.