The other day I enumerated the ten reasons I love ebay. Today it's time for the other view.
1. Last year eBay stopped allowing sellers to give truthful feedback to buyers. Now, I'm the first to admit that sellers can be quick to anger and probably quick to retaliate negatively. However, for the rest of the sellers on eBay who try to run an honest business, this inability to respond truthfully is very frustrating. Since this is just a list of items I won't go into detail here, but you can bet I have strong feelings about this issue and the consequences sellers have experienced as a result of this change.
2. eBay fees are absurdly high. Back in the day you were charged only when something sold. That seems to have been the last time eBay was motivated to actually draw buyers to the site. Sell through rates -- the percentage of sales to listings, have been dropping for years. There has to be an improvement in this area.
3. Remember on my top ten list I mentioned the eBay Live conventions? They've been held annually since they started. Last year's convention in Chicago was terrible. Sellers were so dissatsified that there was actual booing at many of the events. And coincidentlly they have since announced that the conventions will now be held every other year. Apparently when it gets too hot in the eBay kitchen, shut it down for a year and hope things have settled down and have been forgiven or forgotten two years later.
4. Adding revenue advertising to their pages. Not just their home page, but to search pages, and to completed listing pages. As a seller I pay for the ad, whether it sells or not, and when it is completed it is an avenue for cross promotion to other live eBay items -- but down at the bottom there are sponswered ads which the sponsers don't have to pay for until the ads are clicked on. Which, btw, takes your potential seller away from eBay. Something just seems wrong with this picture.
5. Mostly I feel that eBay is just not sharing everything upfront. Do they want small, medium and large buyers? Or do they want just big buyers? It's their company and they can do what they want, I'm not arguing that -- but at least share that vision with us. Many of us depend on our eBay income to put food on the table. Let us know if we need to find another income source.
6. These things calls DSRs. In essence, and I admit to be partial in my definition, this is a vehicle which allows buyers to rate sellers anonymously by assigning numbered stars to different categories, in addition to the already in place feedback system. The effects of this anonymous rating system, which sellers cannot respond to, is that eBay puts items in their search formula based on these detailed seller ratings. There is no appeal, there is no way to know where you are in the search formula. I question why, if sellers cannot leave negative feedback, why is the dsr rating anonymous?
7. Customer service -- or lack thereof. You get a notice that says your item has been pulled for a violation. The reason is sometimes so obscure you have no clue what you've done wrong. You would think you could just hit reply and ask the sender to further explain the reasons, and ask how you could avoid this in the future. No, not that easy. Email responses are canned at best, and phone number support is even worse. PayPal customer service is better, but still has so much room to improve.
I think I'll stop at that.
I don't want to be an eBay Basher. I don't want to be one of those sellers who read that eBay is making a change -- and without research or thought, up go the defense mechanisms, the petitions start, the threats to never list on eBay again start. That doesn't make sense, and I know that there have been helpful changes made by eBay over the years.
I have made the decision to stick with eBay as I expand my horizons to other online sites and intend to try to adapt to eBay's changes as best I can while positioning myself so that I'm not totally out of business should eBay decide that small to medium size sellers are not part of their future.
But I don't intend to do it quietly or without a few of my own opinions along the way.
Comments
"Back in the day you were charged only when something sold. "
This has never been the case on eBay. I've been selling since 2000, and they have always charged insertion fees. In fact, recent fee changes have moved things more towards the "only pay when you sell" model than they have ever been.
Eek, I hate to stick up for eBay's management :-D And I so agree with the rest of what you wrote, especially #4, #5 and #7: eBay's ability to communicate is terrible, and getting worse IMHO. It used to be that "pinks" (eBay staff) on their own forums could talk and take the initiative and assist; these days, I'm afraid they're not given any authority and seem only to be there so as to be seen to be there.
Ebay is just a complete mess, STR is terrible and as you say the fees are crazy.
As an international seller ebay is now just a nightmare with DSR's
Ebay is almost done; now full of cheap rubbish from mega sellers who flood the site will same same items ; many great sellers have moved on, so selection is now getting hit...ebay management should be removed
I believe Ebay is looking toward a business model that will eventually exclude small sellers and even power sellers. They no longer want the responsibility for customer service and the fraud problems that are beginning to come back and bite them thru the court system. I believe they're desperate to populate the site with huge sellers who can take care of their own customer service and fraud and these will no longer be Ebay's responsibility. Ebay just wants to sit back and scoop in the revenue so they're willing to put in their famous Ebay name to entice these big sellers....the name us small sellers built for them. First they tried the retail route...that didn't work. Now they are looking toward liquidation sellers of end lots and discontinued items in bulk. Once they hit on a solid business model they will open the back door and put us all out by the dumpster without one look back! This is why they are secretive, their plans are not solid and so they keep secretive until that time.
Its imperative to use Ebay to suit yourself while you build on other venues and perhaps even on your own site. The worst thing a seller can do now is sit on Ebay and complain about sales....its time to be very very proactive! We will probably never again see the wild selling venue that was once Ebay...but neither will Ebay. They will become just a huge, mediochre site and that will eventually fade away or be scooped up by another company, especially so if they keep the present inadquate management.
Not happy thoughts to be sure but I've always been a hard realist and this is what I'm seeing.
grannygoodpaint
Since John Donahoe joined the company in 2005 as President of Marke3tplaces and the designated replacement for Meg Whitman, eBay has operated with an anti small seller seller bent.
High fees at eBay, high fees at PayPal, Best Match Search, DSR's, Diamond Sellers getting free listings, elimination of check and money order payment options, have all combined to make it ever more difficult for small sellers to thrive.
Shortly after assuming the role of CEO, Mr Donahoe labeled those that speak out against new systems, policies, and increased fees as "noise"clarifying exactly how much Mr Donahoe valued small sellers.
Unfortunately for eBay and it's small sellers, Mr Donahoe is proving to be the wrong guy at the wrong time for eBay.
As eBay continues to alienate more and more small sellers they continue to shed buyers as well. Some of eBay's most active buyers are small sellers themselves, a fact that seems lost on Mr Donahoe and his executive team.
Sales at eBay continue to decline. Buyers continue to be frustrated with faulty search, small sellers are being squeezed out, and the stock value has dropped to record lows all in Mr Donahoe's first year as CEO.
Under Mr Donahoe's leadership, communication has become almost non existent. Implementation of system changes are rife with bugs and glitches. Execution of policy changes is horrendous.
Mr Donahoe thinks and acts like a consultant, one who is used to offering opinions about how a company can change and then walking away leaving planning, implementation, and execution to the company to develop and carry out. His actions at eBay highlight the fact that he has no working knowledge of how to plan, implement and execute as a hands on CEO, and less understanding of what eBay's foundation was built upon.
Hopefully, Mr Donahoe's tenure at the helm of eBay will be brought to an end before he totally implodes the company.
In the meantime, every month, the competition gets stronger as eBay declines. How long before eBay reaches the tipping point, or has it already passed the point of no return?
Dear Jacki,
I read your '10 Reasons Why I do Ebay' blog and they were good reasons and I agreed/lived through most of them - except the conventions which I never attended and the selling of things out of my collection which I don't often do. Yes, Ebay was a experience that I'm glad I took part in. Until February 2008 when the whole thing started to fall apart.
It's funny reading the "La-La-La Life is so good" comments at the end of that blog and then compare them to the gritty comments at the end of your newest blog "The Other Side of the Ebay Coin". This is what Ebay has come to. I have been boycotting since Feb. 2008 and I have seen the site deteriorate since then. The Ebay community has been destroyed. RicRoe, as usual, has concisely spelled out what we are now facing. And I'm afraid that Patricia013 has the future of Ebay figured out.
Unless (by some miracle) the stockholders send John Donahoe packing at their meeting at the end of the month. The sellers, small and large, who were also the buyers are leaving being replaced by people who don't seem to understand the concept of reading ads, reasoning out whether they really want the item and if they do buy it (and pay for it - which is a crap shoot) - accept what they bought and the terms they bought it under without further scamming of the seller. Add in the scammer's willing accomplice PayPal and the whole set up is a nightmare.
The whole thing has turned into a nightmare for sellers.....
leb
EBAY had a core compentency - online auctions - and had a good world-wide monoploy on this money-spinner. A dream combination. Donahue and co. have blown this out of the water - just who are they working for? And they've failed in their rather stupid scheme to make a sows ear out of a silk purse. Now they've got another scheme. Funny really, all they had to do was not do anything much. I see them taking over the flight deck of a cruising 747 as untrained pilots - "we're not going fast enough, what happens when I push this down hard?". I think the ground proximity warning is beeping over at Ebay. Time for a golden parachute or two.
If Ebay is really trying to weed out small and medium sellers, they are completely insane! The ease of starting your own online store pretty much makes Ebay obsolete to larger volume sellers! Why pay the middle man? Also, listing items on Ebay gives you FASTER exposure, but you have to pay for the length. If a potential buyer doesn't happen to see your item on Ebay during the seven days you happen to list it, (and remember to bid on it), you have to list it again, (and again, and again, and again...). Ebay used to be ideal for small sellers, but now even they can find open source shopping carts and be up and selling in no time ...like me!
There is nothing left on ebay for honest users to appreciate these days. ebay's CEO, John Donahoe's new policies do nothing but protect and promote the scamming buyers and thieving sellers on the site. Shill bidding sellers are disguised by ebay's hidden IDs and scamming buyers hide, not only behind hidden IDs, but behind the 100% feedback that ebay guarantees every buyer. The scamming buyers are also protected by ebay's actions of suspending sellers who dare to write truthful feedback comments about those transactions, which were less than positive experiences. Ebay FORCES sellers to LIE by omission, by not allowing sellers to be HONEST about their transactions in the feedback comments about their buyers. ebay also FORCES sellers to LIE by omission by suspending sellers who HONESTLY state that they accept checks and money orders. Ebay DOES allow buyers to pay via money orders, BUT ebay DELIBERATELY hides that fact from ebay buyers. ebay buyers ARE allowed to pay sellers by checks and money orders, but the buyers MUST ask the sellers FIRST (sellers are suspended for bringing up the subject to their buyers). NOWHERE on ebay's site does ebay tell the buyers that they ARE allowed to pay via paper payments in order to CON buyers into paying for their purchases through Paypal. Ebay owns Paypal and charges sellers even higher fees by FORCING ebay sellers to use Paypal...the buyers ultimately pay much HIGHER prices on ebay due to ebay/Paypal's outrageously high fees. Scamming buyers have easily learned how to use ebay's Paypal to steal sellers items, while obtaining refunds from Paypal (taken from the sellers' accounts).
If you want to be ripped off, use ebay. If you appreciate honesty and integrity, stay far away from ebay. There are many very upstanding selling venues on the internet (ebay is NOT one of them). I will ONLY spend my money on the sites which offer equal rights to both buyers and sellers. Thank goodness for bonanzle, etsy, amazon, ebid, and etc.
Since ebay stopped seller feedback i have been blackmailed by sellers many times.
They threaten to give bad feedback knowing you have no recourse.
Will be closing my account with ebay as it has become untenable.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!