longoil

eBay Q3: Earnings Not Too Shabby, Outlook Tentative

The problem is brand association. EBay has not caught on yet. The eBay name is associated with hobby items, collectibles, junk jewelry and other second hand items. They are trying to enter an area that they have weak traction in (i.e. books, DVDs, etc.) and where Amazon leads the industry and has superior customer service.

This is like MacDonald's announcing that they will be open up high end steak houses and expect to succeed because of their extensive franchise network and experience in the food industry. Just like the name MacDonald's is associated with junk food, eBay is similarly associated with second hand merchandise and dismissal customer service.

eBay: Growth at the Right Bid

The bottom line that is eBay's lack of customer service will kill it in the end. Sellers do not like paying ever increasing exorbitant fees and get zero customer service and get their rights striped away (i.e. no seller feedback mechanism).

Ever try to contact Ebay customer service? They make it so excruciating painful that most people give up. When you do find the link, and your service request you will never get an answer.

Contrast this with Amazon. On several occasion where I wanted to make changes to existing orders, I sent and received responses (and completed actions) within 2 hrs. My expectation was 24 to 48 hrs reply time.

Feedback for eBay: Lousy Seller. Would Not Buy from Again

There is a good reason why Amazon is doing well and Ebay isn't.

Look at the customer service. Ever have a problem with a transaction at Amazon ? Rarely, but when I do I get a response to my question within 24 hrs. Ebay's customer service is non-existent, No replies to phone calls or emails. They go to extreme lengths to hide their customer service contact information on their website.

How to Fix eBay

eBay is notorious for its lack of customer service . Their policy is essentially to make it so difficult to contact them, that most people will give up. Having millions of customers is no excuse. Other online companies like Amazon and Symantec manage to provide excellent service to their millions of customers.

I was pleasantly surprised by the customer service at Symantec which is 24/7 service.
1) First, they direct to a FAQ weblink with the most common problems to see if your problem is listed there.
2) If your problem is not on the FAQs list, you can send them an email and phone them. They post the wait time for both contact methods on their website. Email response is typically within 24 hrs and phone wait time is typically 30 minutes.

eBay doesn't come anywhere close to this type of well orchestrated customer service.

eBay Caps Shipping Rates: What Is the CEO Thinking?

I am really surprised that a serious competitor has not come forth and challenged eBay. They are assuming they will always be the only game in town.

Their customer service is non-existent, fees having been increasing steadily in the last 12 years, and they keep screwing their sellers (who are the ones the pay all the eBay fees, not the buyers) with things like the removal of seller feedback and the buyer is always right in transaction disputes even if he has zero feedback and the seller has 1000+ feedback.

There is an interesting detailed description of where eBay is headed on the following website: www.ebayexodus.com/