Dream On

eBay's Latest Screw-Up

There is always a good chuckle or two when reading an article about eBay here at Seeking Alpha. You know like, someone popping on the say they LIKE the new search. LOL! That person has not USED the new search. If they had, they would be in the Search forum on eBay loudly adding their voices to the many, many, many voices and threads proclaiming the new search 2.0 and Best Match s**k. (their word, not mine).

And then you get the one or two who have still not grown out of the term 'whiner' which most of us left behind with our training panties. You guys really do need a new dictionary. Try one without Big Bird on it. But then again, your only comments are name calling and fact-less rants meant only to be contrary so on second thought keep the Big Bird book.

I have stopped watching the eBay stock, which I was doing daily. I truly believe the stockholders do not have a clue. They got a glimpse with Q2, and the window will be open wider for Q3, but oh my, the end of the year will spell it out plainly. Hold on to the stock for Paypals sake if you dare, but they are treading murky water and have drawn much unpopular attention to themselves this year. I don't believe the fallout over Australia is over yet. But if you hold or buy in hopes of eBay rising again, not gonna happen.

Sorry if this means you lose money on your investment, but ranting and railing at the unhappy buyers and sellers will not help. We did not make this mess, and most of us aren't going to hang around and see if anyone cleans it up.

eBay Still Hazy

On a side note, Seeking Alpha seems to be the only place I am reading the 'eBay is doing super' claptrap without at least mentioning the furor and outcry from the eBay community. It isn't that they don't know we exist, this is the 3rd such article I've chimed in on here, it seems to be that they refuse to acknowledge us. 'If we pretend you aren't there, maybe you aren't' or some such nonsense.

I wonder to myself if they are either
a. Tied to eBay in some way.
or
b. Know this is a volatile subject and will bring in the clicks and comments.

eBay Still Hazy

Oh give it up guys. We have been screaming our heads off for almost 6 months now and been ignored. We tried to let folks like this author know what was going on over and over. If anyone had listened to us they would not have been shocked by the figures. If eBay had been a teeny bit more open and let the figures just for eBay US and UK slip out the picture might have gotten crystal clear.

Sellers boycotted, sellers left, sellers have downsized and are moving items to other e-commerce sites and to their own websites as they are getting them up and running.

Deals with non-selling mega-sellers such as Buy.com did not fill the vacuum, it only kept up their listing numbers (which seems to be all most reporters look at). It is simple math a child could understand. Yet well educated adults just can't seem to grasp it.

Thousands of small and med sellers (and some big sellers, too) left the building = less items to sell

Less items to sell = lower listing numbers

+ Add Buy.com, GM & shopping.com but then - subtract them as they pay no fees and bring in few sales so they = 0 in the scheme of things

So you are still where this problem began
Less sellers = less items = less sales = less GMV = yesterday.

eBay's Best Bargain - Itself

networkeffect you have not read or comprehended a thing on your own. You have believed eBays propaganda that the outrage you hear is just a bunch of 'bad' sellers screaming because they can no longer take advantage of poor defenseless buyers. This is a list of changes made by or being made by eBay since Jan of this year. If you see any you need help with let me know and I will kindly try and explain it for you. What you read in these blogs is only a tiny glimpse into what is going on. eBay has a new section called 'Distruptive Innovation' it's purpose is to in essence throw everything up in the air and see how it falls. Try living with that on a daily basis. Try making a living and paying your mortgage and feeding your children while scrambling to keep up. Try it, I dare you.

Since January 2008, the following changes have been made or are announced as coming changes soon (this list is directly from eBay announcements):

1. SMI - hidden bidder ID's
2. Increased cost for successful sale
3. Feedback changes, only positive for buyers, buyers can leave full range of feedback
4. Ebay using DSR/feedback opinions to rank search position
5. Ebay using DSR/feedback to determine paypal holds
6. Ebay using DSR/feedback percentage to determine forced
paypal use (Safer Payments program)
7. Best Match - placement tied to DSR ratings
8. PowerSeller changes/discounts/crit...
9. Chargeback protection to Powersellers (enrolled, now)
10. Chargeback protection for all (to be instituted at a later date)
11. Rolling 12 month feedback/30 day feedback DSR's (only the past 30 days count in figuring discounts and privileges)
12. Seller Dashboard (first only for PS, then all with 10 DSR or greater)
13. Repeat Feedback credit
14. Delay in feedback for powerseller customers only (buyers can not leave negative or neutral feedback for powersellers for 7 days after sale)
15. Unconfirmed address protection for PS (enrolled, now)
16. Unconfirmed address protection for all (at a later date)
17. Digital media eliminated (ebooks, web templates, etc)
18. Item specifics changes in category listing forms
19. Fees for international site visibility instituted
20. Shipping costs added to Best Match search visibility(March 2008)
21. Required stated shipping costs being phased in (July required)
22. Feedback protections for sellers when filing UPI
23. Stock photos in categories
24. My Ebay changes
25. Free shipping icon available
26. Live Auction format will end
27. Verifying sellers to specific computers when listing
28. Facebook feed of ebay auctions option
29. Best Match made the default search
30. Selling Manager subscribers have added options for relists
31. ProStores 9.0 intro
32. Updates to options when using ebay picture hosting
33. Neutral feedback = full negative in determining feedback score
34. Choice listing changed to allow color, size in one listing
35. Multiple listing limit lifted with caveat that same seller multiples limited to 10 per page unless only one seller offers the item, then it is unlimited per page.
36. Prohibiting mystery auctions.
37. Links policy changes (must remove any offsite links) (July)
38. 4.7 or higher in all DSR's get better search ranking
39. Paypal Pay Later introduced through ebay checkout
40. Finding Playground beta testing ongoing, will release new changes May/June as a result
41. Free shipping for calculated listings available
42. Freight quote calculator can be added to listings
43. New item page view layout
44. Lowered limit to 3 DSR for Best Match search results
45. Anonymous email forwarding (all email addresses must be removed from listings and templates)
46. Specified item condition, return policy, handling time required in listings.
47. Diamond Tier PS discount 20%/negotiate fees (minimum requirements of DSR's, feedback and 50,000 items per month sold or $500,000 in sales per month)
48. A quick "listing update" checklist, to make it easier to follow new listing requirements
49. PS UPS shipping discount of 23% ground rates (requires enrollment)
50. Reduce listing, increase FVF pricing more changes toward holiday season.
51. Direct phone support for buyers only (sellers still get canned cut and paste email replies)
52. Coupons for best buyers program spring and holiday season
53. POSSIBLE CHANGE is allowing buyers to remove feedback they left for sellers, still being discussed, goal is to address this by the holiday season.
54. Coming soon, prefilled item specifics in certain categories
55. New hub for pre-owned GM and Chrysler used car dealership listings.
56. Edit shipping details for multiple purchases
57. Increase watch list to 200 items
58. Blocked bidder list grown from 1000 to 5000
59. Flash, video and other active media must be removed from listings and templates
60. No more 3rd party checkout
61. 2% or higher customer dissatisfaction lowers search standing.

And I am sure a few have been missed. Thanks Nancy for putting this together for we who are having trouble keeping up.

eBay's Best Bargain - Itself

When the first hue and cry was raised as the deluge of business altering changes fell on the eBay community, the new CEO stepped forward to refer to them as 'noise from a small percent of our passionate and vocal minority' or some such nonsense. To some extent it was correct at the time. The vast majority of eBay sellers pay no attention to announcements and sort roll with the punches when things change. But as the new changes took affect and more and more sellers found themselves buried in search due to flooding of categories by mega-sellers, and with monthly fees that were higher than their sales, or having auctions pulled for confusing and unexplained reasons, more and more began to realize something was terribly wrong. Ah, why do I even try to explain. The proof is in the pudding they say. I give it 1Q of 2009 and all the articles such as the one above will have disappeared much like the dodo. So print them out and frame them. Perhaps you can sell them on eBay. We may find them on the 36th page behind those $49.00 AAA batteries from Buy.com or perhaps we will not even be able to find them at all in the new Best Match search, it is terribly broken and doesn't look to be fixed any time soon. So you will have to post a link for prospective buyers and perhaps they can find it. And I do hope you are not needing the money for anything important. As you will be a new seller you will have to accept Paypal and if your buyer pays you with it, you more than likely won't see it for at least 3 weeks. eBay is holding funds for 21 days on every thing from cd's to toaster ovens. But make sure you ship it the day after purchase for free and from your own pocket or you will risk getting dinged on your stars, which will put you to page 132 in search, and you will more than likely get a negative feedback, which will entitle Paypal to hold your funds for 3 weeks. Yes, there is much joy in eBayland these days. The fun never stops. OP you really should join us, yes, you really should.

eBay's Best Bargain - Itself

Every time I read one of these ridiculous eBay spoon fed articles I think 'Dream on.'
Trying to pump up a deflated stock from a has-been company in deep, deep trouble both within and without is just sad.
They are being hit with unfavorable judgments, cold cocked by government agencies, buried under very successful competitors, failing to attract new traffic and unable to keep that which they once had.
Inside they are 'bleeding out' as their own customers (the Sellers) abandon ship for a multitude of reasons. Boiling it all down you will find the belief that eBay is no longer 'good' for their business. Their sales have dwindled, their fees have increased, the site is so glitchy there is not a day that goes by that something else 'doesn't work'. When that happens you run into one of eBay's biggest problems for it's users, they have no apparent customer service. There is no number to call, only email which brings canned cut and paste answers that are usually nonsense in broken English that do not even touch on the problem. Glitches can last for months and never even be acknowledged by eBay. Sort of like 'If I don't admit there is a problem, no one can call me on it.' Very infantile for a huge corporation. And all in the above section applies just as well to Paypal which they are attempting and failing to force on those who DO NOT want it.
Do not pay attention to the man behind the curtain pulling levers and making all the smoke billow out. Listen to those who have 'lived' inside eBay for 8, 9, 10 years and know it. Anyone who does not will sound like the writer of this article, woefully uneducated, or perhaps just dreaming.