Some Needed Clarification

KenMOn September 8, 2008 at 5:49 pm Said:

I have gone against big competition before in my privious business life and found that what Grif says is correct in that smaller businesses are more nimble and quicker to respond, have a closer feel for the customer, don’t have the overhead of big business, and when all things are equal, can compete sucessfully.

My only fear with these Diamond Powersellers is if they get special treatment in search results. I can’t compete if eBay favors them in Best Match and my listings appear on page 2 or 3 when the Diamonds appear on page 1. And if that happens, who do I complain to?

eBay, please get your act together. You are losing us quickly.

KenM

nancybusinraleighOn September 8, 2008 at 6:23 pm Said:

So, explain how buy.com can list over 800,000 listings on a rolling daily basis, 3 day auctions all (actually store items found in core) and with their sell through rate of under 3% be paying any listing fees and actually make money?

Seriously, even if they paid a mere nickel, they are losing money on listing costs vs. sales.

EventHorizon1984On September 8, 2008 at 6:28 pm Said:

Griff is an eBay personality and does NOT work in any of the departments that are involved with Diamond Sellers. Are his opinions, which are unsupported by any named directly involved eBay employee, any more valid than Ms. Steiner’s?

Rhetorical question really, because the answer is NO.

Until we see something in writing from the equivalent of ‘Director of Diamond Seller Support’, anything about ‘Operation Catalog’ is pure conjecture.

RandyOn September 8, 2008 at 6:51 pm Said:

Suddenly, Griff is showing up all over the place. Perhaps a five-year low stock price will motivate customer service types to actually do something. I love it when Griff keeps saying “that is pure speculation” when Steiner mentions free or low fees. Griff, all that is needed is a simple denial. You didn’t provide that, and all the bluster in the world will not convince us.

MichaelOn September 8, 2008 at 7:02 pm Said:

Just because it’s “speculation” doesn’t make it any less true. I notice that Griff actually never denies that these guys pay no fees…
Sure, we’ve had catalog sellers before, but they paid the same fees and played by the same rules as the rest of us. Moreover, they had a stake in the game. Outfits like Buy, (speculatively) Best Buy, and their ilk do not. Their primary interest is in their own brand and their own site. (And why not? They pay no fees on their site!) For them, eBay is a customer acquisition tool. They don’t care to drive customers to eBay, but rather siphon them off to their own sites. (Check out Buy’s tactics if you think this is mere speculation…)
EBay is making a deal with the Devil. It’s a replay of Apple’s venture with Bill Gates. I’d say that the result will be the same, but, you guessed it, that would be speculation.

LauraOn September 8, 2008 at 7:15 pm Said:

Ran across this. Speculation or??

http://rksmythe.blogspot.com/2008/09/channeladvisor-secures-20-million-in.html

JJHOn September 8, 2008 at 7:16 pm Said:

Unfortunately I don’t believe anything eBay says anymore regardless of whose mouth it comes from. eBay has proven itself to be a lier, time and time again. This is not an attack on the company or any particular person, it is my opinion. I feel burned and have been let down too many times. One can only say the “sky is falling” or “Wolf” so many times before nobody believes you anymore.

HenriettaOn September 8, 2008 at 7:18 pm Said:

Thank you Nancy for your succinct summation of precisely what I would have asked. Do I expect a response? No, it is unanswerable. The post is Bayspeak and unworthy of comment.

AdrianOn September 8, 2008 at 7:24 pm Said:

All I have to say is:

Every single change eBay has made this year they say will benefit the sellers!

If this is accurate, why are so many mega sellers and also smaller sellers leaving for other sites? Has anyone at eBay ever taken just a few hours to read the Seller Central board? I have been with eBay for 10 years and have NEVER seen so many sellers who have been mistreated by eBay.

I am totally afraid to list anything. Due to the death of my son (who thinks about eBay then) I was extremely slow to ship. Therefore my DSR’s are 4.4 for shipping time. One more mark less than a 5 and I will be suspended.

Sellers ARE leaving and I can’t blame them.

GailOn September 8, 2008 at 7:39 pm Said:

Griff, I’m really disappointed in you.

“The idea of bringing on Diamond PowerSeller level business (which include bigger sellers or retail stores) as competition is, with all due respect, absurd. eBay sellers are already competing with these businesses both online and in search engines.”

I Don’t Pay The Search Engines! I pay eBay. You’re comparing apples and oranges.

“In fact, the standards are actually higher for all Diamond Level PowerSellers who must maintain 4.8 across all DSRs or risk voiding any arrangement they have made with eBay.”

eBay’s glaring trip-up here is maintaining Buy at 4.8 across the board, and with a 99.6% yet. It Does Not Compute!

Prove to me, and all sellers, that eBay does not manipulate the DSRs. Your saying so is not good enough. Prove it by opening the specific data to each seller.

Do you really believe this drivel you’re dispensing? How sad.

DonnaOn September 8, 2008 at 7:43 pm Said:

Thank goodness for Ina’s AuctionBytes to dig up issues and keep us informed. I believe Ina more than these denials, honestly.

PS Griff - you need a proofreader! The language errors in this official post were really distracting.

TimOn September 8, 2008 at 8:26 pm Said:

OMG. Where do I even begin. Point by point.

Note Griff never says that Ina is wrong about the no listing fees… he just says she doesn’t know for sure (speculation). OK, Griff, end the speculation. Tell us what the deal with Buy is. After all, they know my deal with eBay.

Cataloged data may be nothing new to eBay… but you are purposely misrepresenting the issue. Cataloged data may not be new, but eBay working directly with manufacturers and retailers to get the manufacturer/retailer’s own catalogs eBay-ready - is new.

Yes, big sellers have always been a part of eBay. Some are still here and some are not. I could always compete because we all played by the same rules. That is no longer true. I have dropped one line already because Buy has it. I could compete on price. I could compete on service. I can not compete when they get free three-day BIN listings and can roll this inventory over constantly in core whether it sells or not. THAT I could not compete with.

I know, despite what you say Griff, that some large sellers ARE given special treatment. Should we talk about Jay and Marie? How many months, more than a year, did you give them to come into policy compliance - and that is AFTER you took them out for lunch over the issue. Am I to believe that Buy is not being given special treatment on the DSRs? You can call it uninformed speculation if you want to… because the fact is you have kept the entire DSR thing under tight control so that only eBay knows what is going on… but look at their feedback and then tell me they can keep 4.8s. Right. How about stopping the speculation on the DSRs and coming clean on that issue too? Open it up so all can see. THAT would stop the speculation.

I just don’t see this “huge benefit” to small sellers you speak of when the largest sellers get price breaks, special deals, policy breaks (even your own folks admitted that policy points ARE negotiable with Diamond Power Sellers), plus help with their catalogs… and small sellers get to subsidize it all.

As for you thinking that these large sellers bring buyers with them… come on, Griff. You really don’t believe that do you? If a seller has a large built-in base of web customers, they’d have their own site… they need eBay for the eye balls… the ones small sellers brought to you.

Nothing you have said here changes anything. In fact, if folks want to really analyze your words… you have said nothing of substance. You have revealed no new facts. You have not even refuted the Ina article with any facts of your own, you just refuted her “speculation” with PR spin. Why not give Ina the interview, instead of your in-house scribe? Really, Ina is not all that good with the follow-up question (Sorry Ina), even so, you can’t bring yourself to answer any non-eBay, non-set-up questions!

GailOn September 8, 2008 at 8:29 pm Said:

“On eBay, all sellers, regardless of the size of their operations or inventory, succeed or fail on eBay working under the same rules, standards and listing policies.”

I notice you’ve carefully changed the phraseology in that statement…. no more “level playing field”.

Why are not ALL sellers offered 15% discounts if they have the same feedback percentage and ratings?

Can I negotiate my fees?

Patricia1On September 8, 2008 at 8:39 pm Said:

In my mind, the sooner ebay finishes disillusioning sellers the sooner we can all get on to the smaller sites and get our buyers to follow. I think slowly, sellers are coming to the realization they have to finally and completely quit this ebay nonsense and get on with the business of selling! They are being strung along only until they are no longer needed and all the DSR and Best Match baloney is just that! Any company that could never come out and say exactly what their future goals are is a company that is hiding the worst to come. Sorry, pal - I won’t be among your victims when the worst does come! There are too many good sites out there now that only need the support of sellers, who will lure and entice their buyers to follow, to get off the ground and flying. That’s what I’m looking forward to. My last auction is finished on ebay and they’ll not get one more dollar out of me. Ten years of their nonsense and their manipulation has been more than enough.

AmberOn September 8, 2008 at 9:26 pm Said:

A seller with a large inventory is not necessarily going to get better exposure than a seller with less inventory.

Um, Griff. Did you actually read and understand the Finding 2.0 release about Best Match? Because it states quite clearly that previous sales will be a high factor in Fixed Price Best Match placement.

Meaning, the larger sellers with the larger inventories (high multiple quantities in a listing) will have more ‘opportunity’ to sell from that listing and will receive more exposure.

We’re not stupid, even if you and the rest of eBay seem to think we can’t read between the lines.

And yes, we noticed you didn’t deny the free listings. You merely dodged by claiming that information was ‘conjecture.’ You didn’t claim it was outright false. Show us the rates they’re receiving and maybe we’ll believe you.

Nice try on this one too: Any business who qualifies for this level – whether currently on or off eBay - is welcome to list on eBay . According to previous posts on this subject, sellers have to qualify based on sales volume on eBay prior to receiving Diamond Powerseller Status.

The idea that small sellers pay more than large sellers is appalling and a violation of the fundamental values this marketplace was founded on.

By bringing Diamond PowerSeller qualified businesses into the eBay marketplace, these businesses will bring along their sizeable buyer traffic.

No, they’ll be taking MY customers with them offsite through constant email bombardment. Buy has repeatedly spammed buyers with unsolicited commercial email following purchases, and I don’t expect that will change when these other retailers come onboard.

Any attempt to portray online commerce, and commerce on eBay in particular, as Big vs Small, is lacking in any real understanding of business .

eBay has made it a BIG vs. SMALL venue with the FREE listings for BUY and others. The fee paying sellers (small) are supporting the non-fee paying sellers (large). Every policy change has been geared towards weeding out smaller sellers. Lower volume sellers are more vulnerable than larger volume sellers. They are more likely to face restriction or suspension simply due to the fact that they do not have the volume to insulate them against a few rogue buyers.

BigMikeOn September 8, 2008 at 10:27 pm Said:

Griff is a paid spokesman for Ebay and is trying very hard to spin the truth. Unless and until there is a level of transparency in Ebay policies (such as explaining how some sellers at one point had DSRs of over 5 on a 5 point maximum, and also explaining how evey “glitch” seems to be in EBay’s favor) many of us will find it hard to believe anything that comes from Ebay.

It is obvious that Ebay does not include a place for small sellers in their plans. Rather than coming out and saying that, they instead plan on bleeding the sellers dry, until the sellers decide to leave. Then you will see Griff saying that Ebay did not force out the small sellers.

Peacock FredOn September 8, 2008 at 10:39 pm Said:

By bringing Diamond PowerSeller qualified businesses into the eBay marketplace, these businesses will bring along their sizeable buyer traffic.

What a crock! Buy.com’s existing customers buy from the Buy.com website, because the prices are lower there than on eBay. They don’t migrate onto eBay!

JackOn September 8, 2008 at 11:11 pm Said:

You might wonder then, why, oh why, does Uncle_Griff, the ebay guru, listed as a power seller when he has two feedbacks this last two months as a seller.

Of course, he would not get special treatment as everyone is treated equally, right?

michelleOn September 8, 2008 at 11:53 pm Said:

Amber, you stated this so well. There it is, in a nutshell.

BrendaOn September 9, 2008 at 4:21 am Said:

Sorry Griff, I don’t buy a word of it. There are too many folks reporting that they have perfect 5.0s and 100% feedback who are being buried by Best Match with their listings NEVER seeing the light of day, while the big volume sellers who have marginal DSRs are being placed above them in search.

There are now people coming to the boards every day reporting being suspended, people who have been your customers for 4, 5, 6, 7 ,8 or more years, who have stellar feedback and DSRs, who have been sunk by the feedback of ONE disgruntled buyer, usually a 0 feedback newbie with unreal expectations. Some of these sellers pay your company fees in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars every month, yet they are suspended with no review or appeal. You apparently would rather cater to the brand new buyer who has no loyalty to you rather than your ACTUAL customers, the fee-paying sellers who have supported you for years. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

And yes, if you are a small volume seller it IS possible to be suspended because of one buyer, since the Buyer Dissatisfaction Rating is a percentage of total sales and you are narrowing that percentage even further by basing it on a 30-day window. Years of good, consistent customer service are thrown out the window and only volume matters under such a system. Just like it is quite possible (despite your assertions to the contrary on the 8/20 boards) to get under 4.3 with nothing but 4.0s and 5.0s, which eBay tells our customers are Good and Excellent ratings. Sellers have a much better grasp of math than eBay does-we can calculate percentages and averages and we know that Buy’s rock-solid 4.8s don’t compute-not with the number of negatives they are getting. And we can also calculate their STR and we know, as Nancy said, that they are not paying anything to list, because if they were, they would not be making a profit at all.

You do not want the small sellers here, and you are actively doing everything you can to drive them out. The DSR system was designed to do just that, while laying the blame on us by labelling us non-performing sellers.

If this is not in fact your intention, you’d best re-think a bunch of your policies (DSRs, Best Match, one-sided feedback, negatives from NPBs, no paper payments, just to name a few) in a hurry, because quite frankly, we’re NOT feeling the love here. Please don’t insult our intelligence by claiming to love the small seller while continually rolling out policies which disadvantage us and drive us off your site.

BrendaOn September 9, 2008 at 4:28 am Said:

I should also add that in many of these instances, these sellers are being suspended because of the feedback and DSRs of one NON-PAYING buyer. It’s not good business sense IMO to turf paying customers because of the opinion of someone who isn’t giving your company any money.

nancybusinraleighOn September 9, 2008 at 5:23 am Said:

Any attempt to portray online commerce, and commerce on eBay in particular, as Big vs Small, is lacking in any real understanding of business .

On ebay, however, Pierre founded this company on simple and straightforward practices that all sellers paid the same fees, got the same exposure.

That has not been the case since BM was launched and the more tweaking ebay does to that ridiculous search algorithm the more the small sellers disappears from view of the ever decreasing buyer portion on ebay.

And let us not forget how the DSR’s play into ebays divine plan. By stripping sellers of any recourse, buyers have learned they can abuse sellers in any number of ways, real or imagined and ruin good sellers reputations at will. And yes, to this day, ebay refuses to handle the abuse as was once promised. The level playing field left ebay in January 2008 and in fact the pitch of that once level field is so steep, some sellers who are trying to remain are unable to hold on and sliding off against their efforts. All it takes is a couple buyers who leave inappropriate DSR’s and feedback (even if they are NPB’s) and the seller is suspended. That’s giving these sellers a very clear picture of how ebay views business.

We most certainly understand the morphing of ebay, and we most certainly understand the ‘business’ of e-commerce.

How assuming of you to state otherwise Griff.

LisaOn September 9, 2008 at 5:24 am Said:

Patricia’s statement: In my mind, the sooner ebay finishes disillusioning sellers the sooner we can all get on to the smaller sites and get our buyers to follow, should read: the sooner sellers finishes dillusioning themselves…

Small sellers are supporting freeloading corporate businesses who get carte blanche treatment. I’m sick of it and so is a lot of other sellers. There’s places to go now and people are ready to take the risk because the money is drying up fast at Ebay. You slapped us in the face, Ebay! And where is John Donahoe? This man sees us as nothing more than flea market trash. Yet we support his high faluting life style.

vzaar JamieOn September 9, 2008 at 6:07 am Said:

In my experience until eBay find a way to migrate these large companies on to the site the smaller, nimbler PowerSellers should continue to dominate the sales experience.

In all my time at eBay working with large enterprises the biggest hurdle was always how do we move our inventory onto eBay? Turbo Lister, File Exchange and the like simply don’t cut it which means the enterprise has to turn to a player like Channel Advisor, which comes at a cost and an extra bite into an already slim margin. If eBay fixes that - and I see no evidence of any moves to do that from here in the UK - then big companies will continue to struggle with the listing process on eBay, as well as the well documented problems of customer service and accepting payment through PayPal.

3cardmonteOn September 9, 2008 at 6:14 am Said:

Griff & Richard,

Since there is no transparancy we have no reason to believe for a minute that Buy.com is paying any type of listing fees. If they indeed are, then share the details. The rest of the sellers on Ebay have thier listing fees clearly shown so why not just be honest and tell us what Buy is paying?

Most of us already know the reason. The reason is they are not paying any listing fees. Anyone with a terapeak account can go back and do the math. Buy.com cannot afford to pay listing fees and only have a horrible 3% sell through rate. If the were even paying 10% of what regular Ebayers pay then they would still be in the red.

To boldly state the it is “uninformed speculation” that they are not paying fees is insulting and make you loose even more credibility.

What makes this all the more insulting is that Buy and the others to follow did not work thier way up to “Diamond” level before getting these discounts. They were coddled from the beginning. It would be much easier for ANY sellers to become a Diamond seller if they did not have the listing fees to content with. That does not even take into account FVF fees that they may be or may not be paying. Since it is an Ebay secret as to what these Diamond sellers are paying, but have no idea what they are actually spending. My guess is that even the FVF fees are lower than the average seller.

So please do not tell us that there are no “Shortcuts” for the big box sellers that are being courted for Diamond seller status. The reduced fees, the bending of the rules in general and the direct involvement of EBay upper management on the behalf of these sellers is a HUGE shortcut that the average seller does not have.

Long time sellers on EBay know how fees effect our ability to list and sell. Saying that any seller can have a 3% sell through and still make a profit is insulting. Stop fibbing.

DannyOn September 9, 2008 at 7:03 am Said:

First, I agree very strongly with Griff that the added traffic flow from bigger competition is good for small sellers. This was my MAJOR complaint of the MASSIVE and OUTRAGEOUS store rate hike of July 2006. Frankly Ebay is quickly becoming a has been and any steps they take to reduce that or minimize that is positive for all of us. Probally too little too late, but steps in the right direction regardless.

As for the closing statement made by Griff: “On eBay, all sellers, regardless of the size of their operations or inventory, succeed or fail on eBay working under the same rules, standards and listing policies.” ROFLMAO Well, that certainly is the way it SHOULD be, but that my friend is the root problem… It’s not a level playing field.

RobOn September 9, 2008 at 7:25 am Said:

Griff doesn’t get it. And neither do most of us. It aint’ about a “level playing field” saying from ten years ago.

I keep hearing this is either about eBay getting more listings for wall street analysts to raise the stock price or that more listings will increase supply which will lower prices like in the law of supply and demand.

It doesn’t matter who makes the listings, just that someone does a lot more listings so the wall street numbers look good and the average selling price will go down which makes buyers buy more at lower average selling prices.

I don’t know, but that makes sense to me as the way eBay wants to get more buyers by making us sellers sell at lower prices. If eBay wants me to drop my prices as my competition increases, why don’t they drop their own damn prices!!!!

implogOn September 9, 2008 at 7:32 am Said:

I didn’t have an excellent clarification experience.

Looks like we can add “unclear clarification” to the list along with “a neutral is a negative” and “a 4 DSR is good but it is bad”.

Not sure about that though.

Could just be uniformed speculation.

(Ina always seems to get Griff’s goat…)

SandyOn September 9, 2008 at 8:03 am Said:

I agree with most every comment, especially Brenda. My sentiments exactly. eBay has created a very hostile environment, especially for sellers. I, like a lot of others, am afraid to list anything anymore for fear of ruining my stellar record of sales. It looks as if eBay’s days as a community of good & caring sellers are numbered. Such a shame…when I began selling several years ago, it was fun…buyers and sellers were happy and it was the world’s marketplace for the unusual and unique. Now it’s turning into a boring big box store flooded with everything I can go to the local Wal-mart for.

dimesOn September 9, 2008 at 8:34 am Said:

As a poster above noted, the repeated references to “pure speculation” does not equate to a denial.

If the speculation was actually untrue, one would think Mr Griff would actually deny the claim.

But of course, he didn’t, did he?

JJHOn September 9, 2008 at 8:39 am Said:

It certainly seems that the large majority of the people posting here have a common thought. The same one I posted back at the start of this thread, and that being that eBay does not tell the truth. That fact is plain and simple. No rocket science needed.

SteveOn September 9, 2008 at 8:55 am Said:

With regard to eBay’s view of “competition” -

eBay is sounding like Walmart now. “You little mom and pop stores are just being silly. Walmart will bring LOTS more business to the area. They have TONS of customers. You have nothing to worry about.”

Consider what happens when a seller even hints at an outside website. Yet, they take ads that direct the seller away from the eBay marketplace.

What would happen if an eBay seller put a link to Buy.com in their About Me page?

ClaypipeOn September 9, 2008 at 9:21 am Said:

Hello all I have been reinstated by eBay, My initial question still unanswered but not pertaining to this post. I will offer my 2 cents here regarding this thread……

I love how griff words his responses to make the OP thread appear inaccurate.Wording like 4.8 DSR’s “or risk voiding any arrangement they have made with eBay” (The key words here are “or risk”)….

another great one referring to DS’s is (”their sizable buyer traffic”)…So eBay here has now publicly stated that “buyer traffic” is brought in by sellers, and not eBay. I refer to this from a previous eBay statement made months ago that the fees we sellers pay in are used in portion to bring in buyers…..

(The idea of bringing on Diamond PowerSeller level business (which include bigger sellers or retail stores) as competition is, with all due respect, absurd. eBay sellers are already competing with these businesses both online and in search engines.)….Correct however the question is, is the playing field equal for both and it clearly is not. A lot of those small sellers are attempting to compete but loosing the battle because of an unfair unlevel playing field. Case in point…..

(that fees charged to Diamond-tier PowerSellers are negotiated on a case-by-case basis)…Since you do not openly post the fee structure you give these DS’s it is fairly certain they are receiving big discounts to list and are probably reducing their FVF’s as well……As far as the “small seller” you have publicly announced raising FVF totals which when any small seller calculates the reduced listing fees including items which do not sell and the FVF’s on items that do they are paying eBay more money.

CC/notepad

DeniseOn September 9, 2008 at 10:01 am Said:

Wow..this is wrong on so many levels.

First of all, Diamond catalog sellers with huge inventories are going to totally bury smaller sellers in Best Match due to the new policy that previous sales are going to be a big factor in higher search placement!

Second, if you bring in my manufacturers to compete with me, I cannot compete on price–obviously, their cost per product is so far below mine. Further, larger retailers get better volume pricing than small ones.

As someone above said I PAY EBAY for visibility and customers. NOT “businesses online and other search engines”

As others have stated, I don’t believe the DSRs, especially those of BUY. eBay needs to MAKE THE DSRS TRANSPARENT for all to see, because ONE, we don’t believe them, and TWO, our very selling lives here on ebay DEPEND on them. You can’t fix something you can’t see, and the original reason for hiding them (buyers would be honest since sellers couldn’t retalitate) is GONE since there is NO negative feedback allowed for buyers.

Someone who can keep churning 3-day listings without selling them for basically no cost completely unbalances the site. This is very different than the new 30-day fixed price listing OR even GTC store listings because there IS added visibility when items are close to ending, even fixed price ones.

DaveyOn September 9, 2008 at 10:15 am Said:

“On ebay, however, Pierre founded this company on simple and straightforward practices that all sellers paid the same fees, got the same exposure.”

It would be great to see a followup to the video interview that played here several months ago, where Mr. Donohoe interviewed Pierre about feedback changes and his original intents for the marketplace, but with the interviewer role reversed. Have Pierre ask [sentence edited: see comment policy] about what eBay’s new principles are now that Pierre’s ideas, like a level playing field, have been abandoned.

Yes, some of Ina’s points may be “speculation,” but when it looks like a duck and quacks like one, and has a history of doing ducky things, who am I more inclined to believe (not to be confused with the ducking that ebay mangement is adept at)?? So far, about all that Ina has written about has been 100 percent true historically! I can’t say the same for any eBay spokesperson.

I agree that eBay does not tell the truth, or even does not really know the truth internally. Remember Lorrie Norrington’s post here how “valuable” small sellers were, said while her minions were down in the basement inventing more policies to slap them silly? I think if she would have been quoted more acurately, it would have been something like “We love our small sellers for how they’ve financed us so far, and now as we move away from you, we hope like heck that your revenue continues long enough for us get to a point where we can drop you like a hot potato.”

Griff, if you are reading this, what business treats its paying customers like you treat your sellers (and buyers), and survives? How many “stars” do you think eBay gets from those of us whose fees fill out your paycheck? How many of us would still remain if you had an equally viable competitor (although the mass evacuation your company has encouraged is stimulating more interest in alternatives). We’re just one tool away from effective multi-site management, and eBay will effectively be left all alone to Chinese carp sellers and Buy, bereft of the reason buyers go there.

It is amazing to me that so many of us sellers still nurture a passion for what eBay used to be, while at the same time secretly wishing for it to go down in flames as rapidly as possible in order to highlight the stupidity that has gripped the venue’s management for the last couple of years. Slow death, which is what appears to be happening, is too hard to watch.

Patricia1On September 9, 2008 at 10:22 am Said:

“It certainly seems that the large majority of the people posting here have a common thought. The same one I posted back at the start of this thread, and that being that eBay does not tell the truth. That fact is plain and simple. No rocket science needed.”

JJH - That could stand to be repeated - I guess until Ebay management finally realizes we can see right thru them! What I really hate are bad excuses and explanations that insult my intelligence :-(

PaulaOn September 9, 2008 at 10:37 am Said:

Griff, do you realize that you are losing credibility with your Ebay audience?? How is that going for you in terms of job security. I don’t know you well, but there are many that apparently do and respected you (PAST TENSE). Just for the record…and CLARIFICATION is buy.com paying listing fees YES OR NO, pure and simple. You say it’s “speculation”, which is purely circumventing an actual answer to the question asked. So, for the record…YOU ARE SAYING THAT BUY IS PAYING LISTING FEES?? We don’t need politicians at Ebay…just STRAIGHT ANSWERS FROM OUR BUSINESS PARTNER!!

steveOn September 9, 2008 at 10:40 am Said:

Common. Like we are going to believe what an eBay employ or personality says. this Guy is totaly biased towards eBay. His job is to promote eBay. Buy.com is getting preferential treatment. They have Bad Feedback and low DSR’s and best match still rates them well. Explaine that one to me.

paulOn September 9, 2008 at 10:53 am Said:

Griff..

Ebay must pay you well for the one-sided answers we get from you. your answers to all our questions favor only Ebay. Piont is the sellers are fed up and leaving by the thousands for other sites. Why are small sellers being treated so unfair. The DSR system favors only Ebay..Explain how a seller can have 13,000 positive feedbacks and 4.5 in the DSR’s…Ebay puts what they want in the DSR’s to drive off the small seller (if I am wrong prove it by giving us all the information). Many of us have paid Ebay Fees for over 5-6-7-8-9-10 years or more .. Ebay don’t care..Whats the reason for no Checks Or Money Orders..We know…it’s more money in Ebays pockets, and out of ours, what else is new???? No negitive feedback for non paying customers..However the non paying customer can neg us. We can be suspended for doing nothing wrong and have no recorse…Higher fees and broken promises..Griff people are tired of the lies we are being fed by Ebay…Ebay 10 years ago was a place everyone could enjoy and be a family,,,Those days are gone…Shame…Ebay stock is down again today and griff you know why….People have had enough
….just my thoughts

BrendaOn September 9, 2008 at 11:04 am Said:

What you said, Davey, in spades. If I were eBay, I would be running scared. I visit a lot of sites where eBay is discussed. At the beginning of these changes, at the beginning of the year, the general consensus was “I don’t like the changes, but I can only get one or two sales on these other sites, so I guess I’ll stay around.” Now what I’m reading is “I know I’m only getting one or two sales on these other sites, but you know what, I built my business up on eBay and I can do it again here, without all the micromanaging carp and disdain. They actually appreciate my business here, and treat me with respect. And the fees are so much lower on this new site that I’m not actually losing that much.” EBay’s fees keep rising (we’re talking total fees here, not listing fees), and your STR keeps dropping. People are paying more and more for less and less, which is why eBay, which should be flourishing in this economy, is tanking instead.

You have a serious credibility problem here, Griff, and it’s entirely eBay’s fault. You’ve lied and spun and broken promises until no one believes anything you say, which should be obvious from the posts here today. If you were truly being honest about the DSR ratings, then no one would be suspended until they fell below 4.0, which is a satisfactory rating in any other system-and which is what you are telling our buyers. You took away seller feedback, but promised that you would adjudicate and remove unfair negatives, and that did not happen because you do not have and have NEVER had anything resembling proper customer service. You let deadbeats rule on transactions they didn’t complete and trash hard-working sellers’ livelihoods. If sellers try to recover their FVFs from non-payers, you count UPIs into their Seller Nonperformance Profile because if someone doesn’t want to pay for an auction, then obviously it’s the seller’s fault…People are on their own here and they know it. People can be suspended at any moment now and they know it. And knowing that, that site with less traffic but lower fees and a lot less hassle starts looking better and better. And if enough of the sellers go there, it will become better and better in truth…

Remember that first rule of business-KISS? People used to enjoy selling on eBay as an escape from the stresses of their real jobs and now it’s every bit as stressful as their real workplace, what with that moronic Seller Dashboard flashing warnings at them every time they log in and telling them, even if they’re doing well-”You’re in compliance now, but watch your step, so you don’t get sanctioned or suspended!” Not to mention the bottom feeding buyers who are using your unlevel playing field (feedback and DSRs) to extort refunds and get free merchandise from vulnerable sellers. There has been a significant increase in NPBs since May, Griff-people who had only had one or two in an eBay career spanning years are now getting several a month. And there is no court of appeal for that, for you folks have publicly stated that all buyers are good, even bad buyers. Who wants to pay you to LOSE money? Who needs that kind of grief? Why is eBay even advertising for people to clean out their attics and sell here, when that is not what you really want? Please-just go ahead and finish your Transformer act, become a full retail Amazon clone and admit you no longer have use for us and kick us small potatoes out the door. It would be more honest than what you are doing now.

JeanOn September 9, 2008 at 11:26 am Said:

Griff: The trouble with Ebay these days is that ebay has “used up” a great deal of its business good will. A lot is riding on the holiday season, in fact, I am sure a great deal is at stake. Jeff Bezos probably felt the same way when he widely diversified The River and added a grocery section to his company. People said it would not work, but it did and the stock reflected that.

It doesnt appear anyone understands the inherent differences in the two models. Ebay was more of a community, The River was and is more decentralized. Ebay took away a lot of things Ebay sellers and buyers felt (wrongly or not) entitled to. This created a great deal of ill will towards Ebay that has only compounded and multiplied.

When Ebay is compared to Darth Vader and the Death Star by people on the internet and on the street..you’re in trouble. Deep trouble. People do not buy from the Death Star. They instead share the rumors and negative stories.

Stop the changes for now and invest in raising good will in your Ebay family” your community; your sellers and buyers.

I love Ebay, I want it to survive, but Ebay is failing to recognize its worse enemy: itself.

JeanOn September 9, 2008 at 11:35 am Said:

Griff–As a “doer” not just a “talker” here is a suggestion perfect for this time of year: An Ebay Congress. Pick a cross section of SELLERS from every segment, Powersellers, antiques, etc., and give them away to all brainstorm ideas online and then present a consensus of needed changes and suggestions on an Ebay Congress discussion board (only Ebay Congress could post to it). Then implement some of the ideas. This gives some transparency and shows you care about what REAL Sellers think. (I’d be happy to be a member of this, BTW. ;) Of course, each section would have an email address where any other sellers could submit ideas to bring to the “congress” etc. Its a good way to get unhappy people involved (and there will always be unhappy folks), but atleast deflect the negative impressions with real sellers trying to present change and shout positives. Atleast there would be “real” people to vent to this way.

Just an idea .

SunOn September 9, 2008 at 11:46 am Said:

I find the two passages contradictory. If big businesses realize they can’t sustain a business on eBay without having reduced expenses, why shouldn’t that apply to all sellers?

> (that fees charged to Diamond-tier PowerSellers
> are negotiated on a case-by-case basis).

> succeed or fail on eBay working under the
> same rules, standards and listing policies.

By not applying discounts to all sellers (and I’m not talking about PowerSeller Discount), you are favoring large businesses.

> not the size of the seller’s inventory.

A business with a wide selection of SKUs benefit more using de-duped listings. I’m not sure how came under the conclusion that these sellers would not be favored.

nancybusinraleighOn September 9, 2008 at 5:16 pm Said:

No responses from Griff? Is he on vacation now?

JJHOn September 9, 2008 at 6:42 pm Said:

Nobody ever responds. They said their piece. One thing I’ve been thinking about since this topic was posted yesterday, and that is that Ina REALLY touched a nerve for the “big guns Griff” to come out so quickly to dispute her blog post. I find it both funny and sad at the same time.

kelley*greenOn September 9, 2008 at 7:50 pm Said:

Some comments here strike me as being pretty on target, but there are some from out in left field.

Griff’s eBay ID does not and may not sell on the site. He has a PowerSeller logo for entirely different reasons. There are parts of the site that he needs to access that are limited to PowerSellers, and that logo puts identifying information on his account that gives him access. That’s all. No big mystery.

Big sellers have come and gone on eBay over the past 13 years. Does anyone remember Disney? What a hue and cry! Disney’s listings were going to drive out the small Disneyana sellers. Never happened. Disney was dismal, had a horrible feedback profile, had their own sites anyway, and they finally went back to them.

It would not astonish me if that happened with the catalog sales companies. Why should they mess around with eBay - and mandatory Paypal payments - when they have (or could have) their own site with their own shopping cart and web design and their own payments with a major credit card, their own credit card or whatever they choose?

I just suggest that you wait to see what happens before throwing up your hands and calling “Foul.” There was much to be said for the “level playing field” - apparently these “Diamond” sellers need help. I don’t think this is going to be enough help for them to survive.

As someone already noted, small sellers tend to be more responsive, care more about their own reputation, want to create loyal customers. Big boxes don’t much care about that.

jackOn September 9, 2008 at 8:47 pm Said:

Griff sells on the site under the id that he is known as, Uncle griff, and yes he is a seller on that id, and yes he is listed as a power seller, but there is no way that , under that id, that he can meet the standards of a power seller.

Jack

AmberOn September 9, 2008 at 10:00 pm Said:

Griff does not need a PS logo to access the PS board or other info. He has mod controls by signing in under his Pink ebay addy.

DearieOn September 10, 2008 at 1:12 am Said:

I sold on ebay under two i/ds. One for 9 years. I stopped selling on that one in February and stopped selling on the other i/d more recently. I’ve had enough. There is no question ebay is showing small sellers the door and when the recent round of new rules doesn’t force enough small sellers out, they’ll come up with new rules. The handwriting is on the wall.

[Sentence edited: see Comment Policy]