New lister versus Old lister - A few thoughts on the passing parade.

[richard1rst]

I remember a few years ago when eBay cancelled Turbo-Lister and told us to use what we are now calling the “old” lister. These boards were swamped with Gnarling and Gnashing and Screaming and OMGs and The Sky is Falling and other tales of woe. Now, in the face of the new lister, these same people are demanding the retention of the very lister they previously railed against.

Same thing with Paypal. When eBay bought it and demanding it be the payment of choice the was the same Gnarling and Gnashing and Screaming and OMGs and The Sky is Falling and other tales of woe. Now, in the face of the Managed Payments, these same people are demanding the retention of the very system they previously railed against.

I will admit that back in January I posted a lengthy and highly negative critique of it. Then I stayed with the “old”. The other day I found I had been converted over. I posted one item using the new lister but an existing template made under the old system. Other than having to jump through a few hoops and put up with some Mommy finger wagging (But we know better than you) to get to the HTML coding page it was no big deal. Certainly nowhere near the January fiasco.

Surely you are familiar with that “know what I can change, know what I can not and the wisdom to know the difference”. You learn to adapt and move on. Spending precious time whining about things you will never be able to change is fruitless.

Something about the darkness and the candle comes to mind.

[slippinjimmy]

I've been meaning to post something similar......

I haven't used eBay's listing tools since 22 years ago (yes the year 2000) so I never have these problems or issues but I've noticed a trend.

When eBay released SYI (Sell Your Item) 2.0 in 2002 people freaked out and wanted the old lister back because it was "so much better". We are now on the 8th or 9th iteration of SYI and every time the new version is hated and the people want the "good" old version back. Thing is, the old good version was despised when it came out.

This scenario repeats itself every time and I have no doubt than in 2024 or 2025 people will be demanding the current "new" version back because it was perfect and the new version is carp.

I've never encountered a bunch of people so resistant to change as I see amongst eBay sellers.

.

[chapeau-noir]

@slippinjimmy  "I've never encountered a bunch of people so resistant to change as I see amongst eBay sellers."

I've noticed this, too - I sell on a number of platforms and read their chatboards (or subreddits) and ebay by far has the most drama about any changes.  But most of these platforms have a younger demographic and I think they just roll with it (I'm older but learned long ago that there are battles I will fight and battles I will ignore, and there are only so many hills to die on).

[70-erag]

It's not being resistant to change, it's the time/headaches of having to adapt to new formats that basically do the same thing but just more cumbersome. More mouse clicks, more new page opens, just more of many minute tasks that add up over many listings.  

[richard1rst]

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@70-erag wrote:

It's not being resistant to change, it's the time/headaches of having to adapt to new formats that basically do the same thing but just more cumbersome. More mouse clicks, more new page opens, just more of many minute tasks that add up over many listings.  

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You will note that in my post I made reference to a negative posting I made in January. Your comments about unnecessary extra clicks was the basis of the biggest parts of my complaints.

Maybe it was just because I was working off if an existing template I did not run into those extra clicks this time, except for trying to access the HTML page.

I was hoping that the powers that be had listened to all the complaints and fixed it. I didn't see the extras clicks, obviously you did. So maybe it is a case of using templates instead of trying to list from scratch.

Just a follow up thought.

[yuzuha]

Even with extra clicks, that adds a second or two per click at most to the listing time-- hardly anything to even pay attention to.

[asset_liquidators]

But this is largely because each iteration has gotten progressively worse. Listings take longer every time they put out a "new and improved" update.

Also, while Turbo Lister was slow and clunky, you were able to work offline and also keep any old listing you wanted so when you got another like item all you had to do was add updated photos to the listing and if the item was a new in sealed box the you just had to click to list it.  It was a huge time saver.

[krazzykats]

I am resistant to change because I'm old now and don't see as well as I use to.

😽

[allthingssurplus]

The acceptance of change is one of the most difficult things we humans do.  eBay has taxed we Seller humans with change after change and literally fee after fee.  Yes those items over time will be ventured into acceptance and we will accept the things we cannot change.  Here is something I think you are missing.  The ability to adapt to all that has been thrown at Seller has taken a bad turn.  When eBay controls when and if your items are seem by Buyers based on how much you want to overpay for fees effects the ability to cope..  Never has an eBay program dictated how much money you are allowed to make.  It was always an organic selling program.  If you offer great service, presented great item at a great price and played by the rules you would shine above the rest and would experience a level of success.  Only if you pay to play will you have real hopes of making money and achieving that success.  We have tested the validity of how sales are turned off and on.  We were quick to see why we are selling 60% less on this platform month over month for the past many years.  We would and are now having a week of almost normal sales and the next week would be very low sales.  This repeats itself.  Its not the economy, our business historically does very well in a bad economy.  Its not our product mix, we sell computer parts and always have a market.  The reason for having 26 weeks of bad sales is due to eBay opening and closing the pipe of Buyers to view product.  eBay is hell bent on short term gain for long term pain.

[richard1rst]

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@yuzuha wrote:

Even with extra clicks, that adds a second or two per click at most to the listing time-- hardly anything to even pay attention to.

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That is a fair comment if you are only doing a few listings. But I bring in inventory in bulk. Last month in less than a week I added about 400 new listings and I have a few hundred more to go. That is a LOT of extra clicks.

[chapeau-noir]

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@richard1rst wrote:

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@70-erag wrote:

It's not being resistant to change, it's the time/headaches of having to adapt to new formats that basically do the same thing but just more cumbersome. More mouse clicks, more new page opens, just more of many minute tasks that add up over many listings.  

---

You will note that in my post I made reference to a negative posting I made in January. Your comments about unnecessary extra clicks was the basis of the biggest parts of my complaints.

Maybe it was just because I was working off if an existing template I did not run into those extra clicks this time, except for trying to access the HTML page.

I was hoping that the powers that be had listened to all the complaints and fixed it. I didn't see the extras clicks, obviously you did. So maybe it is a case of using templates instead of trying to list from scratch.

Just a follow up thought.

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Just some observations on my own:  I've listed both with templates and without - it takes me no more time one way or the other, just when I used the classic listing form with and without a template.  Templates make everything quicker.

Since I tried the beta (and sent in my feedback, which was responded to) and was an early opt-in to the form, I've seen all the extra clicks and noted (and gave feedback) on the jumping page, page lag, etc., plus problems with the disappearing seller-created item specifics on templates (I posted when they fixed it, but almost no one read it - they'd rather complain) and missing shipping classes (first class, and someone mentioned the small USPS priority flat rate was missing). I haven't looked for the small priority flat rate classification, but everything else was fixed.

It's simply not a problem at this point.  And I did go back and try the classic form a little while ago.  Again, the only thing I miss about it is the one-paging.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

For sure.   I was telling DH today (both of us in IT & Software) that for all the complaining & screaming about change, if the site still looked like it did in 1996, that the same people would be screaming that the site needs to be modernized & updated.  You just can't win sometimes 😀.   

All companies must strike a balance between staying current, but not being on the "bleeding edge".   I don't always like the changes that eBay makes & I do feel many of them are unnecessary, but as a whole, it's important for co's, esp public ones, to stay current with their IT.  

[richard1rst]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

For sure.   I was telling DH today (both of us in IT & Software) that for all the complaining & screaming about change, if the site still looked like it did in 1996, that the same people would be screaming that the site needs to be modernized & updated.  You just can't win sometimes 😀.   

All companies must strike a balance between staying current, but not being on the "bleeding edge".   I don't always like the changes that eBay makes & I do feel many of them are unnecessary, but as a whole, it's important for co's, esp public ones, to stay current with their IT.  

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You got that right. Just a few old practices.

When I first started here gallery pictures were optional and if you wanted one there was an extra charge, 35 cents if memory serves.

I'm pretty sure the concept of "stores" hadn't been developed yet either. That means no shipping coupons. And there was no such thing as "free listings". 

Who really wants to go back to that?

As far as "unnecessary" changes - consider that with a customer base numbering the the gazillions it is reasonable to believe that some changes will be liked by some and not others. Should I be denied a change I like just because you do not?

Which brings me back to my original theme:

Surely you are familiar with that “know what I can change, know what I can not and the wisdom to know the difference”. You learn to adapt and move on. Spending precious time whining about things you will never be able to change is fruitless.

Something about the darkness and the candle comes to mind.