Welcome…

lil_verbenaOn 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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 04.02.2008 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.