More eBay madness!

[asiamiles]

More changes and restrictions are being introduced, such as forcing sellers to offer low shipping fees on certain items (as an international seller on ebay.com if I want to sell a DVD it seems I have to offer to ship it for $3 to the US!). Also they are going to stop people paying by cheque or money order; "Paypal only" is clearly only a step away.

I think eBay are taking things so far they run the risk of many sellers just giving up.

 

[Lignemaginot]

More changes and restrictions are being introduced, such as forcing sellers to offer low shipping fees on certain items (as an international seller on ebay.com if I want to sell a DVD it seems I have to offer to ship it for $3 to the US!). Also they are going to stop people paying by cheque or money order; "Paypal only" is clearly only a step away.

I think eBay are taking things so far they run the risk of many sellers just giving up.

They have the power, I'm afraid. As much as we would like to see a competitor, think about it - if you want to be assured of a huge audience of potential buyers for your A-2 (which will basically guarantee that you get the worldwide value of the thing), where else can you go besides ebay?

 

[handworn]

It's true that a competitor will have to begin with inexpensive items and will have to advertise heavily, but the more eBay execs keep thinking, "The shareholders are coming! Look busy!" the more they'll try to fix what's not broken, and break it in the process, so a competitor will be able to break into the market. Once they have the viewer/bidder base, more expensive items like A-2s will begin to appear.

More changes and restrictions are being introduced, such as forcing sellers to offer low shipping fees on certain items (as an international seller on ebay.com if I want to sell a DVD it seems I have to offer to ship it for $3 to the US!). Also they are going to stop people paying by cheque or money order; "Paypal only" is clearly only a step away.

I think eBay are taking things so far they run the risk of many sellers just giving up.

They have the power, I'm afraid. As much as we would like to see a competitor, think about it - if you want to be assured of a huge audience of potential buyers for your A-2 (which will basically guarantee that you get the worldwide value of the thing), where else can you go besides ebay?

 

[asiamiles]

the more they'll try to fix what's not broken, and break it in the process

This is the part I don't understand. Sure people had quibbles, but by and large people were happy with the way eBay operated. But every new initiative introduced seems almost designed to antagonize as many people as possible...though I'm guessing each is intended simply to make more money under the guise of improvements rather than being honest about it and raising fees. I think for a lot of people now it's not worth the hassle; if they want to get rid of an unwanted DVD (for example), take it down the local used disc store or drop it in the trash. For businesses, maybe they're just better of settting up a website and let their goods be found via Google searches rather than eBay ones?

 

[Roughwear]

the more they'll try to fix what's not broken, and break it in the process

This is the part I don't understand. Sure people had quibbles, but by and large people were happy with the way eBay operated. But every new initiative introduced seems almost designed to antagonize as many people as possible...though I'm guessing each is intended simply to make more money under the guise of improvements rather than being honest about it and raising fees. I think for a lot of people now it's not worth the hassle; if they want to get rid of an unwanted DVD (for example), take it down the local used disc store or drop it in the trash. For businesses, maybe they're just better of settting up a website and let their goods be found via Google searches rather than eBay ones?

I guess with the down turn in the global economy Ebay needs to maximise its profit and, as you say Miles, this is a way to do it. Making money is the motive for the changes.

 

[Jaydee]

I smell revolution in the air. We must have Web Designers, and business folk within the ranks of the forum. Picture this :
www.militarymarket.com

 

[Peter Graham]

I smell revolution in the air. We must have Web Designers, and business folk within the ranks of the forum. Picture this :
www.militarymarket.com

It already exists.

 

[deeb7]

link please my Irish brother

Peter's asleep right now .... but here's a couple.

http://www.militarymarket.com/

http://www.militarymarketplace.com/cgi- ... /index.cgi

 

[asiamiles]

These posts make one wonder. While eBay seems in an invincible position as a global all-encompassing market place (though of course, we've seen supposed invincibles fall and die before), how it might be dislodged is if enough dedicated auction sites were able to seriously compete. For example, an auction site only selling militaria, an auction site only selling film memorabilia, an auction site only selling sports memorabilia etc etc etc. The huge problem is enticing buyers away, for while changes are making eBay ever more nightmarish for sellers they aren't really having negative impact on buyers...and would I be correct in saying that many, many more people buy on eBay than sell on eBay, or do most people buy and sell?

 

[Anonymous]

Good things never last too long.
I hope eBay realize the mistake of this and correct it.
Or else I hope they learn a good lesson and suffer.

 

[jacketimp]

i think ebay's game plan is to entice commercial sellers.........it works for them cos they save on overheads like rent and rates.....these guys could be working from their/homes garages.the revenue from them is more consistent.

partimers like you and me doesn't count that much, i reckon..........unless ebay has sucidal tendencies.

i thought at one stage google was going to set up a similar site??

you don't wanna do ebay you gotta go somewhere else......your choice-or is there none?

 

[Sid Vintage]

i thought at one stage google was going to set up a similar site??

you don't wanna do ebay you gotta go somewhere else......your choice-or is there none?

With the present all controlling set up on Ebay sellers are now basically at the mercy of any whacko with an attitude problem or Paypal charge back scammer. As soon as another viable option / rival auction site on a big scale opens up you are going to see a helluva lot of sellers jumping ship real fast. I agree with the above observation that it seems Ebay want out of the flea market type sellers and more in with the shopping mall corporate type thing. A lot of money to be made for the guys who come up with a serious rival that respects the smaller seller. Meanwhile Ebay is the only real player...

 

[SuinBruin]

I think eBay realizes that sellers follow buyers, not the other way around. Thus, they are trying to make it as buyer-friendly as possible.

Think about it. Why would you, as a seller, ditch eBay and its millions of buyers for an unproven and unknown competitor with very few buyers? More buyers = more sales and higher prices. Supply and demand....

I think eBay probably thinks its biggest competitors are discount online retailers offering things like free shipping and no-hassle returns -- something that relatively few eBay sellers offer. Why deal with eBay and a seller's idiosyncrasies (was the item accurately described? where is it located? when will it ship? what if it doesn't fit?) when there are a whole host of other online retailers I can use that will be much more convenient?

So eBay wants to keep its buyers happy, which in turn can cause problems for its sellers... but the sellers will go where the buyers are. At least, I'm guessing that's their reasoning.

 

[Sid Vintage]

I think eBay realizes that sellers follow buyers, not the other way around. Thus, they are trying to make it as buyer-friendly as possible.

Think about it. Why would you, as a seller, ditch eBay and its millions of buyers for an unproven and unknown competitor with very few buyers? More buyers = more sales and higher prices. Supply and demand....

I think eBay probably thinks its biggest competitors are discount online retailers offering things like free shipping and no-hassle returns -- something that relatively few eBay sellers offer. Why deal with eBay and a seller's idiosyncrasies (was the item accurately described? where is it located? when will it ship? what if it doesn't fit?) when there are a whole host of other online retailers I can use that will be much more convenient?

So eBay wants to keep its buyers happy, which in turn can cause problems for its sellers... but the sellers will go where the buyers are. At least, I'm guessing that's their reasoning.

So what other online retailers will sell you original vintage flight jackets more conveniently at great prices? Most online retailers I have seen jack up the prices to the higher end of market price. On Ebay you can still pick up bargains. But with sellers currently looking elsewhere to sell in droves the volume of "deals" is going to keep on dropping.

 

[Lignemaginot]

A few months ago, I was surprised to notice that when I did a search, the results would be listed by, "Best Match".

It didn't take long to figure out that "Best Match" was a sop to sellers who sold a lot or maintained good ratings, or some other such nonsense - in any event, it had nothing to do with what a buyer might perceive as a "Best Match."

Anyway, I found out that I could set my preferances so that the results of my searches would show up again as "Ending Soonest" or "Most recently listed", which I did.

But then, it all of a suddenb went back to Best Match - and it's no longer possible to set it so that you see the listing the way you want (you can, however, change each result to whatever you want, after you search).

How annoying.

 

[deeb7]

(you can, however, change each result to whatever you want, after you search).

And THEN save it.

Once you have each search set up to your preferences, delete the originals. I went a stage further, and re-saved them off eBay ... then you don't even have to go there, and sign in.

 

[hacker]

Since eBay's even sillier feedback rules went into effect I have not had a single seller give me feedback until he first received same. And you know what, I have pretty much adapted that now as a seller!......The feedback for buyers is now almost totally useless in any case.........You mention "Best Match"....another joke!....for who, not the buyer!!!. It is sad to see eBay evolving into just what I don't know


Hacker

 

[asiamiles]

I wondered what "best match" was; certainly it was not useful for me when browsing for items and I would always then have to change to either "ending soonest" or "highest". Also whenever I go to check my items for sale they are now always initially shown as shapshots which I don't like at all.