eBay

wikipuff*88 · ‎08-06-2024

As we have all seen by now, the eBay open is coming up in September, and continuing on the recent trend of having the open online and the launch parties throughout, I was shocked to see the sheer amount of launch parties there are. In cities that make sense like NYC, LA, Houston, DFW, Chicago, Tampa, Orlando to name a few and the some that are straight puzzling, like Ocean Spring, MS, Sandy Hook, MS, and Delvan, WI. But as I looked at the events, I was disappointed to find out that these launch parties are just seller meet and greets with nobody from eBay actually going to be at them (at least it looks like). Last year, I went to the one in Philly and got to talk to people from eBay and explain what my problems that I had with the site and the app. I actually had a list of seven things that I wanted fixed/improved upon and of those seven, only 1 1/2 of them got fixed. Is this annoying? Yes. Did anyone reach out to me about any of these issues? No. But, I was able to give my list to the new CEO and several other staffers on the floor and discuss with them my issues, such as the eBay boxes becoming heavier all of a sudden and app photo quality. Now, without the ability to talk to anyone from eBay, are we just supposed to commiserate together as sellers? When I first started selling on eBay in 2018, I was brand new to this and online selling as a whole. When I went to my first open in Vegas that July, I learned a ton about eBay and how to eBay better as a seller and promote myself better to the point where I felt much more confident and less confused about how to do eBay. I also felt that my concerns were heard and didn't fall on def ears. I felt the same way in 2019. I understand Covid killed the 2020 and 2021, but now that we are much better off then we were in 2021 (Yes, I am well aware Covid is running again, I had it in July and it sucked), I think its fully time to start to think about having a central location for 2025 and not just small groups of sellers meeting throughout the country commiserating about our problems that go nowhere.

hartungcards · ‎08-06-2024

You lost me at, "the eBay open is coming up in September."

jerseyboymusic · ‎08-06-2024

I don't know anything about the Ebay Open. Nothing in my messages.

I don't really care about it.

This post reminds me of the movie "That Thing You Do" when Jimmy met the head of Play Tone Records and gave him a bit of a list of things he wanted to accomplish and the Play Tone boss was like "You want to get Fabian away from me?!?!?"

The Ebay bosses don't care what we have to say. Sorry, man.

44012 · ‎08-06-2024

There's a launch in Delavan? Love that town. My first move away from home.

I don't really think they need to have an in person event to find out what sellers think.

They should just come here to read the boards.

wikipuff*88 · ‎08-06-2024

Never seen that movie before, so I am going to add that to my to watch list.

jerseyboymusic · ‎08-07-2024

It's a great movie... hope you watch and enjoy it.

valueaddedresource · ‎08-07-2024

@wikipuff*88 Covid concerns not withstanding (eBay just had a booth at The National sports card show with ~20,000 people in attendance, so clearly not an issue there), I don't believe there is any way they will hold any such large scale in person seller events with high level executive presence again any time soon.

eBay is still involved in an ongoing lawsuit brought by Ina and David Steiner of EcommerceBytes over an insane campaign of stalking and harassment carried out by eBay security personnel (egged on by execs all the way up to the c-suite) in 2019 (if you aren't familiar, do some googling...it's wild!)

Beyond the sordid details of the multiple federal felonies that were committed, the basic story is eBay execs were upset about things the Steiners had written about them/the company and were upset about comments being posted on EcommerceBytes articles and across Twitter, particularly by one very vocal anonymous commenter/source who went by the handle Fidomaster (later changed to unsuckEBAY).

CEO Devin Wenig, Chief of Communications Steve Wymer, and VP of Operations Wendy Jones were "vexed" about the situation and Chief Legal Officer Marie Oh Huber said they had tried to get Twitter to take down the anonymous account but were unsuccessful because there wasn't a strong legal case to do so - so when legitimate legal means proved to be a dead end, the head of security was tasked with solving the problem....whatever. it. takes.

Long story short, they got caught, 7 eBay employees pleaded guilty, eBay the company signed a deferred prosecution deal with DOJ and paid a $3 Million fine, and the victims' civil lawsuit has dragged on for over 3 years at this point.

And here's why all that is relevant to your post - one of eBay's arguments (repeated multiple times in court documents in the various cases regarding these events) has been that their security department was operating under some kind of heightened threat sensitivity due to a 2018 shooting at YouTube, an explosive device incident at PayPal in 2006 (when it was owned by eBay), and the 2017 mass casualty event at the Mandalay Bay in Vegas.

The argument seems to be that all of that somehow explains why they believed online commentary (that by all objective measures was not at all actually threatening) was deserving of a campaign of harassment, online and in real life stalking and threatening messages and disturbing deliveries to the victims as well as surveilling passengers at the Las Vegas airport who may have been attending eBay Open in 2019 to try to "catch" Fidomaster/unsuckEBAY.

So far they haven't been asked to explain why they continued to hold eBay Open in Vegas in 2019, if they were so concerned about those prior events and believed there were credible threats posed to eBay execs, but I hope if the case makes it to trial someone poses that question. 😉

Obviously, if they were to have gone back to a big live event in Vegas or elsewhere this year, it would pose a challenge to the credibility of those arguments so....here we are.

I'm sure there are other factors involved as well, but I wouldn't rule out that the ongoing legal issues at least played a part in the decision.

wikipuff*88 · ‎08-07-2024

I did not know that eBay had a booth at the National. That is something that I have always wanted to go to, but schedule has never lined up.

I saw the 60 minutes report about the EcommerceBytes and was completely appalled by it. It made me feel disgusting tbh. That being said, I honestly don't think that a heightened threat in a city like Las Vegas is that big of a deal. Vegas holds massive festivals and events weekly in such a small space. If eBay really was "under stress" they could have easily called out to the FBI for help. If they didn't want to/pay the fee, that is on them. Or higher more security personal to deter any potential attack. Yes, I understand what happened in 2017, but that was one out of how many? When was the last major attack in Vegas before it?

Honestly, eBay excess need to grow a bit more of a backbone and realize they are one of the largest selling platforms worldwide and you cant please everyone. People are going to write negative stuff about you all the time. No different then pro athletes. They learn to tune that stuff out, and those that cant, put it on the bulletin board and let it fuel them. See the 1996 Woody Paige Jagwads story. The Jaguars put it on the bulletin board and won 30-27 in an improbable victory.

I do agree that the legal issues are a part of it, but when its all said and done, they cant hide behind it forever.

valueaddedresource · ‎08-07-2024

@wikipuff*88 wrote:
I did not know that eBay had a booth at the National. That is something that I have always wanted to go to, but schedule has never lined up.

I saw the 60 minutes report about the EcommerceBytes and was completely appalled by it. It made me feel disgusting tbh. That being said, I honestly don't think that a heightened threat in a city like Las Vegas is that big of a deal. Vegas holds massive festivals and events weekly in such a small space. If eBay really was "under stress" they could have easily called out to the FBI for help. If they didn't want to/pay the fee, that is on them. Or higher more security personal to deter any potential attack. Yes, I understand what happened in 2017, but that was one out of how many? When was the last major attack in Vegas before it?

Honestly, eBay excess need to grow a bit more of a backbone and realize they are one of the largest selling platforms worldwide and you cant please everyone. People are going to write negative stuff about you all the time. No different then pro athletes. They learn to tune that stuff out, and those that cant, put it on the bulletin board and let it fuel them. See the 1996 Woody Paige Jagwads story. The Jaguars put it on the bulletin board and won 30-27 in an improbable victory.

I do agree that the legal issues are a part of it, but when its all said and done, they cant hide behind it forever.

@wikipuff*88 yeah, they also just had a big set up at Gen Con too which reportedly had over 70,000 total attendance, so clearly they have no real problem (Covid, security or otherwise) sending lower level people out to mix with the masses. 😂

I agree with everything you said about the supposed heightened security concerns not really being that big a deal and something they could (and likely would) have contacted FBI or other law enforcement about if they really believed there was a credible threat of any kind - that's why I said I hope they get asked about it if it goes to trial lol.

It's honestly a pretty laughable argument in my opinion, but that hasn't stopped their very expensive outside law firm from putting it forward in this case, so now they're stuck with it. With potentially 10s of millions in damages in play (not to mention potentially many more 10s of millions in shareholder lawsuits if eBay loses the case), they really can't afford to do something that would so publicly and obviously show just how ridiculous that argument is.

Definitely agree about them needing to grow a backbone and not being able to hide behind it forever too. Maybe things will change once the case reaches a conclusion either through settlement or trial, but at least as long as there is ongoing litigation, I don't think it will happen.