Welcome…

lil_verbenaOn April 2, 2008 at 1:47 pm Said:

Your thoughts on SMI. Personally, I detest the hidden bidding ids.

Also, if you are really going to be the middleman between ebay and their users, what’s with the ebay seal of approval comments only?

Thanks!

DonOn April 2, 2008 at 1:57 pm Said:

I wish you luck. Personally I don’t see how you can be “transparent”. You have a lot of very angry sellers out there who for years have been abused by eBay, fed eBayspeak, overcharged, screwed, and so on. The latest round of “fee decreases”, loss of feedback giving (neg/neu), and DSR issues are prime examples. Sellers are MAD. Remember Network? I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore. You’ve reached this point.

I am not even comfortable posting on this blog. I don’t trust eBay. This is the atmosphere you have created with the sellers. A very adversarial one.

You want to be transparant, you want all comments, yet look at the notice below. eBay may censor. It’s the same old stuff. I’ll be very surprised to even see this message appear.

I wish you luck Richard.

JDOn April 2, 2008 at 2:16 pm Said:

Would like your thoughts on the fact that small sellers are going to struggle much more to be competitive.

For instance one buyer who doesn’t realize that a 4 out of 5 is not a good rating could drag the total discount down for a small Powerseller.

Alan LewisOn April 2, 2008 at 2:26 pm Said:

I also don’t like hidden bidder IDs, and I wish there was a better way to protect against scammers without doing it (I’m open to suggestions, btw, and can advocate from within)

So how do I get my posts flagged as employee posts?

Alan Lewis
Product Manager, eBay Desktop

nancybusinraleighOn April 2, 2008 at 2:41 pm Said:

Hidden ID’s, ebay’s stated reason for doing this was to prevent scammers from offering fake second chance offers.

With hidden ID’s, it’s a shill bidders paradise and ebay has never resolved dealing with OPEN shill bidding that we could see, even when reported it took days to stop if it happened at all.

I have little faith that ebay has anything in place to stop shill bidding with hidden ID’s.

They could easily have done away with Second Chance Offers instead if that was their real underlying concern.

Much like the taking away sellers ability to leave feedback that was neutral or negative against buyers because ebay claimed sellers were leaving retaliatory negatives to buyers. Ok. Why not remove the Mutual Feedback Withdrawal option that some sellers used/abused in those retaliatory negatives? Why not make the feedback blind, each having to log feedback first for a transaction before it’s actually entered visually on the site. That way there is no retaliation involved at all.

Since ebay can easily hold Detailed Star Ratings that way, they could have done the same with feedback.

Why are these policy changes considered the solution when in fact they seem to be adding yet another layer of bad policy with unintended consequences on top of old policy that had unintended consequences?

Maybe I missed it?

lil_verbenaOn April 2, 2008 at 3:36 pm Said:

Richard~most of my purchses are in the $100 and up range, typical monthly spending approaching $2200 before the SMI rollout. I’m extremely uncomfortable with bidding against no see ids.
If this SMI was to only protect me from fake SCO’s, I’m pretty well versed on doing this myself.
Not to belittle your spending on ebay, but it seems that your a well below $40 per item bidder. It is a little scary when I’m bidding on that must have vintage one of a kind thingie that is heading on up to $400 and I can not check out the other bidders. Try it and tell me you felt at ease and comfortable while bidding and not wondering if there was a shill bidder in the group.

implogOn April 2, 2008 at 4:42 pm Said:

Please re-round the circle squared by eBay President Lorrie Norrington on the eBay Announcement Board on March 20, 2008 titled “Update For Sellers”.

Norrington seems to be attempting to address the concerns of sellers who fear a neg from a non paying bidder. Norrington attempts to mitigate the new “neg sellers” only policy by writing:

“What we have determined is that if the buyer does not specifically call out poor seller performance, item condition or transaction problems during the UPI process, eBay will remove the seller’s negative or neutral feedback — retroactively.”

This makes no sense. Sellers do not send items won in auctions before receiving payment. How can a buyer who leaves a neg be justified by claiming a problem with “item condition” for an item never sent, received nor seen? Again, sellers DO NOT send items without first receiving payment.

While Norrington’s “solution” may be boss pleasing “disruptive innovation”, it flat out makes no sense in the real world of selling on eBay.

Thank you for your help.

GaryOn April 2, 2008 at 4:55 pm Said:

Richard,

Welcome to the blogosphere.

I’m adding the blog to my RSS feed. Although I’m not one of eBay’s disguntled buyers, I’ll be interested in seeing how the blog progresses.

Good Luck

delynsimonsOn April 2, 2008 at 5:20 pm Said:

Great to see our expanding family of blogs, where we can have candid and thoughtful conversations with folks who feel as passionately about eBay as we do.

Nearly all my new baby equipment has come from great eBay sellers. I’ve have a particular fondness for cloth diaper covers with unique prints.

Welcome to the fray - flak jacket optional. ;-)

Delyn Simons
eBay Developer blog
Platform and Disruptive Innovation

GrannyFTOn April 2, 2008 at 6:38 pm Said:

Richard,

Welcome to the world of Ebay~

I am interested in your experinces as a seller. Buyer too, but Seller more.

Are you really going to seriously sell, open a store, list 40 or more items a week, or are you going to play like a seller.

Are you going to sell any high risk, high end items?

I noticed you have left feedback for your sales, but not recieved any back. Typical, of all the feedback I have left I have recieved only gotten 1/3 back.

Believe me, I have tried to get feedback participation, prompt emails, fast shipping, letters and “extras” in the package. It’s still hit or miss.

Not good if you need that feedback more than ever. Not to mention the DSR’s.

My other question is a concern of many long time sellers who help day and night on the boards. They are not paid, they just enjoy helping others.

They want to know is this blog and others that were rolled out at the same time going to replace the Live World Boards?

Thank you kindly,
Granny

Steve GummOn April 2, 2008 at 7:58 pm Said:

Richard,

Good luck with this blog. I think it’s a very exciting opportunity for Ebayers to get quick feedback on issues that are affecting, positively or negatively, their experience with the company. The fact that Ebay is putting you on this initiative shows their priority is truly taking care of their user base.

I will be checking in to see how things go with the blog. It’s very exciting to see it in action.

Cheers!

Steve G.

a*b*c*d*e*bayOn April 2, 2008 at 8:11 pm Said:

Hi Richard,

I saw the hat(s) you have listed for auction/sale on eBay. This is taken from your ad(s) re: the TV episode you refer to:

“The episode featured Alyson building a “pub” in the basement of her home for husband (and avid homebrewer), Richard.”

1) Are you THAT Richard?

2) Do you personally read the eBay boards?

3) Do you shop/sell on eBay only or do you venture to other auction sites?

4) I spent well-over $100,000 on eBay last year alone (verifiable); in the past 4 years I have spent well-over $450,000.00 on eBay (also verifiable). I will be quitting eBay in May due to the changes being made. In your opinion, do you think eBay will miss me?

Thanks, welcome to eBay and enjoy the ride!

DanOn April 2, 2008 at 8:59 pm Said:

Rich–

I think anyone that chooses to “quit eBay” will be missed - regardless of the buyer or seller’s history. Whether you bought a book for $4 last week or sold a car for $20,000 yesterday, I think eBay recognizes the value in all of its customers regardless of money spent or earned.

Can you provide more information that explains how you came to this conclusion? eBay site policies seem similar to the weed-out policy at college. Look to your left and look to your right and one of the people next to you will be missing….for those “missing” people, does eBay have any type of retention program? What actions does eBay take that shows they miss sellers and buyers that quit?

pja1957On April 2, 2008 at 9:08 pm Said:

Richard,

I am interested in hearing your thoughts about what I consider to be the biggest inequity between buyers and sellers on eBay–that sellers can remove their items for no reason at all with no ill consequences, but buyers are committed to their bids.

I bid mostly on collectibles, and at least 10-20% of the items I watch are withdrawn before the auction ends. I know what is happening is that the buyers are accepting side offers, or have the item up for sale elsewhere also.

I play by the rules, I don’t make side offers, and as a result I lose items that I might have won if the auction continued. And there have been times when I’ve ended up spending more on an item on eBay even though I discover it elsewhere for less after bidding…but I’m committed.

Why does withdrawing an item not count as a negative against the seller? I understand that occasionally it might be necessary to do it because an item gets lost, stolen, or broken, but doing it more often than occasionally should count the same as negative feedback.

JDOn April 2, 2008 at 9:16 pm Said:

Maybe I do not understand how this blog will work but will you only comment on posts that you want to?

You said … “I think eBay recognizes the value in all of its customers regardless of money spent or earned.”

I am not one who thinks eBay values my business much evidenced by the new policies which make me feel they have me in their sites to get rid of me.

KittyOn April 2, 2008 at 10:40 pm Said:

Hi Richard. As a somewhat long term eBay buyer and seller (8 years). I am looking forward to your varied experiences here.
as for answer 4, no. eBay has told some of us time and time again that there will be expected losses in sellers and that they are not concerned. In fact they hired Scott Wingo’s company for the explicit reason to identify the lower percentile of performers to eliminate. As a stock holder I’m sad to say I cannot find out the exact amount that Channeladvisor has been paid to accomplish this.
I see you have a bit of studying to do to catch up.
As far as transparency is concerned…your buying and selling ID is as private as possible till you go and tell others about it.
Extra layers of privacy only compound fraud.
I would say it would greatly enhance the buying and selling atmosphere if all buyers and sellers were ID verified before they were able to buy and sell here.
Hidden, but safe and secure.
Happy bidding!

Alex SchultzOn April 2, 2008 at 11:36 pm Said:

I left eBay as an employee in 07 after ~4yrs at the company in the UK and US. eBay does care about it’s users a lot and is really trying to help. I for one read every comment/blog/message board I could while I was at eBay, pinked when I could, stood at a booth and took it in the neck whenever I had to do so in order to get the message across that eBay does care. It’s great there is a voice out there and awesome the blog is live, congratulations. I am subscribed. Please do your best to change the point of view that eBay doesn’t care, of all the Silicon valley companies I have experienced eBay beats itself up internally the most about trying to do the best by it’s user base.

WilliamOn April 3, 2008 at 2:32 am Said:

Happy that you are doing this.

Your blog can become a conversation

Could you, will you, read boards like the powerseller board, and offer comments

I think it is important, as another poster mentioned, for you, as the blogger, to respond to comments on the blog.

BrendaOn April 3, 2008 at 3:54 am Said:

Welcome to Ebay!

I’m a newish member and am very glad to see the addition of your blog as a new vehicle for communication. The announcement of the changes in policy s-l-o-w-e-d my plans to sell. This was good because I saw the importance of learning the system properly before I jumped in.

I read extensively in the AC and other educational areas within the site. It seems that alot of the problems that are addressed are generated by newer members. I would like to see Ebay incorporate some of the tutorials and passing grades on quizes as a requirement for both sellers and buyers before they are allowed to do a financial transaction. I believe that alot of the angst that I see in AC could be avoided if all users had a better understanding of the processes involved in completing a transaction.

A viable, you get to talk to somebody, customer service department would also work wonders in customer ( buyer and seller ) satisfaction. If a problem is brewing and you have to wait for email replies, the situation has a tendancy to internally escalate. A real person has the ability to be alot more responsive to the emotional needs generated within a problem.

Formerly Known As MarikaBooksOn April 3, 2008 at 5:03 am Said:

@ Alex Schultz and Richard:

Ebay cares? Puh-leeez. How did they care when they made an item that was not available from anyone else on Ebay INVISIBLE? When I listed an item, paid my fees, and had every expectation that it might sell (since I had no competition selling that item) only to find that even putting the entire title into Search did not bring it up in results for days, why should I believe that Ebay cares? Why should I believe that Ebay cares when the paid Ebay discussion board trolls AKA Live World tell me I don’t know how to search? Or that I must be mistaken?

How is Ebay “caring” when they blow off the fact that the hacker Vladuz published the personal information of hundreds of Ebay members? How is Ebay “caring” when a group of buyers are scammed by Russians in New York and come to the discussion boards for help only to see their posts disappear and other members are pink-slapped for trying to help them because Ebay can’t or won’t?

How is Ebay “caring” about sellers when they tell buyers that a 4 rating in DSRs is good but disadvantage sellers in search if their DSRs get those 4s? Does Ebay care that those sellers are paying the same fees as everyone else but can’t sell because they can’t be found? Does Ebay care that the unfortunate seller is disabled and counts on their Ebay income to survive?

How much time do you have because the list goes on and on? Do you care? Will Ebay beat itself up internally about any of this or the thousands of other reasons why many, many sellers and buyers alike DO NOT BELIEVE that Ebay cares because they have seen exactly the opposite?

JamieOn April 3, 2008 at 6:01 am Said:

Another ex-eBayer chipping in…

I wish you luck Richard and team. My take on this blog is that with the myriad of independent eBay themed blogs out there and the sheer number of forums available, it would be nice to read some more alternative takes on the eBay story instead of regurgitating what has already been said.

For example tell us about eBay’s environmental policy, how employees are hired, how product committees work etc. Give us the under belly that I enjoyed so much being a part of for 7 years.

nancybusinraleighOn April 3, 2008 at 6:20 am Said:

Oh fluff and stuff.

Pope GardnerOn April 3, 2008 at 6:45 am Said:

I’m an ebay member since April 1999. I’ve both bought and sold and it has been very rewarding. I’ve amassed a personal collection of my interest that would not have been possible without ebay.

I could not disagree with Don more!

I trust ebay implicitly. I find their offerings constantly evolving for user convenience and security.

I operate a business focused blog and completely understand the need to have the authority to reject comments. All too often there is and “injured party” (and injury is a matter of perspective) that wants to publicly criticize a business before they approach the business for resolution. When the post is held and the complainer is asked to give the business an opportunity to correct the problem –they immediately invoke First Amendment rights or “communist leanings.”

Give me a break!

Great job with the blog. Keep it up. Attractive design too.

a*b*c*d*e*bayOn April 3, 2008 at 7:37 am Said:

Richard,

Thanks for the answers to me previous questions.

As far as my question # 4 to you……….

I only addressed my BUYING experience(s) on eBay, of which I would say I am 99% satisfied with (until the recent changes, which has effectively halted my purchasing). I consider myself an educated eBay buyer and could easily make my decisions on purchases (whether large or small) by reading and researching to make each and every bid. I believe my largest purchase was $58,000.00 and it was virtually flawless. As I said, I knew what to look for (making the bids/purchase) as well as how to protect myself on the purchase/bids. I was attempting to do a BUY IT NOW on a 2007 Jeep a few days ago, only to realize it was fraudulent activity (a possible hijacked account) when the seller e-mailed me to say the Jeep was in Portugal and they needed the money sent TO PORTUGAL before they could ship the car to me, even though the auction is “supposedly” in NJ. As an educated buyer, I moved away from the ad and reported it to eBay.

As far as my selling experience on eBay, I average $160,000.00 per year in sales on eBay, have 100% feedback for the many years I have sold on eBay as well as DSR’s that would qualify me for the largest “discount” offered by eBay for fees. (By virtue of a classified ad, my largest sale to date was $970,000.00.)

Two days ago I contacted eBay via phone and explained a situation I am having on eBay as a seller. (I believe the conversation was recorded by eBay for internal purposes, as far as customer service.) It was suggested to me by the eBay employee that “perhaps I should stop selling on eBay for awhile” and to even perhaps “sell on another large venue such as AMAZON.com”.

So as far as my question # 4, I have to say that the answer is “no”, but that is just my opinion.

Just stating some facts.

Furious!!On April 3, 2008 at 7:50 am Said:

Sweet, yet another place for ebay to lie and censor the actual REAL digruntled users buyers and sellers both! Ebay, you are in for a very very RUDE awakening come May 1st.

What kind of sale are you going to have to do NOW that the 1 cent listing sale is over and the number of auctions are plummeting? More lies to your shareholders!

When are you going to tell the truth about the padded listings? You say there were only 5000 listings huh? Then why do thousands of people have proof of at LEAST 400,000 listings? MORE lies to your shareholders!!

Ebay, you are about to crumble this summer, and I plan do have a LOT to do with that……BOYCOTT EBAY MAY 1st!!!

I know you won’t even post this response, and that just goes to show the level of censorship and lies this site is willing to go to!

lurker_hereOn April 3, 2008 at 8:01 am Said:

Will you be answering every question asked in the above posts? If not, why?

Good luck blogging!

DonOn April 3, 2008 at 8:01 am Said:

When I say I “don’t trust eBay”, I don’t trust them as a company to try to determine from these messages who the complainers are and punish them. They’ve been known to do that on their forums. I’ve been selling with eBay for 11 years, I’ve got over 3000 100% positive feedback, and 4.8 DSR’s across the board.

Every year I and every other seller gets raked across the coals with unjust fee increases, unjust policy changes, poorly thought out changes, Best Match, buggy code that always seems to disadvantage the seller. The list goes on and on.

Why is it that I don’t qualify for discounts? Just because I’m not a “PowerSeller”? That makes me some sort of lower species? My customer service is right up there, but I get no benefit.

Why does Donahoe insult the sellers whose livelihoods are being destroyed by these policy changes by referring to them as “noise”?

Why are the SELLERS not considered to be eBay’s customers? We make all the money for you. All of a sudden the “buyer” is your customer? See how well you do without sellers.

Me, mad? Yea, I’m pissed, and I appear to be the first one who’s popped off here. Maybe that’s because other sellers feel this whole corporate blog thing is a useless joke.

Richard, how do you feel about the upcoming Boycott on May 1st “and beyond”? I’d be curious to knowing your feelings, management’s feelings, etc. Do they even have the slightest idea why sellers are upset, or care?

You want to see pent up anger? Go read some of the blog entries over on auctionbytes.com. I’ve never seen sellers this upset in all my years here.

TWOn April 3, 2008 at 8:02 am Said:

I am a small Silver Powerseller since 2001, member since 1999. I make my living selling and my income is 90% eBay (or was). I started by listing 25 to 40 items a week. I got to the point I could list 10 to 15 a week for more income. As my knowledge base grew my average selling price did too. I sell a lot of estate, antique, collectibles, vintage no longer made type items. Average STR is 90% or better. Average price is $50 to $150 with an occasional “home run” of $500 to $1,000 or more. My 30 day DSR’s are 5 across the board but I have slowed way down on my listings.

Does eBay consider my items “flea market”? My fees went up about 20%. In May, when the new feedback goes into effect we will see what will actually happen. One negative and/or DSR ding would take me out of the discount and Powerseller program. The huge mega seller can absorb those negatives much better than I can. I do not list if I do not think the item will sell. The lower insertion fee is nothing to me when compared to the huge increase in FVF. How is this fair to a small seller who literally has to make a profit on every item?

There are many sellers in the same boat as I. We feel we are the sellers who helped make eBay what it is today. To us it appears that eBay is basically indicating they no longer want our business without having the intestinal fortitude to actually tell us that. Do we use up too much bandwidth? There is little or no discussion directly with eBay through the boards or anywhere else. When sending e-mails we just get canned responses. When calling the PS number it is again, canned responses.

My question is … does eBay really want us gone? If they do not, what are their plans to level the playing field for the small seller. I work hard to make sure my customers are happy. Right now the eBay customer does not appear to be happy. What can we do to rectify this problem before it is too late? Some say it is already too late.

Thanks

AnitaOn April 3, 2008 at 8:13 am Said:

“eBay cares.”

ACTIONS speak louder than words.

RickOn April 3, 2008 at 8:14 am Said:

Personally, without any REAL selling experience I don’t see how we can take anything you have to say seriously. You had to be hired and “educated” about ebay before even going live. If you are supposed to represent a “middle ground”, then they have went about your selection in a backwards manner. The best choice for this position is a long-term ebayer w/the “institutional knowledge” of YEARS of actual experience w/both ebay management’s boneheaded decisions and ACTUAL customer service. You possess neither!

TWOn April 3, 2008 at 9:35 am Said:

Richard if you were directing your last post at me, feel free to e-mail me.

Thanks

SharonOn April 3, 2008 at 10:33 am Said:

I have not listed anything since January. I too am a small time seller, usually 20 to 30 auctions every month or so. I am just amazed that Ebay is just forging ahead with all these changes, knowing that sellers and buyers alike are not happy with them.
Do you really want an Ebay that looks like Amazon? I tried to find someone to buy a particular DVD from and no one had feedback that I would buy from, out of 10 different people. I went to Amazon and paid 10.00 more to order it. These are the sellers you want to prosper and remain on ebay? It is just a shame that ebay is being destroyed from within.
I’ve been here since 1999 but I have bought much more than I’ve sold. Ebay just doesn’t realize that it’s sellers are also it’s buyers, and right now, I’m doing neither. Buyers are leaving also and I am afraid they are not coming back! Confidence is gone!
Ebay needs to remember KISS, but then that would be too much to ask from the corporate world.
Just wish you would get together with 200 small time sellers and discuss changes with them, instead of your top performing 200 PowerSellers. I bet the discussion would proceed very differently.
Feel free to email me, I would love to give you the story of a small time seller, but whoops, I forgot, I am who ebay most wants to rid itself of! Too much noise and flea market atmosphere!

PR FlunkyOn April 3, 2008 at 10:34 am Said:

Rick hit on the head in his comment (8:14 am). This blog isn’t written by a real ebay insider. Your job is to write this blog. You aren’t a product manager, engineer, project manager, or customer support rep. You don’t actually have any idea how decisions are made and things really get done at ebay! Go spend a year actually working on the tough problems at ebay before you write anything.

Michael E. Rubin, Blog CouncilOn April 3, 2008 at 10:51 am Said:

To Richard and the eBay team,

Congratulations on the launch of the blog. It’s definitely an exciting development to see eBay join the blogosphere and participate in the conversation. You’re going to get your detractors (as this comment thread certainly shows), but you’ll also have your advocates. Hopefully some of the people here who’ve vented their spleen and spewed some vitriol will give you guys a chance.

Now if I could only do better at winning the auctions I participated in for Doctor Who memorabilia…

Cheers,
Michael

Disclaimer: I work for the Blog Council and this is my personal opinion.

krs6670On April 3, 2008 at 11:18 am Said:

Richard - I wish you luck and seriously hope ebay provided you with a teflon suit!

My question involves the message boards, which you stated you read.

Many of the users that post to the boards are actually doing customer service for ebay, free of charge.

So my questions are -

1. In reading the boards, will chose a topic and blog honestly about it? Will you “have” to take ebay’s side because they sign your paycheck?

- and example are the posts on the Trust & Safety board regarding the new SMI and shilling reports. MANY of the T&S posters know more about ebay than ebay does.

2 - Will ebay ever acknowledge the hard work and dedication to the site and the community the board posters provide?
- free listings or coupons or SOMETHING?

I for one value their contributions but still wonder why they enable ebay’s lack of customer service.

I know of no other billion dollar empire that demands their customers to police the business.

3 - Do you think it is fair to require the users of ebay to police the site, in fact doing ebay’s job for them?
- Or should ebay take a look at hiring some “real users” to monitor the site for easy to identify problems?

Again, I wish you luck, seriously!

JZOn April 3, 2008 at 11:43 am Said:

Richard, You are in a No-Win Situation. The Years of abuse eBay sellers have endured cannot be glossed over by a Internally Created Blog. Either You Care or You Don’t Care. At the end of the day, you go home, being paid to do a job.

Business Week recently had an article about Companies shedding clients that were not cost effective. Perhaps that is eBay’s ultimate goal.

JZ

Mark ClassicOn April 3, 2008 at 12:04 pm Said:

This is going to be a tough job Richard :-)

Hopefully we can have a good balanced mix of posts :-)

Mark

SharonOn April 3, 2008 at 12:08 pm Said:

Vented their spleen and spewed some vitriol?

Disclaimer: I am an ebay seller and buyer and this is just my opinion.
Richard and Michael, what all sellers want is just to have their concerns addressed. To feel like they have a say in the process or are atleast acknowledged as having some intelligence.
Ebay has forced all the changes upon us without addressing the many valid concerns that sellers have.

What do you expect sellers to say?

Furious!!On April 3, 2008 at 12:29 pm Said:

My apologies to the blog participants. When I hit the enter button, nothing was coming up on my screen. Chalk it up to yet ANOTHER ebay glitch!

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

Maybe you should read the comment policy right below the submit button where it says “This is a moderated site and comments will appear if and when they are approved. We will review the queue several times daily, so please don’t resubmit if your comment doesn’t appear immediately.”

So from now on, please post as “MORON!!” instead of “FURIOUS!!”

Furious!!On April 3, 2008 at 1:12 pm Said:

Now it makes sense as to why ebay kept claiming that the boycotts “have no affect”. They wanted most of the sellers gone anyway so the boycotts are helping them clear the site of tens of thousands of sellers! Well you forgot ebay…………stockholders are watching you now also! Along with the tens of thousands of furious buyers. Oh you forgot that most of those sellers are buyers also!

[Edited, please see comment policy]

Donahoe_Has_Got_to_GOOn April 3, 2008 at 1:17 pm Said:

eBay’s recent policy change that prohibits digital goods from auction listing format after March 31st,2008, and relegates them to the expensive black hole called eBay classifieds will harm thousands of legitimate sellers.

WHY are digital goods STILL appearing in auction listing format, now that it is April 3rd, 2008?

Donahoe_Has_Got_to_GOOn April 3, 2008 at 1:21 pm Said:

WHY does eBay publicly state that neither they themselves, nor the administrators of eBay’s public discussion boards (Live World), engage in censorship of the discussion boards when one or both in fact does?

DonOn April 3, 2008 at 1:22 pm Said:

Before you go calling anyone MORON, consider the fact that I too experienced a GLITCH that caused me to post a message twice. When I clicked Submit, I got a “500 Server Error”, when I clicked back, my text was still in the box, so I clicked submit again. This time I got a different error. When I clicked back, what did I find, but TWO of messages had been posted. So maybe before you resort to name calling you might might to consider who the moron is.

Furious!!On April 3, 2008 at 1:29 pm Said:

Oh my my….and here we go, ebay just shut down the message boards for “scheduled maintainance” For the next 14 hours according to them! But this is 10 hours ahead of what they publicly stated the time frame would be! Gee…how much ya wanna bet they are about to “clean up the boards??!!”

Donahoe_Has_Got_to_GOOn April 3, 2008 at 1:29 pm Said:

WHY does eBay BAN members permanently from the eBay discussion boards when a member sheds light on truths that are inconvenient for eBay?

Donahoe_Has_Got_to_GOOn April 3, 2008 at 1:35 pm Said:

WHY has eBay trashed the founder’s ideals that led to eBay’s success, and replaced them with Donahoespeak that will lead to eBay’s demise?

Pierre’s words follow:

———————————–
Posted: February 26, 1996,
To: eBay Community

I launched eBay’s AuctionWeb on Labor Day, 1995. Since then, the site has become more popular than I ever expected, and I began to realize that this was indeed a grand experiment in Internet commerce. By creating an open market that encourages honest dealings, I hope to make it easier to conduct business with strangers over the net.

Most people are honest. And they mean well. Some people go out of their way to make things right. I’ve heard great stories about the honesty of people here. But some people are dishonest. Or deceptive. This is true here, in the newsgroups, in the classifieds, and right next door. It’s a fact of life. But here, those people can’t hide. We’ll drive them away. Protect others from them. This grand hope depends on your active participation. Become a registered user. Use our feedback forum. Give praise where it is due; make complaints where appropriate. For the past six months, I’ve been developing this system single-handedly, in my spare time. Along the way, I’ve dealt with complaints among participants. But those complaints have amounted to only a handful. We’ve had close to 10,000 auctions since opening. And only a few dozen complaints.

Now, we have an open forum. Use it. Make your complaints in the open. Better yet, give your praise in the open. Let everyone know what a joy it was to deal with someone. Above all, conduct yourself in a professional manner. Deal with others the way you would have them deal with you. Remember that you are usually dealing with individuals, just like yourself. Subject to making mistakes. Well-meaning, but wrong on occasion. That’s just human. We can live with that. We can deal with that. We can still make deals with that. Thanks for participating. Good luck, and good business!

Regards,
Pierre Omidyar
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Donahoe_Has_Got_to_GOOn April 3, 2008 at 1:37 pm Said:

At every turn, ebay is creating angst and anguish among it’s user population. WHY?

Donahoe_Has_Got_to_GOOn April 3, 2008 at 1:40 pm Said:

With every move it makes, turn by turn, eBay is creating more, and more, and more angst and anguish among it’s members. WHY?

Donahoe_Has_Got_to_GOOn April 3, 2008 at 1:42 pm Said:

There is an apparent roadblock in place that prevents more that X (perhaps 4), posts to this blog in a given time period (perhaps 5-10 minutes)from the same poster. Is there such a block in place? WHY?