I think if eBay wants to show their sellers their appreciation, then they should allow sellers a percentage of their yearly sales in "free listings"(with maybe a cap on how many) to span out over a months time or even several months time. Thus resulting in NOT flooding the market all at once.
Let us use our alotted "free lists" at our convenience.
posted on October 3, 2001 08:29:17 AM
For (2) I can't afford to have have 150 items sitting in the wings just WAITING to pounce on a FLD.
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I agree with that assessment. I'd rather have the cash flow now than save 30 cents per item later.
posted on October 3, 2001 08:30:27 AM
Whether you have enough "advance" notice or not, you can still be prepared.
For example, I'm currently writing up auction descriptions and loading them into my auction software. I just posted some of those I already had loaded. But I'm going to continue to write descriptions and load them into the software as long as my kids will let me.
Then, if all of a sudden I should log on tomorrow and discover that tomorrow is a FLD, then I can just hit the button to post all the auctions that were already pre-loaded from the previous day (today as we're speaking here).
Using auction software does help tremendously in taking advantage of FLD's.
posted on October 3, 2001 08:39:11 AM
Some people just absolutely INSIST on representing what eBay SAID about their motives or what eBay WROTE as if it was the gospel truth just BECAUSE eBay said it and wrote it, and anyone who questions it is depicted as questioning the "truth." What's up with that? If eBay put a clause in their User Agreemenet that all eBay users would heretofore believe that the sun rises in the West, would that become the truth to them also???
posted on October 3, 2001 08:40:45 AM
Packer is right the market is too flooded then. I don't know who could afford to hold their inventory for that long.
Packer, would you be willing to look at my auctions to see if there is anything I am doing wrong? Please contact me at [email protected]. Thanks! DE
posted on October 3, 2001 08:42:17 AMIf the small sellers are doing badly, I can't see how E-Bay would not be effected. Don't businesses offer coupons .40 off corn flakes or buy one pizza get one free to customers? We used a coupon to get a discount on a pizza this Sunday
$0.40 off coupons are not being offered because the customer has hit hard times and is short of money. Nor are "buy one get one free" pizzas offered becuse the customer is on hard times. They are offered as a way for potential customers to try the product the merchant has to offer, in the hopes that the potential customer will become a regular buyer of that product. It is advertising, not welfare.
We also offered our previous tenants an opportunity to pay the security deposit in installments since they liked the house so well and we like them more than anyone we had interviewed.
I notice that you did not eliminate the deposit, you just accepted it in installments. No matter how much you liked the new tenants, you were not going to impact your bottom line by cancelling the deposit outright. The fact that they were on hard times/didn't have enough money didn't stop you from collecting an amount due you.
The fact is what E-Bay has to offer right now isn't too great. None of my items have exceeded what I paid for them in their reserve. I can't make a living like that. This is like throwing money in the wind. E-Bay will have to adapt to a new economy. We can't have a 5 million sellers all selling flags and gas masks.
Ebay isn't responsible for the seller making a profit. The fact that none of your items have exceeded what you paid for them has nothing to do with ebay. How do you propose that ebay rectify that situation? A cut in fees isn't going to do it. Should ebay force the buyers to pay more for your items? Should ebay force some one to bid on your item? How does ebay go about changing how much you get for an item?
you say I can't make a living like that. This is like throwing money in the wind. So how is ebay responsible to make sure you make a living? Nothing in the users agreement said ebay promised you would "make a living" if you sold on ebay. To hold another (in this case ebay) responsible for your success is immature thinking.
You also said E-Bay will have to adapt to a new economy.
The ones who have to adapt to a new economy is US, not ebay. All ebay is, is a forum for us to sell our merchandise, nothing more. They aren't our nursemaids.
We can't have a 5 million sellers all selling flags and gas masks.
So how does ebay change that? By telling us what to sell and guaranteeing us a specific profit margin? I don't think that is going to happen.
Its time to enter the world of business. Its time to stop expecting ebay to be our nursemaid. Its time to realize we hold the key to our success not ebay. If ebay isn't working for you (the general you) then it is time to reevaluate the situation and maybe move on to something else that will work. But stop expecting ebay to hold our hands...stop expecting ebay to give us "business welfare"
posted on October 3, 2001 09:01:13 AM
amy,
Everyone of your points are Valid.
I think in the first place, what got eBay sellers so upset is the AFA auctions.
Here are a couple of my grievences.
(1) Seller pays shipping(I know, I know they supposedly fixed that). Its too late, the bandaid isn't going to stick.
(2) 100 DAYS! Gosh, 2 weeks of it would have been a gods plenty. They are going to ram it down our throats right thru our BEST selling months. AND HOW MUCH IS GOING TO BE ENOUGH.
(3) This whole mess has left a REAL BAD TASTE in a lot of sellers mouth. It was not very well thought out. If they would have taken the time to think this through and maybe contacted a small but diverse group of sellers for input they could have reached their GOAL in a matter of 2 weeks even with sellers paying the postage.
(4) Even more obvious, if they had taken PayPal up on their offer to help the goals would have been met they could give a BIG THANKS and then maybe, just maybe we could put this behind us and get on with getting our own businesses back to status quo. And start working on strengthing our economy by BUYING, BUYING, BUYING!!!
posted on October 3, 2001 09:06:21 AM
Packer and Holdenrex...the poster I was responding to was complaining that they were unable to participate in a free listing day. My suggested solution was directed to his/her complaint. If he/she didn't want to hold merchandise waiting for a free listing day then that was his choice (and a valid choice as far as I can see)...but once that choice was made, then complaining because he couldn't participate was inappropriate...he chose not to participate.
As an aside, and not to suggest that anyone SHOULD participate in FLDs...
I have participated in every free listing day ebay has had, plus two that an auction management offered. Everytime I have participated my sell through has been great, my final dollar amount sold has been tremendous. The last one I did just under $2000 for one day's listing of around 100 auctions. If the market was flooded it certainly didn't hurt my sales. And the last FLD results was typical of the prior ones for me.
I don't hold merchandise for FLD, nor do I pre-write the auctions. I just buckle down for the day, list like crazy and also relist everything that hasn't sold in the past few months. Maybe this time I will have a bunch of auctions predone...wonder what the take would be if i listed 300 auctions!
posted on October 3, 2001 09:17:43 AM
Packer...A4A wasn't what I was addressing. I was responding to the general tone of the first post that ebay has a responsibility to ensure that we sellers are successful...a position I strongly disagree with.
The underlying theme of the first post...ebay should be helping the seller, it is ebay's fault I'm not succeeding...is one that has been played out on these boards over and over again. Ebay is continually blamed for sales being down...every change ebay makes some will point to as the reason "sales are down". And then many will state that "ebay needs to help the seller".
Your reasons for not liking A4A are valid for you and I wasn't suggesting they weren't. I was addressing another line of thought
posted on October 3, 2001 09:32:56 AM
Bottom line... eBay is going to do whatever they do based on what they perceive to be in their own best interests.
If their decisions are not also in your best interests, well... sorry, but your only hope is to find a way to convince them otherwise.
posted on October 3, 2001 09:39:28 AM
I doubt any letter to safeharbor will help you. New buyers arrive on ebay daily and soon many of them start to sell.
They arrive with high ideals and they don't know about the way things used to be and they accept the conditions the way they are today and probably don't question much.
So if ebay loses older sellers it is probably no big deal. These sellers know too much, saw too much and said too much so ebay may be glad to get rid of them.
If times got rough for me and I whined to my landlord he would laugh in my face. He could lease the building again to some other business, most likely to a newbie who has no idea of the hidden costs.
posted on October 3, 2001 09:42:00 AM
Packer...the thing is, there are also many small and big sellers who think that A4A was not over the top.
Are the points I am addressing really a result of the A4A fiasco (if in fact it is/was a fiasco), or are they the result of many sellers who have unrealistic expectations of what ebay can do for them? Are they really not a result of people who expect selling to be a piece of cake and when it is not they want someone else to "make it better"?
What I have been addressing started long before A4A and will be around long after A4A is just a memory.
As for ebay wanting to be the biggest and best...well, if there is a way for ebay to help the sellers, that is it! Our success partially depends on ebay expanding its horizons...without that there are no new buyers and no new buyers results in a stagnate marketplace.
I've been with eBay 3-1/2 years and quit frankly, BEFORE they became public and got soooo BIG, it was a much BETTER place to buy, sell and trade. I could go into a whole list of reasons why it was better then, but I'm sure you already know them all.
We DID then have a REAL community atmosphere.
kiara is quit right with this statement:
They arrive with high ideals and they don't know about the way things used to be and they accept the conditions the way they are today and probably don't question much.
So if ebay loses older sellers it is probably no big deal. These sellers know too much, saw too much and said too much so ebay may be glad to get rid of them.
posted on October 3, 2001 10:04:14 AMWe DID then have a REAL community atmosphere.
Maybe so, I don't know. As for myself, I've been active on eBay for going on four years now, and I've never really thought of it as a community. I see it as a place to buy and sell stuff- no more, no less. Either way, that was then... this is now.
The whole "community" thing causes a lot of the problems you see posted here, IMO. eBay encourages everybody to think of it as a "community", but it isn't. It's a business.
I was a manager at a national pizza chain for 4 years. Those cupons, that really the everyday price for pizza. If you look closely at any of their menues you can find the same deal without a coupon. Like 2 for 1, on the menue, its the family meal.
These promos are run 365 days a year.
There are few exceptions, like free pop coupons. Since the pop companies own most of the pizza chains, they can afford that.
But for the most part you can get the same deal without a coupon if you know how to order right.
Just rambling
posted on October 3, 2001 10:32:23 AM
Packer I have been selling on ebay for 3 1/2 years also. I never saw it as a "community" either. It has always been to me nothing more than a tool to use in my business of selling previously owned china, glass, collectibles and books. And I do agree with MrPotatohead that much of this angst is because of that "percieved" community. I'm not sure ebay was wrong in promoting it as such, but I'm not sure the "community" ever defined it the same way ebay was or is.
As for ebay being "better" then...not so sure of that either. I have always been an avid reader of the boards at ebay and here and I have seen the same complaints about "ebay doesn't care about us" then as I see now...even pre IPO.
As for ebay getting to big...are you really sure you want it the same size it was in early 1998? I know I don't. If I was only selling to the same people that were here then I would not have been able to grow my business from selling $1000 a month to selling $6000 a month. Ebay would have died if it hadn't grown.
Adapt or die is the way it is. If the tool isn't working anymore find a way it will work for you or abandon this tool and find another that will work. But wishing the tool were the old model instead of the new improved one is pointless because the manufacturer isn't going to make the old tool ever again. And the manufacturer will continue to "improve" the tool tomorrow and the next day and the next.
posted on October 3, 2001 10:37:57 AM
mrpotatoheadd:
Your right. I've been selling on ebay since almost the beginning and it was and still is, just a huge classified newspaper section online. Just a place to advertise, that's all. Our job is to place adds, their job is to attract customers. What community. I am an old ebayer, and not once have they contacted me to say thank you.
I get x-mas cards every year from many of my suppliers, not once from ebay. There is no community, just a venue, just a venue, just a venue.
posted on October 3, 2001 10:49:47 AM
New sellers may be hurting more. They come up with unrealistic prices and haven't figured out how to write a compelling ad.
I did find a few auctions for America in my category and they didn't have many bids either. It is a very generous soul that will pay $250-300 for shipping on a large piece of furniture to participate in these charity auctions. I know we couldn't afford it. I would have to specify that the item is for local pick-up only. Why should the seller pay the shipping? They are donating the item?
The was a e-mail address for customerservice@ebay but it is no longer valid. They make contact so difficult these days. Safeharbor is the only e-mail address that seems to work. Their response is always disappointing though. I have no idea why I bother with Safeharbor.
Sorry Packer, I left one "s" out of my e-mail address. I am trying to type too fast. It is [email protected] I did a test and this does go through. Thanks again! DE
PS: E-Bay shouldn't allow the sale of gas masks because it gives the user a false sense of security and can cause a person to smother. According to an expert, one has to know which filter to use for biological or poison gas. There is a special filter for each. Many times we will find out too late after the attack has occurred. The gov. requires a day of training for the use of gas masks because people have died when they have not been used properly. These are being sold to families with children and could cause a child to smother if not supervised by someone that knows what they are doing. I am surprised E-Bay allows this. I certainly wouldn't want to be a seller of items such as this and be hit with one of these lawsuits waiting to happen.
Amy, protecting a piece of property with a security deposit paid in installments is different than a free relist if the item doesn't sell the first time. They have the potential to get more income with a final value fee if the item is sold. My mother would say "a half loaf of bread is better than none." We may all have to settle for a half loaf till times get better and that includes E-Bay. E-Bay will feel the decrease in business just as some of us do. End value fees on $0 is $0.
posted on October 3, 2001 10:59:21 AM
Free Relisting would be fair thoing to do, but please dont count on Greedy bay. The Auctions for America was not done out of the kindness of their heart beleive me. eNay ios now all about profit........ Thjye could can less about the small retialers and small fries listing items. they dont need us anymore
posted on October 3, 2001 11:00:02 AM
This might be why all the local Surplus stores sell the gas masks with a disclaimer calling them "novelty items." Of course, that didn't stop the stores from selling out completely.
posted on October 3, 2001 11:38:34 AM
Daleeric...you used the example of your tenant paying the security deposit in installments first, not I. If, in fact, that example was not relevant to what I or you were discussing, why did you mention it? When you mentioned it you must have thought there was some analogy to ebay and free relist, no?
Ebay already gives us a free relist...we get our listing fee back if the item is sold the second time around. Yes, I would love it if it was like it was 3 years ago and you got one free relist even if the item didn't sell the first time around, but I'm not so sure it would be a good idea now.
Paying up front to relist and getting the fee back on the back end if the item sells forces the seller to evaluate the item carefully before relisting it. It keeps the listings from being swamped with items that won't sell.
It is open to abuse. Even now it is possible to abuse the free relist. All one needs to do is change the item being sold. I know someone who keeps careful track of all the auctions she has listed in the past 90 days. Every item that didn't sell is relisted after 30 days has passed (so there is no evidence that the prior item was relisted) but with a different item than was listed before. This way she reduces her ebay fees. but if the second item doesn't sell she is still out the listing fee for the second item.
Bring back totally free relists and I bet there would be many, many more people who would take the time to do what she does because there would no longer be the possibility they would pay for the relist if it didn't sell.
I doubt if she is the only person doing this now...and with totally free relists she would be one of many. It doesn't hurt me personally so I don't care...its up to ebay to find her and stop her, not me. But I can see why ebay would not want to start doing totally free relists and if I were them I wouldn't either...it would have a bad affect on the bottom line. They wouldn't be getting the listing fees they normally would and would be making the loaf even smaller.
posted on October 3, 2001 12:49:07 PM
Amy, I think it was you that mentioned landlords don't give free rent to a Mom & Pop store or any incentive. When times are hard people give all kinds of incentives to buy their products, sales, coupons ect. I gave the example because we are landlords and did give a couple a break when they were having a difficult time.
To whomever mentioned it, the DMV and laws do regulate the manner in which a vehicle may be operated in each state. If you sell a car and withhold information about the condition of the vehicle that may harm someone, bad brakes ect- the seller may be liable. Not to sell gas masks is a personal preference. These reports are coming out on CNN and whoever watches may reconsider before buying. I also don't want to give anyone a false sense of security or cause someone to be hurt since instruction is required regarding their use. I also don't want to be stuck with an inventory of gas masks after the panic passes as well!
Some sellers are saying that E-Bay has the worst sales of all auction sites right now. They are doing better on Yahoo and even on their own web site. I have certainly noticed my hits decrease remarkably. I don't mind paying for an auction when my item has a fair chance of selling but we seem to only get the bargain hunters after the auction has ended. It is very depressing.
posted on October 3, 2001 12:57:59 PMI also don't want to give anyone a false sense of security or cause someone to be hurt since instruction is required regarding their use. I also don't want to be stuck with an inventory of gas masks after the panic passes as well!
Then don't sell them. I fail to see why any of your reasons for not wanting to sell them are also reasons that they should be banned from eBay.
posted on October 3, 2001 01:09:19 PM
"As for ebay getting to big...are you really sure you want it the same size it was in early 1998? I know I don't. If I was only selling to the same people that were here then I would not have been able to grow my business from selling $1000 a month to selling $6000 a month. Ebay would have died if it hadn't grown."
The problem is the growth was too fast when they went public. The site was already steadily growing prior to that. Now it appears the growth is over, and there are just not enough buyers for the 6+ million listings. It's nice that your sales have increased as the site has increased, mine have been steadily declining for the last 3 years.
Otherwise, I agree with you Amy on the other points you mention.
posted on October 3, 2001 01:30:04 PM
WELL PUT!!
It seems to me lately e-bay has been way to friendly for buyer, The auctions for america are great (and i 'am selling some there ) But I think the buyer should pay shipping ,after all seller is donating item and has to pay postage on top of it just which adds to cost , Now of course if you could get post-office to donate shipping ( NO I"AM NOT DRUNK !) that would help a lot. as far as free listing I don;t know if thats ansewer (you have to have the buyer ) But they could maybe lift fees completely on relist up to maybe 3 tries on item
just my 2 cents
