posted on February 15, 2001 05:36:55 PM
This just in:
eBay sent this e-mail to you because your Notification Preferences indicate that you want to receive information about Special Promotions, Offers and Events.
You are subscribed as [email protected]. See below for instructions on how to unsubscribe.
Because of steadily growing demand for Collectibles on eBay, we’d like to reorganize the category to make things easier for both buyers and sellers. Our proposed plan is to reorganize the current 93 Collectibles sub-categories with 14 new sub-categories on a new and improved Collectibles hub page.
Buyers will be able to quickly locate their areas of interest and easily find the items they want – without having to surf through those items they are less interested in. Sellers will not only find it easier to list items, but also attract more and better-qualified buyers for their goods.
This plan was developed with input from many current buyers and sellers. Now it’s your turn to preview the categories and give us your input by February 28th. As this is just a proposed category structure, we will carefully consider you comments and then post the final version of category changes reflecting buyer and seller input.
To preview the new sub-category pages and provide comments on your areas of interest, just click on the links below:
Advertising
Animals
Animation & Art
Coin-Op & Casino
Cultures & Religion
Decorative & Giftware
Disneyana
Historical Memorabilia
Household
Militaria
Paper & Writing Instruments
Pop Culture
Science & Exploration
Transportation
In addition to the above, a few sub-categories may be consolidated with other categories. These include Photographic Images, Bears, Fishing, Weird Stuff,
Model Railroads/Trains, Banks, and Breyer. Click here to view the proposed moves for these categories.
We hope this new category structure makes finding and selling items easier, while building stronger communities with services and content that reflect the unique interests of collectors in each area.
posted on February 15, 2001 05:45:46 PM
this surprises you?
of course they have their finger on the pulse of things.................that doesn't MEAN that they have any genuine motivation to improve ebay *conditions*. Go read the Dress Lodger about the 17th century. Nothing's changed EXCEPT the speed at which information travels!
Be glad You don't have Cholera!or maybe
Be glad you don't have AIDS!
posted on February 15, 2001 06:38:55 PM
Packer, you may wish to edit your post, if you get my drift.
I'd like to add that that message, or a form of it, was posted on the AB. The thing that stands out the most to me is where they say: "We would really appreciate hearing from users that like the proposal. We would really appreciate hearing from users that like the aspects of the proposal." (and this is a paste, they actually stated it twice like that!)
I guess thay don't like hearing opposing comments! I suppose this is so they can say that ...The overwhelming majority of comments we recieved were in favor of these changes...
FYI - eBay has been working on the Collectibles categories for months now. This certainly has nothing to do with the co-op talk on these boards. I was sent these new proposed changes several weeks back by the person in charge of the collectible categories. Ho-Hum
posted on February 15, 2001 11:34:57 PMI guess all our co-op talk has them worried.
If eBay is worried about the co-op dialog then I might be more cynical than I realized. I hate to be a wet blanket but I see it as a Tom Thumb vs Goliath battle. Looooooooong odds is putting it mildly.
posted on February 16, 2001 02:24:13 AM
I am surprised to see that mail. A couple months ago they changed around most of the categories in which I list tools and not only did not have the courtesy to ask me about the changes - they did not even tell me the categories were changing that I had active auctions running in. I logged on to find all my items moved and dumped into one "General" category with little thought and NO notice at all. I am sort of cynical about how genuine the question is or if it is just to validate what they have already decided.
posted on February 16, 2001 04:46:39 AM
I got spammed by it, which means that they IGNORED MY PREFERENCES AGAIN!
And I have never seen them make ANY changes to a category from comments made about these "preview" pages. It's an exercise in PR, as the book sellers can tell you, and the changes are alerady programmed and ready to roll out. Like it or not, what you see is what you are going to get.
posted on February 16, 2001 05:59:42 AM
Indeed the collectibles category revamp HAS been on the table for months. The fee increase was not a response to Yahoo!'s fees. ALL of this stuff goes through a long process of analysis and reanalysis and overanalysis and then starts back at the beginning again and does it over and over until they think it's as good as it's gonna get for them and for us. Of course, that doesn't mean it IS perfect, but that is the process.
In many ways, they suffer from a process paralysis. On the other hand, that's come because of some of the badly handled errors of the past.
That is not to say they aren't monitoring the co-op threads, because they are. They're paying pretty close attention, as a matter of fact.
So Packer, you are correct when you say "eBay is WATCHING US". I got a call earlier in the week from them, and they knew all about it.
posted on February 16, 2001 07:43:24 AM"eBay sent this e-mail to you because your Notification Preferences indicate that you want to receive information about Special Promotions, Offers and Events."
I just got this email too. I've seen this recent threads about eBay changing people's preferences at will and figured it had finally happened to me, too. But I just went and looked and no, my preference for emails about Special Offers is still "NO". So why did I get this?
posted on February 16, 2001 08:00:35 AM
It just goes to show you can't trust a single thing eBay says.
Can you just imagine what might be happening with our credit card numbers, etc? Whether this sort of thing happens because they're merely inept, or because they're inherently dishonest, hardly matters. We deal with the outcome either way.
posted on February 16, 2001 08:07:26 AM
"until they think it's as good as it's gonna get for them and for us".
Sorry Toyranch, I agree completely with the first part of that statement, but the "for us" went out the window with the IPO, never to return I'm afraid.
posted on February 16, 2001 10:08:02 AM
BTW - I found this statement by eBay quite laughable.
This plan was developed with input from many current buyers and sellers.
The reality is, this plan was developed with little or no input from buyers or sellers.
Sure eBay holds numerous conferance calls, has their top secret little Voices meetings, and in the end they do what works best for them, period, end of story.
The current Collectibles Manager has been with eBay since last June, that's right, less than a year.
The Collectibles categories are a friggen mess, and I told her just that. In less than a couple hours of snooping around I pointed out numerous areas that were redundant.
And now the NEW category under Decorative & Giftware:Wade Figurines
Dumb-Dumb-Dumb
The only reasoning I can see behind creating duplicate categories for the same damn items is that eBay then forces sellers to list in 2 categories. If there's some other idea behind this, I fail to see it, or understand it?
Oh ya, like we need TWO categories for Royalty items on eBay. Duh.
I also pointed out a few collectible items that although have hundreds of items listed each week, don't even have their own category.
Beswick Pottery was one, which has more items listed each week than BOTH Carlton categories combined. I was told they would create a Beswick Pottery category. I won't be holding my breath.
I also mentioned Holt Howard ceramics, that are also very popular on eBay, yet have never had their own category. I'm not even sure she knew what I was talking about? I sent her an auction of an HH Pixie container that was over $400 with days left in the auction.
The Collectibles categories are in a sad state of affairs, and I wish like hell eBay had done some serious house cleaning *before* they started screwing around with the recent changes. So much for that.
On a positive note, the Collectibles Manager did agree with me that after taking a closer look, I was correct, and that there were some serious changes that needed to be made, and she also asked if I would assist in helping to reorganize some of them.
Of course since I turned down her offer to
go to San Jose last month, I haven't heard another word from her.
posted on February 16, 2001 03:24:26 PM
Well, it appears eBay really does read these threads. Either that or the email I just received was a big coinkydink?
Dang, now I'm never gonna get thar Pez dispenser hat.
posted on February 16, 2001 04:34:53 PM
Reddeer, I have to confide, there's a fundamental difference between porcelain (china) and pottery (which I'm sure you know). Most of the potteries have produced both. It could be confusing if someone had, say, a piece of carlton porcelain to list but Carlton only had a catagory under pottery. There are MANY porcelain collectors who seek items from a multitude of companies. Would a seller then be confident that collectors of porcelain would find their item under a pottery catagory. Certainly a seller would use the word porcelain in their description and hope that seekers would find them with a keyword search, but the idea of listing a piece of pocelain under a pottery catagory can feel wrong at the very least.
I do agree with you though, so don't be too quick to think I'm picking your post apart. I'm only suggesting that it isn't as cut and dried as one might think and making common sense distinctions in the collectables field has been a bane on anyone who has written a price guide or any work that has brought multitudes of catagories under the same cover. Try sorting out the cross over between items in the paper/ephemera and advertising worlds! A nightmare I would think.
I have to say that I was just getting used to finding the right places to list items as the catagories were. But ebay seems to be cultivating a K-mart mentality by changing the store around just when you had it memorized, and of course there's never an employee around to show you where it was moved, making each trip there starts to take so long, you either find a way to go without it or go somewhere else. To tell you the truth, I can't wait till there's somewhere else to go.
If you think you could have some ideas to make it work better, and I'm sure there's an amiable solution to these catagory problems and I'm also sure someone like you could help find it, why did you not go?, BTW, do they pay one when they enlist ones help for these things? I'm pretty sure they pay your way there and secure accomodations for you.
If it was up to me, there would be one main Pottery/Porcelain category on eBay called:
Collectibles:Ceramics:then the maker
Done, fini, end of discussion
Although 99% of what I do is sell, I try & put myself in the buyers shoes.
Now, as a buyer, what would you find easier to browse/search? Three Wade categories that are scattered about in different areas of this colossal site, or one location, where you can browse &/or search to your hearts content?
I think the answer to that question is a no brainer.
Yes, I understand the difference between pottery, porcelain, earthenware, stoneware etc-etc. But where does it all end?
Should we then micro categorize these down even further, to perhaps porcelain:hard paste & porcelain:soft paste or porcelain:bisque, and let's not forget the Brits, we'll need to add a Porcelain:Biscuit for the refined collectors?
I don't think so.
AND more importantly, do the sellers that are listing these items understand the various differences in these ceramic items? Of course, many don't.
So what happens, they get tossed into the first category the seller finds with the potters name or backstamp.
That's reality Kurt, and eBay only makes the situation worse by offering more than one category for each maker, at least in the Pottery/Porcelain categories.
Try browsing the various International sites sometime, many of the categories on the International sites aren't on the US site, or worse, the category #'s don't match up with the US category #'s.
What does that matter you say? What happens is when you PAY to list an item in *2* categories, the International sites will often times only pick up the one category.
I understand the need for growth, but not if it moves in an assbackwards direction.
edited to add:
Yes, eBay pays for the airfare & accommodations. So what? It's 2 days of MY time. It's also a 3 hour round trip of winter driving to the nearest major airport.
From my understanding the conference that was to take place earlier this month, was to discuss the new Decorative & Giftware category, which is a category I do not sell in. It was not to discuss the Collectibles category as a whole.
I have the email addy & phone number of the Sr. Category Manager of Collectibles, and she has mine. If she wants my input, she knows where to reach me.
BTW - I don't blame the current employees for the mess the categories are in, it took years to get them in the funged up state they're in, and it's going to take some major work to get them cleaned up.
It's hard to blame the new kid on the block, for something that was poorly designed years before they were even hired.
posted on February 16, 2001 08:46:13 PM
Hi reddeer, AGREED! As in the example I hatched, it would certainly solve matters if there was only one Carlton catagory (or any of the others you cited). I too, believe that ebay tends to winnow the catagories down a bit thin in some places. I think their premise has been that the further they segregate, the easier it is for sellers and buyers to isolate exactly what they are looking for, but they get carried away in some areas. Also, by doing so, I'm sure they believe that it may allieviate the instances of sellers who do not know their merchandice very well, from listing in the wrong place. Not to mention, it might encourage browsing catagories (or rather the sub catagories) since they are smaller and easier to manage. Anyone who has been selling for more than a few years knows and remembers the benefits of browsing buyers and the resulting impulse buys. Kind of the same effect that sellers hope for by encouraginging buyers to "see our other auctions". I remember the dwindling occurance of browsing catagories (not just new and ending) was a hot topic here on AW a few years ago, and many topics were posted on how to bring back browsing.
Anyway, perhaps ebay has found that rending the catagories down so far has not achieved these or whatever other goals that they had in mind. But you are right, to have any particular company or item in two or more different catagories can't be very productive. Speaking of pottery, I've always been amazed that they never had an Ironstone catagory. Especially since so many different companies produced it and so many are now collecting it.
I remember having a book at one time titled: "A Classification Of Educational Subject Matter" It very effectively broke down all manner of educational cirriculum by subject and sub-topics. I recall it was organized quite well and made finding virtually any subject of interest pretty easy. Does anyone know of any similar work with the same objective in the collectable or antique field?
Obviously you and I are sellers in the collectable and antique realm, which previously the soul of ebay, is seemingly becoming less important to them. One of my fears is that some of the collectable catagories are going to get bundled with the regular used and new merchandise catagories. hopefully I'll be gone from ebay and at a fresh new vibrant site by the time that happens.
posted on February 16, 2001 09:06:46 PM
I received a survey months ago about how e bay can better meet my needs as far a the collectibles cat goes. I guess because collectible cat.is the most frenquently used cat. for me, or I am "special", which isnt the case I am sure.
It was mostly about, how can changes be made to better suit my needs. What cats. do I use most, how can they be changed to be more productive for my business. They also wanted to know what would be the mostly useful cat. if I could create one, my responce was a NO RESERVE cat. Thats the biggest complaint I hear from bidders, is they bid bid bid and never reach the reserve of an auction. In my opinion if you want book plus you need to open a shop!!
I don't the co-op had any thing to do with the recent e mail we are receiving. They have been working on this for months now!
I was recently told that 65% of the bidders on eBay use Search, which still leaves 35% that strictly browse the listings.
I too love the impulse bidders, especially the new users that still haven't figured out that another identical item will show up in a few more days. I luv (0) bidders!
These are the bidders I try & cater to, not the seasoned users that know how to find items by using keywords to search.
Hell, I know new users that didn't use the Search feature until several weeks, and scores of purchases later.
I've had buyers with over 20 feedback email me & ask me how they could find the rest of my auctions, because I had mentioned I had several more of the same up for sale that week.
I know eBay is trying to cater to the new users as well, but IMO constantly moving, adding, deleting categories is not the way to go about achieving that goal.
I'm hoping the new collectibles manager is moving in the right direction, and it should be interesting to see how these recent changes play out.
There's a lot of work ahead, and she knows it, and with any luck by this time next year we'll see most of the redundant categories eliminated. [at least in the Collectibles categories]
As to the rest of the categories, God help us all.
IMO reserves on some items are a must.
It really depends what you sell, and in what categories. I use reserves when needed, and most times they are met very early on in the auction. With the massive amount of listings on eBay these days, half the battle is getting the bidders to look at your item.
Trust me, opening an item at $250, will not get near the hits as opening the same auction at $24.99 [with a reserve], even if the "book" value is $400.
Many times you won't get a single bid. It takes two bidders to have an auction, and once the hook is set, the chances are much better that they'll be back if & when they get outbid.
On the higher $ items, it becomes an even harder sell if you open the bidding high.
Try listing a $3,000 item at a $2,000 opening bid with no reserve. It just doesn't work.
I use reserves sparingly, but I know the price that my items should sell on a good week, and I'm not about to simply toss them up for $5 with no reserve & cross my fingers & hope the bidders are there that week.
I like giving buyers good deals, but I'm not in the habit of giving things away.
posted on February 16, 2001 10:38:13 PM
A few weeks ago someone posted a link to an ebay page that showed all the categories available with the breakdowns within (not Browse). Does anyone know where to find that?
posted on February 16, 2001 11:13:18 PM
shaani, http://listings.ebay.com/aw/listings/overview.html
I used to print this page out and make a little book out of it so I wouldn't have to spend all that time in front of the computer scanning it. The first one I printed was about 8 pages long. The last one I did was 14 pages. and that was printing it at 50% (size). Also, if you don't have cable it takes a minute or two to load. They keep changing and adding to the catagories so often I have stopped printing it. I use the Catagories-top page now. it doesn't show the sub catagories unless you click on a main one, but its much faster to find your what your looking for. http://listings.ebay.com/aw/listings/list/all/index.html
posted on February 16, 2001 11:29:30 PM
Reddeer,
I understand what your saying, I wasnt referring to that. I just think there should be a place on ebay that you can run real auctions. My experience has been is if you have good products, quailty service and feedback to reflect that, your items will bring what they are worth. And more once bidders get into the bidding frenzy.
I open all my stuff at 1.00 N/R, running for 7 days and always within a day or so get to where i need them to be. They generally always do better than I expect them to. I dont sell high dollar items on e bay, I have a shop to do that. (furniture and higher end antiques and collectibles) I really think alot of bidders are turned off by reserves. thas my opinion and we all have them : ) I use e aby to clear the shop of 20-30.00 items, for a fast turnover on those kinda items that take up space.
I buy estates and have to take the good, the bad and the ugly, to get the finer things also.I am sure my situation is very differnt from yours and others here, so my needs from e bay are different. When I buy a lot I know what I can get from the larger and better items and have a lot of fluff left over, so the items I put on e bay I dont have alot invested in it.
