New eBay recruit and social media veteran Richard Brewer-Hay will launch a new blog next month that aims to give eBay's users a direct, unfiltered communications link with the company. Can he repair the company's battered relations with its users?

(FORTUNE Small Business) -- In the uproar within eBay's merchant ranks over the site's upcoming fee and policy changes, one complaint dominated discussions: the charge that the company doesn't respond to the feedback and opinions of its sellers.

eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) hopes to dispel that perception next month with the launch of "eBay Ink," a no-holds-barred corporate blog helmed by a new company recruit, social media veteran Richard Brewer-Hay.

Unlike eBay's existing blogs and forums, which focus on more traditional (and sanitized) corporate communications, eBay Ink aims to give readers a peek inside eBay's internal operations. Brewer-Hay has pledged to write unbiased entries about what he observes as an all-access employee of the $7.7 billion dollar company.

Though eBay Ink is not a direct response to the recent seller boycott and frustration over ongoing changes, eBay's communications team says that a forum for frank discussions is long overdue. "There hasn't been one place where investors, industry analysts, employees, [eBay] buyers and sellers, and PayPal and Skype users can talk to someone from the company, or listen to someone from the company discuss what changes mean from a high level," said company spokesman Jose Mallabo.

more.. link to news article

skydragon wrote (View Post): › With all the spin e-bay puts on everything, I am beginning to think they have Karl Rove secretly working for them.

If it was Rove the you'd be lapping up the changes and begging for more. These folks are amateurs compared to him.

DDT

"As with all con men they are very clever speakers of double talk as that is how they make their living."

Yes, he did say he worked for Microsoft... lol

The blog is just another Jedi mind trick. Its the same thing as a software company setting up a online database where customers can post bugs to fix, yet 10 years later they are still not fixed. It gives customer's a sense of control over the situation by allowing them to vent their frustrations. As with all con men they are very clever speakers of double talk as that is how they make their living.

Hi All,

CNN-Money Fortune Small Business Features

is asking for your opinion regarding Ebay's new blogger!

"EBay's new in-house blogger sounds off.

Next month eBay will launch an unfiltered community blog.

What’s your view on the plan?"

The responses they have received are GREAT!

To read and tell CNN what YOU think:

http://fsbfeatures.blogs.fsb.cnn.com/2008/03/06/ebays-new-in-house-blogger-sounds-off/

I reposted another version of that post on ebay and removed--horrors--the reference to bidville; I also fixed the mix up between buyers and sellers at one point. It is the SELLERS who are held hostage by the BUYERS--not the other way round.

I find this whole ebay War on Sellers really interesting because it is so obviously a stupid policy. I guess if ebay is going to go under, it intends to take all the sellers with them. I did read that article on The Motley Fool about the Chinese company. Perhaps they will buy out ebay and change things. Who knows? Of course, as someone who uses ebay intensely for relatively short periods of time and does not depend on the income, it is a different story from those of you who depend on ebay from income. I just finished with an intense sell off to sort of clean up the house to get ready to downsize. I also gave away a lot of stuff on freecycle (and got oodles of packing supplies from them). While I have other smaller items to sell (like my political campaign button collection), it is stuff that would not sell for much. With the chunk that ebay/paypal is taking from our sales income, it is just not productive at present. I can AFFORD to wait it out. However, if I were in the buying and selling business, I would certainly investigate the other options. Many of you know much more than I do about all of this and the discussions are fascinating and I am learning from all of you.

In addition to competition for ebay, there needs to be competition for paypal. When there is only one game in town, they push everyone around.

Insofar as the blogger is concerned, they have obviously hired him as a PR gesture. He already admitted he does not know squat about selling on ebay. My hunch is he will only last a few months, if that. I hope his blog is not full of ebay "hype" posts (gagging). Perhaps they will announce a fee "reduction" again. If so, hang onto your wallets.

yep. they have lots of social media embedded in the site that will get your items up in searches even if they are listed somewhere else!

Right on, Oklahoma!!

I suspect Richard Brewer-Hay will be blogging to an empty room. I can hear the echo now. "Hello . . . . . Hello??? Anybody there??"

Why waste any more effort trying to tell ebay what's wrong. They think they know it and have already put in the fix. We're facing their newest efforts to fix things. I just see a terrible disconnect. It's typical of a corporation that is too far removed from the hand that feeds it. It's easy to ignore the client because they never see most of us. The only thing that will help is to continue to seek alternatives and minimize the use of ebay. A wise seller will still see the benefit of using ebay simply as an advertising tool for other venues -- Kind of like putting up a yard sale sign on the corner telephone pole.

Yeah, but I can get more mileage by putting that post up with the idiotic removal letter on some sites. I just dumped out my paypal after some idiotic buyer who took forever to pay with the usual excuse about trouble with her paypal now says she did not get her item. My last gasp was giving her 3 bad feedbacks. I am sure she will return the favor but, as my yard sale is over, I no longer need ebay for the foreseeable future. I paid off my ebay fees and will close paypal to prevent chargebacks over this bogus dispute. I have had enough. And I am rooting around looking for that buyer's confirmed delivery slip. I, alas, seem to have everyone but the one I need.

I do feel sorry for you guys who make a living on ebay and have to put up with the aggravation and autoresponses constantly. For me, it was just house cleaning.

Oh.....I'm sure they removed it "accidentally"....

I swear, that company has sooooo many happy little accidents!