Power Sellers Unite

sewbest · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 62

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?messageID=2004175059&#2004175059
That is without a doubt
the most conscice,insightful,astute,lucid
description of what is the state of Ebay!
It should be sent to every Blog,News Media and every Stockholder

memfoamfurniture · Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 301 Location: Wisconsin

This is exactly why PSU exists. Many of us will not go back to Feebay because of the reasons on the Ebay boards and much more. My biggest issue with them is that they ARE MAKING MONEY! There was no reason to change their fee structure. They do it because they can. They honestly feel they are running a monopoly.

The biggest problem with this whole situation is that Ebay is going to eventually figure out that they have been making HUGE mistakes and will eventually lower their fees to draw us sellers back to their site. Many people will forget about how Ebay screwed most of us and will go back to making sales there... that is until they raise fees again.

Welcome to the vicious circle of Feebay!

tjrstoresauctions · Joined: 09 Sep 2006 Posts: 14

Hello sewbest. That guy hit the nail on the head with ebay. we should spread this link to ever part of the internet. HAHAHAHAHAHA

SlimJim · Joined: 23 Sep 2006 Posts: 13

HOT DAME! can I say that :wink: sorry got a little excited! DUDE or DUDETTE nailed it! AOL was on top of their game at one point, not anymore....just a matter of time.... :!:

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

That is a great post and well stated! Most business folks tend to have an opportunity to 'determine' business changes and the impact those changes will have on their plan. With the ebaY way, every one is put into a 'reactive' mode to 'guess' on how to react.

I also believe that most of us are willing to embrace fee increases, if there's a determine return on investment. What's so hard to swallow, is exactly what's been said - more is paid for less in return.

:D :D Kudos to the OP at ebaY and thanks to sewbest 4 bringing this here! :wink:

TenPerCent · Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 142

A brilliant post, so good it was referenced in a thread on the UK PS board,
"Sales down to 35% of normal this week - anyone else?", I have seen some threads last less than 30 minutes before they get pulled, I think paranoia has set in on the UK boards any signs of constructive criticism like the "The real reason sellers are so upset of the fee increase." post are not tolerated, I am thankful ebay is not a state if it were I think many would have to escape to Burma to feel safer, for now they just delete threads, and hope is we have seen ebay wax and now it is on the wane, so we can see a great many more stars.

beckem · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 133

My response (here and on eBay's message boards)

"That is without a doubt the most conscice,insightful,astute,lucid
description of what is the state of Ebay!
It should be sent to every Blog,News Media and every Stockholder!!"

And would confirm the status quo that has existed for years on eBay.
The reluctance of sellers to act as a group and create alternative
venues for themselves.

Y_hoo has created the ideal alternative to eBay stores. Sellers
have the option of listing thousands of items for FREE. Listings are integrated
with Y_hoo's shopping search. Y_hoo has a bulk loader.

As Bill O'Riley would say, "COME ON". Has it ever occured to
eBay sellers to actually DO something.

That would be a story for the Blogs, Media, and Stockholders.
"EBAY SELLERS HAVE DECIDED TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING."

yellowrose · Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 269

Thank you for sharing the post with us. It was very concise and to the point. I wonder if Ebay's management ever reads the posts? Ebay is just not the same as it used to be. It used to be fun, a place where sellers could make a little money. Buyers could get nice things and be happy. It seems only the management of Ebay are the only ones who are making the money. Ebay is full of fraud and shill bidding not to mention the high outrageous fees.

Many buyers get ripped off as some sellers do not disclose important flaws and you are basically stuck.

Is there ever going to a site that is willing to advertise and get buyers? It is so desperately needed right now.

Down on Ebay!
yellowrose

beckem · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 133

yellowrose; Contrary to many posts, Bidville actually spent a lot of
money on advertising campaigns, including banner ads on Yahoo,
advertising banners on high traffic collector forums, and text ads
on search engines.

There wasn't even a one day blip on the screen showing any increase
in Bidvilles traffic. Some sellers were complaining that Bidville
"needs to advertise" while the ad campaigns were running.

Yahoo is one of the few players that is in a position to offer a real
alternative to eBay. This is not pure speculation. Yahoo Auctions
was a thriving site for the first year. After a series of bad decisions
that decimated their traffic and listings, sellers left and I assume
returned to eBay/Stores.

Yahoo Auctions is offering everything sellers could realistically
expect to generate consistent sales, but you can't help anyone
who refuse to help themselves.

I have listed at 90% of the alternative sites for close to 6 years.
Despite all the efforts and good intentions of everyone involved
I don't believe sites such as Bidville, iOffer, ePier, etc. will ever
have enough traffic.

According to Alexa, Yahoo Auctions already has more traffic than
eBay stores.

If eBay sellers are unwilling to make the effort to create an
alternative venue, I would suggest they start looking for jobs.
EBay is slowly grinding them into the ground.

mojavelyn · Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 9:36 pm Post subject:

Beckem, the alexa is for site wide, not just auctions. There are several who don't, won't or can't use yahoo auctions. And until Yahoo actaully gets decent help instead of that canned crap, I may quit using their email too. They have it fixed where you can't even report spam well.

beckem · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 133

mojavelyn wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")Beckem, the alexa is for site wide, not just auctions. There are several who don't, won't or can't use yahoo auctions. And until Yahoo actaully gets decent help instead of that canned crap, I may quit using their email too. They have it fixed where you can't even report spam well.

I was actually using the traffic details where it shows the percentages
of traffic on each site.

Yahoo Auctions 2% of Yahoo's 300,000/Million (6,000/Million)

Ebay Stores 4% of eBay's 30,000/Million (1,200/Million)

I'm sure these are very rough figures but they show Yahoo Auctions at 5 times the traffic as eBay stores.
6.000 visitors to Yahoo Auctions for every 1,200 visitors to eBay stores.

The accuracy of these figures is subject to debate but they do
indicate at the very least, that Yahoo Auctions traffic is in the
same league as eBay stores and is 100% free.

My own experience would back this up. I had hundreds of items
listed in eBay stores for one month. 10 to 12 hits total with no sales for the entire month.

Hundreds of items listed on Yahoo and I have hundreds of hits
every two days with sales every week.

mojavelyn · Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 10:53 pm Post subject:

mail.yahoo.com - 51%
search.yahoo.com - 10%
bid.yahoo.com - 3%
news.yahoo.com - 3%
login.yahoo.com - 3%
yahoo.com - 2%
auctions.yahoo.com - 2%
knowledge.yahoo.com - 2%
finance.yahoo.com - 1%
groups.yahoo.com - 1%
sports.yahoo.com - 1%
photos.yahoo.com - 1%
360.yahoo.com - 1%
music.yahoo.com - 1%
stock.yahoo.com - 1%
fantasysports.yahoo.com - 1%
club.yahoo.com - 1%
wrs.yahoo.com - 1%
games.yahoo.com - 1%
tw.yahoo.com - 1%
myblog.yahoo.com - 1%
dictionary.yahoo.com - 1%
my.yahoo.com - 1%
match.yahoo.com - 1%
profiles.yahoo.com - 1%
Other websites - 7%

I would think they are at least 24 hrs old since the date on the graph is Oct 14.

Still doesn't account that Yahoo has no customer service. So all you are doing is trading one Customer NO Service for another Customer NO Service. You can't get to ANY live person. If you use their canned help, then there is the "Did this answer your question?" And I always answer no, because it never does answer my question.

beckem · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 133

"Did this answer your question?"

What question? Sorry Lynette. I'm not sure what you are
talking about. The nature of your question and how specific you
are will ususally determine wether or not you get a canned response.

I see you quoted the percentages I was referring to.
Yahoo Auctions 2% of Yahoo's 300,000/million.

I have received help from Yahoo customer service with
problems I was having with my account AND I have received
canned responses from Yahoo.

This seems to be the norm. I have never received anything
other than a canned response from eBay.

Consider that Yahoo has millions of users. They have
millions of groups alone. Email, Groups, Geocities, Auctions, etc.
These are all free services.

I was somewhat surprised that Yahoo was so quick to help
me with my account problem.

beckem · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 133

beckem wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")"Did this answer your question?"

What question? Sorry Lynette. I'm not sure what you are
talking about. The nature of your question and how specific you
are will ususally determine wether or not you get a canned response.

I see you quoted the percentages I was referring to.
Yahoo Auctions 2% of Yahoo's 300,000/million.

I have received help from Yahoo customer service with
problems I was having with my account AND I have received
canned responses from Yahoo.

This seems to be the norm. I have never received anything
other than a canned response from eBay.

Consider that Yahoo has millions of users. They have
millions of groups alone. Email, Groups, Geocities, Auctions, etc.
These are all free services.

I was somewhat surprised that Yahoo was so quick to help
me with my account problem.

Whatever your issue is with Yahoo customer service, Yahoo
is offering an ideal alternative to eBay stores. 100% Free.

The vast majority of users will not have a critical problem where
they need a personal response from customer service.

mojavelyn · Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:33 am Post subject:

Beckem, with both Yahoo and Ebay, its canned. When I have trouble at Yahoo, and I jump thru countless pages trying to find an answer, only to have that little survey.. Did this Answer Your Question?? And the answer is NO it doesn't.. And then I will get an email "how can we make your experience more enjoyable" And I am still waiting for a response...

Like I said... You are trading one Customer NO Service for Another.

Their Anti-Spam is a joke. And trying to find the abuse address takes forever. And they change it regularily.

And YES! I have had problems where I needed to talk to a real person. Did I get a canned answer to my question, NO. Did I get another little survey ...
AND I AM STILL WAITING FOR A RESPONSE TO MY PROBLEM! Over a year! They didn't even answer the problem in an email they sent.

They might provide all this for free. Why are they trying to BE ALL? Its an attempt to monopolize the internet usage. AOL tried it... look at them now.

So it will be another Ebay. And that is the problem. Everyone wants ANOTHER EBAY!!! And its the same story, just different chapter. CUSTOMER NO SERVICE. Canned responses, more pablum and koolaid.

I'm still waiting for a response to reset my security key. Well over 2 years! Bull!