In reality, who are eBay's customers ??

[hcslots]

I know who my customers are:  they buy my stuff.   They give me money, I ship them items.   If I do not pay attention to my customers, they will buy from other sellers. 

So... what is eBay's product and service? Who is paying ebay money for them?  Who should eBay be listening to in terms of their own performance? 

Here's a hint: my buyers are not eBay's customers.

[thenobletuckylife]

Mornin,

When Ebay went public they, then and there, knew that making the stock holders happy was their priority.

Many of us thought that they would remember the small guy...but in fairness...we should have realized it was a fantasy.

Once a company goes public priorities always shift. Some of us end up doing well...some get caught in the undertow and go along for the ride for a while and others simply sink.

It is what it is.

Mr C

[themagicmountain]

There is a big  problem that faces all small businesses and that is the Amzon monopoly problem. Wall Street decided it would support monopolies that help them control retail. It's really dangerous.

Everyone else in the marketplace, including Ebay and therefore sellers on Ebay, is having problems trying to hold their own against this illegal monopoly. Now Amzon even owns some of the media to try to control public opinion and avoid monopoly-busting

Blaming Ebay is not addressing the big problem

Everyone who cares about their small business needs to start organizing and letting legislators know that Amzon's illegal monopoly is hurting them and needs to be stopped. If they keep getting more control, then no legislator will be willing to take them down, which is what Wall Street lioves the idea of. Controlling it all

The same goes for g##gle too

[baantiques]

---

@hcslots wrote:

I know who my customers are:  they buy my stuff.   They give me money, I ship them items.   If I do not pay attention to my customers, they will buy from other sellers. 

So... what is eBay's product and service? Who is paying ebay money for them?  Who should eBay be listening to in terms of their own performance? 

Here's a hint: my buyers are not eBay's customers.

---

The answer is simple.  The the customer/provider relationship is defined by who purchases what from whom.

Sellers are Ebay's customers.  WE buy a service from Ebay.

Buyers are sellers' customers, not Ebay's.  If there were no sellers, there would be no buyers.

[dhbookds]

---

@hcslots wrote:

I know who my customers are:  they buy my stuff.   They give me money, I ship them items.   If I do not pay attention to my customers, they will buy from other sellers. 

So... what is eBay's product and service? Who is paying ebay money for them?  Who should eBay be listening to in terms of their own performance? 

Here's a hint: my buyers are not eBay's customers.

---

Would they have bought from you without ebay?  Would they have found you on another site......or on your own website?

Similar to a mall.........ebay attracts a wide variety of customers who are shopping for "something"........like a mall, ebay requires things of their "renters".....in order to preserve/enhance the integrity/ reputation of the "mall" for the benefit of all who sell there.  When someone signs a lease, they are agreeing to those rules/regulations in a mall, likewise when they list on ebay....  

[luckythewinner]

---

@hcslots wrote:

I know who my customers are:  they buy my stuff.   They give me money, I ship them items.   If I do not pay attention to my customers, they will buy from other sellers. 

So... what is eBay's product and service? Who is paying ebay money for them?  Who should eBay be listening to in terms of their own performance? 

Here's a hint: my buyers are not eBay's customers.

---

The problem with this (endless) debate is that too many people get hung up on the word customer that they fail to recognize that ebay actually serves two distinct populations. 

The service that eBay provides to sellers is a platform to list their items for sale, present them to buyers, and facilitate a sale. This includes running a 24/7 website, hosting the items, managing listings auctions, and communicating the progress and results to the seller. 

The service that eBay provides to buyers is a platform to buy the items they want. This includes running a 24/7 website, hosting the items, managing listings and auctions, and communicating the progress and results to the buyer. It also includes providing a money-back guarantee to encourage buyers to trust the transactions on the site. 

The "who is the customer" debate is a red herring that is intented to force participants to pick one of these two distinct populations and label them the "customer" based on who gives money to whom, and conveniently ignores the reality that both of these populations are necessary for eBay to work, so it really does not matter what  arbitrary label you choose to put on those two populations. 

[llllady]

Who are eBay's customers is an easy one to answer.

If you place a paid ad in a newspaper, you are the newspaper's customer.  If you sell that item through the ad, the buyer is your customer. 

eBay is a "venue," not unlike a newspaper but with a different type of exposure.   You pay eBay fees to use and sell on their site. Therefore, you and only you are eBay's customer.  Once the item sells, the buyer is your customer. 

Unfortunately, eBay has a skewed view of who their customers are, and that is why they cater to buyers. 

[swenson8781]

---

@dhbookds wrote:

---

@hcslots wrote:

I know who my customers are:  they buy my stuff.   They give me money, I ship them items.   If I do not pay attention to my customers, they will buy from other sellers. 

So... what is eBay's product and service? Who is paying ebay money for them?  Who should eBay be listening to in terms of their own performance? 

Here's a hint: my buyers are not eBay's customers.

---

Would they have bought from you without ebay?  Would they have found you on another site......or on your own website?

Similar to a mall.........ebay attracts a wide variety of customers who are shopping for "something"........like a mall, ebay requires things of their "renters".....in order to preserve/enhance the integrity/ reputation of the "mall" for the benefit of all who sell there.  When someone signs a lease, they are agreeing to those rules/regulations in a mall, likewise when they list on ebay....  

---

What a great analogy, never thought to view it that way, but that is spot on! eBay is a giant online mall.  

[z50com]

I am an eBay customer!

I pay them over $400 a month for services rendered. . .

For some strange reason eBay seems to think MY customers are THEIR customers!

Now Amazon can make that claim since they pay their sellers bi weekly from Amazon sales.

[z50com]

OMG! Look what the cat dragged in!

It's been a while. . .

Are you in Ohio or Kentucky these days?

[18704d]

eBay's customers, are both the sellers who get the exposure to list here

and the buyers who come here to buy, with the confidence that eBay provides them (MBG)

Lynn

[odditiesandantiquities1]

---

@18704d wrote:

eBay's customers, are both the sellers who get the exposure to list here

and the buyers who come here to buy, with the confidence that eBay provides them (MBG)

Lynn

---

I disagree. Sellers pay for the priviledge of listing items.  People who come into eBay to look around are not buyers. They only become a buyer when they make a purchase. Who they purchase from is the seller and they become that sellers customer. Ebay brings in browsers...not buyers necessarily.

[geotouloupos]

Here is what i think.. Please read carefully:

1. Sellers are ebay's customers.

2. Sellers have 3 main types of customers:

a. Companies or business people located in different countries or areas that buy and resell to their local market with the traditional way (not online). 50%.

b. Other ebay sellers (who also have an account acting as buyer account) that buy from ebay sellers cheaper  and resell on ebay or amazon in higher prices. 25%.

c. Normal people. (oh yes) 25%.

3. Conclusion: Ebay needs every responsible seller on ebay from the smallest one to the volume seller. If you loose the model the tower collapses.

Ebay has already made the mistake focused on volume sellers. They increase prices and create a monopolio on certain categories. For that reason normal buyers are moving to other solutions. 

[18704d]

And
Without buyers, sellers will remain here and new ones will come, still hoping to make sales

Without sellers  .. this will never happen.
As long as buyers come here with money to spend, sellers will follow.

jmtcw,

Lynn

[nawlinsron2]

ebay is a glorified WalMart greeter who hands out maps at the world's largest flea market, and doubles as a security guard.
Sadly for the booth renters, the greeter has OCD with **bleep** retentive tendencies.
More sad is that the owner...Wall Street...is an absentee owner.
ebay is in no way, shape, or fashion a mall...a mall owner doesn't have a myriad of arbitrary and often contradictory rules for it's tenants to follow, and doesn't act in loco as the tenants' customer service agent.