eBay at ChannelAdvisor’s Catalyst Conference

implogOn April 2, 2008 at 7:34 pm Said:

You can’t explain and rationalize the eBay changes.

CEO Donahoe is an advocate of Clay “disruptive innovation” Christensen. Donahoe has passed the Christensen message on to those below him. This is what Donahoe wants, “disruptive innovation” in the guise of an “excellent buyer experience”.

The marching orders have been received. Top and mid level execs are frantically trying to show their bosses that they are on the “disruptive innovation” “excellent buyer train”. Logic and common sense have been abandoned. All that is important now is for eBay employees to be on that train if they want a promotion or bonus. Witness the recent Announcement Board posts and Town Hall appearances — it’s all about “excellent buyer experience”.

This train will run on it’s own inertia for a while just as have the past corporate culture change mandate trains. Then it will run out of steam or derail. The next corporate culture mandate train will be waiting at the station. All aboard!

AmberOn April 3, 2008 at 10:24 am Said:

“further pricing adjustments could come at any time.”

This is the death knell for any responsible business owner. Adjustments mean UP as well as down. How can ebay expect sellers to make a business plan around a constantly shifting fee structure?

Why would anyone continue to invest time, inventory and energy to grow their business when a single “adjustment” could make selling here unprofitable?

This is what ebay did with their massive store increase–many excellent sellers fled for more expensive, but more STABLE, venues.

The instability of the pricing here will just force the professional sellers elsewhere, leading to an increase in buyer dissatisfaction as newer, inexperienced sellers take their place. The exact opposite of ebay’s purported goal.

LindaOn April 3, 2008 at 10:25 am Said:

I realize ebay is concerned (and rightfully so) about alienating the sellers with too much change at one time.

But, many of us are frozen in time waiting for the next shoe to fall.

If you would present us with a list of the upcoming changes and estimated time frames we could start adapting (or move on if our product is to be exluded as in DD last week).

It is becoming a daily event to sign-on to the boards and see what horror ebay will inflict on the seller today.

One thing that seems to be forgotten is the fact WE THE SELLERS ARE EBAYS CUSTOMERS. The buyers are OUR customers. And, 90% of the sellers are the major buyers as well.

Open communication between your customer (seller) and Ebay would be a welcome change.

At this point many of us are in a state of panic. Not over the changes that have been announced, but over those that we fear will be announced tomorrow or the next day.

IsaOn April 3, 2008 at 11:10 am Said:

We don’t have time for all these changes!!! Every time eBay makes a change, it mucks up all of my operations! I am most concerned with site changes that mess up the software I use to post hundreds of auctions a week. I am NEVER warned about those changes. How about telling us about site changes and actually allowing us enough time to adjust BEFORE we find out there’s a problem and don’t have any time to fix it?!? Yeah, I know. That’s never going to happen, because ebay doesn’t give a pfft about sellers.

Mark ClassicOn April 3, 2008 at 12:24 pm Said:

Stability is good too Richard, can we pin that on some board room meeting cork boards?

And how about Consistency?

What about Simplicity?

For example:

The current FVF and DSR discount could have been SOOOOO simple.

You get good DSR’s you get a FVF credit, no matter which Ebay site you are on and where in the world you are.

Now that sounds great doesn’t it :-)

But what have we got :-(

This is the current situation for myself and doubtless many many others that are “outside” the UK and USA, and/or listing on different sites to their home location.

Are you ready for this?

This is going to get complicated…

I am a UK seller that lists on .com.

That is my market and I buy Antiques specifically to sell into THAT .com market.

Now we have very good DSR’s and 100% feedback.

But because I do not list on my “home” site, I am not eligible, (please consider how I can maintain a 100% and good DSR’s by listing on .com – that tells you our credentials).

Not to get the FVF discount I have to do the following.

List on the UK.
Pay an extra £0.15 per item on average to get visibility on .com.
Pay an extra £0.15 per item for gallery.
Pay an extra £0.15 per each shop item for it to appear on .com (as my Business Account Manager advised – who is very good by the way…).
Then I can get a 30% FVF credit on each succesful sale (which probably does not balance out the fee hike at the front end).
If the US buyers now want to buy my listings which have strange GBP Pound signs next to them now (which they do not like).

So to get the FVF discount for good DSR’s I have to pay very high front end fees that wipe out any discount and risk losing customers who like their own currency displayed to them.

Of course, none of this I am going to do, so….

Why not just have a simple DSR FVF system worldwide for all sellers anywhere…

Simplicity <- that word again…

Consistency <- that word again…

Stability <- that word again…

Or we could have bolt on after bolt on of complicated change and policy that benefits no one and encourages every seller not listing on their own site or not based in the USA completely outside the FVF DSR “scheme” to ignore the DSR system or wistfully look at it in admiration?

Or is Ebay a UK/German/USA based world view we have at Ebay?

Now do you think it could get even more complicated?

I am pretty confident it will, when all the other sites decide on “THEIR” particular FVF/DSR scheme…

C’mon management folks…

Lets have SIMPLICITY and STABILITY with the change…

PLEASE!

Big changes, make the site wide, not country wide and keep the consistent for EVERYBODY.

Mark :-)

Mark ClassicOn April 3, 2008 at 12:28 pm Said:

Big changes, make the site wide, not country wide and keep the consistent for EVERYBODY.

Should have read:

Big changes, make them site wide, not country wide and keep them consistent for EVERYBODY.

Mark

JeffOn April 3, 2008 at 12:30 pm Said:

eBay wants to be Amazon.com.
eBay built an empire on the community of sellers and buyers and now they think they can do it better?
It is time for a wake up call or the Titanic is about to sink!!!
Oh yeah, eBay , you better take a closer look and figure out who YOUR customers are before you put the car and reverse and run them over again!!

dimesOn April 3, 2008 at 1:02 pm Said:

eBay will never be amazon. It doesn’t own anything except webspace leased to individuals and companies on a short-term basis for use as an advertising medium, and a declining brand value.

For every individual seller who is disenfranchised by eBay, it loses one buyer. Who tells two friends. Who tell two friends.

According to an interview Scot Wingo gave at this very same Catalyst conference,

“What’s historically been tough has not been getting big brands going but the policies eBay has.

One simple one is that on eBay you have to put your credit card details on file. If you’re a director at Motorola, you’re not authorised to do that. That can become a six month fiasco at a large company, while for a Mom and Pop seller it is a very simple decision.”

So if eBay is alienating the moms & pops, and the corporates won’t deal with eBay’s policies because they don’t have to, who’s going to be left in six months?

scottOn April 3, 2008 at 1:06 pm Said:

its sad the direction ebay is headed. it used to be fun here buying and selling but its not fun anymore

without sellers there is no ebay and ebay continues to make changes that hurts sellers and some of the biggest and best sellers on ebay have left and ebay does not care, a poster seller with over 300,000 feedback and 99 percent feedback just picked up and left last month, took his inventory and all his buyers with him

they only care about their numbers and satisfying their investors

ebay got too big and is too greedy now and I think it will hurt them soon

listings are way down,stores are down,buyers are down,traffic is down,amazon is posting record profits each month and record traffic and sellers are running there and taking their buyers with them while ebays continues to slide

you would think that ebay would make changes to help sellers come back and make it worth it to sellers to come back and get buyers back

but what do they do? raise fees,best match,no more feedback,they get rid of digital items which lost a lot of good sellers, they got rid of under $1 items for stores which lost a lot of good stamp and card sellers

I dont get it? if you were lagging the last couple of years while a company like amazon was thriving and catching up at a rapid pace wouldnt you make good changes?

take a poll on any of the ebay boards and ask how everyones march was. I will bet that at least 80-90 percent will say sales were off from january and february cause of best match

I had chinese sellers with 4.2 dsrs ahead of me in search when I am at 4.8’s and 4.9’s but best match is the best thing in the world? according to ebay?

KathyOn April 3, 2008 at 1:58 pm Said:

I know I’m not the only one who says this, but everytime I read the words “eBay’s customers”, my mind boggles.

In what scenario does eBay have any customers other than sellers?

One of the changes will have to be that they are surrendering their position as just a venue … they cannot be a venue that puts buyers and sellers together and then claim the buyers as their customers.

I’m just lost by this.

VickieOn April 3, 2008 at 2:10 pm Said:

Change is good. When change is done to improve something, to simplify something, to expand something or to enhance something.

eBay has not shown the users where all these changes are improving, simplifing, expanding or enhancing anything. The only good thing I’ve seen come out of the changes is free gallery and mainly because it helps the buyers, it simplifies, improves, expands and enhances their shopping experience. I don’t mind saving the fees, but the real benefit comes to the shoppers. Which is fine, we need to keep shoppers happy.

However, the shoppers are not happy when the system seems broke all the time, when sellers are apologizing all the time for eBay glitches and when shoppers can’t find what they are looking for in search because eBay decides to play games with it.

The bad thing is that there are so many changes already taking place and so many announced and even more that are unannounced. How are professional sellers supposed to build any true business model in this environment. Business people have to have some semblance of stability in their workplace, in their expenses and in their marketing campaigns. When all these business components are in a constant and unpredictable uproar, it makes for a hostile working environment.

It’s hard not knowing if next week you will be put out of business with no notice.

LindaOn April 3, 2008 at 7:44 pm Said:

Dear Mr. Brewer-Hay,
There has never been, nor will there ever be, a buyer say to themselves, “I’ll go to eBay for a great retail-like experience.” People on the eBay boards are flummoxed by this choice of words. Whatever did she mean?

I am an eBay Seller/Buyer. I already feel secure with payment and returns issues. I love to bid and snipe and win! I love to watch my watchers and bidders! I love to ship my sold paintings! I am not looking for a retail experience.

I am planning to invest in equipment to further my eBay sales. And Stephanie says I won’t even recognize the place in a year. Again, her choice of words is mind-boggling.

It might serve her well to realize that there are millions of eBayers listening to her pronouncements. I would like to see her talk to us rather than Wall Street and the AP.

LauraOn April 3, 2008 at 7:51 pm Said:

Why not post a calendar with all the up coming changes so I can at least adjust my business planning. All these changes are willy-nilly and make it impossible to keep to our business plan.

Seller pay the bills for all these changes so if you want the cash flow to continue a little consultation would go a long way.

PatriciaOn April 3, 2008 at 8:01 pm Said:

It would be SO refreshing if ebay once….just ONCE was honest enough to come forward and tell us sellers exactly what their plans are for their site and for the sellers. Nobody is asking for any more than that really. What’s the big hocus-pocus about? Kind of leads me to believe all of this is being made up as they go along and they have no solid plan!

SandraOn April 3, 2008 at 9:33 pm Said:

If Ebay is planning more major changes, why can’t they,at least, give us sellers some warning?
Let us know what is coming, so we can plan around it. How can we maintain our businesses in the way Ebay, and we, would like, if we are constantly trying to incorporate new changes, with little, or no notice?
Please Ebay…I have been a seller on here for 10 years, and wether Ebay wants to admit it or not, I feel I and many other sellers built Ebay. Now Ebay is tearing it all down.
Everytime I think I can breathe a bit easier, and concentrate on my business,Ebay throws another “surprise” at us.
Many sellers feel beaten down. Give us an answer, Ebay…do you want most of us out of here, or what? I sell antique linens,and I don’t want to wake up one day,like the DD sellers, and find that I am no longer wanted, after all of my work and money invested.
Unbelievable amounts of time and money are invested by sellers here! We deserve better treatment! Shame on you,Ebay,for treating your sellers the way you are. I am appalled at your callousness toward the very ones who made you!

ReneeOn April 3, 2008 at 9:42 pm Said:

Please tell me why the customers would go to Ebay for a retail experience when they have all the people who left Ebay already giving them that experience on their websites. I personally went to Ebay to look for BARGAINS which I do believe is NOT a RETAIL experience. If I want retail I can either save shipping and buy locally or pay shipping on a trusted website. I used to buy from Ebay a lot but recently can find better bargains on personal websites. Websites I TRUST and I certainly DO NOT trust Ebay any longer.

DaveyOn April 3, 2008 at 10:00 pm Said:

I always hear of how businesses sink when they take their eyes off their customers. Sellers are ebay’s customers! Do sellers want fewer buyers? NO! Do they want a better buyer experience? YES. So then, why are so many sellers up in arms over the recent policy changes? This is a subject in itself that needs to be explored and blogged. Sellers have to be engaged cooperatively with ebay as a team to give a better buyer experience. Instead, many of us feel like we’re being beaten and blamed for many of ebay’s own internal shortcomings. Why wouldn’t buyers flee if they ever had to deal with ebay’s “customer service?” Yechh.

One suggestion–have Mr. Donohoe lead the customer service thing by example, rather than by edict forcing everything on sellers’ backs. His own CS makes cell phone and cable companies’ CS look good.

I also agree that the constant changes in policies and pricing is a complete disaster for those trying to plan business and inventory. Total disaster. This mood will carry over to buyers too.

No doubt you’ve read the Deusche Bank report on ebay. Some really honest stuff in there I could have written myself.

HenriettaOn April 3, 2008 at 10:01 pm Said:

Back in the day when I used to buy ’stuff’ there were two or three other people after the same ’stuff’. They used the system to see what I had bids on and I did it right back to them. Because we were after the same items bidding would run until one or the other quit. It was fun. That was then.

I haven’t paid higher than initial bid on the last three or four items I have bought. I can’t find my bidding opponents, they can’t find me, and we are certainly not finding the same items. From a buyers point of view it is probably a good thing, I pay $6 where I would previously have paid $25. It isn’t auction as I know it, its waiting a week for an item to close. No thrill factor at all. For sellers it must suck.

I hate to tell you how many times I haven’t found an item I would have much rather bid on, because it was on page 5 and I bid on something else on page 2 that was ending after the page 5 item. I truly believe who ever thought up the new sort order was less concerned with buyers finding what they want & when they want than with ‘demoting’ sellers. When search becomes difficult and unrewarding it is tiring and off-putting. Why bother?

I am glad you are here and would like to welcome you to our world, unless things turn around you will be chronicling the end of an era. Maybe you too will write a really good book!

PS. Spelling can make or break a listing, its a power cord, a chord is musical and when we take a quick look at the mountain it is a peek at the peak.

CrunchyPostingGoodnessOn April 3, 2008 at 10:02 pm Said:

What I do not understand is why eBay is suddenly wanting to force all of those who sell on its site to be professional sellers?

I read an interview that Business week did with Omidyar back in 2001 regarding the history behind the creation of eBay. I was quite impressed with most of his responses and I can understand why the average person was so attracted to selling on eBay. He seemed to encourage patience and understanding on the part of the buyer. Understanding that the person they were buying from was just an average person, with an average day job, family, etc, and was most likely not tied down to their computer 24/7. The recent changes seem to indicate that eBay wants to cater more to the professional seller, as opposed to the average person which eBay was created for.

I believe it was the small time, hobby sellers which built eBay into the big, profitable corporation it is now. I understand the need to compete and offer similar services to other online selling venues, but I do not understand the need to discard the small sellers in order to accomplish this.

Why doesn’t eBay consider making different levels of sellers? Not based on sales volume or dollar amount, but on their level of professional selling experience. For example, those who operate as a business should be held to a higher standard, than the average hobby sellers. There could be an indication next to their id which would identify them as a professional seller or a hobby seller. That way customers who want a quicker, professional selling experience can buy from those sellers who are identified as professional, and those who are willing to wait a little longer for their item, can buy from a hobby seller.

eBay should be giving more choices to its buyers and sellers – not limiting them.

Betty SmithOn April 3, 2008 at 10:16 pm Said:

Ebay is a sinking ship and there is no way to turn it around at this point. Their minds are made up – they only want the high end merchandise and wealthy buyers. Let’s all stop wasting time and energy and turn elsewhere – turn to the future at onlineauction.com – mass movement/event happening now at OLA.com – check it out!!! It will be like a breath of fresh air – I promise !!

http://chat.ola.com/viewtopic.php?t=4512&sid=2b1f0a9b03eed513762a231dcb15d4bc

RobOn April 4, 2008 at 3:32 am Said:

Change is good and with all the complaints you see I wonder why sellers continue to stay. I have seen other sites both fixed price and auction style provide sellers with another excellent option but instead of opening a shop and giving their shop A+ effort, or they may list a few items, do nothing to promote their shop, complain, then runs back to ebay.

BrendaOn April 4, 2008 at 4:25 am Said:

Good-Morning!

Richard, do you have any of the gory details that would clarify and define the terms of ” a retail experiance ” ?

Does it mean any of the following:

1. An increase in fixed pricing
2. A standardized return policy that all members adhere to
3. Viable customer service for all levels of Ebay users ( from what I understand call in customer service is available only to Power sellers and the best customers )
4. Company policies being clearly stated and in some sort of prominant position to facilitate its understanding by all users
5. Professional etiquette standards being applied to the feedback arena

I believe that the changes being implemented are being executed for the improvement of Ebay. I’m having difficulties keeping pace. Any additonal information that you can dig up will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Brenda

WePurrsevereOn April 4, 2008 at 5:09 am Said:

If I, as a buyer, want a retail experience I’ll go shop at Walmart or Target.

I haven’t sold on eBay in years (and rarely buy now either) partly because I saw this type of carp coming years ago.

If you still sell only on eBay I suggest getting your butt in gear and diversify. Set up a website, learn SEO to help get buyers to you.. check out alternatives (apparently Amazon is really pushing for auction sellers.. how funny is that?).. get involved in independent (non-ebay) online business communities that help keep you informed, learn new ways of doing things and bring the personal touch back to doing business online.

The other HUGE problem with eBay it has gotten so bogged down with codes and ads I, as a dial-up user (one of 45% of this country who are still stuck with dial-up btw) can’t flipping navigate around the site comfortably… everything is so slow to load and the new search is a nightmare for me… after a bit I often give up and look elsewhere.

Stop messing with the sellers and trying to guess what buyers want from a small hand chosen sampling with results scued to reflect what you want and work on things that NEED to be fixed.. like your site… go back to the KISS principle.. it WORKS.

::sigh:: and why do I just feel like I wasted my breath? eBay doesn’t actually CARE about anything except the bottom line for THEM and their stockholders (one that will back fire in time IME)…to them it’s just a marketing ploy now and one I really don’t buy into anymore.. :-(

EdOn April 4, 2008 at 6:34 am Said:

I used to sell a lot on greedbay but unless it’s something I know is in high demand, it just isn’t worth it anymore, and (then it’s only a maybe at best with all of greedbay’s search manipulation going on). With all the changes to the way things are displayed I.E. you can’t see who is bidding so you can check there history etc. This allows shill bidding galore. I have seen this happen a lot and items going for higher than they would of because the persons buddy just joined greedbay “THAT DAY!” what a surprise, NOT! and bid the item up and I’ll guarantee the other person receives a second chance offer because for some “Unknown reason” the first person was unable to complete the transaction, I.E. they are only there to bid the items higher. I have looked at them after the auction ended and only then can you see that the person just joined that day.
Greedbay has opened there site up for a free for all for shilling like no one has ever seen and it will get much worse. All of this is bad for buyers and promotes dishonesty in sellers beyond what we could imagine.

emporium1999On April 4, 2008 at 7:27 am Said:

I quote IMPLOG at the top of this discussion:

“CEO Donahoe is an advocate of Clay “disruptive innovation” Christensen. Donahoe has passed the Christensen message on to those below him. This is what Donahoe wants, “disruptive innovation” in the guise of an “excellent buyer experience”.”

Why? Because eBay wants to “evolve” into a BIG ON LINE STORE, with brand name lines … GM used Cars for one, at FIXED prices.

I am a nine year eBayer. From the beginning, when I was learning eBay from another seller, there have been unexpected significant changes … over night.

Ebay is for eBay. Period.

I didn’t like the announced and implemented “death star ratings” (DRS) … that is what they are becoming. I stopped listing, and have cut my buying to once in a blue moon.

I lurked on eBay’s DNF board, since the January announcements. One thing is very clear …

eBay doesn’t care, and will never come clean with what they really are doing.

Many fine small sellers, mom’s and pop’s, collector’s turning over surplus collectibles, dealers in fine art, books, and all so more have left, NEVER to return.

Yes some new unsuspecting sellers will list there, but they have been set up for failure.

I rarely post in chats, but I have here today. The statements by Ms. Tilenius are yet another example of the corporate rot that is so prevalent at eBay. They (eBay) just won’t address their sellers and buyers honestly, and say that they are taking the business in a new direction. No, instead they prefer to admisister a Chiness water torture of changes to it’s users … buyer and seller a like.

We were told by the new CEO to leave. Our complaints are just noise. Our offerings are just flea market junk. We made eBay over the years; the eBay management is destroying it in just a year or two.

My final comment on this is … BYE.

I’m gone. There are many other venues today, we don’t have to sit and take it any more.

Best wishes to all, think and make your own choices.

David HardinOn April 4, 2008 at 9:05 am Said:

Stephanie Tilenius said changes in fees she didn’t say increase in fees. A recent fee change for media fees went down. In reality I don’t see the difference in cost for eBay to handle pair of shoes as compared to a CD. The actual cost for eBay should be the same.
So I’m going to take the view of the glass is half full. Maybe fees are coming down

David

Usher LiebermanOn April 4, 2008 at 10:14 am Said:

I am an official spokesperson for eBay, but I am speaking for myself here.

Following Stephanie’s keynote I sought out Scott Pooler and he and David White invited me to join them for lunch at Catalyst. During the Q&A Scot was constructively sharp in criticizing our handling of digitally downloaded goods and I wanted to better understand his point of view.

Scott and David have been around eBay a long time and I was fortunate to speak at some length with them both and look forward to doing so again. One thing we talked about – constructively – was an erosion of trust between eBay and some of our most loyal customers. This is obvious in reading the comments on this post and across this blog to date (now coming up on 48 hours old!)

A few notes:
@IMPLOG: eBay is a product of disruptive innovation, just ask anyone who’s been involved with the business of antiques since before 1995 or so if their business wasn’t disrupted due to an Internet innovation named eBay.

Small sellers matter because they deliver the long-tail and ‘only on eBay’ items that make our inventory and experience unique.

A hint about what we meant on further pricing changes: we’re aiming to please our sellers…

@Mark Classic, I agree with you – we need to be consistent and present a simpler message. We’re working on it.

A global company should provide regional teams the flexibility to apply their local sensibilities.

There are opportunities for us to apply better solves, no doubt, and as we identify them and have the ability to fix them, we will. That is much of what I understand ‘more change faster’ to mean.

@Linda, Stephanie did say that we are going to keep the parts of eBay that people love and auction-style listings are a huge part of that. Again, that’s where a lot of the richness and ‘only on eBay’ experiences come from. But by retail-experience, I understood it as buyers shopping with confidence because the branded retailer will fulfill its promises and execute a fair transaction every time.

eBay is not a retailer, but shoppers have an expectation that a branded Web site will be a clean and well lit place to shop. In the case of eBay, a clean and well lit place to shop to find anything from a collectible Illinois-shaped corn flake to a new in box Wii and just about everything in between.

@Patricia – no hocus pocus. In the past we committed to specific things too early and when we didn’t fulfill our promises precisely we allowed a bit of trust between ourselves and the community to erode.

@Davey – I think we (eBay) created a false dichotomy between buyers and sellers because we didn’t do a great job in communicating the value proposition that what is right for buyers is right for sellers, because happy buyers shop more frequently.

Again, we’ve got some work to do and we will make mistakes. All I can do is promise that we will learn from them and work hard to earn your trust and respect.

PatriciaOn April 4, 2008 at 10:21 am Said:

Why doesn’t eBay go back to its grassroots and focus on building an alternative retail website of its own choosing. QUOTE from Linda: One thing that seems to be forgotten is the fact WE THE SELLERS ARE EBAYS CUSTOMERS. The buyers are OUR customers. And, 90% of the sellers are the major buyers as well. I was totally addicted to eBay and now feel shameful to be a part of such a scam outfit. Who do you think you are eBay to try and dictate what I buy and who I buy from? Or for that matter, how to run my business!!!

JJHOn April 4, 2008 at 10:24 am Said:

David, don’t be deluded. Whatever listing fees come down, are more than made up by the increased FVF fees. We were lied to and considered to be idiots that would never see it was an increase in disguise. Just more eBay speak. Fees will NEVER come down. Less profit.

The comment that “we won’t recognize eBay in a year” is frightening. Especially for this small seller who is still holding on to hope. Right now the other venues don’t offer anything, regardless of what everyone says. But, maybe in a year they will. Maybe that’s why I won’t recognize eBay in a year, it won’t have any sellers.

BrendaOn April 4, 2008 at 10:42 am Said:

This is in response to the antiques reference.

The use of the internet in and of itself brought down antique prices. The market is glutted, making it easier to find what was once thought to be a rare treasure.

It’s a case of simple economics. If supply goes up demand will go down.

bonnieOn April 4, 2008 at 10:42 am Said:

Change not for the BETTER… I see that on the horizon.. I closed my brick and mortor store over 4 years ago to make a living on Ebay. I worked hard and saw possiblies, these new Ebay ” never had a business bussiness captains” dont GET IT. I have tried to give my customers the best service, it doesnt count for anything. When the new “rules” were given out, I wrote to Ebay day after day Oh did I mention I earned the Power Seller status with the I thought you would at least respond to my inquiries privilege, well I got not one response from the big guys. Not surprised.. They do NOT GET IT and they will end up with nothing.. My sells for March are half with this best match game. And they wonder why sellers are now dropping their hats in other selling baskets, as am I.

AmberOn April 4, 2008 at 10:56 am Said:

From tamebay: “the expectation is that insertion fees will drop further with emphasis on aligning eBay’s success will seller’s success.”

That quite clearly indicates that an insertion fee will likely be offset with an even higher increase in FVF.

I’m already paying 12% FVF for store inventory. I’m a media seller, so free gallery doesn’t mean much to me. Even category-specific pricing isn’t helping as the buyers have all moved elsewhere thanks to the horrible search known as Best Match. Everyone I know that buys books no longer buys them from ebay because the recent FVF increases have forced prices up (no more bargains) and they quite simply can’t find anything anymore.

Best Match is broken–it is way too difficult to set your preferences for any other sort. Listings from sellers with horrible feedback and DSRs are routinely shown above mine–and since they’re media items, the titles and item specifics are Identical, so “relevance” isn’t the problem.

As for ebay’s handling of the digitally delivered goods issue, it was nothing short of a disaster AND revealed exactly how little regard eBay actually has for its sellers. They ruined many terrific sellers’ businesses overnight without a hint of apology. Less than 7 days notice–in reality it was being enforced PRIOR to the announcement.

We’re not talking about just ebook sellers, but people who design websites, logos, templates, create and sell their own patterns and recipes, Digital scrapbookers…

And, to make matters worse, the community was given a “reason” that was less than truthful. No wonder the trust has eroded. We were told that the change was to combat feedback manipulation, when further investigation (and posts by the pinks in the UK) revealed that it was actually due to intellectual property rights issues. (Please see the intellectual property rights policies if you doubt this).

If eBay hopes to win back the trust of its customers, THE SELLERS, it needs to make things more stable–not more capricious. Above all, it needs to be honest. I’m more offended by the bogus reasoning behind the digital download policy than I am over the actual policy.

implogOn April 4, 2008 at 11:00 am Said:

@ Usher Lieberman

You are 100% correct. Ebay was a disruptive innovation as have been many successful businesses. Congratulations.

Now stop it.

Why is it necessary for eBay to slavishly march zombie like to the “disruptive innovation” chant? You did good. You disrupted innovatively. Now stop it.

Ebay is ripping this place apart at the altar of yet another fad business trend from yet another fad business guru (Christensen) who has written yet another fad business book.

Snap out of it.

How many other successful businesses are smashing their own atoms so that some “team leader” can deliver a conference room presentation on how well they disrupted innovatively then offer projections of a hoped for follow up “excellent buyer experience”?

I got your “excellent buyer experience” at the link below. Take a moment and read the thread.

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000664197&tstart=0&mod=1207264762485

This is what your “disruptive innovation” is creating, a marketplace where buyers like this will run roughshod over defenseless sellers.

donna machadoOn April 4, 2008 at 11:08 am Said:

I dont think ebay has a clue as to every time they mention the word “change” we just go numb!! I dont get it, was ebay realy that bad back in 2005? I dont think so, it was at its all time high, why dont you spend some time seeing what WORKED THEN and re-implement that, Ebay is under this crazy notion, that we have to GROW with the ever changing needs of buyers and sellers as they are changing in what they expect in the new era’ alittle secret, NO…not true, people like a place to call HOME, ebay was that place, buyers and sellers knew what to exspect, now you are turing it into a circus act, buyers and sellers looking to connect in a market of confusion, the posters before me said it perfectly, change is supposed to be for improvement, this much :improvement” was neevr needed and it doing the opposite, Ebay wake up as another poster stated WORD OF MOUTH IS BAD FOR BUSINESS, AND I HAVE A BOYCOTT EBAY IN BRIGHT WHITE LETTERING ASKING PEOPLE TO BOYCOTT YOU, and i get about 5 questions a day! and hand out brochures as to why. STOP AND EVERSE YOUR CHANGES, AND GO ON VACATION.

Beady Eye GuyOn April 4, 2008 at 11:14 am Said:

Usher,

Thanks for the post. I am not UPSET at the changes of late as I understand that shoppers weren’t happy with sellers who charge $10 to ship a CD and then don’t ship it until a week later (or more in some cases I’ve seen).

I will say I want Ebay to STOP telling me that charging handling fees is wrong. If I want to tag $1.50-$2.00 onto my shipping costs, that should be none of Ebay’s business. If a customer doesn’t like it, I am sure they can hit the back button on their own. You see, my DSRs are all 4.9 and my shipping is 4.8. I made changes recently to keep my costs in line with the reality of the new Ebay. NOW I am told that my handling is still too much YET my customers don’t agree with Ebay on this. I see media sellers charging $3-5 more for shipping and THAT is not right.

I ship the next business day (sometimes the same day if the order comes at a certain time). I pack it with care, I do not use media mail or some cheap method of shipping to make more margin. What bothers me is this uncertainty that Ebay will one day tell me “you can’t get back your packing costs – go use a free USPS box!” YET they want me to sell cheaply? I’m sorry but USPS doesn’t provide boxes that fit a CD or DVD that won’t result in damage to the item. I would also have to ship using priority which is ridiculous for a CD, for example.

I just want Ebay to show us long term, low hassle sellers who do what they are supposed to do (aka take care of business properly) some respect. Raising my fees on the stores was a low thing to do when they aren’t even giving me better exposure!?!?!?!?! I wouldn’t complain if I turned more of my inventory (I only stock items that are hard to find in stores and too expensive on Amazon) but 12% for FVF in stores is not cool.

I don’t list on the core site and I most likely never will unless it’s free or under a dime to do so. Even then, they raised the FVF there as well. I won’t sit here and put the company down as I feel they are doing what they need to do to correct some bad seller behavior (retaliatory feedback, lack of communication, issues involving selling items the seller doesn’t even have in stock, etc) but Ebay should also stop penalizing us good sellers who do a bang up job of taking care of “ebay’s” customers (yet, when a customer buys from me they know I am the retailer, NOT Ebay).

Patricia 1On April 4, 2008 at 12:10 pm Said:

I’m the first Patricia who posted here so I put a “1″ to differentiate me. Mr. Lieberman thank you so much for posting here and for answering my prior post. To be honest, I was beginning to feel nobody at ebay is really listening to us sellers – and I’m still doubtful. There is one thing that is so imperative – you have no idea how urgent it is….ebay needs to make sellers feel welcome on their site! At present, most of us do not. I, myself, have closed my store and I’m down to less than 10 listings from my usual 50+ listings. Instead of selling exclusively on ebay and my website, I am now on 4 other venues and looking for more. I wouldn’t be doing that if ebay did not make me feel like a criminal to be watched carefully by buyers – some of whom may be having a bad day and take it out on me! I’ve been selling on ebay for 10 years (if you want my real ID I’ll email it to you) with a 100 percent feedback rating and stars of 5.0 and one 4.9 and yet I’ve been made to feel uncomfortable and unwelcome on that site. Every sale I make elsewhere is a sale that will never reach ebay’s pocket….and I’m far from being alone! Every other site I sell on is full of “ebay refugees”. Please pass this on because it may be the most important thing ebay does to insure a future for itself!

nancybusinraleighOn April 4, 2008 at 2:22 pm Said:

Perhaps someone can explain to me the benefit of ebay taking the OPINIONS of buyers in the feedback they leave and the DSR’s they give and using that to apply punitive measures on sellers?

Best Match is now tied to those OPINIONS, paypal forced use is tied to those OPINIONS, paypal holds are tied to those OPINIONS. And all the while, they are opinions, not founded in fact.

Dispute filings automatically are judged as the buyer is right and it’s used against the seller, even if the dispute is found eventually in the sellers favor.

I see an extremely abusive system being set up.

Feedback is voluntary, and is based on OPINION only. But ebay is going to use that against sellers.

I’m proud of my feedback and DSR history but to what end? It does nothing for me, I’m not a powerseller. I am near perfect on those stupid little DSR’s and what benefit is it to me? But now, I have to concern myself that if a buyer or competitor wants to jerk me around, all they need to do is rank me low, whether deserved or not, and watch me sink in Best Match and have other punitive measures work against my record of success here.

How is this good for ebay? Because if it’s not good for sellers and buyers, it’s certainly not good for ebay.

I now have a website and list on two other venues as well, ebay is merely a tool for harvesting customers now, nothing more. After 10 years, ebay has finally made policy changes that are beyond logical and in fact, harmful to their customers, the sellers.

wowzemOn April 4, 2008 at 2:46 pm Said:

So Stephanie Tilenius thinks we won’t recognize ebay in a year’s time? She’s absolutely right, but NOT in the way she thinks. Heck, I don’t recognize it now as compared to the great place I started selling on 10 years ago.

The biggest real change as a result of ebay’s policies and fee increases has been to force complacent sellers to seek alternative venues. Sellers are finding new sites to be very user friendly and cost competitive. I think ebay is going to go the way of Ma Bell during deregulation. Buyers will find themselves shopping at multiple sites to find the items and sellers they want. They have pushed their monopoly just a few steps too far, and now the other sites which have been waiting in the wings are reaping the rewards. At this point, even if ebay does an about face, I don’t believe they will ever completely recoup their lost customers. Nobody is going to put all their eggs in one basket again. I also believe they are willing to wait it out for quite some time which will make the disaster of more epic proportion when reality finally becomes unavoidable. For me, ebay is now just a marketing tool to drive business to my other, more profitable sites. The money I save by listing elsewhere is passed onto my customers by way of lower prices, which increases my sales volume.

Notice that I say MY CUSTOMERS, because make no mistake, ebay, the customers are mine, not yours. I am your customer, the person who pays your bills regardless of whether my items sell or not. You are merely a venue, and have no product to offer buyers. If I leave, they will follow, and are already doing so.

Yes, I am quite sure ebay won’t be recognizable as the same place in a year’s time. That cat is not going back in the bag, either.

Mike K of Williamsport PAOn April 4, 2008 at 3:11 pm Said:

I miss my old eBay days. I will not sell on eBay, probably never again because I feel that I have been used and betrayed.
The fees are too high, the DSR rating is too anonymous and I don’t believe it has been accurate.
As a seller, I would never sell without having the ability within 80 characters to tell my side of the story and rate my experience with my buyer.
I am selling OK elsewhere and I feel that I am one of many that eBay will miss in the long run.

What is the matter with you people at eBay? Why don’t you just build a secondary super seller store and keep the old site as it was?
I think the answer to that question is you just don’t want to trouble yourselves with the issues of the “little people”.
I think you are the biggest identity thefts on the internet because you stole the true identity, the heart and souls of those who built it and are handing it over to the big dropsellers and giving the eBay name to them. You are selling the site as eBay but the heart and soul of eBay was us “little people”

I hope and pray that other sites grow to provide a good shopping place that eBay used to be and us “little people” go there for the venue we need.

I’m gone, it is a shame what you eBay people did. It is a sin.

oakteakOn April 4, 2008 at 3:24 pm Said:

Along with many others, I am dismayed, confused and upset by the enormous amounts of egregious (for sellers) changes that have been instituted recently, and more in the pipeline to come, according to eBay’s own predictors. I won’t get into all of that because there are many more eloquent posters on the subject and I quite agree with them.

But way beyond this I am troubled by an image that keeps playing around all these changes.

I have been in sales for most of my fairly long life, in one form or another, including having my own successful small business.

Whenever I was in a sales situation pitted up against my competition, and I found myself “chasing” the sale by emulating my competition–I knew I had lost the game and the sale.

I see eBay doing this same thing “chasing” their competition, running after them shouting–,”wait! wait! Me too–Me too”

It means they consider themselves to have lost the game.

It is a loser’s attitude.

It brings them right down to the level where there are way too many players in the field.

Instead of building on the uniqueness of eBay with all of its quirkiness, forging ahead on the path less taken and being the leader that others want to emulate, they are forcing themselves to reinvent themselves into a model of their competition.

I think eBay has lost its way.

Is this what you REALLY want to do???

I can shop at my local big box store any time I want. It is 10 minutes away. I do not have to come online to get cheap products. Big box stores are everywhere now, so are dollar stores.

But if I want something unique, different, hard to get, not made anymore or interesting I had always come to eBay first. I also always found a good price for what I was looking for. Maybe it wasn’t the cheapest price, but also maybe it wasn’t the cheapest made product. There was value, there was shopping fun. That is disappearing with all the newness and glitziness.

I guess I’m kind of sad at the prospect of losing something that was special. It will no longer be a fun place to shop. It will be the same as all the other cheap marketplaces.

Why come here?

That is what you really want to ask yourselves.

Why come here?

a*b*c*d*e*bayOn April 4, 2008 at 3:42 pm Said:

HAPPY SELLERS shop MUCH MORE frequently

;)

oakteakOn April 4, 2008 at 4:35 pm Said:

I just took your photographic tour of headquarters. Look at it carefully. Do you see all the collectible items that are displayed in the glassed in cases on many of the walls?

Why did you include them in your headquarters?

Was that because that was the basis upon which eBay was born?

I can’t see them all clearly, but I see what looks like the Pez containers, and lots of other interesting things.

I’d like to know what they all are.

That’s what the heartbeat of eBay is, not some image of a big box store with all its imported cheap goods.

implogOn April 4, 2008 at 4:50 pm Said:

Richard:

Could you translate the sentence below from Usher Lieberman who visited the blog as a spokesperson for eBay but claims he/she was speaking for him/her self.

(Richard – This is the unintelligible corporate speak I wrote about in another post to this blog. These guys are on corporate auto-spew and they just upchuck this stuff. It may mean something to Donahoe and Lieberman’s immediate supervisors but I’m just a guy, just a guy with only one M.B.A., just an eBay seller and I have no idea what is being said.)

“I think we (eBay) created a false dichotomy between buyers and sellers because we didn’t do a great job in communicating the value proposition that what is right for buyers is right for sellers, because happy buyers shop more frequently.”

Richard…. Usher… please translate. What is a “value proposition”. Help me understand.

Usher LiebermanOn April 4, 2008 at 7:54 pm Said:

@IMPLOG – I encourage you to look up value proposition (or were you just baiting me into coming across as patronizing?).

Sellers come to eBay because we bring the buyers, and when buyer expectations online change – we have to adapt as well if we are to expect to continue bringing buyers and sellers together.

The false dichotomy is that we made it seem that by focusing our energy on improving the buyer experience it was necessarily at the expense of sellers. I expect there are many reading this blog who believe that to be the case and take exception to some/many/all of the changes we’ve made. I don’t expect to convince all of you, but I do know that the overarching goal is to improve the overall customer experience which starts by making buyers happy so they return to buy our sellers merchandise again and again.

Patricia 1On April 4, 2008 at 8:22 pm Said:

“Sellers come to eBay because we bring the buyers, and when buyer expectations online change – we have to adapt as well if we are to expect to continue bringing buyers and sellers together.”

That’s strange…many of my buyers followed me…off ebay’s site! Have you given that much thought Mr. Lieberman? There’s a difference between sellers and good sellers. Ebay seems to be punishing both equally. Have you also give any thought to sellers being buyers and as they get disillusioned and leave they not only take some buyers with them but they also stop buying on ebay too? I doubt much thought has been put into that. I don’t see where ebay’s theory of buyer being king holds much water because they don’t see sellers as buyers too or has having followings of buyers. Simply catering to buyers and giving them shiny little objects like DSR’s to bash sellers with just isn’t going to cut it.

EGNATZ1On April 4, 2008 at 8:38 pm Said:

Usher don’t you see just by posting on this blog you make everyone all the more suspect that it’s not anything more than another Ebay corporate speak platform.

You must realize that you are the corporate spokesperson that is your job as we all know and for you to come here and spout more corporate dogma under the guise of it being your own personal opinion is insulting at best.

I was going to give this blog a chance and see where it went with the hopes that it would begin a true dialogue between sellers ,you know Ebays only customers, and management.

However your posts only prove that this is just going to be more diatribe from management that consider most of us sellers nothing more than a annoyance.

Usher LiebermanOn April 4, 2008 at 8:47 pm Said:

@Patricia1 – Thanks for your thoughtful comment.

Scot Wingo in his presentation at Catalyst on the lifecycle of eCommerce retailers (such as yourself) said that eBay is often a place to start and over time as you become more successful you become multi-channel. We are keenly aware of this and we have to make changes that encourage multi-channel eCommerce retailers to move more of your inventory to eBay. For some, the changes we’ve made are having the desired effect, for others, we still have to do more.

Personally, I am dismayed when I hear tales of good sellers being treated unfairly. But DSRs, regardless of what you think of them, are one tool at our disposal to help separate the good sellers (PowerSeller and smaller sellers) from the bad. DSRs, when integrated into search results help good sellers rise to the top at the expense of bad sellers.

We have more work and clearly we will have to prove ourselves to customers such as yourself.

Usher LiebermanOn April 4, 2008 at 8:57 pm Said:

@EGNATZ1 – I can see that by responding to your comment I am only making things worse (that was meant to be tongue-in-cheek). With that, I will butt out (at least for now).

Patricia 1On April 4, 2008 at 9:06 pm Said:

Mr. Lieberman – I’m happy to hear that but with Best Match, the economy and the amount of seller/buyers who have already left ebay my sales have gone down there and so now I’m forced to list most of my stock elsewhere. When my own website outperforms ebay then something is very very wrong. I’ve built up a small following over my 10 years on ebay and I can tell you many of my customers have become my friends and have contacted me and wanted to know how I was holding up under the treatment ebay is giving sellers. Sir, with all due respect it really seems ebay is intent on throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If anything, sellers like me both large and small deserve a bit of respect – we do not deserve to be laid open and vulnerable to any buyer who comes along. I suggest you visit your Feedback Discussion board. I was appalled to read buyers there with zero ID’s who cannot wait for May so they can hand out sellers to negatives just because they can! I think you’ll find that a good seller IS good because he truly cares about his customer…yet ebay ties us up with the threat of not being seen under the new Best Match default if we have a bad buyer who comes along. I cannot understand it and I feel most sellers are in an uproar because they don’t understand it either. We are ALL there to sell and to satisfy our customers so they will return – yet ebay has made us feel unwelcome and then wonders why we leave. I see it as a sad state of affairs but even after 10 long years of allegiance to ebay I, too, am forced to move along to where I might be more welcome. I hope you pass on some of the thoughts you’re reading here. I think sellers deserve to be heard – not the complaints – but the honest facts as to why most of us are leaving.

Patricia 1On April 4, 2008 at 9:14 pm Said:

I would like to add one more thing. I really do appreciate you ducking in here and posting. Sellers have been looking to interface with ebay management since Jan when the announcement was made. We have been feeling like we are being totally ignored and unwelcome. I am happy that you took the time to answer my posts and I will make your posts available to others.