Was anyone planning on participating? This was the first I had heard of it. Seems to me, with the summer slow down that this would be a good time for sellers to boycott. (Would eBay even notice???)
This site is calling for a buyer's boycott as well, why would buyers be miffed enough at eBay to boycott?
posted on August 2, 2001 07:59:24 AM
I'll be gone anyway, so it'll be an automatic involuntary boycott for me.
Personally, I doubt buyers would care. Most buyers don't have a clue as to all the restrictions, additional fees, and headaches sellers have to deal with. They just see cool stuff and bid on it.
One of my buyers last month nicely asked why I don't take PayPal? I explained the fee structure and horror stories I've heard of accounts being frozen, chargebacks, etc. He replied back that if/when he starts selling he'll just add a blurb to charge an additional fee if you're paying by PP. I then explained how that's against both PP and eBay rules. He had no idea until I told him. So most buyers are ignorant of the fees we're charged and problems some of us have had to deal with.
I know that even after I became a seller, I was ignorant of a lot of the "problems" until I discovered some online auction message boards and read what others were saying. When I was a buyer - I was totally clueless.
[ edited by mar30 on Aug 2, 2001 08:00 AM ]
posted on August 2, 2001 08:17:39 AM
thanks for the heads up should be a great time to buy cheap for when things pick up in the fall.
So yes I will be particapting as a eager buyer.
spock here......
posted on August 2, 2001 08:33:04 AM
The English cricket team used to have a batsman called boycott.
He was just like this idea, useless, ineffective and a waste of time!
Bob, Downunder but never down.
posted on August 2, 2001 08:40:50 AM
Boycott the week of Aug 12 - 19th? And list all the stuff you would have listed then the following week?
And the point of doing this is???
Don't get me wrong- eBay is not exactly going out of the way to create a seller-freindly atmosphere on their site, but unless you are prepared to take your auctions elsewhere, a boycott will have little (if any) impact.
And if you are prepared to move your auctions to another site, why haven't you done so already?
posted on August 2, 2001 09:05:47 AM
I hope ya'all figure out that eBay hoses sellers for a reason- because it can. For eveyone of us that might leave there is someone to replace us.
eBay values buyers and will do little to alienate them. Buyers are what eBay has monetized and used to bring in large corporations, not sellers. The buyers show up on the balance sheet, not sellers, only our fees show up on the balance sheet.
eBay will also do everything it can to separate sellers from buyers ala Half.com. Buyers are an asset to eBay, sellers are a mere utility for eBay to use as it sees fit.
posted on August 2, 2001 11:36:01 AM
[i] I know that even after I became a seller, I was ignorant of a lot of the "problems" until I discovered some online auction message boards and read what others were saying. When I was a buyer - I was totally clueless.[i]
I'm a buyer considering making the leap to the selling side, and I am learning so much on these message boards. I'm gaining some valuable insights and strategies that would have taken me months to aquire through trial and error methods.
A Thanks to moderator Joice for the Smilies and UBB thread - I was wondering how you guys did all that. Above is my first attempt to italize. Can't wait to post and see if it works.
As for an Ebay Boycott, I think it would be a futile effort. Another thread is talking about forming a Sellers' Co-op of sorts, and I think this would carry much more weight. Imagine, Organized Sellers (Rue the day!). I'll come back and post that thread here when/if I come across it again.
Rosie
"There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious"
posted on August 2, 2001 11:47:12 AM
I'm all for being constructive, as opposed to destructive...
Sooooo... I spend an hour/day working on the alternative site that I support: Carnaby
I think sellers gradually moving inventory over the months (and yes, YEARS!) to other sites will have a much more profound effect on BetaMax...,err...I meant 8Track....,err! Whoops I mean eBay!
posted on August 2, 2001 12:16:18 PM
Moving to another site will do no good. You have to be able to move your buyers to another site.
eBay is doing everything possible to prevent sellers from branding their business.
As I mentioned in another thread, no buyer says they purchased item y from seller x. It is always - I purchased it on eBay.
We have allowed eBay to shove their branding onto our customers. That is why no links are allowed, and there are size limitations on icons on the auction page, and email is regulated by eBay.
As huge as sales have grown on eBay, there is not one seller who has been able to independently brand his/her business on eBay. That is, not one seller is known by user name and/or products from sales on eBay. Your items and your work all fall under the name eBay in the minds of buyers. This was no accident. It is even worse at Half.com, and eBay would love to have the auctions be as sewed up as Half.com is, where seller and buyer contact is kept to a minimum.
edited to add- If I have noticed this, large branded retailers have also. They will not risk losing brand recognition by selling on eBay.
[ edited by REAMOND on Aug 2, 2001 12:24 PM ]
posted on August 2, 2001 12:47:42 PM
Count me in! I've only listed 1 item since the free listing day anyway. I'm gearing up for the fall and not listing during this slow time anyway. And what I do list is on it's way to bargainandhaggle.
This might at least bring some attention from ebay but only if sellers and buyers cooperate. No other boycott worked because no other boycott was ever planned and organized in advance. No other boycott worked because we as sellers never supported each other. Shame on us! We deserve whatever ebay gives us or takes away from us.
posted on August 2, 2001 03:32:56 PM
Deco, are you saying that your not listing what you weren't going to list anyway will somehow affect ebay? Guess I'm missing something. I think that the only boycotters will be like yourself. I also think that even if every one of the tiny population that reads boards boycotted, still wouldn't be a drop in the bucket. The vast majority of the buyers and sellers just go on buying and selling, pretty unaffected by what are really pretty reasonable fees. (even if you add paypal and auctionwatch)
posted on August 2, 2001 04:19:15 PM
I would like to see some intelligent and hopefully calm and rational, discussion on this question:
Why should buyers care about the fees that sellers pay to conduct business on eBay? Do consumers care about the overhead of any B&M business?
Why should buyers care about the time and effort sellers put into managing their auctions? Does the seller care how hard the buyer had to work to earn the money to use to pay for the eBay item?
If eBay suddenly cut its fees in half, would these sellers discount the winning bid price by half of what the FVF would have been?
In my personal opinion, eBay is being dragged down by an increasing number of sellers who act like they are doing the buyer a favor by selling the item. I see a continuing rise in listing TOS filled with demands and very short on offering service. I see a continuing rise in downright rude EOAs/WBNs. I see a continuing rise in the sellers who are too busy to bother communicating things like payment received, date shipped, etc.
I am sure, of course, that no seller on these boards is guilty of any of the above, but I buy enough items on eBay to notice these kinds of trends. I think fees are a convenient excuse used to justify all sorts of behavior that is simply rude. These sellers should worship at the altar of eBay everyday because they could never make it in a face-to-face job with the negative entitled attitude which is so clearly demonstrated in the way they conduct business.
So why would any buyer be persuaded to back some sort of boycott when all eBay is doing is setting its own TOS...something lots of sellers seem to think is an inalienable right on a par with the Bill of Rights!
Gerald
"Oh but it's so hard to live by the rules/I never could and still never do."
posted on August 2, 2001 05:09:15 PM
I just wonder who organizes those Ebay boycotts because Ebay monopolizes auctions. I wouldn't be surprised if the initiators came from other auction sites.
Basically, Ebay was the first and they have exploited the idea fully. It's their good right. They were smart, they get the bucks. Happens all the time. Why else would Microsoft and Bill Gates be so big and rich? Does anyone stop using Windows because of that??
posted on August 2, 2001 05:33:49 PM
Amend NothingYouNeed
I have got so PO,d this summer as a buyer
(I am usually a seller.) First were snipers, then eBay shut down auctions because seller dared to offer his off eBay wares. Internet sales are Dam- little fun anymore. I sometimes wonder why I continue but then I was never too bright.
