eBay

glasser · ‎09-28-2021

One core foundational concept of eBay is that it was started with the idea that it was a level playing field. Big time or small seller you competed equally. We are so far from that folks and here's something I just noticed.

I was looking for a small TV for the kitchen and searched for a 24" TV and what comes up first but BestBuy. Ok I could understand that a bit. However, looking at the listing BB gets to do thing we never could

Note: BB's Feedback score is not visible on the page. You need to hover over the logo to get FB score (97.6% btw, which is not so hot. in days of yore, you got kicked off below 98%).

Further note: they only offer 14 day returns and buyer pays shipping. I am always pinged by eBay when I put in 14 day returns (still allowed in some categories) in a category not allowed. I would think these two factors would impact search performance.

This makes me wonder whether in fact BB has been able to negotiate lower FVF, more free listings, etc.

Yes they 700K transactions but they shd be held to same standard as everyone else.

flyingmvp · ‎09-28-2021

@glasser wrote:

Yes they 700K transactions but they shd be held to same standard as everyone else.

Yes, but things change

Ebay turned its back on the sellers who made this venue go in favor of the sellers from china who sell trash for cheap (Amazon delivers the same trash much faster) and big boxes such as best buy who will be able to pay for Advanced Promoted Listings, until they will get tired of it.

by canceling the "level playing field" Ebay has no longer any edge over any other commerce site, buyers are leaving the venue, more US sellers will follow, they have to.

The venue will probably come up with more schemes to charge and take more fees from the sellers who will chose to stay, but I wonder how Ebay who lost the advantage it used to have ,will survive in the not so distant future.

Previous CEO (Wenig) only made $18,000,000 in 2019, the current CEO is making around $77,000,000 annually, more then 300% pay increase, what for? 🤔

luckythewinner · ‎09-28-2021

@glasser wrote:
One core foundational concept of eBay is that it was started with the idea that it was a level playing field. Big time or small seller you competed equally.

I disagree with your fundmental assertion. eBay has never had a "level playing field" for all sellers, and that has never been a "core foundational concept".

eBay has always had a "pay for play" aspect that has given some sellers competitive advantages over others.

glasser · ‎09-28-2021

@coolections I said you used to get kicked off at 98%

glasser · ‎09-28-2021

@luckythewinner going to have to disagree here. The level playing field and rationalizing markets were key values when Pierre created eBay and in the early days. It didn't matter if you sold 1 thing or a million things every seller was the same. The most you could was a power seller badge if you meet certain criteria. No fee discounts, no extra protections. Pierre also believed that no one should be looked at poorly if they had less than 100% feedback. His argument was people are doing the best they can and everyone has a bad day.

There were no pay for play elements in the early days. That came later as did other changes when bigger sellers felt they were entitled to more because of volume.

glasser · ‎09-28-2021

@dhbookds Tell that to the sellers who work hard to keep a 100% feedback and now their sales would fall if the were at 95%. Sure lots of unhappy buyers more likely to leave FB then happy buyers but the what does that say about someone who has zero negative feedbacks.

BTW, not arguing for the way feedback is today or yesterday needs an overhaul. Right now its like a system with little meaning and not necessarily illustrative of the kind of CS you will receive.

chapeau-noir · ‎09-28-2021

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
@chapeau-noir And Amazon started as an online book store. etsy started as a site for handmade, with the only manufactured goods being vintage (20 +years old) or craft supplies. I remember in the early days, a seller was given the boot over the holidays because , to meet the holiday rush for handknitted mittens (I think that's what she was making) her mother helped her. Nope, handmade by the seller meant handmade by the SELLER, not her mom.

Bezos, of course, was never going to stop with books, and never intended to. And I predicted early on that eventually etsy would want to "scale" the business, and that just wasn't going to happen with the ONLY handmade rule, so they would drop that rule at some point. Which they did.

None of this is meant as criticism. It's just the nature of business. We all live in a world of competition, and we need to adapt to the realities of the marketplace if we hope to succeed, just as ebay and the other marketplace sites themselves have to adapt to the realities of the overall marketplace.

Yes, it's simple evolution. Amazon used to be down the street from me, and Etsy was someone's social experiment. Nothing stays the same.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Wherever law ends, tyranny begins" - John Locke (Don't get distracted).

luckythewinner · ‎09-28-2021

@glasser wrote:
@luckythewinner going to have to disagree here. The level playing field and rationalizing markets were key values when Pierre created eBay and in the early days. It didn't matter if you sold 1 thing or a million things every seller was the same. The most you could was a power seller badge if you meet certain criteria. No fee discounts, no extra protections. Pierre also believed that no one should be looked at poorly if they had less than 100% feedback. His argument was people are doing the best they can and everyone has a bad day.

There were no pay for play elements in the early days. That came later as did other changes when bigger sellers felt they were entitled to more because of volume.

Your post about Best Buy getting favorable treatment was big news over a decade ago, in 2010 ... when people were posting the exact same thing about Toys R Us 🙂

onestopnerdshop · ‎09-28-2021

Much like life, it's not fair at all. They'll get better treatment, deals, pricing, etc. Guaranteed. Much like Amazon, the smaller sellers that built the platform get kicked to the curb when the big boys roll in. They bring in more money and have the financial war chests to cope with abusive buyers and absorb returns without bothering ebay about it (ie asking them why they don't enforce/uphold the policies they themselves create). The creed is greed, eBay couldn't care less about a smaller seller.

Anonymous · ‎09-29-2021

Sorry, coolections, but this kind of talk you speak here ain't cool. Stop dogging folk and talking down to them, please. Just...help them out. It ain't hard. We only want to know what's going on with are sales and we don't need smarmy replies, that's all.