Thank You for reading this post - This post is an opinion based on my selling and buying experience here - I have been buying and selling on ebay for 15 years - I've seen the good and it appears the bad is out-weighing the good to the point of crushing the medium, small and part-time seller - As a venue, the decision-makers have outdone themselves in making this site a point of contention between sellers and buyers, sellers and sellers and sellers and ebay - If sellers do not band together and take a stand at some point, it will become an unusable site for the casual / part-time seller.
Before I get to my main point, First and foremost, sellers must STRIVE to take what they are doing seriously in order to help maintain confidence in the site - Take the "Boardroom" out of the picture and this is in fact a community! - I was purchasing collectible lots to add to my collection some 6 months ago and stopped buying due to the unbelievably poor shipping/packing methods of valuable collectibles - I simply quit buying as well over 50% of the product I received was damaged or overstated. Its hard to blame ebay for taking a buyer-centric stance given my experience - If that was the end of what complaints I had as a seller(though the policies have been poor in thought and implimentation), I would be saying GO ebay! I have little sympathy for those who reap what they sow.
Problem is, I use the site to sell more than I buy, and ebays attempts to protect buyers is the very least of my worries. To get to the point quickly, amongst the many worries I have, the most egregious current ebay noose is the "Premium Placement" Program - It is simply-stated, the drop off on the way down the "slippery slope" and it shows so clearly the method of operation for revenue generation this site have become mired in - If any seller buys into this egregious back-pocket pilfer and money-grab they are quickening the rate of decent to a degree that will eventually bring about their own ability to thrive as an ebay seller - Using the program would be relative to the type of decision-making that has led the site to its current state of decay - decisions based on short term gain at the expense of long term vision and sustainability. Mark my words, if you are taking part in this program, you have put the noose around your own neck and their recent policies and programs have literally funneled you to this point...
I would not be able, for the life of me, to understand anyone who could in good conscience use this program - The site is FALLING APART at the seams with UNFATHOMABLE glitches and problems; Preference is given to cheap overseas products from sellers with 93.8% feedback ratings scaring away buyers who come to the site; the search is BROKEN or worse yet, DESIGNED to a degree that there are no words to explain the complexity of the problems; The decision-makers have eroded the confidence in the site to a degree that, in a time of precendent setting online sales growth, they are falling further behind the herd everyday. They take and take and give less and less back using the human drives of "Fear of Loss" and "Hope for Gain" in most nefarious ways.
For which one of these disreputes are you willing to give them more of your hard-earned money? or do you simply say, its the best place to sell and I'm willing to take whatever edge I can get? Tell me, how long do you think it will be the best place to sell if you keep rewarding poor decision-making and egregious dispespect with your hard-earned money???
While other sites, through long-term vision and customer respect, have found ways to increase revenue by become more palatable, offering real benefits and reasons to use their site, eBay has mired themselves in the muck of the only way they know to increase revenue - to PILFER IT right out of the back pockets of those who use the site - they just keep squeezing and taking with a sense of indignation, contempt and entitlement - constantly proving there is no line they arent willing to cross.
This is a line we should stop them at - The idea of pitting sellers against each other to try to build up the "TRENDING RATE" is unbelievable - In analogy, you can equate it to creating a marketplace where a mass of people need to clamor over each other to try to get that next morsel at the expense of self-respect and community - the more you clamor, the smaller the morsel gets to the point where you dont even realize there is no gain for your struggles - Do you not realize if everyone was paying the fees for Premium Placements you would have the exact same placement you have now????!!!! Where does it end?????
So tell me, is this the path you had hoped for when you paid those hard-earned dues in good faith to the venue? That they would use those dues to create a marketplace that can so easily squeeze you out? Because thats whats happening - If you choose to take part in this program, it will be yet another line they have crossed and if you are concerned with nothing but the little short term gain you can get from it(?), rest assured there will be another line...
