Ebay Ruined. Their focus on Chinese Garbage ...

[kelekt]

I was looking for very specific vintage items and well...they are gone now (sellers moved on to Facebook and their own websites). There used to be so many amazing VINTAGE / Antique / Rare Find Collectible things to choose from on Ebay and now: GONE.

Ebay is so foolish it's astonishing.  the ONLY thing Ebay had over other sites was VINTAGE / Antique unique/rare/collectible finds . . .it's truly the ONLY thing Ebay had over other sites. . .reducing that category by losing the sellers of those wonderful rare finds is idiotic. 

[simba6]

There is still a lot of that. Just keep looking.

[kelekt]

it's not just one category, either. it's very noticeable - the decline of great collectibles! I follow some groups on Facebook who used to be Ebay sellers and now focus on local sales...Ebay is stupid as you know what.

[simba6]

Buying habits have also changed a lot since eBay started. So, could be some lack of buyers too.

[kelekt]

no...change in offerings changed the buyers who bothered coming here. Antiques and Vintage are HOT items. they are. always will be. if you only offer garbage cheap imported "stuff" that is the kind of customers you attract...know what I mean?!  it's easy but only for those who think about it 😄

[lconway50]

As an Ebay buyer of vintage jewelry I am beyond disgusted.  I used to buy a lot more items on Ebay but the search engine became horrible and frustrating so I mainly just buy vintage jewelry; however, for the last few days every time I search for "vintage necklace" almost every listing is just cheap new junk and the listings even state "brand new".  If I wanted new I would have searched for new.  I share in the frustration and sentiment that most of the people that I talk to about ebay state "it has become to difficult to search their site for the items I want".  I am not about to search page after page of "new" items to find a few vintage jewelry items.  I don't understand why ebay insists on constantly changing things that were working but not fixing the things that don't work.  It just doesn't make sense.    

[kelekt]

agreed. "beyond disgusted" ...me too.

[mudshark61369]

@kelekt ,

I buy mostly vintage items as well, and using the word "vintage" in an ebay  search, has never guaranteed that you will not get new items mixed in with new ones. On the first page of a search result just above the first listing there are filters for New and Used, if you select used the new items won't be displayed.  

[kelekt]

I do click "Used" and narrow my search to USA - but my point is that I notice the number of items listed in many vintage & antique categories dwindling by the day.  

oh well, I do know where to shop elsewhere but it just baffles me that Ebay would rather push mass produced imported cheap junk (TERRIBLE for the environment) rather than what it was uniquely known for - second hand, used + collectible vintage and antiques (Eco Friendly Shopping!)

[flo_mingo]

why should buyers continue the frustration of trying to "find" something on eBay? It was always a "hunt" for treasures but now it is an act of futility of trying to figure out how to find something, when eBay changes the search Matrix every week,  Like any good sportsman, buyers are going to take a look at the environment and if the conditions are not right for the prey they seek, they move on to new hunting grounds,. Such is the case with ebay.  The ebay serach engine is barren and there is no profit to be made here. 

[marascahair]

I personally think their biggest mistake was splitting with PayPal. I sold something yesterday and first they said I'll get my money 1 day after delivery, which would be Monday. Now they're saying October 28th, 12 days from now. I won't even need the extra money by then. They won't release funds for shipping either, I had to use my last $20 for that. And there's still no guarantee that I'll get paid. The buyer could be a scammer and request a refund, and they'll give it automatically. Since ebay started handling payments themselves, it's gone downhill. I've been selling since 2013 but now I finally have my own site, this will be my last time buying or selling on eBay. It is highly unprofessional now, and I don't like my money being played with. 

[chernobly41]

You are correct. Ebay had a Unique Niche market with Antiques, Vintage Items etc. All those Unique Sellers grew tired of Ebay's constant policy changes, Increased massive fees, Loss of Paypal and working Capital and being ripped off. They simply moved to other platforms. The bottom line is nobody is willing to list valued items on here anymore as sellers are fearful of being ripped off. 

[mudshark61369]

@chernobly41,

There is one person who can be held responsible for the state of affairs on this site, its former CEO J. Donahoe.  When he took over in 2008, one of the first things he said was "I'm going to rid the site of its Garage Sale atmosphere".   The second thing he iterated was: "people want to buy new brand named items not old junk". It was he who made the deal that enabled chinese junk to be sold on ebay.

Ever since 2015, his more or less hand picked replacements, have pushed his vision of how the site should be structured. Since he sits on the board of PayPal now, I would say that he somehow was instrumental in ebay not renewing their contract with PayPal and starting their own Managed Payment system. Which is and will be the reason many of the sellers of vintage and unique items leave the site.

[1tuna]

I am unsure what JD had to do with ebay and paypal but ebay was dumped by paypal

paypal did not want to renew the contract

I am often reminded of one of his famous quotes about ebay

"we want all the buyers we can get......even the bad ones"

[dariudaudery_0]

Chinese should not be on eBay in my opinion.

There are plenty of chinese sellers on sites such as Amazon, Aliexpress, Alibbaba and such. Leave eBay alone please.