Tackling ebay's dominance

[yankee candleman]

I have 24,000+ on my main account, 100% score, 4.7 is my lowest star rating, rest are 4.9. 14 neutral in 12 months (7 from one guy who apologised afterwards). 2 negatives. All negs and neutrals have come from people who didn't contact us before leaving feedback. ie. they had a problem but didn't give us chance to sort it.

On my second account we have over 10,000 pos and only 1 neg I think

Find me a high street shop that sells 2000 items per month and gets less complaints than that.

We look after our customers, plenty of other sellers do too. As I said in my previous post, your perception of eBay is not the reality. It is the perception of much of the the general public though, which is why eBay are making these changes.

So how much do you think you will save per month with the new fees?

 

[the white rose]

Dave, not all small sellers are car boot/flea market traders, some like myself are respected business's and use Ebay as an outlet for extra money. I am FSB registered, a member of the Urban Center Management team and also involved in quite a few other professional organisations.

I am pleased that for yourself, it works out better as it will for all high turnover business users but it "smells of wee!" to coin a phrase.

It is very much the large sellers pushing out the small, not very much unlike the Tesco/Asda supermarket thing.

Will Ebay be a better place without the small business's, the sole traders and the work from home part time sellers?

Personally, I don't think it will you know.

A great post for which I've thanked you.

Guys, this thread, as has been pointed out, is about Ebay fees. Let's not let it descend into a feedback/stars willy waving contest, no matter how long noidea stands under the bridge dangling his fishing rod in the water.

There is nothing quite so base as people boasting about their Ebay ratings. Don't be drawn into it, yankee candleman.

but many buyers don't bother with eBay because of it's image.

Business image. Very good point. Using grocers' apostrophes makes you look like a flea market trader, Dave

Examples of abuse of the Apostrophe.

 

[yankee candleman]

Thank you Jude (Think that is your name)

I have been prone to willy jousting on forums in the past, I have to keep telling myself I am 43 years Old and not 10!

 

[noidea]

Ok it was 627.

 

[Dave S]

Business image. Very good point. Using grocers' apostrophes makes you look like a flea market trader, Dave

Examples of abuse of the Apostrophe.

Bah... I do understand how to use apostrophes but I always make that mistake when I'm typing for some reason. I usually spot it and correct. Don't do it when I'm writing by hand. My old English teacher would give me a crack for that.


erm... "but many buyers don't bother with eBay because of it is image." That's what I was trying to say, honest guv...

 

[Dave S]

So how much do you think you will save per month with the new fees?

No idea if I'm honest. If I spent some time I could probably work it out but I expect my whole listing strategy to change, and maybe even my pricing strategy so it's kind of irrelevant. I'm more concerned with how the changes will impact my sales. If my fees are halved, but so are my sales, then I'm in trouble.

As a total stab-in-the-dark guesstimate I'll save maybe £800 a month in fees. Currently I spend about £2000, about 50% listing fees and 50% FVF fees. The listing fees with go down to about £20 + £50 for the featured shop. The FVF will increase by whatever they have put it up by.
I imagine I'll reduce the number of listings per month from 3000 to about 300!

I don't think I'll know really where I'm at until next Feb or something when Christmas has been and gone. I think there are too many factors to determine what's really going to happen, a lot of it depends on how other sellers react to the search changes, and exactly how the best match algorithm works. If it favours price a lot then things might get tricky for me, if it favours seller performance then I might come out on top a bit.

All fun and games. Not.

 

If any of you ever get the chance to read 'The Starfish and the Spider' then you should. It addresses this exact issue. From what I can remember, shortly after eBay started, another company started which undercut their fees. Why didn't everyone move? Because they had so much feedback! Potential new customers could see just how good they were, and this wasn't feedback from eBay - this was feedback from actual customers.

Fast forward a few years, and the amount of feedback floating around eBay has just increased many, many times. If it was only just true last time, it's definitely true this time.

A mass migration would work to some extent work if it could generate sufficient publicity but if it was that easy you would see everyone moving to Amazon.

Of course the reasons are more complex and diverse than this, but this is just one.

 

[dynamic08]

best match algorithm

Has this been implemented yet?

My search displays items ending the soonest. even when i click the best match option!!

 

[noidea]

eBay feedback is flawed. Too many crazy people leave feedback before they receive the item. People don't want to leave a seller neg feedback as they would only get it back themselves. Most sellers use automated feedback responses and I understand why but some contents of them can be misleading i.e. good communications, fast payment etc. when its not even applicable.

The 5 star rating is a good idea - but doesn't really work - even with the anonymous factor.

The bottom line is I think it is time ebay can be knocked off the top spot. it won't be easy and would mean a lot of sellers quitting ebay for good... eBay had their time. If someone can bring in an similar service much more affordable BUT has the marketing punch... even just target to the UK as a pilot before making it worldwide ... I think ebay will be burning its profits on tv advertising to try to get ebayers back.

 

[yankee candleman]

See my other thread.

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=77321

 

[the white rose]

Thank you Jude (Think that is your name)

I have been prone to willy jousting on forums in the past, I have to keep telling myself I am 43 years Old and not 10!

We all do it. Forums are societies like any other and human beings vie for dominance and respect in any society. On forums one has to be quite subtle though.

Thank you for pressing my thankyou button, by the way yankee candleman

Bah... I do understand how to use apostrophes but I always make that mistake when I'm typing for some reason. I usually spot it and correct. Don't do it when I'm writing by hand. My old English teacher would give me a crack for that.


erm... "but many buyers don't bother with eBay because of it is image." That's what I was trying to say, honest guv...

Anyone as experienced in netiquette as myself knows that there is also nothing quite so base as using another fm's grammar or typos as a way of scoring points. It was very unladylike of me, Dave, and your response very gracious, thankyou.

eBay feedback is flawed. Too many crazy people leave feedback before they receive the item. People don't want to leave a seller neg feedback as they would only get it back themselves.

Ebay have prevented reciprocal negging by not allowing sellers to neg buyers now. However many sellers are circumventing this by leaving positive feedback but in the text of the feedback stating that it is a neg. I wish as a seller I could still leave negative feedback for buyers. I am not a trigger happy negger; in my eyes trigger happy negging is a sign of inexperience and negging should only be used where really necessary, but some buyers have deserved it.

The bottom line is I think it is time ebay can be knocked off the top spot. it won't be easy and would mean a lot of sellers quitting ebay for good... eBay had their time.

They've gone corporate. Same as MySpace. Now everyone I know uses facebook for social networking and MySpace is basically just full of spam. There is a HUGE gap in the market for a rival to Ebay and someone will fill it very soon. As someone said earlier, it would be good if it were google...

 

[noidea]

No it would be terrible if it was Google.

Google stunned us with an innovative search engine... and gone down hill from there simply buying companies. They know this, so they set up this google code thingy... "wahoo google is supporting coders", noo... they are doing it for code to nick!

(they did steal a geolocation technology for their adwords/adsense adverts)

Going back to google, and I'll admit that others are no better, but google isn't that relevant any more... and is sadly in the foot steps of yahoo and msn infamous for spam... I have seen hundreds of pages on google search that are like "keyword-anotherone.v9fjw.info/.biz" and even more on google blog search with sites just full of keywords.

 

[yankee candleman]

They locked the thread in their forum on Friday, using the excuse that it was the Bank Holiday Weekend and as of yet, not opened it.

http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?threadID=1200238805&start=360

They obviously do not like shop keepers talking.

 

[noidea]

They locked the thread in their forum on Friday, using the excuse that it was the Bank Holiday Weekend and as of yet, not opened it.

http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?threadID=1200238805&start=360

They obviously do not like shop keepers talking.

Would you want them talking? (if you were ebay) lol

 

[yankee candleman]

If I did not want criticism, I would not have a Forum.

I watched Lush get obliterated by their customers on their won forum before they took it down.

It was ugly.

 

[noidea]

If I did not want criticism, I would not have a Forum.

I watched Lush get obliterated by their customers on their won forum before they took it down.

It was ugly.

A great point!

 

[noidea]

However... they have a forum for peer-support to avoiding giving any customer service. That is why they have one.

 

[yankee candleman]

I just think with forums you can leave yourself open to a lot of abuse.

No here of course, that would never happen. :whistles:

 

[I.P Paul]

Just one to add to the list but this idea in this forum referance face book would be interesting

http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk...ompetitor-ebay-there-could-one-very-soon.html

Only the start of the thread is really relevant as the thread gets a little off topic, now that doesn't happen here ever! Does it?

 

[noidea]

Well, this place is strictly a forum anyway...

 

[noidea]

Just one to add to the list but this idea in this forum referance face book would be interesting

http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk...ompetitor-ebay-there-could-one-very-soon.html

Only the start of the thread is really relevant as the thread gets a little off topic, now that doesn't happen here ever! Does it?

I did pitch an ebay competitor to Microsoft - but they already had a contract with ebay so turned down the offer.

 

[MH1]

As another poster mentioned, the main reason for these changes is too speed up the hobby and small sellers in leaving ebay, most of the changes recently announced will prbably benefit most larger sellers, but as with most changes on ebay there is a lot of confusion since their announcements tend to be vague in many areas.

It is true ebay has a perception amongst the public of being filled with tat and scam merchants working from their bedroom, untrue but so is santa yet the myth still persists, so ebay are working towards becoming an amazon type clone IMO.

Either adapt or leave, new markets will appear and be better for the smaller sellers, many of these small sellers are also buyers so time will tell if ebay have got this change right or wrong.

From experience in another market, once sellers start to leave the exodus gains a momentum that is hard to reverse, if ever. Nothing personal, just ebay trying to make more money in the long run, for themselves obviously.

 

[matt_15]

I think everyone who is familiar with online business, is thinking the same about eBay. Everyone HATES eBay, but I dont know if anybody could tackle eBay, regardless of the ridiculous fees.

 

[I.P Paul]

Is not the appeal of Ebay to many normal punters the chance of getting a deal at a great price via the auction system. Look how popular the car boot sales are and that is driven by the desire to find a bargain. If Ebay becomes an Amazon clone with only buy it now shops then i think it will be a bad thing.
I am a seller on Ebay as a business but have shopped as a punter for many years before that for bargains on Ebay. I think the mix of retailers and home clearance type offers is what made Ebay the giant it is today.

 

[matt_15]

no idea, what was your pitch about ,( if you dont mind saying). And, how did you get a pitch with microsoft?

 

[MH1]

Is not the appeal of Ebay to many normal punters the chance of getting a deal at a great price via the auction system. Look how popular the car boot sales are and that is driven by the desire to find a bargain. If Ebay becomes an Amazon clone with only buy it now shops then i think it will be a bad thing.
I am a seller on Ebay as a business but have shopped as a punter for many years before that for bargains on Ebay. I think the mix of retailers and home clearance type offers is what made Ebay the giant it is today.

As a regular seller and buyer on ebay I agree with you, but ebay seems committed to forcing or shall I say persuading small sellers to look elsewhere. As for auction vs BIN, personally I sell 99% on BIN, most people do not want to wait for an auction to end these days. BIN now account for almost half the listings, with the latest changes I reckon that BIN will rise to nearer 50-60% within a year, maybe more.

 

[JoyDivision]

I have gone back to an old fashoned method called Loot and news agents adds.

 

[noidea]

As a regular seller and buyer on ebay I agree with you, but ebay seems committed to forcing or shall I say persuading small sellers to look elsewhere. As for auction vs BIN, personally I sell 99% on BIN, most people do not want to wait for an auction to end these days. BIN now account for almost half the listings, with the latest changes I reckon that BIN will rise to nearer 50-60% within a year, maybe more.

They see the little sellers as too much hassle.

However, many powersellers (minority) are very involved in scams. This still not addressed. Was selling many different electronic products (hundreds a day) all misleading - ebay wasn't interested - still selling now.

 

[matt_15]

I did pitch an ebay competitor to Microsoft - but they already had a contract with ebay so turned down the offer.

Cool! What were you pitching for? (if you don't mind saying). And how did you get a ptich with microsoft?

 

[noidea]

Cool! What were you pitching for? (if you don't mind saying). And how did you get a ptich with microsoft?

An auction website with new innovative ideas in addition to ones which are currently available.

If you want to pitch to a company you need to contact them at their HQ. Ironically, none of these big companies (that I know of) have a dedicated department or person to receive such ideas. Like with anything, knowing the person you are contacting makes a huge difference. I was going to pitch it to Yahoo... I still might.

 

[richardys]

If Microsoft took up your offer what were you looking for as payment? Shares?

 

[4little1s]

Yeah, we have been dabbling recently, but I think the increase is kind of tipping the balance for us

 

[noidea]

If Microsoft took up your offer what were you looking for as payment? Shares?

They didn't because they were under contract with eBay so would be rather pointless to speculate details especially when a degree of confidentiality exists.

 

[matt_15]

Like with anything, knowing the person you are contacting makes a huge difference. I was going to pitch it to Yahoo... I still might.

So you have some big contacts. How you get to know key players at microsoft?

 

[noidea]

So you have some big contacts. How you get to know key players at microsoft?

Same as anywhere. "Networking" and to be blunt with you if you don't have contacts that know contacts etc. or have a professional relationship with them personally, the company's website is always a good way of finding out names. OK, you don't have an established relationship so its like third best method, but names are always better then job titles.