eBay

mg152 · ‎10-11-2017

We had a very pleasant chat yesterday with eBay executive Sarah Brubacher. Very nice person BTW. She has assured us that ebay values & wants to keep small/part time sellers around. I’ve always believed that long time sellers of any volume are the backbone of eBay & according to what Sarah said EBay recognizes that.

This post is for informational purposes. Some will believe it & some won’t.

Have a great day my friends! 😀

Patricia
eBay member for 25 years

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎10-11-2017

The comment was MANY changes affect small sellers and show Ebay is trying to drive small sellers off Ebay. Now one was about returns and one about handling time. Interpreting those to be the most egregious examples of how Ebay is picking on small sellers is kind of fluffy.

I wouldn't look at those two buyer driven requirements and say they are proof Ebay is trying to get rid of small sellers. IF someone believes that Ebay is really trying to force small sellers off, they will have to come up with more meaningful reasons IMHO.

southern*sweet*tea · ‎10-11-2017

**General reply not directed toward any particular poster**

IMO if Ebay wanted to get rid of small sellers, they'd...just get rid of them. They'd stop advertising for sellers. No more "sell your old phone" campaigns, et. al. They would set requirements that you would have to sell X amount of items per month/quarter.

No, Ebay does not want to get rid of small sellers. They want small sellers who act like an online business. They want to be just another big box selling venue. They want sellers who absorb losses like big business. They want sellers who don't call CS every five seconds with complaints, be they valid or invalid. They want sellers who can handle things on their own. They want a "seamless" buying experience for buyers. Generic. Anonymous.

No, small sellers are welcome here as long as you toe the line and keep your mouth shut...but what Ebay doesn't realize is the thing that made them special IS the SMALL SELLER. Lots of small sellers run their businesses in the above manner. Lots of small sellers don't. ALL these small sellers are valuable, and Ebay is too short sighted to realize that. What once made Ebay special was the one on one interaction between buyer and seller. I guess with the advance of internet selling, along with a bit of entitlement from the buying public and credit card companies who don't give a rat's patootie about retail businesses, trust and personalization is a bad thing in Ebay's eyes. It's actually very, very, very sad.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

katfreikh_0 · ‎10-11-2017

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
The comment was MANY changes affect small sellers and show Ebay is trying to drive small sellers off Ebay. Now one was about returns and one about handling time. Interpreting those to be the most egregious examples of how Ebay is picking on small sellers is kind of fluffy.

I wouldn't look at those two buyer driven requirements and say they are proof Ebay is trying to get rid of small sellers. IF someone believes that Ebay is really trying to force small sellers off, they will have to come up with more meaningful reasons IMHO.

Umm...ok?

The EBay executive asked for examples of why there are those on the Discussion boards that believe EBay is trying to get rid of small sellers.

One seller responded with a well thought out and articulate answer. It may not have been what you or I would of focused on- but I thought it deserved a response.

But it was not answered.

Pointedly ignored? Maybe. Accidental overlooked in the flurry of fluff? Maybe. Guess we won’t know.

pantlandia · ‎10-11-2017

I'm in the minority and have never thought they had it out for the small sellers. Some of the changes have made it harder, but I've never thought they made the changes to get rid of us.

thenobletuckylife · ‎10-11-2017

Hi Folks,

Ever since ebay went public they will keep any seller they can that will satisfy the shareholders.

So in principle Ebay LOVES the small seller just like any other seller.

Once we get beyond that fluffinutter and artificial sweetner there is little substance that would indicate they are ENCOURAGING small sellers to stay just because they are small and they like this demagraphic group.

The truth is they want to have as little risk in the game with the highest returns possible.

ANY seller that helps them do this is welcome to keep doing it.

The key is, are small sellers smart and savoy enough to be just as profitable.

Mr C

bonnie-lass · ‎10-11-2017

I guess with the advance of internet selling, along with a bit of entitlement from the buying public and credit card companies who don't give a rat's patootie about retail businesses, trust and personalization is a bad thing in Ebay's eyes. It's actually very, very, very sad.

----

Times change. Internet selling has definitely changed. My first sales on ebay were before we had to load pictures of the items we had for sale! I can't believe (today) how many people trusted my descriptions, but I was really good at descriptions!

Now I'm really good at pictures AND descriptions. But it seems like ebay doesn't really want me here any more because I sell used/collectable/different things that may be hard to find.

nawlinsron2 · ‎10-11-2017

You remind me of my dealings on a long gone golf club selling site from 20 years ago...
...can't even remember the name.
Long story short...it was basically a digital classified...word descriptions only.
There was no paypal then...all checks.
I sold and SHIPPED at least a couple dozen clubs on no more than "I want it...check's in the mail."
Not one sale went south.
...and then along came ebay...and paypal.

d-k_treasures · ‎10-11-2017

@thenobletuckylife wrote:
Hi Folks,

Ever since ebay went public they will keep any seller they can that will satisfy the shareholders.

So in principle Ebay LOVES the small seller just like any other seller.

Once we get beyond that fluffinutter and artificial sweetner there is little substance that would indicate they are ENCOURAGING small sellers to stay just because they are small and they like this demagraphic group.

The truth is they want to have as little risk in the game with the highest returns possible.

ANY seller that helps them do this is welcome to keep doing it.

The key is, are small sellers smart and savoy enough to be just as profitable.

Mr C

Still sending out sell your phone emails with list it, ship it, get paid sure is no risk to them - since they get the FVF's and the new seller gets a different F.

But they get to keep them on the books for at least 6 months ..........

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

keziak · ‎10-11-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
**General reply not directed toward any particular poster**

What once made Ebay special was the one on one interaction between buyer and seller.

I bet we all have examples of how important and sometimes downright wonderful this can be. Right now I have a customer who bought a large lot of books which I promptly mailed to a P.O. box at the wrong zip code. He discovered this when checking tracking. He doesn't have PP so I sent him a refund check. Then the box showed up back here and I let him know I will be re-shipping tomorrow. The point is that I had several back and forth emails with him and he could not have been more of a generous soul and he appreciated how we worked this out.

Contrast with Amazon...totally impersonal. Hard to even get customers to respond to emails. They assume it's all just a big corporation.

bonnie-lass · ‎10-11-2017

This past summer I saw ebay commercials on television that appealed to me. They basically said why buy from those boring black and white places when ebay has color.

I got it. As a consummer I don't like going thru google or amazon looking for stuff. It's blah.

Ebay is fun. It can be any way.

Why oh why do they want to be the same old same old every other place is?

Ebay needs to remember that it is different, or was. They should market themselves that way.

Those summer commercials were great.

nawlinsron2 · ‎10-11-2017

The irony is that ebay is shouting out to BUYERS...they do NOTHING to attract SELLERS.
Quite the contrary...they drive sellers away with their endless "improvements" and almost total disregard for the business-client relationship.

123papapatrick · ‎10-11-2017

My problem with selling PT is the 14.5 day return requests on a $4.00 item shipped to the other side of the country. They use the item 14 days and demand return on my 15 day return policy. Always the inexpensive items. Never used "buy it now" best offer until recently. Tell my wife that is my will never sell on eBay items. Cannot get my eBay to even work half the time; says eBay not responding, long script, even Norton anti-virus drops the page due to hacking attacks. When items go through auction with 0 to 4 views and in my not sold section eBay suggests .99 cents it's frustrating on nice antiques. There is an estate auction 30 miles in the country on the 20th but I will probably not go because nothing seems to be selling. It's just a Hobby to go to local auctions; got a 300 year old claw foot couch table last week for $20.00 hand made, mint condition, carved all over, but to big to ship. No room in the house so going to use it as a work table in the garage; nice table too. Wife gets angry at me buying big items and wants it out of "her" space. My space is garage and finished basement.

123papapatrick · ‎10-11-2017

The top of table will catch nuts and bolts from rolling off.

thatsallfolks · ‎10-11-2017

@nawlinsron2 wrote:
The irony is that ebay is shouting out to BUYERS...they do NOTHING to attract SELLERS.
Quite the contrary...they drive sellers away with their endless "improvements" and almost total disregard for the business-client relationship.

That’s because they have way more sellers than they need. They’re not trying to drive small sellers away, but they are favoring sellers who offer a better buying experience. That’s definitely not always the big guys.

nawlinsron2 · ‎10-11-2017

I partially agree...but how many "better buying experiences" are being driven away by their Big Brother approach?...newbie sellers are no match for well-seasoned 100% sellers.