What's Happening at Amazon is Where I Fear eBay is Headed

[glasser]

Great article in the New York Times today about how messed up the buying experience is on Amazon. Some of the elements--bad search results, items with crazy prices, too many items for sale, need for advertising for third-party sellers, etc. feels like where eBay is headed.

Sorry if behind paywall for some (think NYT allows like 10 articles a month without subscription)

What Happened to Amazon’s Bookstore? - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

[m60driver]

Many online book sellers list books at some pretty ridiculously high prices both on Ebay and elsewhere.  I know that the American Book Exchange (ABE) lists on Ebay for their members and some prices can be totally out of sink with comp prices also found on Ebay.  Caveat emptor.

[iart]

@m60driver 

We use that other site (meaning we pay a monthly fee for items to sit there), and I don't think they list items on eBay. Besides, they are OWNED by Amazon - why would they send sales to a competitor? That would actually be a huge benefit. Where did you get that info?

[iart]

I agree. eBay is taking the worst parts of that other site and making them their own.

The people making the big decisions at eBay don't know the basics of their own site.

[katzrul15]

Third-party sellers are unhappy about their experience there as it has all gravitated to FBA.  This is not new - it begins and ends with the Behemoth.   

Many 3rd party Sellers have transitioned to Wally World and offerUp.  We chose to embrace FBA.  Has served us well, but books are not a good fit for FBA.

[firesteel_surplus]

Now now...hand it to ebay not requiring us to do mandatory Two Day shipping...ala Prime.

But I shouldn't give them ideas either...

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[glasser]

@firesteel_surplus I think the the phrase is not yet requiring 🙂

[glasser]

The high prices are an issue (beyond books) on eBay as well especially in antiques and collectibles. Sometimes 10X market value or more.

I fear that the PL and pay per click is going to really gum up the works and skew search results. On Amazon you often get not a single item matching your search results in the top 5-10 results and assume they are all promoted.

I dislike shopping on Amazon, although I do need the fast delivery sometimes.

[dogchow747]

Amazon is like a big grocery store,

You have a hankering for chocolate chip cookies, you go to the bakery or cookie isle and you make one of just a few choices by mostly well known brand names.

On amazon:

You need a knock sensor for a 2006 Honda Element with a 2.4l i-vtec motor and LX trim level

it is there... "a few choices by mostly well known brand names" maybe not.

Generally listed by least expensive by large import Chinese part sellers, some super low quality.

Like that on so many Items sold there. So much stuff you have to dig through the junk to find the good.

But hey, it shows up fast and you do not have to leave the isolated comfort of your home.

I agree. eBay wants to follow that lead, they are like other tech companies. Profit, Profit, Profit.

There is no uniqueness there, giant dystopian mega-mart ready to have their overworked and underpaid contracted drivers on the road with the soylent green you need NOW!

I would get used to more disputes here with buyers who have zero patience for any problem, who's fault will that be?

Yours the seller.

Yeah, its going to get ugly.

[zamo-zuan]

One at a time eBay has been implementing the things that Amazon has for years now. From their "AI backed search" to their attempts at copying their product catalogs, to promoted listings, to even their attempts at copying their business model with "guaranteed delivery" and "fulfilled by eBay". Even their statistics and metrics are attempting to copy Amazon. And paid visibility is another big issue.

One of the worst offenders has been "stagnant listings". This is a concept from Amazon as well. Sadly, they don't realize Amazon is built around their fulfillment systems and their metrics are built to minimize time items are spent in warehouse. EBay allows many more listings per the subscriptions, and for many product lines (such as collectibles, used items, etc) "slow movers" are commonplace. Attempting to measure stagnant listings is a nightmare when you try to fit these products in to metrics built around fulfillment systems - eBay sellers items are fulfilled by MERCHANT and not at all similar to Amazon's design.

It's introduced many problems and bugs, and their "structured data" mishaps have been felt by most sellers at some point or another. 

EBay was advertising recently saying things along the lines of "We don't compete with our own sellers" - obviously a shot at Amazon. What they decline to mention is they have special contracts with certain sellers. I was told by a Sr Manager that they had warehouses for testing their fulfillment systems with some China sellers before these features were even announced in the US - which of course gives them an advantage they wouldn't have had otherwise. So it's not quite accurate to say they don't compete with their own sellers, as they have invested interest in the sellers they have partnerships with. And certain ones have harmed entire categories by favoring those 3rd parties. 

And of course, if you mention any of their names on here to give an example, you'll be warned for "naming and shaming" them (even if you do no such thing). But those of us who've been around here for awhile should be able to remember a few fiascos resulting from this.

[zamo-zuan]

---

@katzrul15 wrote:

Third-party sellers are unhappy about their experience there as it has all gravitated to FBA.  This is not new - it begins and ends with the Behemoth.   

Many 3rd party Sellers have transitioned to Wally World and offerUp.  We chose to embrace FBA.  Has served us well, but books are not a good fit for FBA.

---

Yup. And as mentioned, that's why it's kind of insane that eBay has copied so much from Amazon, when they're built around fulfillment, and eBay is not. And all their tests/attempts at fulfillment seemingly failed.

[jayjaspersgarage]

"Sorry if behind paywall for some (think NYT allows like 10 articles a month without subscription)"

It's $8 per month for the NYT online and worth every cent.  I don't write articles for free.

[hurryagain]

Bad search results and  not having an an option to search by best match or do an advanced search option to put "exact words, any order" or "exact words, exact order"  is the EXACT reason that I do not order from the river very often. I cannot find anything there without going through page after page after page after...uh...yeah...

The best only way that I can do a search there is by price - lowest to highest and if the product does not show up in a range that I am willing to pay - I go away.  I NEVER browse there b/c it is too confusing/cluttered with non related items which just ends up being aggravating as a buyer. 

Frankly, I am amazed that people do not get so annoyed with that search engine (should we even call it a search engine?) that they give up.  I did (do).  Forget it.

Most of the time, when I do find the item that I am looking for, I usually can find it here on eBay for less anyway...most of the time.

They have the worst search engine ever...wasn't always that way - but it is now.

Ewww...

[dogchow747]

@zamo-zuansaid:

"Amazon is built around their fulfillment systems and their metrics are built to minimize time items are spent in warehouse."

Ebay needs not forget that this has been the place to find that "hard to find"

For ever this was the place to find "way out there" obsolete and unstockable electronic and other parts.

They need to embrace that idea, but... not a profitable as volume.

[glasser]

@zamo-zuan Thanks for the informative response. I agree stagnant listing a problem. I am most familiar with antiques and collectibles and overpriced items circulate forever not to mention the numerous fakes.

I think eBay gives away too many free listings. The incentive is to post as much as you can and then it just sits.  I only sell a few items at a time via auction ( I have already shut down for the holidays) so my stuff is here today gone in seven. 

I think BIN GTC needs revision. Maybe a 60-day free list and then a monthly charge. Could be small but enough for sellers to occasionally rethink their inventory. The article points out an issue I see on eBay a lot so many items in some results it's hard to choose. Too many choices as bad as too few from a user experience.

And I totally agree that eBay has strayed far and wide from the equal playing field that was instrumental in its early success. eBay should not compete with its sellers. Even more important though is that eBay should not favor any seller over another. eBay would thrive more strongly where the competition is seller-to-seller all operating under the exact same rules, fee schedule, and winning business based on best practices not what you have to invest in promoted listings.