posted on September 4, 2000 07:38:51 AM
Is it because they are big and have power?? All big corporations have power...I LOVE EBAY!!
I guess if one:
1. follows ebays rules
2. is an honest seller/buyer
3. offers a good item as described
4. treats the buyers as we would want to be treated
5. use a little common sense and decency as one would with any business
then......
one would do okay.....
but if one is not happy with one store, then one is certainly welcome to go to another store to do business. It is the way business is run in America...
but personally.....
I LOVE ebay!!!
and I like yahoo auctions also
posted on September 4, 2000 08:14:44 AM
The problem with eBay is usually among those who do not understand technology, online auctions, the realities of the marketplace, or that we live in an imperfect world that is getting worse before it is getting better.
eBay has shown a tendency to defer to large companies at the expense of the people who make their business what it is. This is not a good sign. They need to put more effort in building buyer and seller relationships and less effort into trying to be a super marketplace octopus that grabs at every bandwagon that passes its way.
posted on September 4, 2000 08:31:01 AM
It's not so simple. I was an unabashed ebay cheerleader for many months. I still like ebay a lot. However, there are many faults with the direction it seems to be taking.
Are you aware of the targeted banner ad debacle of a couple of months ago? If not, to recap, ebay was placing banner ads on the listing pages that were directly competitive with sellers. For example, if I were to type in "power drill" in Search, lo and behold, in addition to all the power drills for sale on ebay a banner for Ace Hardware would show up on the page -- these banner ads were directly competitive with ebay sellers and the purpose of them was to draw customers away from ebay. (the resulting outrage and hard work by many dedicated individuals caused this policy to be modified)
What does that say about ebay management that they would sign an advertising deal like that? It says "screw the sellers". If one hostile ebay policy doesn't affect you today, another one might tomorrow. The fact is, the ebay brass have very little regard for individual sellers. I don't think they specifically plot to screw anyone, but that they don't seem to really care for the concerns of their customer base (sellers) who have made ebay the multi billion dollar company it is, is upsetting. There are many other things, large and small that can be cited as evidence that they run ebay with little regard for the well-being of customer interests.
Their customer service is so dismal that they don't even have a telephone number to call on their site. Emailed quesries get canned, unhelpful responses -- or worse, ignored for days or altogether.
Is that characteristic of a giant corporation? Well, maybe, sure. But must I like it?
posted on September 4, 2000 08:33:14 AM
I LOVE EBAY TOO....BUT....I work hard my my money...2 part time jobs and this one. I need and expect all I can get and have coming to me for my DOLLARS spent.
It is a little unsettling to spend extra money to ebay for "feature category", "gallery" and "BOLD" only to have those features not function properly. For every minute of every hour that these features don't work I'm loseing potencial DOLLARS.
With the MILLIONS of listings that they have the SEARCH function is just about the MOST IMPORTANT feature they have. As we speak it is "not functioning".
Yes! I'm ready for a little eBay bashing.
They have my money I WANT THE SERVICE!!!
Having a BAD hair momemt! ...
posted on September 4, 2000 09:08:57 AM
LOve your photo!!!!
I just don't usually opt for all those frills unless it is a really costly item I am trying to sell. I have a lot of repeat bidders...
re: Ebays customer service....at least we get a response....they don't have a ph. # probably because of how big they are but I have never sent an email without getting a response. It may not have been the one I wanted but I got one anyway...not so with some of the other auction sites.
Re: greed and big business....
unfortunately, that is the way of the world....
posted on September 4, 2000 09:20:36 AM
While I can only speak for myself, and will do so further on, many people have spoken out over changes and the manner in which the changes were made.
The list includes, but is not limited to, eBay Motors, banning of guns and gun related items, same for wine, forcing the iescrow issue complete with Press Releases knocking sellers, reserve fees after suggesting reserves to protect against site outages, competative banner ads, books banned from other than the book category, the broad "Adult Items" issue, the dolphin/tuna incident, inadequate and inaccurate postings on the AB, discouraging or disallowing fee refunds that were promised in the User Agreement, misleading information about site stability and a long list of actions that some felt were abusive of the core users.
Some of these actions by eBay impacted a large percentage of users while other actions were more narrow in the number they effected but severly damaged, if not closed, their businesses.
I view the relationship between eBay and sellers to be similar as that existing between a developer/owner/manager of a RL Mall and the individual shops that rent space in the Mall. To the extent this comparison is valid then a certain business relationship or partnership exists for their common goals.
Where the Mall owner dominates the available marketplace, shop owners as a group have little choice but to use the location or suffer limited business opportunities if located elsewhere.
The history of eBay, the community concept, the implied promises contained in eBays Mission Statement printed even today in the employee handbook and the general relationship between company and users would have to be examined and then each individual could reach their own conclusion as to how the present top management is meeting it's obligations, to whatever extent obligations exist, to the core user group.
My personal feelings are expressed in an earlier post which I repeat below.
"I love eBay, both the concept and the actual process, I love the buyers and ,in particular, the sellers who have directly and indirectly, given me so much help and encouragement.
I have found all the eBay employees I have been in direct contact with to be nice people trying to do their job.
I have some substancial issues with some eBay policies and I often react strongly in any number of ways.
I am often guilty of expressing myself without making it clear that my concern is about the attitude reflected in administrative change, for which I hold the top management responsible, and not the collective eBay that includes the concept, employees and users.
Thus the apparent conflict when I can say, in the same sentence, I love eBay and eGreedy(the top mangement) is, in my opinion, deceitful, untrustworthy and destructive of the core users."
Hope this provides some insight as to why I and maybe some others occasionally speak as we do in opposition to elements of eBay.
posted on September 4, 2000 09:24:13 AM
I like eBay too! But, there are many things that eBay could do that would help out a lot of Buyers and Sellers from having problems - especially in the area of Fraud. However, their idea of "improvements" are adding a Chat Room!
With such a great need for a more stable platform for eBay's custoemrs and the "let them eat cake" attitude of eBay management, it is little wonder that eBay's stock has fallen over 50% since this last Spring. Maybe, just maybe, eBay stock holders are reading AW . . .
posted on September 4, 2000 10:04:48 AM
If you had been on eBay back when I joined in January '98, you would understand where all the bashing comes from. The decisions that have been made, in the last year especially, have been very anti-seller. Since they were having excessive amounts of downtime, they advised sellers to use reserves. Then they started charging $1 for that priviledge. If you are a seller running several hundred auctions a month, this added up to big money. So now it cost you to protect your interests against THEIR problems. And of course, this was after Meg had promised us that Uptime was their #1 priority and a hot back up system was just days away. That was over a year ago now and we are still plagued with numerous outages.
Had a question? Just pull up Live Support and you could get a helpful pinkliner who could at least steer you in the right direction, if not fix the problem entirely in a few minutes. What Customer Service exists now is pathetic and if you dare try to e-mail them several times to get a CORRECT answer, you are blacklisted from SafeHarbor.
There was a time when almost every auction sold, or at least had multiple bids. Check out any category and see if that can be said today. But a fee increase is around the corner and sellers will continue to pay them, regardless of the decisions eBay decides to follow to make it even more difficult to earn a living there.
*******************
That's Flunky Gerbiltush to you!
posted on September 4, 2000 10:32:27 AM
The reason I recently told eBay to take a hike is because of the one-sided trials their VeRo thing uses to 'convict' who they believe to be violaters. For the most part, the 'investigation' they conduct is simply reacting to another eBay member's email. In a 'real' investigation, they would try to get both sides of the story. In most cases, mine included, they don't bother to contact the victim at all, and, in my cases, I have written proof from the copyright holders that I am (was!) authorized to sell the applicable items.
I'll bet that I could arbritrarily pick just about any auction in the movies/tv category, send eBay SafeHarbour an email telling them that the item violates their VeRo policy, and I could have the auction closed. It would be very easy for me to interfere with someone else's auctions, and quite unanimously at that. I suspect that is what happened to mine.
On a positive note though, out of the 6 auctions they canceled last week, 4 of them have been completed 'off eBay' with zero listing and selling fees ... Alert bidders, I suspect, writing my info down before the VeRo bandits did their thing ...
posted on September 4, 2000 11:27:55 AMwhy do people bash ebay?
It's like a national pastime now.
------------------------------------------------------------ I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive Even the signs seemed to tell me otherwise http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/preacher4u/
posted on September 4, 2000 11:40:03 AM
RE: why do people bash ebay? Maybe it's because we feel like we are walking the wrong way down a one way street with traffic coming at us at 100 MPH. Cases in point...
The whole banner thing smacked, and still does to me of hypocracy. In ebay's own rules it says you cannot post banners that redirect potential bidders/buyers off of the site, but isn't that what the banner program they have going is doing? They are being paid by other companies to do this, but aren't we paying ebay as well to get the very same buyers?
I also agree with RB about the way they are handling the whole VeRo thing; guilty until proven innocent it seems. I too was involved in such a deal and STILL cannot understand why I cannot sell an item that does not violate ebays "guidelines" and was legally procured. In many instances that I have read about items being VeRo'ed, including my own, I genuinely cannot see any harm being committed to anyone, yet sellers are still being denied the chance to sell these goods, all because someone got upset at the PERCEIVED, if UNPROVEN, infringment.
As mballai and jamesoblivion said, a business that forgets what made them successful in the first place is asking for trouble. With ebay seemingly looking to expand their bottom line at the expense of the sellers, the site may soon become nothing more than an online refferal service, and a short-lived one at that!
Non-existant and/or slow services that never seem to help anything or anyone.
Restrictions and difficulties on recouping losses from bidders backing out.
Features that don't work and certainly do not help get an item sold when they are down.
Being put under the microscope due to some bidders complaint, valid or not, while ebay ignores reasonable requests for credit due to system outages that THEY say most certainly did not happen.
I could continue, but what would be the point? To quote mballai- "that we live in an imperfect world that is getting worse before it is getting better." reminds me of something that my Dad told me...
"Do the best you can with what you got. Complaining helps nothing, but it sure does feel good for a while. Just make sure you stop complaining and get back to work after you've said your peace."
posted on September 4, 2000 02:48:16 PM
EBay has been bery, bery, good to me, I admit they do a lot more things right than wrong. My big worry is that for all intents and purposes they are a monopoly and that bothers me a bit. A recent article in NY Time said eBay had a 90% share of the online auction market. When you've got that much clout then its dangerous for consumers. That's why I whine, nag, criticize, and complain. My wife taught me those skills.
posted on September 4, 2000 04:01:43 PM
I don't like every little thing about ebay, but it's a GREAT moonlighting job for me. I am also using Amazon now and there is no comparison, since they seem to be trying to undermine their auctions by hiding the Auction tab on their home page. My success there has been via their "take it price" option; I don't think I had more than one auction with actual bidding.
I also use half.com, but again, it's just a totally different venue. I feel better now that I don't have all my books in one basket, but ebay is where I do most of my business.
posted on September 4, 2000 04:05:13 PM
I bought an item from Amazon auctions and was the only bidder. but met their starting price. After the auction ended, the seller canceled the auction....Amazon said they could do that. When I looked back at their feedback......that seller had done that many times before...1st and last amazon buy for me!!!
posted on September 4, 2000 04:19:18 PM
Because its easy. Not everyone here is computer or internet savvy so when they can't get into eBay or can't log on they blame everything under the sun.
When they can't sell their crap, blame everyone. They can't stand up against competition so they blame everyone under the sun. Heck there are people here who spam, get caught by eBay & when on a rampage. Of course, there is always radh monthly prediction of the end of eBay but his postings are kinda cute so we all love him or her.
If there is any consolation, people bit*ch about Yahoo & Amazon too. The only site where people love are Goldsauction & Auctions.com. Everyone loves the underdog with 10000 auctions.
posted on September 4, 2000 08:57:07 PM
It's an odd numbered month- Radh is pro-Ebay these days- she read a book where Meg was quoted as saying a few pro-little people things in front of a reporter 2-3 years ago and now believes Meg is the only one who cares about the small seller.
posted on September 4, 2000 09:07:38 PM
Some people just can't resist to bite the hand that feeds them. Me, I love Ebay. I have a hobby, some extra income and have been able to meet some folks that share the same interest as me. Some people have more at stake than myself and therefore take it more serious than I.
posted on September 4, 2000 09:41:48 PMSome people just can't resist to bite the hand that feeds them.
Sorry, I do all the work. Ebay is a conduit. Do I owe cheerful support to my car which drives me to the post office? Or the classified ad in the newspaper through which I sell my item, for that matter?
No, you don't owe support to your car but you do take care of it, don't you. You change the oil....put gas..maintenance. Your right, Ebay is a conduit. People use it, make their money, and then complain when the system has to be upgraded or goes down and they can't continue to make money. That's why people bash Ebay.....because they have to bash someone. Ebay would be a lot better if there wasn't so many wannabe business people who don't even know the meaning of customer service. Now, your probably going to say EBAY needs to be more customer service oriented, but you already said there just a conduit....Moneymoneymoneymoney.......
Alert bidders, I suspect, writing my info down before the VeRo bandits did their thing ...
