- I'd separate the auctions end of things from the rest of the eBay business model.
- I'd hire some experienced, licensed auctioneers to head this new auction only branch.
- I'd sell Skype, even if I had to take a loss on it.
- I'd transfer 1/3 of the company's total advertising budget and put it into customer support along with the revenue generated from the sale of Skype.
- I'd be more transparent.
- I'd stop the company from overreacting with drastic policy changes every time the national media publishes a story about someone being ripped off on eBay.
- I'd hire top notch PR people. The ones that the company have now seem to put forth the notion that the customer is always wrong.
- I'd stop policing for companies that claim their brand is being mis-represented, that's their job, not eBay's.
- I'd figure out how to mend fences with Google.
- I'd figure out a way to have customers view sellers as friends, not adversaries.
For more info: www.auctionwally.com
Comments
I have a flatware set that my husband bought while in the service in Germay in the 60's at a second hand store. Its a 45pc. hand carved stag horn set of Solingen Rostfrei silverware. I'm trying to find its value.
Why sell Skype? It works, it's almost free to use, and it's ten times better since eBay bought it.
@Ronald, I agree, in fact, I love Skype, but it's not making eBay a dime. They haven't been able to figure out how to turn a profit on it yet.
It's been a huge financial loss for them so far. I say stop the bleeding and sell it to someone that has a better use for it, and can make a profit with it.
@ Deby I can help you with this, paste this link into your browser to find out more.
www.auctionwallys.com
Thanks for the interest.
AW
Customers used to view us as friends until Ebay gave them whips to beat us with. Ebay threw us under the bus hoping it would bring more buyers on the site. It was the dumbest thing they ever did. They alone gave the buyers reason to lose faith and trust in the sellers. They chased away a lot of sellers - most of whom were also BUYERS! They damned their own customers (the sellers) making them look untrustworthy - I have never seen the likes of it in any other business. I'm sure powerful CEO's at successful companies look at Ebay and just scratch their heads in wonder at the sheer stupidity and immaturity of it all. I didn't know of this Donahoe fellow before he took the reins and started the nose of this Titanic downward, but he sure needs training...in the school of humankind!!! I wouldn't offer him a job as boxboy at the nearest supermarket!
You're dead on for all 10 points!
@Patricia013, Those are some valid points you've made.
I still think there's hope for eBay, but they've got to get back to the basics to regain the trust of buyers and sellers.
Thanks for checking in, your participation is appreciated.
EBAY NEEDS TO WAKE UP'AND STOP TREATING SELLERS LIKE THERE THE BAD GUYS, THERE ARE AS MANY BAD BUYERS AS SELLERS , AND THE FEEDBACK CHANGE WAS A DUNB MOVE. , ALL THE BAD BUYERS WILL ALLWAYS HAVE 100% GOOD FEEDBACK AND THE SELLERS WILL HAVE NO TO KNOW WHO OR WHAT THERE DEALING WITH.AFTER THE CHANGE I HAVE BEEN ABUSED BY A LOT OF BUYERS THAT KNOW THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT.THE CHANGE IN FEEDBACK IS JUST WRONG.LIFE IS A 2 WAY STREET.STOP TAKING ADVICE FROM THE KIDS YOU HIRE AND GET SOME EXPERANCED PEOPLE IN THERE. SOME DAY GOOGLE OR ? WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT EBAY IS SENDING THERE SELLERS DOWN THE RIVER AND DO IT BETTER. THEY HAVE THE MONEY THE SITE AND PEOPLE TO DO IT .........
I'd a few more things to list however, seems all hope is lost that anyone will ever listen.
More sites like Bidjit.com (operated by former ebay titanium sellers) might just be the answer
Skype does make money. Don't know why the rumor is out that it doesn't but Skype has been making a profit for almost 2 years.
@ barry, no, Skype has been generating money for 2 years, but it has not been running at a profit for 2 years.
eBay paid 2.6 billion for Skype, they'll likely never see a profit from it, by there own admission they grossly overpaid for the co.
Here's link you can cut and paste as evidence
www.business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2570267.ece
Ebay will fail. They had a stranglehold on the online auction industry and they willingly ruined it.
There are too many upstarts out there now and too many ebayers looking for a new home. The first start up that sinks millions into TV advertising will finish off eBay once and for all.
John Donohoe will go down in history as the worst CEO of all times.
For a serious detailed criticism of eBay, see the thread "eBay is knowingly aiding and abetting fraudsters!" on the auctionbytes.com "Online Fraud Forum"
Everyone is quick to point to the current economy when discussing
recent declines in Internet Sales Volume, especially the dramatic
decline at eBay.
eBay however, has no excuse to hide behind the economy declining
curtain, except for the fact the CEO is unwilling to admit he had led
the marketplace down the wrong path.
Draconian policies and failing infrastructure combined with search
that returns irrelevant results, and the worlds worst customer service
has been slowly bringing eBay down for years.
Enter Mr Donahoe and his "new coke - green ketchup - disruptive
innovation' plan for eBay, and the skids of failure received a thick, fresh layer of grease.
Ebay has historically out performed the brick and mortar retail segment as well as the stock market during past recessions.
When times got tough, buyers used to flock to eBay in search of incredible deals on unique items as well as scoop up second hand goods to help stretch their dollar.
Then came John Donahoe, the killer of small sellers, the eBay suicide
king, leader of the gang that could not shoot straight.
Under Mr Donahoe's leadership, eBay is being converted into a high priced shopping mall at the very time that retailers of new merchandise are filing for bankruptcy in numbers never seen before.
Mr Donahoe's choice to eviscerate the core of eBay by purging small sellers could not have come at a worse time.
eBay's quarterly reports are dismal and it's stock price which has seen its value drop by 2/3 since Donahoe assumed control, sinks to a new low almost every week.
This decline at eBay started to set in long before the economy displayed signs of recession, and runs completely contrary to eBay's historical success during tough economic times.
Ebay has always offered the worlds worst customer service, recent staffing cuts have served to exacerbate this problem.
Ebay has alienated buyers with forced search methods that do not return what buyers want to see.
eBay has alienated buyers with the forced PayPal only payment plan that prevents sellers from stating they accept personal checks and money orders for payment.
The failed Best Match does not allow buyers to search, but instead shows buyers what eBay has determined they want buyers to see.
Sellers that pay to place listings see those paid listings deliberately disadvantaged in placement in favor of a class of sellers that pay nothing to list items. These Diamond sellers flood the core and drown the small sellers that pay to list.
eBay has further alienated sellers with a draconian DSR policy which is not the tool promised to sellers to help them improve. Instead, it turns out that DSR's are really a weapon pointed at sellers heads that only delivers automated account suspensions not information to foster improvement.
Bad sellers do need to go, have humans review troublesome accounts and make live decisions, and end this automated system that has not worked from day 1.
Sellers are frustrated by eBay's failure to address the increasing
frequency of non paying bidders. NPB activity has increased since implementation of the one way feedback policy. The issue continues to
be ignored as eBay profits from re listing of unpaid merchandise.
While we are at it, let's not forget that eBay arbitrarily terminated most all of their affiliates with no notice.
Executives want to blame drastic traffic reductions on the economy, but they need to examine their own significant role in cutting traffic and re examine their choice to eliminate affiliates.
EBay further alienates both buyers and sellers with a crumbling IT
infrastructure that is subject to rolling 'glitches' on an almost
daily basis. Glitches that effect payments, shipping, searching,
access to funds, correct payment information, delayed revenue
transfers and others cause buyers and sellers alike to give up on the
company that since laying off 1500 employees, suddenly can't get anything right anymore.
As eBay continues to deteriorate, they have become less of a venue. They now want to dictate every facet of a sellers business from retail pricing and fixed shipping costs to what kind of feedback sellers are permitted to leave buyers.
EBay cannot get anything right, yet they dictate what sellers must do. So much for the claim of being a venue.
Mr Donahoe and his team need to be accountable for their actions and stop hiding behind false, deceptive and misleading public relations statements. Dor example, stop telling people its a fee decrease when sellers end up paying higher fees.
Mr Donahoe and the rest of his executive leadership team keep their
heads buried firmly in the sand. They only pull them out for the occasional press release to parrot Donahoe's claims that "all is well" and "everything is proceeding according to plan", while ignoring the
roof that is obviously falling in around them.
Add the fact that as the marketplace crumbles, eBay continues to steadily increase fees and it is no wonder why so many sellers have opted to migrate to other marketplaces and open their own web sites.
This company is failing on every level. Emperor Donahoe continues to fiddle as eBay burns.
Will shareholders step in and call for the removal of eBay's current failing leadership or is John Donahoe the next poster child for failed CEO's?
We have a ringside seat, so time will tell.
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