Small Sellers: Our Competitive Advantage

oakteakOn 05.10.2008 at 4:45 pm Said:

Colonel, Your words are so measured and true and have great integrity. Thank you for the very insightful posts.

If only people in a position to make changes would see it as clear as you do.

I don’t have much hope, unfortunately.

permacrisisOn 05.10.2008 at 5:32 pm Said:

“having a unique selection alone is no longer enough to maintain a growing and healthy marketplace”

It is when you’re the guy with the unique selection. But to heck with him — you can’t mass produce uniqueness, so ebay left that guy in the dust. Off to $ greener $ pastures eh ebay.

If I hadn’t already left, the ‘no longer enough’ statement alone would have provoked me to do so.

It proves an absolute lack of understanding of what makes ebay tick: someone gets up one morning, looks at something sitting on their dresser, and says “I think today I will sell this.”

Why does ebay so fanatically prohibit us from linking or mentioning other venues of used and flea market items, if it is disavowing this marketspace ?

Because it wants us to die off, that’s why.

It’s working.

Patricia1On 05.10.2008 at 5:35 pm Said:

@ The Colonel:

“Now Powersellers get discounts based on DSR’s. Yet our selling brothers, the part timers, many who have ratings better than us do not qualify. That is unfair. ”

The big joke of it is there are lots of oldtimers like myself - who are serious sellers. In the arts categories there is so much competition that one must feature auctions at least one or two a week - an extra 20.00 a listing - or be buried completely. I’ve been at this for 10 years….most often having about 50+ listings at a time - all paintings that I must produce myself…no such thing as dropshipping here. Through all the years (up until this mess of a year) I hovered just under powerseller status. I probably would have made it if I didn’t have to also stock my website - that aside, I still maintained a 100 percent feedback record with more than half my customers coming back again and again - my DSR’s are all 5.0 and one 4.9. What do I get for this hard work and dedication? Probably a good swift kick in the sitter when the time comes to clean us all out and make way for the dime store sellers and all the chinese trash. I can tell ebay something they don’t want to hear. I have a small following of buyers who will leave when I do. I already list on 4 other sites and they have become in the habit of checking out what I sell on other sites. All this year I’ve been directing them to my website - luring them with free shipping - enclosing small gifts - whatever marketing it takes to keep them is what I will do. I’m not alone in this - there are thousands of sellers just like me and all of us will drain as many buyers off of ebay as we possibly can! I hope ebay is ready for this because its already begun and I feel they know it. As it is they cannot keep listings up without a gimmick. There is traffic on the site but they aren’t buying like they should…why? Well, maybe they’re at the countless other online auctions that are getting hale and hearty while Ebay fiddles and watches its business burn! For their sake, I hope their plan is well thought out and they are willing to live or die by it because soon they won’t be able to turn things around if they see their plans are failing.

permacrisisOn 05.10.2008 at 5:57 pm Said:

Ironic, given that Donahoe said in 2002, ALWAYS have an exit strategy.

The ColonelOn 05.10.2008 at 7:07 pm Said:

JJH, Oakteak, Patricia1, Permacrisis

Thanks everyone for your replies to my post.

Maybe eBay will wake up and realized that we are all in this together…buyer, seller, management, shareholders, all of us.

Imagine if we were all working as a team. eBay would not be floundering….it would be untoppable.

Patricia1On 05.10.2008 at 7:27 pm Said:

Colonel - I don’t think ebay feels its floundering. I think they know they have to take a hit in order to change things so drastically and evidentally they feel its worth the loss. I think anyone who isn’t actively pursuing other venues is fooling himself. I find fault in their rhetoric - obviously they no longer care if they lose our trust and respect. (shrug)

SandiOn 05.10.2008 at 8:50 pm Said:

Maybe eBay will wake up and realized that we are all in this together…buyer, seller, management, shareholders, all of us.

There are two possibilities here, either ebay’s management are all strak raving looney or they have their own agenda that has nothing to do with “buyer or sellers, us”.

What has plagued ebay more than anything? Fraud, fakes, and such. They have spent more time in court than spending their buzillions. All their bad press comes when some thief ring or counterfeit ring gets caught. Come on guys, there are no stories on the nighhtly news regarding shipping, negative feedbacks, etc.

Two Options - expend the monies to clean up the site or bring in major retailers who they know will not be sellling fakes, committing fraud, using ebay to rid themselves of their latest heist.

Problem with option one, they would have to spend monies, not a pasttime they enjoy. Problem with option two is it could produce bad pr, they would look like they were kicking out the very people who made it what it was.

They have opted for option two obviously, they just came up with the “spin” it’s for the buyers. They have gone so far as to create this blog which to date has done none of the things promised in the press release.

They have convinced buy to offer the same pricing here as they do on their site apparently, the only difference is if you buy on their site vs ebay you get to use google checkout and get a bonus for doing so - which still makes their site offer the better deal. They probably pulled that one off by saying they didn’t really have to do that one only thing or cut the fees way more than intented - buy is a business afterall, there has to be something in it for them.

Their feedback is a little hinkey though, they were not major players on ebay a year ago, and those DSRs are higher than one would expect with the number of negatives, neutrals and false positives, maybe a little ebay magic, especially since up until this announcement they were definately adding a handling fee into the shipping - I mean 5 bucks to ship a DVD wouldnh’t get any other seller a 4.8 now would it? Add buy’s own rating outside of ebay isn’t anywhere near the stellar number’s it is here, isn’t that a little weird?

Colonel. Patricia hit the nail right on the head, anyone who isn’t quickly making plans to exit ebay, is simply fooling oneself.

DaveyOn 05.10.2008 at 11:16 pm Said:

“Their feedback is a little hinkey though, they were not major players on ebay a year ago, and those DSRs are higher than one would expect with the number of negatives, neutrals and false positives, maybe a little ebay magic, especially since up until this announcement they were definately adding a handling fee into the shipping”

Yes, Sandi, there is something that smells like rotten fish here. BUY.COM has one other thing in common with eBay, and that is a reputation for the worst customer service found anywhere, canned responses, reps that can’t speak English, etc. And, yes, their “Free” shipping on the last item I ordered took 1 week to ship, then almost two weeks’ transit via media mail (and it wasn’t a media item either). This has to be massaged data we’re seeing.

Ms. Norrington, if you read this, tell me what has eBay done to show their appreciation for my business, save raising my fees over 50 percent this year?

I can’t add to the things that have already been said here. Yep, Ms. Norrington gives lip service, but nothing to support her contention that small sellers are valued by eBay. And, no responses to long-standing questions asked on the blog post she supposedly read. How is that listening??

Mark ClassicOn 05.11.2008 at 3:31 am Said:

Hello

I have an interesting question for you Lorrie

It seems Richard does not want to answer it, so maybe you could comment on this observation?

(This is the third time I have posted it).

Whilst on the subject of feedback, can you ask Brian Burke to answer one simple question for me please?

If I am to deal with any seller that has a lot of negatives, I like to know what sort of problems they have.

So I check the negatives by clicking on the link in the feedback rating box.

Why is it that I cannot click on the negative feedback on the BUY seller account?

Is this a special arrangement they have so that their negatives cannot be accessed via the normal means?

Or is this a dishonest manufacturing of high feedback on a highly rated politically sensitive account?

I do not submit this as an accusation, but as a question.

Because if that is the case, then the whole validity of the Ebay feedback system is all a puff of smoke in the wind.

If Ebay are engaging in this type of dishonesty, it will ultimately come back on them in a very embarrasing way.

Or is this merely an oversight on Ebay’s part?

Mark

TheBrewsNewsOn 05.11.2008 at 8:35 am Said:

Mark,

I am not sure that I understand the problem you are having in reviewing the Feedback on eBay for the Buy seller.

I was able to review their neutral and negative feedback with no problems and was able to classify the problems based on buyer’s comments.

Neutrals and Negatives for the last 10 days for Buy:

Buyer did not receive item (last 10 days):
7 neutrals
11 negatives

Buyer received wrong item / item not as described / or DOA (lat 10 days):
5 neutrals
8 negatives

Other reasons (such as found cheaper elsewhere):
3 neutrals
4 negatives

Mark, can you explain what is different about the feedback reporting for Buy as compared to other eBay sellers? I am able to view their feedback in the same manner as I can for any other seller, although I do agree that it is interesting that they can still maintain 4.8+ DSRs with the number of neutrals and negatives they are receiving. As I commented previously, more specific detail in my Seller Dashboard would help me to understand why my 100% feedback rating is only producing 4.6 DSRs in shipping costs as compared to Buy’s 4.8 shipping DSR.

implogOn 05.11.2008 at 10:02 am Said:

Imagine the “delight” of this oddly still active eBay member who is having an “excellent buying experience” at the expense of not so delighted sellers.

Lorrie - Any comments?

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=greenteapass&Dirn=Received+by&ref=home

InterpretorOn 05.11.2008 at 2:43 pm Said:

Norrington Text

“In reading some of the comments in Richard’s eBay partners with Buy.com post and the Evolution of the eBay Feedback post I think it’s important that we address the misperception that eBay dislikes small sellers. Let me be clear: eBay has always believed that small and casual sellers — “the little guys” — are eBay’s most important competitive advantage … These sellers created our community, bring a human touch to the marketplace, and continue to make eBay a truly one-of-a-kind shopping experience.”

Translation:

‘The little guys allowed us to become the biggest online company in the world and survive the tech bust. Thank you for my stock options.’

Norrington Text:

“However, having a unique selection alone is no longer enough to maintain a growing and healthy marketplace. People also want to find inventory that includes the latest and greatest brand name models. As a result, in January, we lowered insertion fees, for all sellers, to decrease the risk of selling on eBay and bring more overall inventory onto eBay.”

Translation:

‘However, we are tired of you and your garage sale junk. Executives from other companies laugh at me at retreats. I need an image upgrade and it’s easier to only deal with a few sellers instead of the unwashed masses.’

Norrington Text:

‘After a few months observing these changes, it is clear that gaps remain between buyer demand and the supply of inventory on our site. This is an obvious opportunity to delight buyers. ‘

Translation:

‘This was an obvious opportunity to pump listings before the end of the second quarter.’

Norrington Text:

“We have chosen to partner with Buy.com because we believe their new-in-season inventory, 4.8 DSRs, liberal return policy, and low shipping costs meet unfulfilled demand on eBay.com. Put another way, we are actively pursuing the merchandise our shoppers want and are willing to experiment with new ways of securing it for this holiday season.”

Translation:

‘We’ll show Amazon. Yeah, we will . . . Them and their constant growth and spotless reputation. We can offer books and CDs. We’re just as good as Amazon. My therapist said to repeat this every morning 10 times in the mirror.’

Norrington Text:

“We are closely monitoring the results so stay tuned for next steps. But regardless of the outcome of this particular experiment to bring more supply to eBay, we are determined to create opportunities to succeed on eBay for all sellers who consistently deliver great customer experiences– no matter your size.”

Translation:

‘Your ebay.com is a done-tom-turkey and will never, ever, ever return. Deal with it!’

Just my 2.19 cents [2 cents plus FVF]

MJOn 05.11.2008 at 3:45 pm Said:

Lori,

Taking you at your word that the smaller sellers still have a place a the eBay table will be a great releif to many.

If this is the case, then there has been a big failure in eBays managemnt’s ability to convery this to those sellers. Announcement after announcment seems to chide and marginilze many in the community.

I for one, after taking the time to digest them, have come to accept and even laud many of the changes that are coming. But the way they have been presented has been lacking and something that needs to be acknowledged so all can move in.

If you have hundreds and hundreds of active Powersellers with good ratings feeling disenfranchised more and more, than either they are all crazy, or eBay’s management needs to rethink the way they diseminate information.

Sellers always new we had a contract of adhesion with eBay, but bought into the community from an ethical and financial standpoint. We just want to know you have that same commitment.

Finally, a little off subject, but important. I think I understand the resons for the new role Neutrals will play in the FB score, but you guys did change the rules in the middle of the game by taking the Neuts from the last 12 months and turning them into something that adversly affects the FB score. You may want to rethink that one as a good will gesture.

Thanks
MJ

LurchOn 05.11.2008 at 4:07 pm Said:

I find this interesting:
“However, having a unique selection alone is no longer enough to maintain a growing and healthy marketplace. People also want to find inventory that includes the latest and greatest brand name models.”
and
“We have chosen to partner with Buy.com because we believe their new-in-season inventory, 4.8 DSRs, liberal return policy, and low shipping costs meet unfulfilled demand on eBay.com.”

OK, so it is the sellers’ faults that buy is here, because inventory that buy lists didn’t already exist, right? So you want the uniqueness of their inventory to meet supposed “unfulfilled demand.” I did randomly check a couple dozen items they have listed, and currently AND in the recent past, none are/were unique to buy. Other sellers (many of them smaller) offered the same product. Ignoring this for a few moments, though - since “having a unique selection *alone* is not enough.” So it must be the other elements of buy that you refer to.

Let’s look at this:

“We have chosen to partner with Buy.com because we believe their new-in-season inventory, 4.8 DSRs, liberal return policy, and low shipping costs.”

Liberal return policy? Really? Like this clause in their 1500+ word return policy? “Unless otherwise stated below, you have 14 days from the date your product left the warehouse (regardless of when you actually took delivery of the product) to get a valid RMA from our website and get your product to a shipper to return back to us. It does not have to be back in our warehouse within 14 days, but it does have to be in the possession of the shipper (along with the valid RMA).”

You only have 14 days from the date the product *left their warehouse* (and it could take up to 10 days or more in transit from them to you, if you pick the most economical shipping) to get the item back to a shipper. You also must FIRST receive an RMA from them (and I am not sure how long that takes, but it must take some kind of time). This makes for a very, very tight turnaround time for the buyer. And while it may be liberal, it may not be very workable for buyers, as per this feedback comment they received: “fast shipper description, not acurate, too complicated for returns.” There’s also this one: “14 day return policy can’t be performed. It’s a hoax. Not possible, no contact.”

Or their 15% restocking fee?

And yeah - that low shipping cost? As pointed out above, the low cost options could well make it difficult or impossible to return an item. Thanks to their “liberal” return policy.

Re, their in-season inventory. I’d love some examples of the unique “in-season” inventory. Much of what they are selling is older. I took a glance for ONE DVD title which came out this last Tuesday - Bewitched Sixth Season. Buy doesn’t have it. A couple dozen other sellers have it, but buy doesn’t.

I also took a look at the recently published Vonnegut book “Armageddon in Retrospect” (published at the start of April). They have the audio CD set of this, but not the book — they did have the book, but ended it early because it is “no longer available for sale,” which seems to come up each time they refuse to ship to someone, based on their negative feedback about this. Plenty of other sellers carry the book, however. So I’m not sure what “in-season” items they actually carry, particularly unique “in-season” items (even though unique is no longer enough - eBay needs to have the same item listed by both individual sellers AND buy).

Also on the low shipping: I just noticed this interesting new neg left recently for them, and have to wonder if it is accurate: “After committing to buy I didn’t like the high handling with the free shipping” - if accurate, this might explain their “low shipping prices.” They also have a couple of these: “No free shipping as advertised” - so it’s looking like there are hidden costs in their free shipping.

Better buyer experience? This would have been a *perfect* opportunity to address how eBay feels about buy reserving the right to be a non-performing seller as well (maybe there should be a link on each of their listings to the NPS report page?). Normally I wouldn’t pick apart sellers’ listings/TOS, but since buy is being trotted out as a fine example of enhancing the better buyer experience, it seems appropriate in this case.

“But regardless of the outcome of this particular experiment to bring more supply to eBay, we are determined to create opportunities to succeed on eBay for all sellers who consistently deliver great customer experiences– no matter your size.”

Yes - the more one looks at them, the more clear it gets that they are, indeed, able to bring product that already exists on eBay, and since uniqueness ALONE is no longer enough, then the other advantages of bringing them on - well, those don’t particularly exist either.

How does this *partnership* with buy and their hundreds of thousands of items which are competing with currently listed items, help other sellers? Is this an example of an opportunity you have created for small and large sellers to succeed on eBay? Could you explain how that works exactly?

The ColonelOn 05.11.2008 at 5:08 pm Said:

I just did a little research on Buy and Buy.com

First lets look at Buy

Buy is rated by epinions as 3.5 out of 4
That is a pretty good rating.

Resellerratings rates then as 2.10 out of 10.00
with a lifetime ratings of 4.32 out of 10.00

The Better Business Bureau rates them BBB
with 2,977 complaints in the last 36 months.

Average all three of these together and you have average company. Nothing great.

Yet on eBay they have amazing feedback and super high DSR’s.

Something does not jive here.