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HenriettaOn 08.07.2008 at 6:44 pm Said:

Too cool, thanks RBH!

MechelleOn 08.11.2008 at 12:31 pm Said:

Richard when are you going to bring up the issues with the identical and 10 max per seller listing issues and this recent DSR debacle? I think these are relevant and worthy topics to discuss- what about you?

MechelleOn 08.14.2008 at 5:07 am Said:

Interesting business approach by Google- take notes eBay

* What would Google make by adding sponsorship to its home page? “Some number of billions of dollars.” Why not do it? “People wouldn’t like it. We prioritize the end-user over the advertiser… We’re not going to sell it.”

Cramer Interviews Google’s Schmidt - and It’s Fascinating

MechelleOn 08.14.2008 at 5:22 am Said:

Here is another from the interview

“We don’t want it to get in the way of running the business,” Schmidt said. “If we started giving quarterly guidance, all of a sudden the whole company would start focusing on the quarter rather than trying to change the world.

What utter brilliance!!!

and he is right about the ads and crap - I can’t stand the yahoo page- I feel as though I am in a freaking casino there is so much going on

It is people like Schmidt and Craig that change the world, because they are long term thinkers. That is what eBay lacks- long term vision

Ex-SellerOn 08.14.2008 at 7:34 am Said:

Feedburner email notices still don’t work. My original one doesn’t send email notices of new posts and the new one I verified with a different email address doesn’t work either. Did eBay buy Feedburner?

Patricia1On 08.14.2008 at 9:41 am Said:

Google is right - they’re planning long term and their number one priority is their customers. Somehow I do not see Ebay’s plans as long term anything and they’ve completely lost sight of their customers (the sellers)…in fact they are keeping their plans basically to themselves. All we get is they feel buyers want “a more retail experience.” Maybe so…so get rid of the fee associated with buy it now and let it run in an auction until it is met!!! My gut feeling is they have NO long term plan and they’re simply throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. That’s what I get out of all the information I’ve read about Ebay this year…sorry, but that’s the face Ebay is showing to the public whether they mean to or not. Another face that is particularly ugly one that has been their total disregard and respect for their sellers. They’ve lost the faith and trust of a LOT of sellers and it won’t be easy to get it back…if they’re at all interested in long term customer satisfaction. They refuse to understand that sellers ARE buyers too. From my experience - I list very little on Ebay these days - in fact have only one small listing at present…BUT I’ve been buying on Amazon where I feel more comfortable and where I feel there is customer service if I need it!

MechelleOn 08.15.2008 at 6:40 pm Said:

Hey Richard

There is a rumor going around that eBay intends to move to free listing- can you add to the topic at all?

Hope you are doing great!!

MechelleOn 08.16.2008 at 11:00 pm Said:

To Bad you didn’t pay attention Donahoe!

My job was to uncover what was going well. I think sometimes when a new senior executive comes into a company, the instinctive thing to do is to find out what’s wrong and fix it. That doesn’t actually work very well. People are very proud of what they’ve created, and it just feels like you are second-guessing them all the time. You are much more successful coming in and finding out what’s going right and nurturing that. Along the way, you’ll find out what’s going wrong and fix that.

How does the slowdown in the U.S. economy affect eBay?

Our hypothesis is that in a slowdown, eBay actually benefits. And that’s because buyers still want the things that they want. Consumer electronics, computers, whatever. Yet people will become more value-oriented. At the same time, I think that we will actually see an increase in sellers. You may get gifts that you don’t necessarily want, things you don’t use anymore — things that you can sell on eBay and raise some cash.

Face Time With Meg Whitman
By: Charles Fishman April 2001

Patricia1On 08.17.2008 at 11:11 am Said:

Slowdown in the economy? Can’t prove that to Amazon with 41 percent increase or Walmart with 17 percent increase. If there is no increase in revenue at Ebay…perhaps its their fault??? All most of us small sellers can do now is gather our buyers to whatever venues we list on and watch the collapse of something we all loved. A retail experience…ebay style has NO chance of success!

JayOn 08.17.2008 at 3:16 pm Said:

The last financial announcement about eBay showed growth of 20%, which falls in par with the other companies mentioned.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/07/16/ebay-s-q2-2008-earnings-transcript/

I think eBay has realized that their original business plan created in 1996 no longer meets the criteria of 2008, which any buyer can go to any web site and buy anything they wish.

With a lot of the hooplah, I don’t think eBay sellers realize we’re now not only competing with ourselves, but we’re competing with Walmart.com, target.com, and everyoneelseintheretailworld.com.

Most people don’t realize that if a company never changes their business plan - that business is bound to fail.

Expect change. Expect a lot of change. It’s how you deal with change that determines if you survive.

MechelleOn 08.17.2008 at 5:12 pm Said:

that is the point- eBay should be doing well, but this new ceo has totally ruined eBay

Patricia1On 08.17.2008 at 7:01 pm Said:

I have to agree with you. After 10 years and with a pristine reputation, I can no longer list on that site. …and almost everyone I know is complaining about the same thing. Now, they’ll probably come out with free listing and a raised FVF…more problems. Its such a shame what they’re doing to the site. I wish they would call in some people with good solid business experience before its too late

MechelleOn 08.18.2008 at 1:06 am Said:

The free listing is such a bad idea- if this guy implements free listings then his lack of intelligence will be freaky clear.

The only reason they would make listings free is so they can put ppc ads on listing pages because they can make more off of 1 click then they can from the insertion fee of a week long listing.

I think they should be paying us for our content that is driving traffic to their ppc ads- oh and how about a commission for each consumer that we help paypal acquire. No scratch that I don’t want to participate in any illegal activity I’ll let eBay Inc. burn for that on their own LOL

Transparency- yes you are transparent eBay - I can read you like an early reader level 1 book

JayOn 08.18.2008 at 7:02 am Said:

“What would Google make by adding sponsorship to its home page? “Some number of billions of dollars.” Why not do it? “People wouldn’t like it. We prioritize the end-user over the advertiser… We’re not going to sell it.”

Sure the main page is empty, but if you actually USE the search at all on Google, you have to sift through the bought links on the top, to the right, and at the bottom. It’s a nifty picture frame of endless advertising.

It’s funny how everyone attacks eBay for doing the same thing every other site on the web does.

Patricia1On 08.18.2008 at 9:43 am Said:

“What would Google make by adding sponsorship to its home page? “Some number of billions of dollars.” Why not do it? “People wouldn’t like it. We prioritize the end-user over the advertiser… We’re not going to sell it.”

This type of thinking insures that Google will be around for a long long time As for Ebay, they seriously need to go back to the beginning of 2004 and start from there. They’ve been going down the wrong path ever since and now they’re nearing the cliff!