Power Sellers Unite

fruity · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 375

I hope this is on the right forum. If not, mods please move me. Thank you

CNBC just reported this off the wire. I replayed it and tried to capture as much info as possible. Conference call should be happening shortly

------Q3 results -------------
Q3 EPS .26 cents vs street expectation of .24
Q3 Revenues: $1.45 billion vs street expectation of 1.48 billion

Topline 1.449 billion, street 1.43 billion concern on guidance as hits the all important winter season quarter

Gross merchandise value (GMV) 12.6 billion compared to 13 billion of Q3 in 2005 , indicating slowdown in business

------Q4 Guidance -------------
Ebay lowering guidance as far as eps and revenue is concerned.

Q4 Non GAAP EPS .27-.28 cents versus street expectation of .29 cents. Significant news

Q4 Non GAAP revenue range Q4 2006 revs at 1.615-1.675 Billion (which puts midpoint range 1.645) vs street expectation of 1.662 Billion.

Summary, Ebay meets the street expectation but News stated appears to be a slowdown and concern regarding sustainability for the company

fruity · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 375

The live audio conference is going on now if you want to listen to it.

http://investor.ebay.com/index.cfm

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17241 Location: Texas

BTW CSS. I've moved this particular topic over to the ebay auction site discussion thread :)

fruity · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 375

Thank you. What I am hearing is that ebay is up overall 10% but we probably won't see real understanding for a few days.

Meg Whitman is pleased with the results and that there are less identical priced items on the marketplace

She is happy with the next generation of IT ads

They are commited to China in the long term. They see Paypal as having a significant revenue for being connected with China

fruity · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 375

I updated my blog with some of my notes. Anyways, it's disappointing. I'm totally bummed

fruity · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 375

SeekingAlpha has the transcripts published

http://internet.seekingalpha.com/article/18735

Sceadu · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:05 am Post subject:

"Thank you. What I am hearing is that ebay is up overall 10% but we probably won't see real understanding for a few days."

Is this 10% gain short term from them jacking fees up?

"Meg Whitman is pleased with the results and that there are less identical priced items on the marketplace"

Less identical items... Riiight... Anyone care to make a
wager with me about that one?

"She is happy with the next generation of IT ads"

No comment, the Mods would put me a list that I'd
rather not make...

"They are commited to China in the long term. They see Paypal as having a significant revenue for being connected with China"

How, I ask? Last time I heard they were giving them free listings.
I would likely scream if I heard what they are charging them on
FVFs.

damaradeaella · Joined: 23 Jul 2006 Posts: 501

Right out of the slimy mouth of Meg Whitman:

"We shared with you two primary steps we were taking to help restore balance to eBay. First, we increased fees for store inventory listings. Second, we took a series of actions to promote core listings in both eBay and eBay Express among sellers and buyers. While price increases are never met with cheers from those affected, our community and customer support teams spent considerable time explaining the pricing changes to our sellers. We found that many sellers actually recognized the need to restore balance to their marketplace and were supportive of our efforts. Since most actions were initiated late in Q3, we expect to have more visibility after the fourth quarter, but we are cautiously optimistic and remain confident that these changes will help rebalance our marketplace, which means an optimum experience for buyers and maximized cash flow for sellers. "

Website link: http://internet.seekingalpha.com/article/18735

WTF is she talking about???????????

Spent considerable time??????? I haven't seen a legitimate PINK come in an answer questions in MONTHS!!!!! Never received a response to my letter when I closed my store; In fact, haven't received anything but pink slaps and advertisements to reopen since I left!!!

We found that many sellers actually recognized the need to restore balance to their marketplace and were supportive of our efforts.

Who the hell is she talking about??? What sellers??? If you go to the Stores Board, at any time of the day, or night, you will find, still, sellers pissed as hell screaming their collective heads off that their marketplace is NOT restored it is NOT rebalanced... They are being FORCED out of business... And if you dare speak the truth, you are slapped silly and watch your sales plummt right before your very eyes (manipulation)...

This is a bunch of bull...

I know some investors read PSU, as well as some news reporting agencies: Hey guys, she is a LIAR!!!!! Call her out, this is a complete and total crock!!!

**edited for typos, can you tell I'm ticked?

psunite · Joined: 27 Jan 2005 Posts: 6213 Location: Columbus OH

Buoyed by users listing more items for sale, and a favorable tax rate, eBay Inc. reported a better-than-expected third quarter with profit up 10 percent, but forecast growth for 2007 that was significantly below analyst expectations.

The results and outlook represent a mixed bag for the San Jose Internet giant, which is trying to revive its namesake U.S. marketplace and expand into new businesses, most notably Internet calling through the recent blockbuster acquisition of Skype.

Meg Whitman, eBay's chief executive, said the company is making good progress at wringing growth from several initiatives, hoping to dismiss concerns by Wall Street that the growth isn't fast enough.

"Despite some bumps, 2006 is exactly the evolutionary year we thought it would be," Whitman said
more.. link to news article

Sceadu

Quote: › docWrite("quote")We found that many sellers actually recognized the need to restore balance to their marketplace and were supportive of our efforts.

WTF?!?

I'm with you completely on this one. I want her
to introduce me to the dumb sap that actually
believes this line BS. I have a fine high quality
bridge in Brooklyn to sell them at a dirt cheap
price.

I actually feel sorry for the newbies that join
FeeBay thinking they can make a little money
at it.

*shakes head in digust*

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

The store increased fees were met with more upheaval than good I can assure you.. Of course unless you are cruising the message boards (which I dont see guys in business suits on the board doing) you really didnt hear those cries foul... She can tell them whatever she wants.. Its called damage control which is another word for cover-up which in turn is another word LIE!!! The fees hit everyone hard and were not fair.. You only increase fees when you are offering something new, or the cost of business is just so darn cheap you are giving it away and its felt like that for years..

Personally my 3rd quarter picked up on Ebay, but I needed it for the increase in fees.. Now the new quarter thats started is blowing BIG TIME.. Sales have been half what they were in Sept.. Guessing people slow down right before the RUSH, which kind of happened to me last year as well..

What I find unforgivable about 2006 is the way they put store searches on for a couple of months and then took them away.. Everyones sales jacked up because of this.. I personally (no offense) am tired of hearing the whining about Ebay and their faults and dirty deeds.. They are dirty.. They make up their own rules and change them at whim.. If you cant adjust and change your business model then just leave them be and go on to something else.. Yeah there is noone out there that has their traffic, but if you cant afford to do business there, and you cant change your business model, or redefine yourself, then what good does it do to bitch and moan about it? Trying to change things for the better is one thing, but to sit around and get steamed over it is hardly doing any good for yourself or others.. There are a gazillion posts with complaints and high emotions about Ebay out there.. Nobody likes it, but for the most part people are just skipping over these messages because there really isnt too many things that hasnt already been said about Ebay.. I just to hate see people sitting around wasting their day complaining when they could be furthering their cause.. Ebay doesnt listen to sympathies.. They are cold-hearted bastards, like doing business with the mafia.. They own the street you do business on.. You either pay for their protection or move out of the city.. Its that simple..

Patty00 · Joined: 13 Dec 2005 Posts: 1018

Of course listings are up....its the start of the holiday season. It amazes me how easily Meg can fool people...its the secret to her power I guess.

damaradeaella · Joined: 23 Jul 2006 Posts: 501

I agree, lhhgbh, and that's what many of us are doing...

On that note, need to to get back to organizing our new kind of boycott...

karmacapsule · Joined: 06 Sep 2006 Posts: 6

profits arent up 10%, ebayers costs are - this is a short term measure

ebay is also taking a percentage of every other sites turnover thru paypal, later in the year they are going to attempt the coup de grace with a concerted effort to force amazon to take paypal

amazon is the only competition they have, the sellers that ebay has kicked off from stores seem to have gone there and later in teh year amazon is going to fold zhops to deal with the chaos they have been thrown into as a result

then some ex ebay sellers will actually start using 'paypal' probly - its a divide and conquer strategy, united we stand but divided we fall im afraid

Sceadu · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:56 pm Post subject: Re: Ebay Q3 2006 Earning Reported

Quote: › docWrite("quote")If you cant adjust and change your business model then just leave them be and go on to something else..

It's funny in a way that you mentioned that...

A couple of months before I opened my site and started
to work on it I was looking over everything I had
done on eBay so far and made the decision about
a month and a half before they made the announcement
about the fee increase that I was going to cancel my
store about Feb or Mar of '07. The store had already
gotten to the point of being unprofitable or at least to
the point of just barely sustaining itself. The slow
summer didn't really help things either.

So when they made their announcement it made me
have to rethink my original plans to no small degree.
(this sounding familar to anyone?) That was when I
started seriously looking at the ebay forums and found
so many sellers, mostly powersellers, screaming bloody
murder about the new fees. And I started following links
and doing searches, what you see in my sig line is the
final result of a week and half's overall hunting and
digging to find some alternative as quickly as possible.

Now here I am established on three new auctions and
only a few days shy of getting my site's own store up
and running. (finally, after nearly three months!)

I will agree with you to some degree about people
biching and moaning about what happened several
months ago but I won't begrudge anyone a vent
or a rant. I know I've done enough growling
myself to make a rabid pitbull tuck tail and run.
I truly do understand the frustration of having
to start over again from square one.

Now to ask a question, What kind of boycott is
in the works or has anyone decided on something
that will make them sit up and take notice yet?
Personally, I would prefer something that would
make their shareholders take notice. Better yet
something that will make their shareholders take
action in favor of both the sellers and buyers.