Move to mobile killing eBay ??

[tonycea]

One has to wonder if the move to mobile devices is killing off eBay in general with the way things are going now days ??

Wondering what you all think the future is going to hold when the majority of users are on tiny screens ??

I still sit at home on a PC, but wonder how many of the general public still do, the people I talk to at the flea markets all tell me their computer is their phone, so I don't know how well that bodes for eBay down the road.

[tunicaslot]

Everyone already knows I'm tech challenged - lucky to be able to answer my Tracfone and lately everytime I go to make a call  - a box pops up that Google is not accessible and I have to click OK - wherein it pops up a few seconds later. I'm going back to an old flip phone!

That said - 45% of my buyers were mobile. My 32 yr old has Amazon prime but he buys a lot of products on Ebay for his Monster Truck - his rc vehicles. I use to buy more on Amazon - but this year I've been coming to Ebay as there have been some great sales on books which we like to read - B3G1 or 15% off and free shipping - whereas Amazon sellers don't seem to have the deals - I pay separate shipping charges on each book.

[annindallas]

I have  a motto in life and I repeat and think it often:

I don't do Beta.

But when my total gross income for this month was $70. a few days ago, (and it still is), something had to change.

Every month there is that panic right before the bill is due. The other bills are coming. Anxiety. Staring at the bell. Nothing. Finally giving in and dropping prices. 

Low-ball offers. "Take it", I tell myself. "Take it and get the ball rolling".

And the ball rolls on. The lowest offers, and if I refuse one, the ball moves on to someone else.

This month, not even low-ball offers, after dropping prices.

Sick of panic and anxiety, I went to a common phone app to sell my items, but only via phone. You have to take pictures by phone, set up with phone. All phone. I felt forced to do it. It wasn't exactly Beta.

It was so easy, you wouldn't believe it. 

[thenobletuckylife]

Morning Kay,

Absolutely!

Even the best companies mess things up...remember Vista?

The difference is that Microsoft realized that they had really messed up on that one.

Such a terrible change from XP PRO. But they knew it was horrible and got rid of it.

The problem was many of us were stuck with it and had to pay to upgrade to Windows 7 (I am not a tech guy so I think it was 7)

Kinda like Chrysler when they introduced the K Car after the terrible experiment called the Dodge Aspen.

Mr C

[annindallas]

On this phone app, I thought,

"But where do I put the item specifics, the UPC code, international shipping, return rules? Where's the Paypal link?"

None of that. Five minutes, up and done.

No Paypal. Bank transfer or check. Buyers have three days after delivery to complain, then money is released. No hold. No games. 

I'll check out the ebay phone app today, but I'm fairly certain it won't be as easy.

[kaykeecorp]

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@annindallas wrote:

On this phone app, I thought,

"But where do I put the item specifics, the UPC code, international shipping, return rules? Where's the Paypal link?"

None of that. Five minutes, up and done.

No Paypal. Bank transfer or check. Buyers have three days after delivery to complain, then money is released. No hold. No games. 

I'll check out the ebay phone app today, but I'm fairly certain it won't be as easy.

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I'm glad the other app worked out for you! And I like your attitude! 

But I was really talking about the app from the *buyers* viewpoint tho... as a seller you have an incentive to wrestle with the eBay app and adapt to it, but what incentive does a buyer have to try and figure it out? 

IMHO- this lack of intuitive programming has *contributed* to eBay's declining sales- can't blame everything on it but it sure hasn't helped

[annindallas]

Two people in a week mentioned this site. ,The first was a 40ish woman who says she buys a lot on this phone app.

But it was a 22 year old woman who convinced me.

She can barely speak english and she buys almost everything online: Amazon and this phone app.

Anyway, I'm having fun. It's like taking an iron jacket off and feeling a fresh breeze for the first time in a long time.

[ted_200]

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@godzilla_goose wrote:

campesinoplastic2014,

You made a lot of valid points in your post.

To me, as a long time eBay user since 2000, eBay's change in late 2006 to hide bidders' user IDs is what caused me to be far less active as an eBay buyer.

As I remember back then in 2006, auctions were still quite common as compared to Buy It Nows.

eBay, by telling me that SMI (Safeguarding Member IDs) was to protect me from Fake Second Chance Offers and SPAM and the like really, and I mean REALLY, INFURIATED me because I saw it as the loss of transparency in the eBay marketplace. With the loss of transparency, there is the loss of TRUST.

As far as I am concerned, eBay didn't hide user IDs to protect me from what eBay was claiming; eBay hid bidders' user IDs to protect eBay's OWN bottom line.

What I will always remember is what one eBay user wrote back then when SMI was invoked: eBay has shown its contempt for the users.

I know that some eBay buyers LEFT the site right after SMI was invoked because those buyers could no longer trust the eBay merketplace.

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That certainly was not helpful to the Auction format.  A LOT of stuff they've done before and since wasn't helpful to the Auction format either... from "Accepted Payments" policy, to Best Match.  eBay wants to do mass market NIB consumer retail at fixed price though, I think they were just fine with undermining auctions, even thought it necessary. 

Someone was talking "mobile", they have 45% mobile on eBay.  Industry, and eBay, claim over half is "mobile" these days.   If you sell otter boxes, I bet it's a lot higher than half!  I sell collectibles at auction, for collectibles in a demographic where mobile penetration is not nearly so high... my "mobile" is usually only 10% to 15% (according to eBay, but I have little confidence in any "data" they give me), and it's not because I'm not "optimized".   It's because my buyer demographic doesn't shop much on phones.  If eBay gets mobile % even higher - without expanding the entire buyer pool - that's bad news for me, it means my buyer pool will be shrinking.

[godzilla_goose]

ted_200,

If eBay's intent going forward is to "kill" eBay auctions, then eBay knows it is going to alienate a certain segment of the eBay buying population who come to eBay for the excitement and opportunities that eBay auctions bring.

Fixed price and Buy It Nows cater to different buyer demographics who don't want to wait to buy so it appears to me that eBay sellers have to be selective of items IF they want to list them using the auction format.

I don't know but I would surmise that auction listings should NOT be written to cater to mobile users whereas everything else that doesn't go by auction format should be written so that it is mobile-user "friendly" since items appropriate for the auction type buyer is from a different segment of the buying population who are less inclined to use mobile devices, like smart phones to BID.

NOT being a mobile device user, my belief is that those who use mobile devices in the brick-and-mortar world are likely doing their comparison shopping while in the store would likely view listings for NIB consumer goods as opposed to collectibles and vintage goods so if you are an eBay seller who has these kinds of goods available for sale, then it might behove you to make your listings mobile-user "friendly" going forward.

As an aside, I just dug up an eBay thread that I think is going to be helpful to those eBay sellers who want to know more about selling mobile:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Mobile-Optimized-Descriptions/td-p/25417010

[annadryl]

I only use the app for that little "ch-ching!" which let's me know to get to a computer. Now that notifications are wonky, and not a priority among worse hiccups, well...

I know that apps are the future and all, but until they fix it I wouldn't dream of using it for business. For other things, yes, but not on buggy ebay.

[goodluckselling]

The future of buying on eBay and if they have their way the entire internet is in virtual shopping experience.  They have several virtual shopping patents and recently have purchased startup tech companies with specialty talent in these areas to create this shopping experience.

The idea is to be at home on the couch and still walk into a big box reality store and

• actually walk the isles and see the inside store in 3-D
• go to different departments instantly,
• browse different shelves (actual current layouts)
• find items of interest,  look at 3-D renderings of the product,
• being able to try the item on and see what you look like wearing a garment.
• interact for info about a specific product
• comparison shop (price, condition, location) the item across the internet and/or eBay specific
• buy and pay for the item
• The options are nearly unlimited and will grow and refine over time

doing this all right from the comfort of your home.  This is one of the reasons for the attribute requirements forthcoming.  As more and more info is gathered from Cassini, which has been happening for a few years now.   eBay will have the largest data sample from the widest and largest product gathering in the world and will incorporate all this into the new shopping experience.

By investing in the patents and hiring the brightest minds and startup companies they will almost lock up the growth of this industry and can grow it at their own pace versus the crazy speed of change that happens today.

Good Luck Selling!

[ted_200]

By investing in the patents and hiring the brightest minds and startup companies they will almost lock up the growth of this industry and can grow it at their own pace versus the crazy speed of change that happens today.

I thought you were serious, until I got to that part!  🙂

If that's really their intent (and I don't think it is... although I think what you describe is part of their "throw everything at the wall and see if any of it sticks" shotgun approach to innovation), they're off in drone delivery territory, and not thinking about competition in the retail marketplace of today (or even tommorow).

In any event, so far, they aren't locking up the future growth of this industry.  Instead they're lagging well behind it. 

...eBay will have the largest data sample from the widest and largest product gathering in the world and will incorporate all this into the new shopping experience.

That may be what they're trying to convice the shareholders of, but my shopping experience here to date suggests their huge data sample is poor, and they have even less idea about how to use it.   For all the hype about AI and learned relevancy, about the best they can do so far is try to sell me a 3 lb. bag of chili power because I bid on a 3 lb. bag of coins.  

Your virtual big box store sounds swell.  I can't imagine how long it will take that page to load if eBay writes the code for it though... 

[annindallas]

Of course ebay collects massive amounts of data. What else do they own? A few warehouses? What are they worth except for data?

Your virtual shopping experience is about as viable as drone delivery. That's not what the consumer wants. That's what you want.

[annindallas]

Problem with ebay data is, by the time it's calculated, it's obsolete.

[tonycea]

LOL, by the time eBay programs all of this, all the sellers here will be bankrupt, eBay's data is meaningless, sales are what counts and eBay is dead in the water right now.

[goodluckselling]

Not everyone is capable of thinking outside the box.  Your post proves that.  It sounds like you are throwing ideas against the wall.  You know as well as any other experienced seller that selling online is far from selling retail.

Without being able to think outside the box one can not understand that buying important patents, promising startups and their talent. it is very easy for a company like eBay to control the growth of their industry.

Without being able to think outside the box one would have a hard time understanding how to use the data beyond the eBay platform.  eBay will not just be a platform for small sellers to sell off their finds.  ebay wants to be to connecting piece to big box, famous brand name stores and bring there data and buyer base to a broader selection and make the experience of doing this at the forefront of shopping online.

It is not all about eBay the marketplace.  It is about how, when, who, where, consumers around the world can and will shop in the future