New eBay Message page layout ... not good

[mr_lincoln]

Just saw this new Message page layout pop up.  Confusing as all get out, it does not flow like the current page because instead of a column for member IDs they stuck the IDs above the title of the message.  Not sure what the unnecessary colorful Birthday or Special occasion balloons are for but like many page layouts they waste space.  I see like 7 1/2 Messages on this layout compared to like 12 on the existing layout.

I clicked back to the current page layout ASAP.  This reminds me of some Facebook page ... layouts.

Humans do just find scanning down a vertical column of IDs but this layout confuses that entire process.  Ahhh, how does one SORT by member ID????  I guess they didn't think of that.  I wonder if the colorful balloon column can be sorted but not sure why anyone would do that other than to group like balloons if one is into that sort of thing ... okay, I admit that was sarcastic, but this kind of programming serves no purpose other than wasting value programming time. 

[hartungcards]

When I discovered you couldn't sort messages by balloon color, I immediately switched back to Classic View, and opened a ticket with "The Back Office."  They're supposed to get back to me soon.

[stainlessenginecovers]

by 'balloon' are you referring to the colored circle with an 'M' (etc) in it? If so, is that the first letter of the author (ebay sign in name?) 

[itsjustasprain]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

by 'balloon' are you referring to the colored circle with an 'M' (etc) in it? If so, is that the first letter of the author (ebay sign in name?) 

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If the user has an avatar (like my pitcher image) then I assume it will appear there. Otherwise it probably does default to the first letter of the user ID and some randomly-chosen color. Ebay does like their eye candy.

[12345jamesstamps]

Not good...awful....I have to do these combined shipping refunds and this is like a nightmare figuring out all this new eBay message layout. I tuned out this morning on eBay.

Had messages left and right today from buyers....

Can't they fix what is broken...'combined shipping'....and the 'shopping cart' where buyers ask for total shipping of more than one item? Or does eBay need that .40 eBay fee for those buyers who can't figure out the combined shipping thing.

[tinsoldierunderground]

I'm just a buyer and I don't like it at all.... they can't fix what's REALLY broken, so they 'fix' what isn't.

[1786davycrockett]

@mr_lincoln 

And notice that the icon for "Sent" messages is entirely absent!

I use that regularly to send related listings from my eBay inventory to new buyers, which had been previously posted to earlier buyers.

With the new format, I have to scroll page after page after page of my previous comments, in order to find the right email.

While I also had to do a lot of scrolling with the "classic" view, there were more items per page, with less of the "carnival atmosphere" on the "new, improved" version.

What a stupid waste of time!

[chapeau-noir]

Awwww...they made it like Paypal has been for the last 10 years. 😻

[ittybitnot]

@mr_lincoln 

Did they take away the "report this message" feature again? 

[dnasilver]

We immediately went back to "classic view". Whoever came up with has never operated a business. They have no idea what streamlining, limiting steps, and convenience mean for a business. It is colorful and cute, but we are interested in simplicity.  eBay needs to fix what is broken and stop changing things that actually are business friendly. 

[wilsonharborsales]

This is part of the new 'promoted user targeted ads campaign'.  These are ads that are proven to generate revenues from daily users for the site.  Beta testing has proven good conversion on promoted user targeted ads campaigns, so you may have to live with the inconvenience.  However, if you click onto the ad and sign-up for the service, that particular ad will disappear.

[fbusoni]

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@wilsonharborsales wrote:

This is part of the new 'promoted user targeted ads campaign'.  These are ads that are proven to generate revenues from daily users for the site.  Beta testing has proven good conversion on promoted user targeted ads campaigns, so you may have to live with the inconvenience.  However, if you click onto the ad and sign-up for the service, that particular ad will disappear.

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I reckon that's not the only  thing that will disappear.  

[fbusoni]

The irony is that instead of playing with html and color codes, eBay engineers could be doing some coding that might actually help sellers.

What a strange company eBay is.

[wilsonharborsales]

eBay largely changed direction two years ago.  The company appears to be more focused on generating revenue from their customers (eBay resellers).   So primary focus is product development which they can sell to their customers (eBay resellers) to maximize revenues.  This is stated clearly in the earnings calls.   There is a disconnect where the customer (eBay resellers) are demanding better value and more visibility and the company (eBay) is focused on maximizing revenue from their existing customer base (eBay resellers).  eBay is now able to generate revenue on the site whether or not a reseller is selling items.  This is the basic concept of a SaaS model (Software as a Service); you charge your customers for the service regardless of whether or not their business is successful as a result of your service.  By doing this, eBay has successfully been able to plug a hole in declining revenues caused by dwindling buyers and platform competition ... simply by charging their customers more to use their platform.

I would expect that more products will be made available to eBay customers (resellers) and that those who choose not to purchase these promoted products will see a gradual decline in gross revenues.

[mr_lincoln]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

by 'balloon' are you referring to the colored circle with an 'M' (etc) in it? If so, is that the first letter of the author (ebay sign in name?) 

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Collect the right balloons and you can spell Happy Birthday!