In a study released yesterday, TIAS.com said the average selling price of items sold on eBay by its merchants is down 17% from last year. TIAS.com is an online antiques mall founded in 1995. TIAS merchants sell items in the online mall and on eBay.

TIAS.com said its merchants sold 23,000 antiques and collectibles on eBay for the first three months of 2002. The average selling price of an item sold on eBay by a TIAS dealer was $41.80, down from $50.49 for the same period in 2001.

While selling prices were down, the sell through rate rose 7.56%. In the first three months of 2001, the sell-through rate was 35.7%; in the first three months of 2002, the sell-through rate was 38.4%. The sell-through rate is determined by comparing how many items listed on eBay actually receive winning bids with the total number of items listed.

"It's simple market economics. eBay is a very efficient market," said Phillip Davies, TIAS.com president. "The market is flooded with goods. Prices are being driven down."

In commenting on the increase in sell-through rate, Davies said, "Merchants are becoming much more conservative about what they list on eBay. They can't afford to spend time and money listing items that don't sell."

AuctionBytes released its Collectibles Price Index this week showing Average Selling Price on eBay was down 11% from a year ago, while Sell-Through Rate was down by 24% from two years ago.