PeSA / ECMTA Best Practices “Improving Your eBay DSRs”

NoblespiritOn 04.15.2008 at 8:38 am Said:

Hello Davey,

Thank you for the comments. PESA was founded because, (for a long time), there was a huge void between eBay and its seller base. Your comments do echo many of the sentiments that many sellers still feel. These feelings are understandable. eBay sellers are extremely passionate about their eBay businesses. And extremely serious about them. eBay sellers do what they do because it is what they are about. Their eBay business is as much a lifestyle choice as it is a financial business venture. In that sense, eBay sellers have always required a strong mesaure of control in their business. This is as it should be.

However, it is important to commend eBay when they do things right as much as we reserve the right to mention the things they do wrong. We must remember that if it were not for eBay many of us would not even be having this discussion. Many of us would not have a business to fix, adapt, grow, position or maneuver.

Yes, as sellers, we all feel very heavily invested in this marketplace. As you rightfully point out, many of us have been invested for nearly a decade. And I think that simple fact is finally coming to light in what is clearly a new eBay corporate culture. I do see a partnership emerging. I see it all around me. And I see that every seller who takes their business seriously and passionately has a tangible opportunity to become a part of that partnership. Like any partnership, it is going to be a journey of give and take, learning together, growing together, evolving together. Neither of us is there yet. Neither of us can get there by ourselves.

To be frank, I’m reading a lot of comments of what sellers think eBay is doing wrong. What do you think eBay should be doing to make that partnership happen? What do you think we need to do to create a better marketplace? What is your vision of the ‘eBay of The Future’?

Regards,

Joe Cortese

DaveyOn 04.15.2008 at 4:11 pm Said:

@Noblespirit

I’ll give some concrete detailed answers to your market visions questions after I get my taxes filed… Yes, I’m one of the last minute guys…

One comment, though, in case any eBay staffers read this in the meantime, from a seller/buyer point of view (I’m both), is: What has eBay done in the “give and take” that was actually a “give?” Free Gallery was gobbled up by increased FVF in my dutch auctions, so that was a 50 percent “take” in the end. In looking back as a seller whose auctions are priced to sell through, I’m seeing all “takes.” If this relationship is a give and take, I need a few “gives” to establish eBay’s kind intent to partner before I want to step in further. Besides this blog, I don’t see anyone upstairs listening–just talking. This blog has been out for too short a time to see if it makes a difference.

What does eBay need to do to get this partnership to happen? First, place the Community Values as foremost again in guiding the business, like they were when eBay started. Listen and incorporate the intelligence in your own marketplace, not just your own headquarters. Understand the needs of your constituency, and respond to them. Don’t tell your constituency what they really prefer but don’t know it yet. Don’t tell them you “listened,” then proceeed to slap them with all sorts of bad news and fee increases without offering additional benefits that meet or exceed the fees in value. The latter is especially bad when that consitituency sees the profits you are raking in already.

I believe if it weren’t for eBay, we wouldn’t be having this discussion, true. But more powerfully, if it wasn’t for the seller/buyer community, we wouldn’t be hearing about an entity caled eBay, but maybe one of the other initial auction sites that started at the same time. People came to eBay not only because of the unique niche it started in, but because Pierre’s attitude and community values appealed to them, the site was uncluttered and simple, and all these things worked. I didn’t require any education as to the value proposition, an my buyers didn’t require an education of the site’s foibles. Of course, several months of merciless spamming of USENET groups by Pierre helped get the word out too.

I believe there are a lot of people at eBay that are self-confident they understand eCommerce and their marketplace. I would bet, though, that almost all are casual sellers and buyers at best. When you’ve got large and small powersellers griping and things like Deutsche Bank’s somewhat unfavorable analysis (which harmonized with my feelings), there is a disconnect here.

One comment for Ms. Tilenius–impress me not with the fact that you bought shoes on eBay, but that you’re enroute to become a Powerseller with DSRs all above 4.8. That’s an accomplishment that will give you street cred that you know the marketplace. If you can buy here after negotiating Best Match and actually find what you want, that is something, but if you can sell and make a profit, that is something else entirely.

Looking back, the way eBay functioned in 2004 (pre-Cobb?) and prior worked just great–good traffic, good sales, good relationships, sense of community, etc. Things have only declined for me since then, and that is even with fewer competitors in my space. I hear talk about progress, but just like with New Coke, these disruptive innovations are sometimes duds where an astute team steps back and realizes what their market value really was.

While my specific #1 beef with eBay 2008 is the absolutely zero-star customer service, the underlying current remains that management does not listen to their constituency but throws things out to see what sticks, regardless of who gets hurt in the process. This appearance of ignorance is such that many of us are assuming our welcome here is coming to an end, as we don’t appear to fit into the grand plans that we hear are coming.

I’ve got to get some more time to think about your “vision” question…

CrunchyPostingGoodnessOn 04.15.2008 at 9:05 pm Said:

@ Noblespirit
“eBay should not be in the education business. That would be the wrong business for eBay to be in.”

Whenever a venue, service, or business makes a change it falls upon that venue, service, or business to educate its users on the changes and the impacts. eBay has already decided to involve itself in the education of buyers on how to rate sellers using the DSRs. The only problem is that eBay is giving out the wrong instructions to buyers. eBay is telling buyers that a 3 or 4 is good, while informing sellers that such scores will negatively affect their ability to sell successfully on eBay.

eBay is doing buyers a dis-service, especially when the sellers have to inform buyers that eBay is essentially lying about what the ratings really means. Such conflicting information will cause buyers to distrust eBay and/or the sellers on that site.

“There are global opportunities on the eBay marketplace that are unavailable anywhere else on any other venue.”

I beg to differ. In fact it has been my experience that I can sell my wares on a different site, as well as my own website, for more money and higher sell through rate than I ever achieved on eBay. Granted eBay may be the only place where some items may be able to sell well, but most professional sellers have items that will sell successfully and draw traffic regardless of where they sell.

As a business owner my goal is to make as many sales, for as high a dollar amount, with enough ease so that I may direct my efforts into growing my business further. The other site I sell on provides me with all of that. As a smart business owner, why would I care to sell my wares on a site which requires more effort with less profit realized? Furthermore, any successful business requires some security and stability in order to succeed long term. The ever announcing changes eBay is making provides for a very unstable and unpredictable selling environment, neither of which are attractive to business owners.

“I believe that process is a definitive partnership that both eBay and sellers must be both willing and eager to enter into. That partnership will then become the embodiment of innovation, education and progress for all concerned. Neither can innovate without the other. Neither can educate without the other. There is no progress for one without the other.”

The key point here is the word “partnership”. In a partnership the involved parties all have a voice and the ability to discuss and vote on changes before they are placed into action. eBay has made these changes unilaterally, without consulting their partners (sellers). In the manner which eBay has proceeded has not been the role of a partner.

My business is a partnership among myself and my co-owner. All decisions with relevant impact on the business must be discussed prior to any action taken to implement them. All concerns are discussed and evaluated by the involved parties and a general agreement must be reached before such changes are implemented. eBay did no such thing, so as a business owner, I do not see eBay as a partner in my business.

The only way I see eBay is as an unstable selling environment which is trying so hard to cover all e commerce markets, that it is making several severe mistakes along the way. Until eBay can stabilize this uncertainty, something I hope these discussions with Richard will help with, eBay does not appear to be a viable selling venue for my business right, now and I doubt it is for many other professional and hobby sellers alike.

implogOn 04.16.2008 at 6:31 am Said:

Many eBay community members, both buyers and sellers, have attempted to educate bidders on obvious scam auctions, hijacked account high dollar auctions that contain off eBay contact email addresses and auctions of fraudulent items. This education effort is done by using the Discussion boards or by email.

eBay prohibits this education and will “pink slap” or discipline anyone caught educating another member about these immediate dangers.

This may have left a bad taste in the mouths of some community members who are now asked to “educate”.

Richard wrote in another blog post that he almost clicked on an identity “phishing” link he received in an email. This speaks volumes about eBay’s user education both externally and evidently internally.

(Richard - I hope you were joking about almost clicking on the phishing link. Please say you were joking.)

CrunchyPostingGoodnessOn 04.16.2008 at 10:19 am Said:

@ Noblespirit

You asked, “What do you think eBay should be doing to make that partnership happen? What do you think we need to do to create a better marketplace? What is your vision of the ‘eBay of The Future’?”

Frankly, I do not believe eBay should attempt to become a partner at all. eBay is a service. That is all it was ever meant to be and all it should ever try to be. When I purchase web space, I do not wish the provider to be a partner in my business. When I lease a physical space for storage or a store, I do not wish the leaser to be a partner in my business. Lastly when I sell on Amazon, I do wish their site to be a partner in my business either. None of the above examples have ever tried to assert the level of control or power over the operation of my business that eBay is trying to. It is the interference that goes hand in hand with this new idea of “partnership” that sellers are objecting to.

In order to create a better Marketplace, I believe:
* eBay needs to relinquish their new controls.

* eBay needs to start building trust with both sellers and buyers by stepping up personal communications and discard the canned responses.

* eBay needs to educate their own employees on policies and procedures, so that users are not receiving conflicting information from various employees.

* eBay needs to make all ship to addresses confirmed, so that sellers will be protected no matter where the buyer lives and/or the item is shipped to a third party. If they can not do that, then they need to remove the “confirmed address” requirement altogether from the seller protection rules.

* eBay needs to distinguish different levels of sellers based on professional selling ability (within 24 to 48 hours shipping, email ability 24/7, etc.), instead of selling volume. This way buyers will have a choice as to which type of seller they wish to deal with - professional seller or part-time, hobby seller. (I elaborated on this idea further within the Catalyst Conference topic on this blog.)

* eBay needs to allow for full disclosure of the entire buying/selling experience of a particular transaction, by allowing both parties involved to leave positive, neutral, and negative feedback.

* eBay should not link listing visibility, listing fees, funds held, restrictions, and suspensions to feedback comments which are not regulated or validated in any way.

These are just a few of the ways that eBay can create a better market place. First and for most, eBay must re-establish trust with its sellers and buyers simultaneously. Trust must be earned. It can not be coerced from the recent changes eBay is making. eBay needs to prove its ability to manage its site properly , before implementing any more changes which place undue responsibility and hardships on sellers.

This recent “passing the buck” with regards to educating buyers on the true effects of the DSR ratings only serves to create more distrust in eBay’s abilities in the eyes of sellers.

NoblespiritOn 04.16.2008 at 1:57 pm Said:

Hello CrunchyPostingGoodness and Davey,

Thank you for turning this into an interesting discussion. You’ve both made some excellent points which I am eager to respond to. Many of the points you raise are topics that deserve and require more than just a blanket response. I intend to do just that. Since we both agree and disagree, although I’d like to tackle the partnership concept first, perhaps we should work backwards one topic at a time?

QUOTE: “First and for most, eBay must re-establish trust with its sellers and buyers simultaneously. Trust must be earned. It can not be coerced from the recent changes eBay is making. eBay needs to prove its ability to manage its site properly , before implementing any more changes which place undue responsibility and hardships on sellers.

This recent “passing the buck” with regards to educating buyers on the true effects of the DSR ratings only serves to create more distrust in eBay’s abilities in the eyes of sellers.”

I think we have to remember that the objective is to try and strike some sort of balance between an eBay ‘hands off’ policy and a level of eBay involvement that insures a safe trading environment. I don’t think sellers can manage a safe environment on their own. They simply don’t have the facility. This is a marketplace that has been open to gaming buyers, sellers and peripheral scammers of every description.

eBay has sufferd from a lacklustre image for quite some time. I think eBay Trust & Safety take their role very seriously. And I think they have made great strides to be as responsive as possible under what is clearly some considerable adversity. Some scams are so sophisticated that they have folled the most astute, experience users (buyers, sellers, etc). We sellers alone do not have the means to address these issues. eBay Trust & Safety does not have a full understanding of the practical application of many of the dymanics at work without the help of sellers.

Once the marketplace establishes a definition of a reputable seller, it will then be ready to message that to the world. However, the message must be a positive one; and, yes…it must be earned. The problem we face at this time is that this marketplace is so huge we cannot afford to wait for the marketplace to roll out one improvement/change/adjustment at a time. We are seeing a bold endeavor, a suite of components of that definition. I believe this is what was needed. Now the question remains. How do we know this was the right thing to do, the right choices, the right changes, the right execution. Well, we don’t. We’ll need to work trough them together.

I don’t think there was a buck to pass regarding education. eBay can only strive to communicate it’s policy and intent. It’s up to us sellers to educate and inform ourselves and eBay with respect to the expected results, cause and effect, etc through practical experience, trial and error, etc. eBay is highly dependent on sellers to create the necessary tools, resources and knowledge base to execute these changes, it can only induce change. In this sense eBay will always remain a facilitator.

Let’s keep talking about this and all your fine points. I think we’re all going to find this very productive.

Regards,

Joe Cortese

Patricia 1On 04.16.2008 at 2:19 pm Said:

“To be frank, I’m reading a lot of comments of what sellers think eBay is doing wrong. What do you think eBay should be doing to make that partnership happen? What do you think we need to do to create a better marketplace? What is your vision of the ‘eBay of The Future’?”

My mom used to say “money can buy almost anything, but respect has to be earned.” We, Italians, believe a great deal in respect. Ebay has shown the sellers nothing but disrespect. Its new policies treat sellers like criminals and put them under the watchful eye of buyers who can make or break them on a whim! This is so far out in left field that all sellers can do is complain about the wrongs ebay has done and continues to do. Small seller are even more outraged because they see powersellers getting a few benefits everyone should have….like the fee discount for good DSR’s and the Paypal coverage for unconfirmed addresses. There is no doubt we are the poor cousins standing outside and hoping for scraps to be tossed to us. How can anyone expect us to have much good to say about ebay…there isn’t much good since Jan. 29, 2008 whether anyone wants to hear it or not! Its fact!

What do I want to see ebay do? Lower its sights and SEE us little guys in the trenches. I’ve been selling on ebay since 1998 and have a perfect feedback record of several thousands - DSR at 5.0, 5.0, 5.0, 4.9. I lead many many powersellers in total fees paid to ebay and total sales…yet, I’m outside waiting for those scraps - and there are thousands of us in that same situation! I want to see ebay treat us ALL like the CUSTOMERS we are instead of making us feel they simply tolerate us being around! One last thing…as far as sellers are concerned - this is our mad money, our supplemental income our total income….I want ebay to once and for all refrain from calling it “fun”….to us, its “business”!

NoblespiritOn 04.16.2008 at 3:39 pm Said:

Hello Patricia 1,

Don’t you think small sellers have as much of an opportunity to show how good they are at what they do as larger more professional sellers? I think casual sellers are just as advantaged as anyone. I think what we are seeing is a level - unleveling. Everyone has an equal opportunity to show what they’re made of, to show what they’re capable of, to distance themselves equally from their competition. There’s nothing stopping anyone from inventing, re-inventing, incubating or reincubating their business as they once did when they first set foot on eBay. I know a lot of sellers who strive to grow and scale their business. And I know just as many or more who enjoy being just where they are and taking pride in what they do well. If you love what you do here, there isn’t anything more important than that.

Yes, eBay needs to better understand what goes on here in the trenches. I’m in the same trench you’re in, struggling with the same beligerent buyers, unreasonable expectations, an evolving marketplace in a state of constant change, with multiple friction points and a whole host of other challenges. The same challenges we all face, some to a greater degree than others. You certainly have my respect, and not because I’m also Italian, but because your pain is my pain, I share it.

But when eBay corporate sees good sellers migrate on to other marketplaces and buyer demand issues esclate, I believe they have to be appreciated for the pain they also feel in their business in the face of serious mounting competition. I have many issues with eBay, and they’re not exactly overdrawn at the bank. But I have to commend them at their level and work to compel them to appreciate our commitment to what I believe are shared goals. We all want a great marketplace that we can all be proud of. eBay doesn’t get to have that without a strong base of reputable sellers (regardless of size). Neither do we.

Regards,

Joe Cortese

JJHOn 04.16.2008 at 4:04 pm Said:

@Patricia1

Here Here (or is it “Hear Hear”?) Anyway I agree.

Richard, and any ebaY brass who care to read this;

Powersellers shouldn’t be given benefits that ALL are entitled to. You set up a class system that way of “elitists” and “scum”. I fall into the “scum” category, and I don’t like it. I have over 3000 100% positive feedback (3300 total), I have DSR scores which now are 4.8, 4.8, 4.9, 4.8, yet I rate nothing. I worked VERY hard over the years to keep this feedback all positive, and I must be doing something right to have those DSR marks. I must be giving a good “Buyer Experience”, but who cares? You don’t. I don’t make you enough money, so you don’t care about me.

Just because I don’t sell $1000+ a month, I’m not entitled to anything. This mighty company is going to take such a financial hit from small sellers like me who’s total monthly fees average about $25 that a $3.75 discount is going to hurt them? I don’t think so, even when multiplied by thousands.

You want to be my partner, earn my respect? Show some respect. Give me a 5% or 15% discount too. Sure, it’s only PEANUTS, but it’s RECOGNITION.

You know, years ago, maybe around 1999 or 2000, I used to participate in the discussion forums that existed at that time. They were much simpler than those of today. I used drift in and out and answer people’s questions when I saw something I could help with. During this time, at two random points in time, I received an email from an ebay employee whose job it was to monitor the forums. Both of them thanked me for my participation and excellent help in answering questions and gave me a $25 credit applied to my fees. THAT is respect. You know how good it made me feel? THAT is community. THAT is the company Pierre founded, not the greedy one we see today.

Several years later when I reached my red feedback star (1000?) I received a little red star pin and a letter from Meg Whitman (form letter of course) and a silly little certificate marking the occasion and congratulating me for the milestone. AGAIN, that is respect. RECOGNITION as a SELLER. TEAM. COMMUNITY.

Does ebaY do this today? I doubt it. Now I’m a “commodity”, I’m not even a “customer” anymore. I’m a nothing.

And you want to know why we’re upset…

Patricia 1On 04.16.2008 at 5:24 pm Said:

Noblespirit - I can stop your first paragraph dead in its tracks. I’m an artist - everything I sell on ebay is made by yours truly. I do not buy to resell. That said, the playing field is so unlevel and has been for years now - since 2004 in fact when ebay instituted feature plus auctions. Instead of my items costing pennies to list - my fees are more like $20.00 plus per pop! That’s pretty unlevel to me. Ebay is NOT taking us into consideration at all. I can sell widgets and probably be a powerseller - however, that’s not what I do. I still make money for Ebay, stick to the rules, act accordingly and have the record to prove it. In return, I get buyers able to stand on my neck and wipe out a 10 year reputations I worked my buns off to maintain. Please…take another path because we don’t all come out of the same mold! Sorry, I actually lost the stomach to read farther than your first paragraph…I mean that honestly and with no malice

Patricia 1On 04.16.2008 at 5:36 pm Said:

“But when eBay corporate sees good sellers migrate on to other marketplaces and buyer demand issues esclate, I believe they have to be appreciated for the pain they also feel in their business in the face of serious mounting competition.”

They caused it!!!!! Before January 29, 2008 I only had my website and occasionally listed on one other site and almost exclusively listed on Ebay. Since then, I’m on Onlineauctions.com, artandcraftauctions.com, artbyus.com, etsy.com, ioffer.com, blujay.com, ecrater.com and looking for more!…is this what ebay wants? Because its what I feel I (and a LOT of other sellers) have to do in order to exist after I’m wiped out at ebay and I can see that coming! If you think I’m alone then go to powersellersunite and look at the chart they keep with users on other sites….ALL those users USED to sell on ebay. Its no mystery that when you make is SO miserable for a seller they will naturally look elsewhere in order to protect their sales. Ebay has effectively killed the days when sellers listed with them exclusively. Believe me, the true path of ebay will show after May when the worst policies are instituted and sellers actually experience them. Right now we haven’t seen the worst - we’re putting up with a 66 percent fee increase and not much more - but when the real party starts I think the “noise” is going to be deafening.

DaveyOn 04.16.2008 at 6:02 pm Said:

@Noblespirit

Sorry, I have to disagree with some of your loftier points below:

“I don’t think there was a buck to pass regarding education. eBay can only strive to communicate it’s policy and intent.

When ebay oviously speaks with forked tongue to buyers and sellers when it comes to different DSR definitions for each constituency, they created a need for education that traces directly back to ill-conceived policy. Policy that hurts me as a seller, and creates distrust when a buyer learns the truth. It doesn’t take a genius to see the double-standard here, and who created it. It wasn’t me–I had no say in it nor did my community. eBay did in fact pass the buck to sellers in this case, to educate buyers. I should not be forced to educate where I didn’t have to before, due to eBay’s creation of speedbumps and unintuitive policies. I shouldn’t have to educate buyers on behalf of eBay as they throw stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Sellers should be more intent on developing their customer relationships than wasting time on things like the duality of DSR definitions. eBay in turn should be attuned to their customers, and I don’t have to repeat who that is.

A well-designed product, whether hardware, a user interface, or policies should be intuitive if a good user experience is to be assured. I posit that this is why eBay was successful in the first place–it worked, had no duality, and was intuitive.

“It’s up to us sellers to educate and inform ourselves and eBay with respect to the expected results, cause and effect, etc through practical experience, trial and error, etc.”

Or, we could expect the “partnership” you talk about, which involves sellers and buyers having input BEFORE some crazy policy is flung on us to see how much straw it takes to break our backs. This way we can avoid the wasted of time and bruises we all incur if only one party makes unilateral decisions, which is the current environment. One party talking and the other in forced listening mode is not a good partnership.

I’m afraid we could talk about lofty principles and goals all day long like a bunch of philosophers, and nothing would result (save us maybe feeling better about ourselves) if there is no listening and demonstrated action from the other direction. The only choice we have is with our feet, exploring new and better selling venues. While eBay is a pretty dominant force, that large South American river is looking pretty darned attractive and business-friendly to me as they add categories that my products fall into…

CrunchyPostingGoodnessOn 04.16.2008 at 9:27 pm Said:

@ Noblespirit

Quote: “eBay Trust & Safety does not have a full understanding of the practical application of many of the dymanics at work without the help of sellers.”

The problem is that even when sellers voice their opinions and problems regarding changes eBay plans to initiate, or has already blindly initiated, it appears such advice falls upon deaf ears. If eBay really needs the input of its sellers to make informed and accurate decisions, then it needs to ask for input prior to enacting such policies. eBay’s routine of instituting policy changes and then tweaking as problems occur is not a rational or trustworthy process for sellers to rely on. While ebay is tweaking its fumbling changes, the sellers are incurring negative impacts of their business. I do not appreciate my business and livelihood being used as a “test subject” for eBay’s changes backed with no actual facts and experience. It simply does not make good business sense.

Quote: “Once the marketplace establishes a definition of a reputable seller, it will then be ready to message that to the world. However, the message must be a positive one; and, yes…it must be earned.”

The problem that eBay faces is not due to the sellers, it is due to the lack of trust users have for eBay as a site and in its management. Amazon faces the same situation that eBay does, however the difference is that users trust that site because they believe in Amazon’s management, policies, and procedures. That is how my sales are able to be so high over there, not because people necessarily trust me as a seller, but because they know their purchase is protected by Amazon. As a seller, I have no problem selling there because I know that Amazon will protect me as a seller. The issue is trust in the site - not in who uses it. As a business owner and consumer I do not have faith in eBay’s ability to protect the buyers nor the sellers which use the site. It implements polices, but fails to research the issues fully and then make accurate decisions on a case by case basis. That responsibility falls squarely on eBay - not the users.

It is very simple. I am in the business to make money and to grow my business, not hand hold a corporation as it tries to find its place in the e-commerce community again. If a site does not provide my business with the proper, professional environment to further grow, then I leave that site in pursuit of one that will. eBay is a service and not a partner. I do not owe it any loyalty or consideration while it figures itself out. That is why so many professional sellers have chosen to leave eBay.

Quote: “How do we know this was the right thing to do, the right choices, the right changes, the right execution. Well, we don’t. We’ll need to work trough them together.”

No offense, but as a business owner such a position of uncertainty is unacceptable. My partner and I analyze every change in policy, procedure, and price changes before they are enacted. A business does not blind shoot darts at a board and say, “I think we will try this one next”. Such an attitude provides for a very unstable and uncertain selling environment which is not appealing or acceptable to any professional seller. If that is truely how eBay evaluates such changes, an attitude of “Well, we don’t [know]“, then my decision and response to eBay is very simple. “Give me a call when you figure it out.” Until eBay does, my business, my wares, and my customers will go elsewhere.

Quote: “I don’t think there was a buck to pass regarding education. eBay can only strive to communicate it’s policy and intent. It’s up to us sellers to educate and inform ourselves and eBay with respect to the expected results, cause and effect, etc through practical experience, trial and error, etc.”

When eBay openly tells buyers one thing (3 and 4 stars are good), yet such ratings prevent a seller from obtaining discounts, result in held funds, and damage to their seller reputation, that is eBay fault and responsibility. I do not believe that eBay is some child which needs an education on the effects their changes will have and requires sellers to point out the obvious deception in their instructions to buyers with regards to the DSRs. However, if eBay management is indeed that naive, then that is even more reason not trust in their abilities or their site. I believe the notion that eBay is some uneducated Goliath, is even more disturbing than the notion that eBay is just out of touch with the average user.

In spite of all that, we are still back to the basic principle. My business, nor any other seller’s business, should be used as a test subject in order to let eBay determine what is harmful and what is not. The resulting effect will be the demise of these small business while the experiment continues and the only entity left standing at their conclusions will be eBay. Such a position is completely unacceptable and even deplorable to any business owner.

On a side note, I truely hope that these discussions will be productive. It is the main reason why I started to post here, instead of the eBay forums. At least here it appears one member of eBay, Richard, has the ability and the desire to help initiate change. However, the main thing which must always be kept in mind is that there are other successful locations on the internet for professional sellers to advertise their wares. eBay had its foot in the door during the boom of the internet, which gave it an advantage, however since then the internet has exploded and competition is abundant. eBay needs to keep in mind that the advantage they once held is diminishing as more people educate themselves on how to market effectively on the web. They lost my business, and I’m sure many others, to their biggest e-commerce competitor, and if these blind changes continue to take place, then they will completely destroy what ever possible amount of respect they may still have with users like me.

Patricia 1On 04.16.2008 at 10:05 pm Said:

Seems we’re spinning our wheels here. Can’t get our point across and neither can they.

DaveyOn 04.16.2008 at 10:13 pm Said:

@Noblespirit

I missed this earlier:

“But when eBay corporate sees good sellers migrate on to other marketplaces and buyer demand issues esclate, I believe they have to be appreciated for the pain they also feel in their business in the face of serious mounting competition.”

Sorry, I don’t appreciate their pain. They stuck the thorn in their own foot and further enabled their competition by policies they chose to implement, and they alone can remove it. eBay is choosing to drive their good sellers away by making their environment unfriendly to operate within and handling those sellers poorly, sort of like the playground bully who then wonders why nobody wants to play with him. Instead of setting these things right, they went around and stuck thorns in all of our feet and told us to shape up those things that they themselves did not model, namely good support of their customers. They are finally measuring us with standards that they themselves could only dream of living up to if applied in reverse.

I also can’t appreciate their pain if they continue to measure themselves by companies that they are not, or don’t recognize their own value proposition.

No doubt you read the Deutche Bank report on eBay? What did you think of it?