Amber / July 31st, 2009 at 7:35 pm

Richard, thanks for trying.

*sigh*

Todd seems to be saying that sales to overseas buyers DO NOT count towards your GMV requirements. I thought I had been mistaken about that and couldn’t point to a part of the announcement that said that.

Is it NOT just International DSRs that are being discounted, but any sales pertaining to GMV as well?

Can you get someone to point to the details of the requirements that state whether those sales amounts are excluded?

(and for Todd’s incredulity–50-75% of my business IS overseas. And I’m far from alone)

Larry Phillips / August 1st, 2009 at 9:45 am

Richard – I like the video. Please do more.

regarding Todd’s comments, first off, I greatly respect Todd, and truly believe he’s a champion for all sellers. But he didn’t hit on the two biggest issues I’m hearing, as I talk to other sellers in various forums, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

First – There should be an opt-out for payment reminders, which eBay will send at 48 and 96 hour intervals. That’s a great tool for some, but will lead to confusion and frustration for many customers. Many sellers handle this now. Why not let us have the ability to opt out of these messages. I have copies of at least 30 emails sent to Kristina Klausen requesting opt-out capability. And the opinions on the various discussion forums are over 90% in favor of opt-out. When asked at the Town Hall, Kristina said “Sellers want this”. And many do, I’m sure. But many don’t. Can we at least have a more reasonable reply?

Second – Sellers are concerned that a single person (either an upset buyer or an unscrupulous competitor) can knock a person out of Top Rated seller qualification by giving multiple low DSRs. We’ve heard that you will turn up the review process to try and prevent this. That’s great. But can you consider something else, such as only allowing a person to leave a single low score, or allow us to block a low scoring buyer, the same way we can do that with buyers who didn’t pay?

Overall, I think the changes were fine. But these two problematic areas can be the bad apples that spoil the whole barrel.

Candy / August 1st, 2009 at 3:45 pm

“I think it is a step in the wrong direction to tell small sellers who can’t meet sales targets that their excellent customer service means nothing in terms of improved search status.”

Is Ebay prepared to lose these sellers? Bottom line if a seller can’t be seen and make a profit he’ll go elsewhere. By being so manipulative in search – can Ebay afford to lose many good small sellers…and their regular buyers as well? From the start, I believed this manipulation of search is wrong…unless Ebay wants to also tailor its fees the same way. Just my opinion.

Candy / August 3rd, 2009 at 1:57 pm

@Henrietta – I do believe Ebay may be feeling the loss of small sellers. I was a small seller – used to bring in sales just below powerseller status – with almost 400 feedbacks in 2007 alone – but now my last couple of items rolled off without bids and with 8 views or less each. That’s not service for my fees – not by any means. I really had no choice but to leave Ebay after 11 years of constant selling there. I’m one of thousands in the same boat – just a trip to Ebay’s own discussion boards would prove me right. Since Ebay’s core is declining and has been declining for the past three quarters I’m hoping that maybe…just maybe they’re seeing the merit in having small sellers and their faithful buyers? I can only hope!