posted on January 24, 2001 06:41:00 PM
I have reading so may negative things about ebay and I have to wonder why.
Yes, they did raise the fees but does it really have that much impact. Let's say you list and sell 200 items per month for $9.99. Your increased listing fees would amount to $10 but your volume is nearly $2000. Doesn't seem like much when you have the opportunity for the selling privilage.
There are so many internet businesses that are going down the tube. Ebay is there to last by making the necessary adjustments in their business plan.
The slower sales are not just because of Ebay and their rules. Two years ago, there were 3 million items for sale. Now there are 5 million. A 67% increase in product is bound to make the market more competitive.
I guess I am just thankful that I have a way to make a little extra money and have alot of fun doing it.
posted on January 24, 2001 07:03:17 PM
Oh Margaret! The politically correct sentiment is that ebay treats the "little user" like c**p... the nickle increase is going to push the seller of $9.99 items into the red...ebay is no longer fun.
Get with the program dear...you will be so much happier when you realize how much you are being used by ebay, when you realize you are just a peon enslaved by the monster ebay!
posted on January 24, 2001 07:04:40 PM
Plenty of the posts you're reading are written by old-timers who came to eBay when eBay was described as a COMMUNITY.
But see, that is NOT the definition of eBay.
eBay is a TOOL used by people to buy and sell.
eBay is the only successful form of ecommerce.
eBay will get alot bigger before the scales tip back in favor of the I-N-D-V-I-D-U-A-L.
I deeply respect Meg Whitman.
I am in awe of the genius of young Pierre Omidyar.
AND..... I look forward to the passage of time.
To the advent of the FUTURE.
The FUTURE of the Internet resides solely in single I-N-D-V-I-D-U-A-L-S
and not, mind you, in online multinational capitalistic corporate monoliths.
posted on January 24, 2001 07:07:19 PM
The rate hike is not my concern. Its the attitude of HOW they treat the sellers that bothers me. I pay rent and I pay it promptly (i.e. CC), and I want them to APPRECIATE my business, which makes THEM money as well as myself. I, too, am thankful for ebay...but dam, when are they going to be thankful for US by SHOWING it? Today, I got a wakeup call. Yes, I was where you are now, margaret. I no longer am "needed", nor wanted, and thats how I feel. I might be wrong, but they havent proven me that way.
posted on January 24, 2001 07:10:10 PM
I dont think the anger is just about fees. I think it is the direction ebay has taken. Their support is getting worse. They have more auction Nazis running around shutting down auctions for the silliest of reasons. They crack down on sellers for sins real or imagined while deadbeat buyers seem to abound unscathed. Did you read the thread where the power seller got a message from ebay that s/he didn't meet her monthly quota to remain a power seller? They didn't ask if there was a problem. They basically said "meet your quote or we're taking back your power seller title." Have you ever heard such nerve? Did ebay forget that the sellers are their customers, not their employees? Did you ever call one of your customers and say, "You haven't bought enough from me so I'm demoting you from good customer to bad customer?" Then in the midst of this lousy service and constant outages they RAISE fees? This is a time they should be apologizing and maybe even lowering fees temporarilly to compensate.
posted on January 24, 2001 10:13:15 PM
Ebay makes the rules and if the Power Seller didn't meet the quota then they are not Power Sellers anymore. It's not ebays fault. Remember ebay is a business that provides a service to Us the sellers for us to use their services, if they need to raise their fees to do this then so be it. I have been selling on ebay almost 1 1/2 years as of yet I have had no trouble with ebay. Outages I understand, as my computer also has outages and so does my ISP, which requires prepayment. Auctionwatch was down all weekend so I couldn't launch auctions. All I did was read their message board and wait as did everyone else that uses them. Patients is a virtue.
posted on January 24, 2001 10:36:30 PM
Very simple, the .com companies have two options. They can continue as is and shut the doors, or put in changes to make a profit and survive. Many on this message board get absolutely livid when a .com company decides to take measures to insure the doors remain open.
You want to charge us when XYZ offers is for free?!!!
Yes, can't remain open under the current structure.
So? XYZ offers it for free! You're a greedy, scum sucking company!
posted on January 24, 2001 10:51:42 PMEbay makes the rules and if the Power Seller didn't meet the quota then they are not Power Sellers anymore. It's not ebays fault.
I was the power seller that was told to "get the sales up, or youre out" and yes, it IS their fault to some degree. I am selling the same type of things today as I was 5 months ago, as I was 2 years ago. So what happened? I didnt raise my prices, or change the quality of my goods. In fact, I have LOWERED the prices, offered free shipping, given bonuses and freebees to high bidders who won. I have done all I can to make my business a success. So again, what happened? I have done nothing different. But the place where I pay rent to sell those goods HAS done something different. I have to jump thru hoops to get a credit, wait more days to get said credit, and get neg'd in retaliation once I file the forms. I have no more bidding wars, because of the watch feature and the sniping tools available. I have outages where bidding falls JUST RIGHT so that the auctions dont get extended. There are so many categories that bidders get lost. These are just a few things that have made my business go down. I dont sell new items, from a wholesaler. I dont have unlimited funds to keep a warehouse. I am not a retailer who now sells also on ebay as well as in a physical location. Im just a small seller who USED to be power seller due to my EXCELLENT sales that have fallen and instead of offering to help me and keep me in business so THEY make money, they tell me to take a hike (in so many words). So what am I to do? Smile and say "its ok"? Sorry if I am disgruntled, but Im against a wall here, and I have tried my DAMNDEST to keep going on the place I have been selling in for 2 plus years and no matter what I do, it isnt working anymore. No, Im not a power seller anymore, but it DAM sure isnt ALL my fault because I am still trying to survive and it scares the CRAP out of me that I wont.
posted on January 24, 2001 11:33:04 PM
Can I ask what advantages there is to be a power seller? In the year and a half that I have been selling there are less and less buyers out there. The old ones are leaving because they have enough widgets and the new ones are giving everyone trouble. Until the new bidders get it together there will be problems. I am not signaling you out Mauimoods it's Tax time and everyone is trying to figure out what they are going to do. Where I live the heating bills have doubled, just tonight on TV they said the light bill will double and house taxes have risen. Well I think priorities have changed and not just you but other power sellers will fall as will the rest of us. I see you are trying hard to keep your sales up but if there are no buyers all the freebees in the world will not help. I have 15 auctions on and only 1 bid and they end tomorrow. Items that I have sold many of but not this time. I will just go on and try again. Good luck to you Mauimoods and I hope you can get your Power Seller status back.
posted on January 24, 2001 11:41:06 PM
Libra (by the way...I am a libra myself), I dont want my PS status back because there ARE no perks. All you get is a logo and the "honor" of using it on your sales. Oh, and you get an email from them once in a blue moon telling you about ebays new stuff they are going to be implementing. Whoopee. Thats it. So why am I upset because I lost that "honor"? Because of the way they contacted me. I have been a faithful user of their site for 2 years and still am. But I deserved better than the email they sent me, and the other poster who got hers/his at the same time I did. Canned rude email saying shape up in 30 days, or ship out.
Thanks for the well wishes. I might have an interview tomorrow with a job, so keep your fingers crossed.
posted on January 24, 2001 11:43:58 PM
Also, to touch on another point, I think there are alot LESS buyers because of the negativity of online auctions shown in the news, and no counter acts of the GOOD deals found. Ebay doesnt advertise with classy ads...only negative things, like a lamp a woman thinks she suckered someone into buying and it wound up being her husband buying it unknowingly, and another ad I heard about of a dog hiking its leg on a lounger. Gee, as a buyer, that really makes me wanna shop with ebay. NOT. And, loser sellers who sell EMPTY boxes with cleverly written words to make the buyer think they are getting something other than the empty box and the buyer is scammed and ebay removes a seller who sells ART in the form of goose eggs that are handpainted from her OWN geese that she raises, but the box seller...well...lets just say its all messed up. That sucks.
edited twice for spelling and "and furthermores"
[ edited by mauimoods on Jan 24, 2001 11:47 PM ]
[ edited by mauimoods on Jan 24, 2001 11:48 PM ]
posted on January 25, 2001 12:07:49 AM
You won't hear anything negative about eBay from me.
Radh said eBay is a TOOL used by people to buy and sell. I agree except that I also view eBay as a landlord, an entity that updates with technological improvements versus the typical landlord who might put in a new wall or upgrade the plumbing.
Thus part of my time is spent in analysis: my customer base, the eBay forum, the product, the competition, the economy, the energy crisis, the weather, the seasons, the political climate ... I keep two steps ahead; I'm always thinking what might happen, how to plan for contigencies, how to adapt, evolve and grow.
Ebay is not responsible for assisting me in being a better seller. Ebay is just the landlord. I make my own way, I forge my own path, I structure my business to evolve with the landlord. I do this by reading, learning, studying, analyzing. Ebay can't do that for me. I have to do it.
I am proud to be a member of the eBay community. I am a success because of my own initiative and my own hard work. Ebay is the landlord, the forum, that allowed me to become a success.
posted on January 25, 2001 12:16:32 AM
First of all, it's not just a nickel raise to me, it's a $20 monthly raise. Where does that extra $20 come out of? My beer fund? My movie fund? My clothes fund? My childs college fund? You get the idea? It has to come from somewhere, and that is why that little ol' nickel raises some anger out of me when it doesn't provide any benefit to me. It's not going to increase my sales. It's not going to make my selling faster or easier. You know where it's going? To Meg so she can buy another condo in Bermuda.
posted on January 25, 2001 12:17:48 AM
Darcy..you said it well!
I can only add...I don't need warm fuzzies from ebay...warm fuzzies and words of appreciation from ebay contribute nothing to my business, doesn't increase my profit.
Nor do I need "incentives" from ebay in order to "sell more". "Incentives" in the form of prizes is what the girl scouts used to give us to "encourage" us to sell more cookie...or what an employer gives to encourage the sales personal to sell more.
I stopped being a girl scout eons ago, and I have NEVER been an employee of ebay, so I don't need incentives. I am an independant business woman who is self motivated and I would be insulted if ebay were to institute some kind of monthly "prize" to bribe me to sell more.
Quickdraw....when your landlord raises your rent, where does the extra money come from? From your food budget, your entertainment budget...your pocket. And instead of giving you better service for your money, your landlord gets to buy another condo in Bermuda.
Prices go up and normally what we get for that money stays at the same level as before. Why should ebay be any different?
[ edited by amy on Jan 25, 2001 12:24 AM ]
posted on January 25, 2001 08:06:31 AM
Margaret: I think most of the anger stems from the fact that ebay is not like it used to be, and sellers haven't adapted very well to the changes. The auction fad is pretty much over, the beginning of the end started when ebay went public a couple of years ago. The slow and steady growth was great prior to that, growth came from word-of-mouth, ebay didn't even have to advertise. Once they went public and had huge growth practically overnight, the downfall began. The majority of new buyers and sellers arrived at that time, and now there is really no more room for growth. There are fewer and fewer new buyers every day, sales are down, bids are down, fees are up and the sellers aren't very happy.
Ebay is branching out and trying new concepts, like buy it now, half, and the other specialized sites. They realize the auction fad is over and they have stated that they will be going into more fixed priced areas. But the sellers are still stuck on the auction concept because it worked in the past.
[ edited by jake on Jan 25, 2001 08:10 AM ]
posted on January 25, 2001 08:48:26 AM
Darcy...thank you. Well said.
Just the facts, m'am.
Your success is simply and as complicated as you just described.
thanks...
I still think the majority of the problems stem from the inability of many to LET GO of the eBay "COMMUNITY" concept.
And although I see the analogy, I do not view eBay as a virtual landlord, as I do not equate cyberspace with its RL counterpard in 3-D reality.
AMY - as months continue to pass, thousands upon thousands will come to realize that eBay is NOT a community, and plenty of them will feel shame & embaressment that they ever bought into that precise marketing concept.
Although, it will have NO impact upon eBay's ledger, I predict that the enlightening of tens of thousands of what eBay really is, will lead to their abandoning eBay, altogether.
People do NOT like discovering they've been snookered and cajoled in the Name of marketing.
posted on January 25, 2001 09:08:55 AM
Ironically, I am a landlord, also. I manage property, and give rent increases only when the owner instructs me to. But my job is to make sure the tenants STAY once here, and keep their units in fit living conditions, as well as improve said conditions on a continual basis. I dont want them to move once settled in. I want them to STAY, so I do all that is necessary to make them feel they are appreciated here, have a nice place to call home, and afford the cost of rents.
Again, I have been selling on ebay for 2 years, and yes, I am successful, but it isnt like it used to be. No, I dont expect things to stay the same forever. I also want to be treated with a bit of respect, because good business IS doing just that.
posted on January 25, 2001 11:13:10 AM
Angry? Me? Naaaaah. Depressed and disgusted, maybe. But not angry....
eBay has evolved from a site where individuals could trade with other individuals for fun and profit, to a site where businesses can set up an electronic store front.
As a bidder, this means that I end up having to pay for those businesses' overhead, whether through increased starting bids or "handling" fees. It also means that I have to frequently sacrifice any sort of individualized customer service. Some sellers don't even use e-mail anymore - everything is done via automated forms.
As a seller, this means that I am in competition with professionals who have the ability to flood categories with tons and tons and tons of merchandise at a time, meaning that I end up having to pay extra fees to stand out at all. It's sort of like trying to set up a garage sale in the back aisle of a Walmart. This may not affect the sellers who are businesses themselves, since they are used to such comnpetition, but it's death on the individual seller who is just trying to sell one or two items at a time to make a few extra bucks or clean out a closet without losing money in the process.
So, no.. I'm not angry at eBay for raising its fees and doing anything it can to remain profitable. But I am depressed and discouraged that it is no longer a place where individual sellers still have a hope of surviving.
Simply put, the eBay of today is not the eBay that was there when I joined, and I miss it -- a lot. And I really feel that there just isn't anyplace on eBay for me [and people like me] anymore.
But I'm not angry....
Barry
---
The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
posted on January 25, 2001 11:18:09 AM
amy, landlords raise rents because of inflation. They are in a business that cannot easily increase it's profits so they have no choice but to raise rents. Yes, the increase rent has to come from another fund of mine, but aprtments/homes/condos are a dime a dozen in every price range, I could easily move. Ebay is the king with no viable alternative in terms of cost and audience.
Ebay is in a position to offer services and selling aids at a premium. This increases their bottom line but only sellers who want these services has to pay the fees. A listing fee is mandatory and does not
offer the seller additional benefit.
Unfortunatey, the majority of Americans are just like you, passive and uninformed, and Politicians have used that to inflate the money supply, printing fake money, causing inflation, and then you spread your propraganda on message boards that prices must go up. Sure, whatever you say. Work harder and longer, you earned that right!
posted on January 25, 2001 11:21:02 AM
Fair enough. Then you should know that your example:
Let's say you list and sell 200 items per month for $9.99. Your increased listing fees would amount to $10 but your volume is nearly $2000. is not realistic.
How many items do you have to LIST to sell 200 per month?
Let's say you LIST 200 items per month for 9.99. That should equal $1998 in a perfect world if your sales are 100%. Frankly I don't believe that there is an eBay seller out there who sells 100%.
Figure 75% sell.
150 @ 9.99 = 1498.50
Now, how much did you pay for those items you're selling? 50% That's a fair guess. So 50% of 1998 is $999.
Subtract that from your $1498, and you now have $499.
And that's assuming that every single item that does sell is actually paid for.
Now factor in 15% deadbeats (for some sellers that is modest)
That's $224.70 that you never get out of your 1498.
499 - 224.70 = 274.30
Subtract the percentage that eBay takes from the final auction value fee and that listing fee increase no longer looks paltry.
