tomwiii
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posted on May 2, 2001 08:17:59 PM
Is YOUR Auction Mgmt S/W Provider prepared? (lol!)
From eBay's Announcement Board
*** Changes to the Sell Your Item Form ***
Over the next several weeks, we will be making some changes to the Sell Your Item form aimed at making the form easier to use and streamlining the listing process.
The following changes will be rolled out over the next few weeks:
* Login prior to accessing the Sell Your Item form – You will now be required to log in before moving to the Sell Your Item form. This ensures that you are registered as a seller before getting to the Sell Your Item form, and also enables greater customization of the form.
* Integration of eBay Picture Services into the Sell Your Item form – Currently, you must go through the process of adding photos before getting to the Sell Your Item form. With this feature you will be able to add photos to your listing as you complete the form. You will still be able to use alternate photo hosting solutions, if you choose.
* Additional changes – We will also be making some text and formatting changes to make the Sell Your Item form shorter, clearer, and easier to complete.
* Attention Auction Management Users and Developers *
The changes to the Sell Your Item form may impair third-party auction management tools that pull data from the Sell Your Item form. Please contact your auction management software provider if you have any questions or concerns about whether these changes will impact your software.
Developers: To obtain more information on this upcoming change please click here.
Regards,
eBay
me added the bold! sorry, couldn't resist!
[ edited by tomwiii on May 2, 2001 08:19 PM ]
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vargas
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posted on May 2, 2001 08:41:54 PM
Thanks for the heads-up! I will stock up on valium.
I really find these constant changes to be the single most frustrating thing about online auctions-- and the single biggest impediment to listing on eBay.
I really could list more and sell more if eBay would leave well enough alone and stop causing problems for my third party software. Each of these changes wastes my time as the software works improperly until the developers catch up with eBay's silly tweaks.
Of couse, if I make more money, that means more money for eBay.
(Hint, hint!)
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redskinfan
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posted on May 2, 2001 08:51:37 PM
I bet ten dollars ebay will crash this weekend.
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sugar2912
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posted on May 2, 2001 08:55:57 PM
Man-O-man...
I noticed when listing tonight that I wasn't able to get the cute little gif to show up in my "location". I wonder if that is one of their improvements, to limit the number of characters in the city and state?
Now what if I decided to move to "Krungthep Mahanakhon Amorn Rattanakosin Mahintara Yudthaya Mahadilok Pohp Noparat Rajathanee Bureerom Udomrajniwes Mahasatarn Amorn Pimarn Avaltarnsatit Sakatattiya Visanukram Prasit, Thailand"... It just won't fit in the space they give!
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AnonymousCoward
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posted on May 2, 2001 10:10:24 PM
IMHO (and only that) they are doing it on purpose to discredit all third party software vendors. Sellers will get fed up with having to upgrade their software every week. When their market research shows the timing is right, look for eBay to start their own fee based management programs. A complete copy of AW's services, but direct from eBay. How else are they ever going to reach the revenue projections Meg promised to Wall Street? They need new revenue sources and third party services feeding on eBay are targeted for extinction.
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eleanordew
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posted on May 2, 2001 10:27:17 PM
But, I thought Ebay did have a propriety auction management system -- didn't they take over Blackthorne for that very purpose? Of course, I haven't heard very good things about that action either ....
El
"The customer may not always be right, but she is always the customer."
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laptopper
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posted on May 2, 2001 10:36:27 PM
2 Things:
sugar2912:
That "cute little gif" you refer to is the kind of thing that is so totally unnecessary and slows down page loading. Trust me, NO ONE is interested and/or entertained by these type gimmicks. Maybe it makes you feel like you're in show-biz or something, but I don't no anyone who isn't annoyed by that crap.
Thank God most sellers don't waste our time with these, but I have to say, stupid gifs in the "location" spot are a real pet peeve and if this latest change by Ebay makes it difficult or impossible to do this, than THREE CHEERS FOR EBAY!!
Secondly:
I use photopoint and am extremely happy with their service. I would NEVER switch to Ebay's pic service. I think it blows. Does anyone think Ebay will evetually mandate use of THEIR pic service. I sure hope not. Their greed is making this auction stuff more and more unattractive and inefficient.
[ edited by laptopper on May 2, 2001 10:39 PM ]
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ecom
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posted on May 2, 2001 10:59:39 PM
I love eBay speak:
The log-in prior to selling will let us track you better. That's what "greater customization of the form" means . . . cookies will track your every move on our site.
eBay pic hosting integration . . . stay tuned for another fee for pic hosting. Afterall, it takes up valuable server space that could be used for other optional fee features!
Additional text and formatting changes will help us identify, torment and license third-party program providers.
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birdwatcher-07
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posted on May 3, 2001 05:41:19 AM
This was such a transparent attempt by eBay to frustrate and/or put third-party providers out of business, I almost had to laugh. That quote, "This ensures that you are registered as a seller before getting to the Sell Your Item form, and also enables greater customization of the form" really got me. What's the big deal about being sure I'm a registered seller before I even get to the form? Is the boogie man going to pop out and get me if I am unregistered and I access the Sacred Sell Your Item Form? 
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mballai
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posted on May 3, 2001 06:26:38 AM
I doubt very much that third-party software people would have much of a problem making the necessary modification. eBay has steadily made changes for quite some time.
Creators of software know perfectly well that changes are inevitable. What you might think is a big issue or ploy by eBay spells job security for many programmers.
Maybe what you don't like is that you have to download and install an upgrade? Get out the violins.
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rubylane
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posted on May 3, 2001 07:53:36 AM
Forcing a login does make it considerably harder for third-party tools to use eBay's form. I'm not saying this is the reason they did it, but as a developer I can say it does create a significant hurdle compared to having the userid and password on the form itself.
Jim
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mrpotatoheadd
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posted on May 3, 2001 07:58:08 AM
If eBay wants to make "improvements", I'd prefer to see them in the areas of site stability and faster search indexing, but what do I know?
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MUSICMAN12533
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posted on May 3, 2001 08:54:11 AM
log on BEFORE you get to the seller form?
weather you log on before or after the seller form you still cant list anything before you logon,so whats the difference?
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barbug
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posted on May 3, 2001 09:53:29 AM
I've gone from running hundreds of auctions a week down to only one or two a month. Between the decrease of sales prices & the increase of work required, it's hardly fun anymore. I wish they'd leave it alone.
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vargas
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posted on May 3, 2001 09:57:59 AM
Maybe what you don't like is that you have to download and install an upgrade? Get out the violins.
No, what I don't like is that the changes go into effect before the programs have been updated.
Then after I've downloaded and installed the upgrade, there's invariably some bug that screws up everything for days to weeks on end.
So, while we're waiting for the programmers to upgrade their software -- then fix the bugs-- we have to spend time devising temporary workarounds until all of the kinks are worked out.
I'd rather spend my time making money... for me and for eBay.
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srfnfshn
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posted on May 3, 2001 10:00:54 AM
All I can say is thank goodness I'm going on vacation. All but one auction is over and I'll be gone while my software developer is playing catch-up.
I'll adapt when I get home.
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magazine_guy
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posted on May 3, 2001 10:01:15 AM
eBay owned Seller's Assistant has access to eBay's API (if I recall correctly), so users circumvent the selling screen entirely. A couple of the larger third party service/software providers have paid to access eBay's API as well. It's pretty pricey.
Seems to me that adding a log-on before accessing the selling screen will slow down most third party software considerably.
eGads!
http://www.capnwacky.com/eGad/main.html
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CAgrrl
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posted on May 3, 2001 10:12:01 AM
birdwatcher- LOL! Yes good point.
mrpotatoheadd- I agree 100%
I get angrier each time Ebay does something like this. If they are out to kill the 3rd party software developers, the least they could do is come up with a product that MAC owners could use. They are killing my software with each change but not even giving me an alternative that would benefit them.
I am glad to be pulling out of online auctions in the near future.
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thepriest
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posted on May 7, 2001 07:17:15 AM
interesting thread - thanks
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tomwiii
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posted on May 7, 2001 08:01:17 AM
Goshes & Gollywoompers Chipper-Monkees!
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twinsoft
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posted on May 7, 2001 02:54:58 PM
eBay announced long ago that it would be creating its own API, and yes it's expensive. I asked Vrane.com about it and they said they'd need to charge about $400 per user if they were to buy into eBay's API. Every time eBay makes a change to their forms, all third-party software goes haywire. The other side of the coin is that there is probably a security issue that eBay isn't telling us about. Until now, they've pretty much left the back door open for anyone to enter.
So what if eBay locks out other auction service providers? They've got their own auction management software. Why should they allow the competition to hawk their wares on eBay's site? Come on, this is America, not HappyLand.
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