There is no clear vision on eBay

[ony_chine]

The major problem on eBay is MICRO-MANAGING because there is no clear vision.  I don't know of any long-term plans based on what I experience on this platform.  Many changes made on this platform do not add any clear value because they do not relate with the sellers before they make their changes.  "The worst ideology on eBay is thinking that once it favors eBay, sellers should dive into the ocean", this is why eBay makes sudden erratic changes, eBay will eventually realize that such half-baked decision does not favor them in the long run and still need to make another half-baked decision. The good news is that eBay still have the opportunity to start listening /communicating with sellers while the Sun shines. Let it not be like the situation where Facebook is chasing TikTok, but Facebook refused initially to listen to many of her business customers.

There are some great changes on Seller's hub but some of them are more in sync with time-wasting and hype than value. The worst is the distortion of Listings due to all these erratic changes. This causes sales to drop, and the worst part is that eBay does not inform sellers that they are having problems, until a seller notices a drop in sales for over 80%. these guys don't care a bit about how these erratic changes affect sellers. For over 1month, very few sales which cannot handle any bill.

"eBay where is your VISION?"  "eBay where is your 10yrs plan?" "eBay where is your 5yrs plan?" 'eBay where is your 2yrs plan?" "eBay where is your 1yr plan?". I am tempted to ask eBay for their 1day plan. 

[mandisattictoyz]

Well they are going on 30, make billions in revenue each year, so they must be doing something right because they are still doing better than me.

[inhawaii]

My "plan" is try to adjust to the changes as best I can and move forward.

[luxgoods · Accepted solution]

You are a great ebayer!!!!!

[m60driver]

There is a clear vision to become a niche marketplace for high end goods.  That "vault" for trading cards is a gold mine for Ebay.  Just think, a high value card can be bought and sold many times without being touched, just like buying shares of a stock.  The small seller of trinkets and tchotchkes, like many of us posting here, are now, and will be into the future, given short shrift.  But say hey, as long as I can make some lunch money I will continue to sell.  

[ony_chine]

Revenue is not the same as gain, eBay has the capacity of doing better for herself and sellers if they have long term plans and have direction. "What you have today, you might not have it tomorrow.", "There is no single individual nor entity that is a citadel of learning." "If you want to remain fluid and fresh, you continue to learn".

[ony_chine]

There's no type of changes I have not tried to adjust on eBay, so adjusting to changes means adjusting to over 600 listings distorted by eBay.  Will you adjust to not selling anything in a month or two in the name of adjusting to changes?  

[bamorris]

I don't understand part of your message. "distortion of listings"

eBay answers to shareholders. Their vision is to be as profitable as possible to increase share price. They have very few competitors in the market, and I think the stock has been relatively flat over the past 5 years.

eBay's vision has remained largely unchanged in the market. They're the middleman between buyers and sellers and they take a cut of each deal.

I'm not sure if the "vault" is going to be a goldmine. They're probably paying Iron Mountain to store their collectables. If I am a collector, I want to hold my stuff. Trading stuff in the vault without ever holding it may as well be NFTs.

https://ebay.q4cdn.com/610426115/files/doc_financials/2022/q3/2022_Q3_eBay_Earnings_Deck_FINAL.pdf

Probably the best place to find any type of vision. Their "focus" seems to be on TCGplayer, eBay Refurbished, and Motors P&A

[pargran3]

eBay is not a "her". eBay is a corporation. It is really a great leap in self confidence that you would think you know better than a corporation that has been changing and growing for the number of years eBay has been. The "vision" is not for us to manipulate or even understand. It is for us to adjust and either stay here or not. We are obligated to engineer our own vision within the confines of the corporation whose services we use.

[ony_chine]

Lolx! Is this how to be a great eBayer? How do sellers "great" the great if the Changes change like Chameleons?

[pargran3]

So you are asking eBay to adjust to your specific needs in order for you to sell?

[ony_chine]

eBay has the capacity of giving you more than lunch money.  Lunch money is not up to minimum wage.

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

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@m60driver wrote:

There is a clear vision to become a niche marketplace for high end goods.  That "vault" for trading cards is a gold mine for Ebay.  Just think, a high value card can be bought and sold many times without being touched, just like buying shares of a stock.  The small seller of trinkets and tchotchkes, like many of us posting here, are now, and will be into the future, given short shrift.  But say hey, as long as I can make some lunch money I will continue to sell.  

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That's a market they can't win in due to policy, virtually any good consumer who gets taken on something expensive is unlikely to use the site. Bad one's will thrive and competitors know this, eBay has significant competition including a new launch by a high end auction house all about collectibles, sports collectibles. Can't remember the name but was on Bloomberg and other news outlets.

Everything here seems to be rather arbitrary, for example. I just was looking for a game a friend recommended and I run across a seller who has 200,000 listings thereabouts and in every single one promoted buying/selling outside of eBay and been here since the 1990's apparently.

[pargran3]

I don't expect eBay to "give" me anything.

I also don't know what you mean by micro-managing. If you mean loosen up on the rules so sellers can do it their way that won't fly.

What do you mean by micro-managing? 

[motortown_inc]

You make some very good points. I have the biggest issue with ebay policies that are  broad strokes and affect sellers differently.  For example, many of the item specifics are out of touch with the actual items. Return policies and the MBG  are also not inline at times with actual items.  What I mean by this is, a  sports card should have a different set of rules than say a pair of blue jeans. A car part is different than a piece of vintage Fostoria glass etc etc.  The buyer focused mentality can at times leave good sellers out in the cold. 

You are correct that they should reach out to sellers and see what tools we need to help build true success for buyers, sellers and of course ebay and wall street.  You are correct that ebay communication is poor at best and a lot of frustration could be avoided if they would share information with sellers.   I am not an ebay hater nor am I an ebay cheerleader. Things could be better, but as others have posted, all sellers can do is adapt and do their best to exist with the parameters that ebay has laid out.

Good luck to you