Is Donahoe Trying to Destroy eBay? 49 comments
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John Donahoe must think buyers, sellers and stockholders are as dumb as a rock, because he slipped the following disclaimer into eBay’s (EBAY) latest Annual Shareholders Report:
If these changes cause sellers to move their business away from our websites or otherwise failed to improve gross merchandise volume or the number of successful listings, our operating results and profitability will be harmed.
Is John stupid or just plain stubborn? He knows his buyer experience plan is a failure or he would have never added the disclosure above, yet he continues to run his game plan step by step, even if means the destruction of eBay.
Yes, John sealed eBay’s fate when he refused to listen to buyers and sellers when they told him Best Match (eBay’s new default search engine) doesn’t work. Now buyers can’t find IT, sellers are moving to other venues or setting up their own sites, and eBay’s stock is dropping like a rock (trading at 2001 levels).
This seller is also curious if John cut a new deal with advertisers because there are more ads now than ever before, and wonders why eBay’s new homepage begs teenagers to sign up. “Are you ready or what?”, “U + Me Forever”, and “I don’t dribble” are just a few of many childish ads now running.
eBay’s destruction is imminent. Yes John set the fuse for eBay’s destruction and sellers will ignite it in May when they go on a month long strike. Perhaps he should have heeded the following comments (out of thousands) on eBay’s Search Discussion Board:
sheba871 - This new search thing sucks to put it mildly, delete browser cookies? Do I have to do this every time I want to look for things on eBay, how is it done?
xarxx - The new search is an absolute atrocity. How can eBay have done something so profoundly idiotic? I am simply flabbergasted. I have been using eBay for almost 10 years now and this is the biggest debacle I have witnessed thus far. Bring back the old search, if you value your bonuses. This one is going to cost eBay incorporated tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
manfromkstreet - Mark down the "New Search" along with the "New Coke". Both, BIG failures. Will it take you guy's as long as it took Coca-Cola to realize your mistake and end this? The old search is fantastic. Very easy to use for pro's & novices alike.
This seller wonders what kind of “buyer experience” buyers will have once John Donahoe runs the last seller out the door. Perhaps the stockholders will auction John off to the highest bidder. This seller bids 99 cents and demands free shipping.
Here’s a few more comments about eBay’s nonfunctional search/sort engine the shareholders might want to take the time to read:
jacobpaul81 - Whew. This is a mess! I can't say I'm too fond of this new search tool. As a Professional Librarian, much of my life's work is devoted to working with search tools of all sorts, and I must say, the functionality of this test search tool is on par with some of the worst I've suffered. Why is it so bad? The first rule of search tools is that Simplicity is a virtue. This tool ignores that. The results are too complex, the screen is a jumbled mess. Nothing is simple. Nothing is streamlined. It's obvious eBay hasn't hired an information professional to work with their IT staff. An IP would have pointed that out before eBay even started its testing. Maybe eBay has made the actual search more effective, but they've tripled the difficulty for the average user to search! . . .
webpaper - I am not selling, and buying is becoming so frustrating it's not worth the effort, even in the "old" search because they keep "tweaking". Think eBay is too far down the road - if they don't stop messing with the system they will lose a huge percentage of sellers - there is absolutely no point in listing anything now.
smithand9th - Just awful. Just a few days ago I could search though literally thousands of cycling items in just a few minutes, now it is almost impossible to find anything!
electro - As a buyer, I just wanted to say that the NEW SEARCH SUCKS BIGTIME. It is hokey, unnecessarily convoluted, and only worsens my eBay experience. Please give users a choice to use "Search 1.0" if they so desire. The new "search 2.0" is half baked and insane. Whoever is doing the programming for this, do you let them be intoxicated during working hours? If I was a seller I would be peeing my pants. Because as a buyer, I don't want to be around eBay to shop with search as it is. I find myself avoiding eBay altogether now. Are you guys out of your freakin' minds???
Steve61469 - You have single handedly ruined eBay. I loved to shop here before you screwed up the whole search process, now I wish someone would compete with you so I could leave. It was great the way it was, now it is terrible. I see a lot of people agree. Good luck to you because I’ll be cutting way down on my shopping here. From a previously happy customer.
thombocpa - I'm not coming back to eBay until the search function is fixed!!! I honestly can't believe you put this garbage on line without at least some kind of notification to your customers.
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This article has 49 comments:
forums.ebay.co.uk/thre...
Well, if that's his goal, he's doing a fine job of it, I'd say.
I have left ebay, except for my store front, which I'm willing to pay for to let my customers know that I am leaving the site and will be going to online auction where the seller and the buyer are both treated with respect...
I see some big egos with text book minds at work in ebay... Time to look at the sellers as though they have brains and put themselves in our shoes for just a moment... Would mr. donahue accept the seller terms on ebay??? "NOT"....
Treating their customer, again, like trash...
BOYCOTT VICTORIOUSLY!!
The people eligible for the discount are a fraction of a subset of total sellers. eBay distorts and truth and repeats it often, hoping to cash in on "the Big Lie" effect.
I've bought and sold on eBay since 1998, buying but mainly selling. I closed my store and now I will not even buy items, because of the fraud and hassle. I have moved my business to Amazon, Google Base, ecrater, blujay.com and ola.com.
eBay is abusing their sellers, and the remaining diehards are Kool-Aid drinkers suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Check out my web page.
Stop the bleeding. I simply doesn't make economic sense to sell on ebay for too many reasons. They charge extortionary rates and force you to agree to let them secure your failure.
Say what? Someone needs to find out what the real story is here. Is Donahoe crazy like a fox, or just insane?
But I will just have to move on to places like eCrater, Online Auction, and the new one, neoloch. They are not as well used yet, but everyday they are getting more members, and they don't force you to use any single type of payment. They want the sellers, as well as the buyers. The playing field should always be equal.
Unless there are changes, I am done with them.
Boycott Onward.
A place to organize.
A place to unite.
A place to focus.
United we stand, Divided we fall.
forums.delphiforums.co...
www.accknowl.com/
boycott victoriously! evacuate by 5.1.2008!
After the SIS debacle we removed over 3K multi item listings from our eBay store and made our own website, check it out. We were joined by two other ex-eBay shops, soon to be three and a service business.
After the Donahoe announcement we opened accounts at eCRATER and Loudfrog. We like to run auctions as promotion for the website but with our low ASP we can no longer AFFORD eBay fees which currently suck up over 50% of gross. Sell through rates have been dropping on eBay for six months.
Both eCRATER and Loudfrog are run by honest people who want sellers, listen to them and respond factually to questions. Yep, real people read your mail and answer you, incredible. Lower overhead means we are able to list at lower prices giving better bargains to our customers.
Doug in Utah is absolutely right "common sense clearly identifies preservation of buyer experience as key" I am not sure he fully understands the concept or he would not have left out the word POSITIVE, it is "preservation of POSITIVE buyer experience IS key to retail success"
It is no longer possible to preserve positive buyer experience on eBay. The new search is frustrating for both buyers and sellers, the fee increases raise prices and the continued influx of hordes of China based sellers of cheap knockoffs and fakes debases the entire site.
eBay was good. eBay was built by small sellers most of whom are also buyers and most of whom will leave this year. RIP
forums.ebay.com/db1/fo...
The comments come from various ebay users - buyers, sellers, newbies, diehard collectors with 10+ years buying experience, Power Sellers with over 20,000 transactions/feedbacks... Anyone and Everyone!
Condensed down, the comments basically state... Search SUCKS! Can't buy IT, if I can't find IT.
www.suspendedfromebay....
Too bad Dumbahoe and Whitless don't.
eBay thinks if it repeats often enough "the boycott had no effect" that it will become true. In the meantime it manipulates item counts to try to prevent anyone from quantifying the loss of listings and sales caused by the boycott.
In the meantime, I have been enjoying the FUN of buying on eCrater, ioffer, onlineauctions, and the other GREAT upcoming selling sites. It used to be fun to buy stuff on eBay, but not any more. The place is too crowded with cheap crap from China (thanks, Meg), fakes and counterfeits (thanks again for refusing to implement user ID verification), and other scams. But, instead of tossing out THOSE sellers, eBay decides to punish all the mom and pops selling stuff out of their garages trying to support their families during these tough economic times.
Yeah, that makes sense.
But it's refreshing to read an article like this, written by someone who truly GETS IT.
BOYCOTT VICTORIOUSLY . . . until they get IT.
No thanks I will take my business elseware.
Why on earth to are you showing auctions ending 10 days down the road on the first page of the search, while auctions ending in less than 10 minutes are found on page 5 or further down the list.
I don't need 100 listings ending 7 days from now, I want those ending first to show first in a search. By the time I sorted down thru your Best Match search results, most of the auctions that I want ed to see were ended.
Sorry Sellers, I missed your aucitons because of the stupid new search that keeps defaulting on my web site.
Donahue, you killed eBay for the sellers and buyers. Are you happy now?
search.express.ebay.co...
In fact, they not only do not meet the requirements that all regular ebay sellers must meet to be included on eBay Express, their customer service Feedback is at a level where they would be suspended from ebay. If they were a regular ebay seller, they would be suspended. Here's their feedback page:
feedback.ebay.com/ws/e...
Scan down through the comments left by buyers and read how they have been disgusted by this seller's lack of customer service. Those buyers have now been Negatively Affected to a degree where they may never return to ebay.
Donahoe stated that the ebay sellers have caused buyers to also have this Negative Experience, yet ebay now allows sub-standard sellers a Doorway into the site. Why is that? Is it to bolster the listing totals?
I doubt that such a despicable tactic will foster much actual business - I mean, would YOU buy from this seller? They have an 11% Dissatisfied Customers Rating; which means that they pizz-off at least 1 out of 10 customers.
The ebay rules state that a 5% Rating will result in a seller's suspension, but evidently, that rule doesn't apply to Shopping.com sellers that ebay allows into the ebay site. And to think, so many people believe that we are simply griping about ebay policy, when in fact we sellers would like nothing more than to have a safe marketplace.
The truth is that ebay says whatever may sound good at the moment, but that isn't what they actually practice. The "griping and whining" sellers know this. Now, unfortunately, so do 1 out of 10 buyers.
Horrible Feedback
If the above link doesn't work, copy&paste the ENTIRE link structure from the first post.
Seems to me... This is exactly what the tobacco companies are doing!
Another great alternative: ewaey.com
First 5000 registered users get FREE EVERYTHING FOR LIFE! NO FEES! And a FEATURED STORE! Get in before the new member special gets filled!
I felt it was very important that this be seen again by those of you who do not know where Donahoe's roots were before he lit the fuse at eBay.
Thanks for the eye-opener ex-MQer
Just look back at what Donohoe did to MedQuist when he ruled there...got them delisted from the SEC and involved in lawsuits from cheating the transcriptionists and cheating the hospitals, yet he left with a golden umbrella. MedQuist is still trying to recover from his rule. Now for some reason eBay thinks he walks on water when he'll be their downfall.
Who's next in line? Martha Stewart?
One has to question why , stupid search facilities , turning buyers against sellers, sellers against buyers , no right of reply to scam buyers by sellers (no neg or neutral from May) ,open ended PayPayPaypal capability of holding of funds for 21 days and asking to send items before funds are received , systematically getting rid of the small variety sellers.
Interesting times for the stockholders , folks , really sympathize with you , questions to be asked at any meeting would be how did this Donawho? character get in the position to make so many bad desicions in such a short time and what is the agenda for this .
What he tells to the Media is totally removed from the truth and good business practice.
In such a short time he is becoming known as "Mr Doublespeak".
Donawho? , you can fool some people some of the time , until they wake up to you, many now have thanks to open forums such as this and check out the eBay forums (the ones left that haven't been pulled) !!
Don't forget MAYDAY BOYCOTT start, May 1st WORLDWIDE SELLERS BOYCOTT(and a growing number of buyers).
Best option , build elsewhere and take YOUR customers with you.
Would the last buyer or seller left please switch the lights out .
Dough from Utah , take the blinkers off and check what is the real situation and agenda. It is not just about search facilities , it is the systematic destruction of feebay and small sellers, for what agenda ?, it is becoming more obvious daily , sheer corporate greed.
How low can the stock prices go, low enough for some vulture to pick up a bargain or low enough for total collapse , the latter is looking choice one !.
Keep those links up to different forums, the more folks are aware the harder we can hit this 800 pound gorilla in the proverbials .
The only way ebay will ever get serious about changing is once all sellers and buyers have left.
I quit all business on ebay before the announcements came out from John Donahoe in January. Yes, I was a seller and buyer, and enjoyed my experience on ebay. I never got ripped off by any seller, never got ripped off by any buyer. Ran my business as I would like to be treated and had many repeat customers. Got great deals from courteous sellers with quick shipping. No complaints either way.
What made me decide to leave ebay was the ever increasing fees, the DSR's that make absolutely no sense in regard to feedback and not having a choice of another payment processor besides PayPal.
The day after my last auction on ebay was paid, I downloaded my PayPal history, closed my PayPal account and started sending emails to all my past customers. Now they know where I am, still selling my collectible and vintage items. The last year that I was selling on ebay, I sent a card with every package informing my customer that I would no longer be selling on ebay after Dec. 15th, 2007, and gave them my new selling sites for 2008.
Though I no longer buy or sell on ebay, I will boycott ebay indefinitely. I understand a corporation needs to make money for shareholders, management, etc., etc....but when is enough ever enough for them?
As for John Donahoe, with his less than illustrious business accumen, don't kid yourselves into thinking he is the only person responsible for all the changes that have outraged many ebayer's, be they seller or buyer. Meg handpicked this guy with Bill's blessing. These changes have been in the works for some time, lead by Bill and Meg, with John in the position of learning from the masters before they bail out.
I know many rely on ebay for their livlihood, but weaning yourself from ebay, or leaving it in the dust and never looking back, will be a hard but smart move for you and your own business. And that is exactly what all this uproar is about...the opportunity to run your business as you see fit. You won't get that on ebay.
There are several NON-NEGOTIABLE demands, IMHO
1. FEEDBACK CHANGE MUST BE RESCINDED, LEAVE CURRENT SYSTEM ALONE.
2. ELIMINATE "BEST MATCH" ENTIRELY!!!! This thing does not work!
3. NO MANDATORY PAYPAL USE REQUIREMENTS FOR SELLERS with (for example)
1 YR longevity/100 sales/99% feedback & ABSOLUTELY NEVER A 21 DAY HOLD.
This proposal should be discussed, as it aims at a possible problem; however the new eBay 'shotgun' approach is wrong & excessive. If holds are really confined to obvious "high-risk" transactions why not just post a caveat emptor on the listing page or else PROPERLY instruct bidders in the first place?
4. DSR ratings are acceptable, but pnly if system is tweaked with consistent instructions to buyers. Eliminate the red-letter warnings from item page. Just add an "overall satisfaction" star! DUH .....
5. EBAY badly needs to OFFER MEANINGFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE TO BOTH SELLERS & BUYERS!!!
This one single step would have eliminated the need for any of these unpopular changes!
5. JOHN DONAHOE must apologize in public or GO period, end of story!
I have been on strike since Feb 18. Time to get this settled or just sacrifice my inventory and plain forget eBay forever.
I think Best Match is a good effort but it certainly needs to be non-default. I hope this happens sooner than later...
No one here argrees ebay has done the Right thing!
We all agree this is: " stupid, insane, difficult, awful, absurd, extremely aggravating. ect.."
John isn't the brightest light..
Listening to the people who pay you would be a smart decision.
That's why I left ebay.
When 100 noisy customers leave a market of 1,000 it's a disaster. When 100 noisy customers leave a market of 5 million, it's a tiny minority. In fact those few sellers leaving the site probably needed to go anyway. When your business can be tanked by a tiny change in market conditions, you had an unsustainable business model to begin with.
And to be perfectly frank, I doubt that the majority these sellers claiming to boycott are really going to do so. They're trying to coax others into doing so, while they sneakily try to benefit from the reduced traffic. Which is never going to happen. Listings were up during the last "boycott".
In summary, your article is inflammatory and unsupported by fact. Please stop writing about eBay until you know something about how it works.
Check this link:
blogs.wsj.com/washwire...
Senator McCain : Please follow up on what is really happening at eBay .
First of all, If ebay can tople your great business with a few minor little changes, you had no real business to begin with!
Further I suspect that eBay competition are the real culprits trying to bad mouth eBay and write absurd things about eBay that simply are not true!
If I were a true eBay seller, I would be very careful about getting suckered into a strike. While you strike...They sell. lol.
eBay seems to be alive and doing very well.
you really cant belive your own post now can you.
Let's see If I were a real seller on Feebay and I make a profit of let's say $5000.00 a month and I was paying in fee's $1200.00 now Feebay wants more of my profit $1600.00 and what do I get in return? how about lower exposure in the listings because 4 out of 5 stars is not good enough and how about no neg feedback for buyers how won't pay humm!!!! your right it sounds good to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...
Slightly less than two percent of all internet traffic now goes to eBay compared to five percent BEFORE John implemented his disastrous “buyer experience” plan according to Alexa. eBay no longer appears on the list of top 20 visited sites.
There will always be someone that takes advantage of a situation and it’s very sad to think anyone would use the upcoming seller strike to further their own means. But should this occur sellers that go on strike will have the last laugh because John replaced the old eBay Checkout with his “new & improved” model and naturally it doesn’t work.
And what are your credentials?
We've all encountered "those" who seem disconnected with reality... aka "the real world". Only those closely associated with eBay continue to persist in claiming the strike had no affect but this farcical claim, which no amount of repitition from employees will make legitimate, has been proven, REPEATEDLY AND REPEATEDLY, untrue. The listings were padded. Ebay stock is at a low not seen since 2001. Recovery to the stock is nowhere to be seen.
Other auction sites are RAPIDLY gaining ground. Most of the oldtimers who help to grow eBay in the first place, sickened at what they see, have left to other arenas. This in and of itself should be a tremendous red light flashing the warning. And guess what, they have the experience, knowledge, and proven perserverance that can grow other sites! Mega PowerSellers are leaving as well, those selling millions. Why is this?
Ebay is no longer an autonomous behemoth. Youtube and MySpace have leveled the cyber world and it is ALL over. Rallies can be called worldwide, word to the world CAN and HAS been spread! The complete alterations effected by eBay are idiotic beyond belief. And sadly, the powers that be just arent getting it.
I have heard it said that eBay never backs down once decisions are made and implimented. Sooner or later, such ideology receives its death knell. I believe we are hearing it ring now.
I cannot believe the stockholders will so passively allow this to proceed. Even the removal of Donahue is not far, far too late. Once stabbed so ably in the back, how can seller trust ever be regained? Even the buyers are sickened by the stench.
The eBay site is beginning to feel like a graveyard. I cannot even imagine what May will be like.
Heard the latest? While eBay claims the right to hold ebay seller funds for 21 days under certain circumstances, on March 15th Paypal has amended ITS policy to all sellers and has declaired ITS right to hold funds upon ITS SOLE DISCRETION! Anytime, anyplace, any reason!
The eBay company and affiliates are becoming downright mean. In fact, they are moving toward cruelty.
Unbelievable!
Thanks for the update. This new policy appears to give Paypal the ability to "float" as much money as needed to offset eBay loses.
I found section 10.4 (b) interesting. Paypal now requires delivery confirmation for usps & fedex and expects sellers to use Paypal shipping labels. Alternatively sellers can upload tracking info via transaction details.
Are sellers working for Paypal now?
"When 100 noisy customers leave a market of 1,000 it's a disaster. When 100 noisy customers leave a market of 5 million, it's a tiny minority. In fact those few sellers leaving the site probably needed to go anyway. When your business can be tanked by a tiny change in market conditions, you had an unsustainable business model to begin with. "
Your statements sounds like the same propaganda and rubbish the doublespeak/Orwellian/... at greedbay have been trying to tell the media for months.
Fortunately with great articles/posts from aware and open mined authors such as Dinah Balk these false prophets no longer are fooling many people.
The media has finally woken up to fee/greed/extortionbay with their never ending fee extortion , almost daily shifting the goalposts/rules so the small/variety sellers (remember them , the ones who built up feebay?) has not a hope in hell of existing for long there . No adverse feedback from May for shonky buyers ?
With the competition getting stronger daily (check the stats.) and the MAY1st Worldwide Boycott we shall hopefully see this 800 pound gorilla out of our wallets and our lives .
Ebay is a very expensive place to sell there are many soon to be busy alternatives it is happening .
Meg with John McCains campaign ?? Senator McCain she is costing tens of thousands of votes already , an ulterior motive there ?
Strike VICTORIOUSLY from 1st MAY 2008 . We have the numbers and we now have the combined motivation .
You must work for ebay because you are in La-la land. The fact is ebay had over 9 million listings back in Feb now they have under 4 million and dropping daily. Donahue next move is out the door, RIP.
Auction site count
www.powersellersunite....
Here it is...Nov 30 2008.
Ebay would NORMALLY be All A - BUZZ with TONS of Activity.
C.E.O. John Donahoe has MURDERED EVERYTHING.
All of us have been patiently waiting for the Board of Directors to Correct the Situation.
The National Media has Shunned us. It's a Virtual News & Information Blackout.
We all Hope & Pray Donahoe will be out of Ebay by March 2009.
At this point it's worth whatever the Cost to JETTISON this Load.
Christmas 2008 will be Really Thin.
Ebay should be back on track with the tried & true 2001 layout sometime after April 2009, May at the latest.
nymarts.com
If Ebay was so great, it would be BONANZLE !
BONANZLE.
I never knew listing and selling could be This Easy and This FUN !
Very clean Setup.
Excellent Help.
Your Own booth, with your Own Chatroom (Very KOOL)
Timely Email Client Communications.
My booth : NYMArts
Money Orders and Checks Rule the Day !
BONANZLE has gained over 2,000 members in just 5 weeks....
and it's getting More Popular as we go !
2009 should be a Good Year :o)
BONANZLE.
Everything BUT the Ordinary.
See You There !
On Mar 13 09:17 AM eBayNoMore wrote:
> Is Donahoe Trying to Destroy eBay?
>
> Well, if that's his goal, he's doing a fine job of it, I'd say.