Give eBay a Kick in the Pants

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 12:15 PM, Gadzmo wrote:

  I have been using www.getitnext.com to search EBAYs huge and sometimes hard-to-navigate site: that alone has made using EBay alot more tolerable.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 12:22 PM, Patricia013 wrote:

  Its pretty simple....basically PUT IT BACK THE WAY IT WAS! and stop treating sellers like crap! Ebay only needed tweaking - the rest is a made up story by Donahoe and his team to make you think auctions are on their way out and people want fixed price instead. If that were the case all he had to do was make Buy It Now free to sellers instead of charging them for it! More would use it and more buyers would opt to buy immediately (incidentally, they don't, they generally start at the opening bid anyway hoping to get the item for that price). So what good is fixed price? It has its place but not mixed in with auctions. Divide out fixed price items and put them where they belong - revive Ebay Express only with a working shopping cart system.

  Trying to be Amazon simply because Amazon is making big bucks is foolish. Donahoe ignores the fact that Amazon plowed a long and profitless road before it finally reached the point its at now. Just trying to look and act like Amazon won't cut it John.

  I feel that after this first quarter - which will be an even bigger disaster then last year's 4th quarter, the ball may be taken out of Donahoe's hands. At least I hope so....I have faith that somebody on the Board of Directors has some sanity and good business sense. Paypal/Skype can't keep this ship afloat much longer!

  Ex-10 year Ebay Seller

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 12:28 PM, mcgrrrrr100 wrote:

  I have been teaching eBay and writing about eBay since 1999. When I started eBay was like the wild west --anything goes. In the early days you could make money in your sleep. Today it is a much tougher environment. There is more competition (as you mention in your article) and eBay has made several major missteps.

  Their quandary is trying to build a shopping portal for popular consumer good that can compete with the links of Amazon and others and at the same time keep the quirky -find anything you want- site that is driven by small sellers who are the heart and soul of eBay.

  I know from talks I have had with folks inside eBay that they finally understand this and I expect there will be a major announcement at the June meeting. One thing that is being kicked around is the concept of "Two eBays"

  Think of an attached Duplex House. The house on the left would be akin to the "old eBay" --a place to sell unique or used goods, handmade items and new highly niche market goods all in the auction format. The house on the right would be a fixed-price site for new consumer goods.

  There is a lot of support in the eBay community for a solution like this. As for all the sellers that left --they are missing out on a great market. Yes sales and listings are down, but we are still selling and making good money with our eBay business -. What I have been telling my readers for the past two years is don't leave eBay, just expand to multiple channels. So we still sell on eBay and do very well, but we are also selling from our own websites and on Amazon and other specialty sites.

  There will centainly be more drama and struggle with eBay in the coming year, but long-term the company has an undeniable franchise and is still the best way for the little guy or gal who wants to start an online business to get started with the lowest cost and the lowest risk.

  Skip McGrath

  eBay Gold PowerSeller

  Publisher of The eBay Seller's News

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 12:50 PM, Sprachkundiger wrote:

  One of the first things that e-bay's board did that lost them A LOT of customers was, in an ill-considered move after the VirginiaTech shootings, to remove all firearm-related things from their site, everything that might conceivably lead to a functioning firearm. Well, they forget that it is human volition that wreaks voilence, not the instrument. In adopting this policy, they lost zillions of sportsmen and women, target shooters. These folks also often have other interests and hobbies, so that meant more lost sales. Then they started raising listing fees. Finally, they eliminated the vendors' transaction options, So greed won the day. I can't say I am sorry for them. I have many vintage bike items to sell, and had considered selling on e-bay, but decided against it.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 12:51 PM, mommyto3 wrote:

  eBay in it's drive to compete with Amazon forgot all about the small and hobby sellers, the people that started the business, all the changes with DSR's and feedback alienated the small sellers as one bad transaction can drive those all important numbers way down. I started selling in earnest in Jan and left by May. Not sure if I would ever go back as the can change their policies at their whim so I no longer trust them. I am in the process of opening a store at http://us.ebid.net and have had a store for a while at www.milbid.com. I enjoy both sites and save on all the relisting fees from eBay.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 12:58 PM, Lindajean123 wrote:

  What Skip says sounds good. But, they tried with Ebay Express and when it failed miserably they couldn't just shelve it. They had to move it to the regular site and destroy it as well.

  We have been lied to so many times that only the foolish believe anything that comes from ebay. We the sellers were promised that best match would NEVER be the default search on Ebay.com.

  We the sellers were promised that there would never be directly competing ads on the pages. They would be for "complimentary" items only. Now, they are not only directly competing, but they plaster them ABOVE the links to other pages of ebay items!

  Put ebay back the way it was in 2003. Bring back the loyalty, the fun, the ability to find literally anything on site. Don't punish sellers by lieing and telling buyers a 4 is good and then kick off a seller when the buyer leaves that 4. Don't hide the items just because a seller doesn't sell a trainload of assembly line products. Don't charge 40% of the sales to a small seller with low sell through (that's what it comes to with the cost of unsold items thanks to hiding them). One more "fee decrease" like the last 3 and ebay will get 110% of each sale.

  They have made so many mistakes now, that the fun and uniqueness of ebay is gone forever. I don't know if it will ever return. Ebay has gone from the most loved site in America to the most hated in the world! (or very close to it).

  I was a loyal ebay user for 8 years. I've struggled along for the last 2 after being lied to right to my face at Ebay live 2006. I know you can't trust management.

  So, I guess the start would be to hire new management who could see ebay the way the once loyal buyers and sellers saw it. And, if there is any hope at all, it would be to bring back that old time ebay and leave it alone.

  Bring back categories. Restore the fun of browsing. The best purchases and the most loyal buyers were those who checked out the going, going, gone section a couple of times a day to find that unique item they didn't even know existed.

  Now, ebay just wants it to be the place where everyone goes to buy pencils and toilet paper. And, that is BORING! So, the buyers are leaving. Amazon is the best at what it does. Ebay cannot compete but it can't stand to lose a sale to Amazon so it will destroy itself trying to be Amazon (and fail all the while).

  Selling is so stressful that everyone who can has found other venues. Those of us selling vintage items are left to try and garner whatever we can from the remnants of the once great and wonderful Ebay:( All the while, we watch it sink a little more everyday.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 12:58 PM, MartyMcFly2002 wrote:

  Contact Professor Emmitt Brown, fix the flux capacitor, and bring us back to 2002, when things were great.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 1:08 PM, clusterclutch wrote:

  Ebay is not hurting near as much as the growing population of needy people who need to cash in on this lame Obamarama Bailout.

  The time is nigh (aka 2009). ...Watch as the listings explode. Watch as EBAY is regenerated to its former glory as the primary marketplace to convert stuff to cash.

  Analysts are running out of ideas. Ebay is soon to be revisited in ways that will launch it as the poor man's alternative to buying gold. ...It's a growing population.

  Look for "explosions" in the number of personal bankruptcies. The "have-nots" are about to give up their meager treasures to the highest bidder "haves." The trend is soon to be seen as undeniable and exponential.

  Agreed, Ebay hasn't been smart. They don't have to be smart. They are by far the leader in this game. Like it or not, that is a fact.

  Bash EBAY's "idiot-management" all you want. They deserve it. But the unavoidable truth is here and now.

  cc

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 1:24 PM, BuhByeeBay wrote:

  @ Skip McGrath

  "...What I have been telling my readers for the past two years is don't leave eBay..."

  Are you out of your mind?

  It's not just about eBay's inability to create growth these days. Sellers have finally realized that eBay does absolutely nothing for them anymore. eBay uses everybody!

  Why should anyone be subject to eBay's totalitarianism policies for one day longer? Hanging around for the hope that things will change, all the while sucking the sellers dry with outrageous fees, what a joke!

  eBay condones shilling with hidden ID's, they rape the seller of his rights to leave honest feedback, they pad their numbers, they allow bad buyers to wipe out good sellers and offer ZERO protection.

  For those of you who may have forgotten how eBay feels about sellers opinions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ8DqcxjRI8

  And you want the sellers to hang around for more abuse? eBay is going to start highlighting who THEY believe are trusted sellers. The featured seller is selected by "Best Match". We all know the next step don't we, Griff? Sellers are going to be pushed back even further into oblivion.

  Read more here: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/02/18/ebay-highlights...

  I am a PowerSeller, and a darn good one too. I am honest, polite and fair. But, because a scammer, gives me bad DSR ratings, eBay agrees with them, and conveniently, I get to pay eBay MORE in fees because of this. I closed my store down because I will NOT promote this evil.

  It's all about the money, right Griff?

  I say kiss off to eBay and their evil ways and you too Skip. You're so full of the brown stuff, it's coming out your ears.

  Move to http://www.Bonanzle.com and stop listening to this paid commercial called Griff. Stop waiting for eBay to come around - It's over! The eBay we once knew is history and the continued decline in their stock and sell through rates will be more an more evident as time passes.

  Get your new business started NOW - far away from eBay and be a part of something great!

  http://www.Bonanzle.com

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 1:38 PM, BuhByeeBay wrote:

  Correction to the above comment:

  Griff = McGrath

  Although they are both pretty much full of the same brown stuff.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 1:42 PM, rogandantiques wrote:

  Ebay is no longer a trustworthy organization. They have lied to it's users both buyers and sellers so often that they can no longer be believed at all. I sold there for ten years and quit last May because they took away the ability for a seller to defend himself. Now, when May comes around again, all buyers will have 100% positive feedback earned or not. That makes the ability to block bidders with negative feedback useless, and leaves sellers open to even more abuse.

  I see you mentioned Meg Whitman. I think it would be best for the United States as a whole to give California back to the Mexicans (We stole it from Mexico anyway) and let Meg and her minions do for Mexico what she has done for Ebay. Also it would ease much of the illegal alien issue, as so many folks try to go to California as illegals.

  So if you did those things there would be a whole lot less debt to deal with, Meg could take over and rule her own country, and the rest of us would be relieved of the trouble of dealing with ANY of it.

  "Money is the barometer of a society's virtue.

  When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion...

  when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing...

  when you see your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you...

  when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice...you may know that your society is doomed." -- Ayn Rand

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 1:44 PM, Volvo351 wrote:

  Getting eBay back on track is relatively simple. First, you send a message to the paying customers that eBay as an organization is sincerely sorry for having kicked them in the teeth for over a year. You do that by firing John Donahoe, who may not have initiated all the bad policies, but seems to delight in continuing and escalating them. You put some money into promotion, instead of flushing it down the hopper on worthless "upgrades" to various screen views that provide no value, but huge headaches, to experienced sellers. You fix the DSR system so it collects accurate metrics, not subjective opinions of buyers. You stop using a rigged DSR rating to punish sellers. You roll back fees so sellers can offer a real value to the buyers. You listen to sellers' complaints instead of brushing it off as just "noise." In short, you recognize that sellers are your business partners and you want their business. The real shame here is you don't need to be a Rocket Scientist to figure this stuff out; Heck you don't even need an MBA from some fancy-shmancy biz school.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 1:44 PM, wizard85 wrote:

  HEY GREAT NEWS FOR THE STOCK HOLDERS!!! Meg will be bringing on 2 million new users in 2010 .. I just read it on the web after she becomes Calif Gov .. she has created 2 mil in new jobs, a boost for ebay ...

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 1:58 PM, Rowants wrote:

  I used to buy and occasionally sell quite a bit on ebay. But their fees got so high, sellers quit listing the little $1-3 items I collect. I quit selling for several reasons. Any item under $5 cost me money, after listing and final value fees, and paypal fees. Plus with paypal, a seller has to have a cushion of money on hand, as it takes forever to get your money from paypal. I don't even want to discuss ebay's worthless feedback system. Oh well, the local goodwill doesn't mind accepting all the stuff I was going to ebay.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 2:09 PM, bayrefugees wrote:

  eBay is a goner. They won't fix what is wrong - sellers handcuffed with feedback, DSR system, not taking real money...this still is America right? ALL money is good. I could go on and on. Overhead at eBay is at least 23% of gross. How can you make a profit with that? I could go on and on but just read above what BuhByeeBay wrote and join the fun over at http://www.bonanzle.com It is the fun we had on eBay in the late 1990s, early 2000 and more! Selling is fun again. Management cares and is responsive. And stuff is selling!!! It will be David vs Goliath and guess who will win? That stockholder meeting will be truly interesting. lol

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 2:19 PM, dtmtech wrote:

  A great idea for ebay's board is to incent every manager (after they boot Donohoe and his toadies) is to make their incentive package ride totally on their own profitable participation in their own marketplace. In other words, they'd need to show profitability (scams, claims, and chargebacks figured in), a certain volume, and have minimum seller DSRs in order to get any bonuses or incentives. You'd get the most attentive set of managers that actually KNEW their marketplace, out of that approach. RIght now, other than selling a couple pairs of shoes, the management team is clueless.

  I agree that ebay needs to go back to ebay 2002 relative to policies and fees. The greed of Whitman and team started the whole downhill slide of the ebay marketplace through raising of fees while not putting enough investment into stemming scammers early or customer service. Donohoe has only accelerated the slide while trying all sorts of "disruptive" ideas in a panic not to become a cash cow business.

  Recovery from all the negative feet on the street will take a long time, even with Donohoe gone, fees lowered, and an apology to the sellers they've treated like dung.

  I also resent, as an ebay seller, being outright lied to by management, and also given the lowest level of customer service I've ever experienced anywhere.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 2:20 PM, dtmtech wrote:

  I forgot to mention, I second the move to Bonanzle. Things are starting slowly for me there, but it is a fun community just like ebay used to be. And, I can take real money if I want to, not just the Paypal funny stuff.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 2:48 PM, LStoo wrote:

  I sold on eBay for over ten years as a Power Seller and put up with many changes that I didn't like, but the overall site was a good place for me to sell and make a little extra cash. As the rules changed and the rates increased, not only was it no longer fun, but it was costing me more that it was worth. I felt I was only exchanging dollar. I have opened a booth with www.bonanzle.com and have had great success. I don't care what eBay does in June, there is no way I would go back.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 2:50 PM, horsefeatherssss wrote:

  I've been a member of ebay for several years..selling used to be quite fun for me, and still is..but the fees and restrictions are a bit much.

  I've been selling on Bonanzle for several months now..the CS is great, they let users vote on improvements, and the members tend to be very friendly.

  It's been growing at a very fast pace; is one of the largest so-called 'ebay alternatives.' Definitely a site worth checking out.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 2:54 PM, fatseal wrote:

  Why would anyone want to go back to ebay? It's broken, and they are rushing headlong into their ebaymartazon model, even if it's not successful, because that is the plan, and they must stick to the plan.

  More importantly, when people say, "if ebay would go back to the way it used to be, we'd all come back"!! That's like saying, if you'll quit drinking, or cheating or hitting me,a nd go back to the way you used to be, it would all be ok. No, it won't.

  The line has been crossed, and if they'll do whatever caused the problem in the first place, be it Paypal only, DSR's, no negative feedback, paypal holds, undeserved suspensions, etc...

  Well, if they did it once, they'll do it again. Why give them the chance? Find alternative venues, start your own website, branch out. It's painful, and hard. It's like a bad breakup, but eventually things do get better, and you enjoy selling again.

  No one can take advantage of you unless YOU let them. Don't let them!

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 2:58 PM, CityChic wrote:

  What should eBay do? lol - It's way too late for eBay to do anything. The good news is we don't need eBay to do anything anymore as we now have a new and better venue to buy and sell and that is www.Bonanzle.com.

  Like others before me have said www.Bonanzle.com is the place to be. Bonanzle is growing faster than you can imagine - but if you come over and check it out, you won't have to imagine... Former eBay buyers and sellers are fleeing there by the thousands at a record pace.

  So eBay, don't worry, you don't have to do anything to try to recover, because quite simply, we don't need you anymore. www.Bonanzle.com has solved your problems for you.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 3:22 PM, cherry815 wrote:

  The only way I could see eBay having any kind of chance of saving itself is to put things back the way they were before the changes of 2008. But even then, I doubt that sellers will just forget the poor treatment they've received, and now there are "alternatives" that are growing rapidly that provide much more to sellers than eBay. Once you get a taste of that, you really don't have any desire to go back to a site that doesn't provide those things and disrespects you.

  I'm now selling on a couple of other sites, and my favorite is Bonanzle.com. No fees to list and have your own booth, and only a very small fee when items sell. They are responsive to their members and actually LISTEN to what people want (and they GIVE it)! They allow Google Checkout and checks and money orders besides Paypal. The community is friendly and supportive of one another. I absolutely LOVE this site, and it is growing quickly. Probably because it's actually a FUN place to spend time.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 3:48 PM, bonanzlewallyh wrote:

  I've tried mixing in sugar, but it comes up Bonanzle,

  I've tried adding spice, but again Bonanzle.

  I consulted the Tarot and turned over the Bonanzle card.

  The magic 8-ball revealed Bonanzle as a solution.

  Oh well, maybe this is a sign http://i43.tinypic.com/14kdssw.jpg but I think it means

  Bonanzle

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 4:09 PM, rexxsales wrote:

  Ebay may be beyond the point of no return. However if I were in charge and trying to turn things around the 1st thing I would do is turn back the clock and reverse the rules eBay implimented that have allowed eBay to seize control of sellers businesses by forcing them to meet unrealistic standards that eBay cannot live up to. eBay will suspend a sellers account if they fall below a 4.1 out of 5 stars on any one of 4 detailed sellers rating categories. I just read yesterday that eBay's satisfaction rating is 78 out of 100 which would place them at a 3.9 star rating. If eBay cannot live up to the standards they impose on sellers then they have no right to do it in the 1st place. eBay also needs to let the marketplace be a self regulated venue once again. Finally eBay needs to get back to their roots which are auctions. No one was able to compete with eBay in the online auctions but eBay has turned it's back on the very thing that made it great in the 1st place. with these changes and maybe a heartfelt apology coupled with an admission they were wrong the sellers might come back. Of course they will most likely hold out for some guarantees that this will not happen again.

  http://www.rexxindustrialparts.com

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 4:12 PM, sofyblu2 wrote:

  To bring Ebay back...hhmmm...don't think it is possible. Way too many have felt scorned and deceived by Ebay. As a Power Seller I actually do not feel comfortable selling there - always waiting for the hammer to fall. Like others, we have moved to Bonanzle. Ebay's dsr's are not to my liking and I do not see them as trustworthy. Skip their 8% coupon I'll give you a much better deal!

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 4:22 PM, momspennies wrote:

  I hate to say it, but there is nothing Ebay can do to reverse the tide. After many successful transactions on EBAY, I started having issues that I was not allowed to control. Since when can a business owner not control their own business? When they sell on EBAY. You can not make an income selling CD's for .99 cents or less...yoiu are pretty much giving them away for free. Because EBAY has gotten buyers used to having these types of deals available, buyers will only buy items at rock bottom (for free) prices. This is when I finally gave up as a small seller and moved to a new venue. I don't want to sound like a cheerleader because so many on this forum before me have mentioned Bonanzle...But they speak the truth. I love this site, both as a buyer and a seller. I have moved all of my inventory to a booth on Bonanzle and spend most of my day there...listing, selling, buying, chatting. All without any hassles or interference of nosey roseys who go around reporting and causing trouble. So far, the atmosphere has remained very friendly and helpful because this site is being developed essentially by it's users. The Boyz, Mark and Bill are the brains behind it and have been very receptive to our requests, want's and needs. People are joining up in droves so the attraction is very real.

  There is nothing EBAY can do anymore....we have been disrespected, used and abused for the last time (at least by them). They already have a plan in mind that didn't include us anyway..EBAY will be totally automated and no longer be run by humans. It's almost run by Robots now.

  Anyone thinking about leaving should follow through, check out other venues...and definitely take a look at Bonanzle.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 4:32 PM, YaSeeTimmy wrote:

  No fan of eBay right now, but still making sales there. Moved lots of stuff to Bonanzle, no sales. Something recently changed and even views for items at Bonanzle dropped off. We get maybe two/three on a good day. So, it's not just eBay making bad decisions. It's not always good to listen to the crowd clamoring for what's "popular" at the moment (hand chosen lists substituting for individual sellers stuff being seen - at eBay it was just the electronics and "imported products" crowd blocking the view for everyone else.). Not to at all downplay Bonanzle as a viable alternative marketplace, absolutely love it there, you couldn't find a more responsive ownership or management OR response team - they are world class. But it only took six months to put something into place to start limiting visibility. It doesn't look good, especially in light of the fact that many users on Bonanzle possibly brought their eBay ways over with them! Perhaps B should have a resident priest to perform exorcisms as people leave one site for the other!

  There has to be a good business model at the bottom of it all. There's always got to be a bottom line. Sellers need a viable marketplace with a level playing field. Sellers, most of all, need sales. It's not just about feeling good and having a fun environment. eBay has hordes of "cheerleaders." The way to "kick eBay in the pants" is not through having a bigger cheerleader squad, it is by having a larger sales volume. This is all about paying bills and getting your products seen by people out looking for stuff. Sad to say, it is still eBay in the lead for sales, even though those sales are fewer and fewer.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 4:33 PM, bonz6959 wrote:

  Fleabay can do whatever they want now, I dropped out over a year ago. They gave me the motivation to set up my own site for my products. I've been a happy camper since.

  I just recently found Bonanzle and it looks extremely promising. No listing fees so no risk of losing on a nosale. http://www.swoodproducts.com/bonanzle.htm

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 5:04 PM, onlineseller wrote:

  Ebay has gone backwards the only other place to list

  antiques and collectibles is SeeAuctions.com. Other sites just have junk and no auctions. As I always said ebay can not compete. The thing that keeps ebay going is there buyers but once the buyers see all the good things on SeeAuctions.com that is where they will buy. Just a matter of time. Already over 10000 items in 2 months. If you want fixed prices and a lot of junk there are other sites besides Ebay that also have taken away the low end market from Ebay. If you trade in coins the margin is so small you cant afford to pay the Ebay fees and make any money. Seeauctions has a lot of coins priced less than ebay. Sellers have passed the savings to the customer. Where would you buy? Ebay and pay more. You would buy on SeeAuctions and get a better buy. The stock price well only go down as long as ebay sales keep droping.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 5:22 PM, CityChic wrote:

  Speak for yourself YaSeeTimmy... I sell a LOT on Bonanzle and I do so regularly. In fact, I am also a Powerseller on eBay and have sold MORE on Bonanzle the last two weeks than I sold on eBay. That's speaks volumes about where the future of e-commerce is - and again - it's at www.bonanzle.com

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 5:27 PM, missjonie wrote:

  Hey wanna share some great news

  there is this place that has no expiration date on your online store....no listing fees ...no time frames ....very low FVF...friendly family atmosphere ...live chat in every store...in the past 4-5 months they have gone up up up in listings and registered users

  Sales are steadily rising and they have everything there but the ordinary

  I personally invite you to wander and look around

  you will be glade you did

  http://www.thebonz.com/MISSJONIE

  see you there

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 5:37 PM, Joelshann wrote:

  1. Get rid of the "no negative feedback against buyers" clause.

  2. Cut the crap with the "reduced rates" and go back to what they were before they were "reduced."

  3. Stop paying Buy.com and a dozen other sites to post their competing stuff next to mine. Sure, it increases the number of items for sale, but gives eBay nothing, and makes it all the more hard for bargain hunters to find what they are looking for.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 6:00 PM, onlineseller wrote:

  Ya See Timmy you are right sales are what matter.

  It is hard to find things if you are a buyer and have to wade though junk. As they say you cant give up the day job until the night job pays the bills. On SeeAuctions.com buyers are finding new listings with some great new sellers with fresh items that us collectors buy. It is only a matter of time. Graigs list didn't make it over night. Just think of the business that eBay has lost to them.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 6:22 PM, beckit wrote:

  ebay has destroyed it's own reputation with the years of Whitman's neglect in dealing with the rampant ebay scammers and with Whitman's and Donahoe's "Disruptive Innovation" scheme against ebay and it's users. The lies and deceit coming from ebay spokespersons are the only things left on ebay that are "transparent".

  I bought and sold on ebay for nearly 10 years until ebay stole my God-Given right to be honest. I will not lie for ebay and give a buyer a positive feedback which is undeserved and I will not lie for ebay by omission (giving no feedback) to a buyer who deserves a neutral or negative.

  I will not pay ebay to hide my listings. It's free and just as effective, for me to put those items in my closet.

  I will not allow Paypal to deny me access to MY funds for up to 180 days and keep the interest, at their "sole discretion", as their user policy now states.

  I will not allow ebay to throw away my years of absolutely perfect transactions, in exchange for ONLY the last 12 months.

  I will not allow ebay to aid my competitors or dishonest buyers in destroying my reputation (via feedback scores) in order to put me out of business or receive refunds for my items, while the buyers' retain those items.

  I will not allow ebay to dictate to my buyers and myself, what forms of payments I am willing to receive.

  I will not allow ebay to put shipping caps on my items, which I have never made a dime of profit from, ever!

  I will not allow ebay to give mega sellers free listings, while ebay increases my selling costs (like twice last year).

  I will not allow ebay to tell me I am only worthy of "Standard Placement" in searches (virtually burying my listings), while I had maintained perfect 100% feedback and perfect 5 star ratings.

  In other words, ALL of ebay's destructive policies, such as those I've mentioned (and many more), need to be removed, along with Donahoe and ALL of his "Yes-men & Yes-women" (including a permanent ban on Whitman's return to ebay).

  Since ebay is intent on destroying it's users with company "spin", lies and unfair policies, I'm simply NOT interested in what ebay has to say.

  To learn more about Whitman & Donahoe's "Disruptive Innovation" of ebay, search the internet for "eBay's Disruptive Innovation, How's that workin' for ya? — GenuineSeller" at http://genuineseller.com/ebays-disruptive-innovation-hows-th...

  To read ebay users comments, search the internet for "Ebay Stockholders and Sellers Calling For Immediate Termination of John Donohoe CEO" or go to http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?jdonohoe

  To read ebay's employees' views of ebay's lousy upper management, go to glassdoor.com

  Long Live ebay's competitors! May they GROW & PROSPER beyond ebay's dreams!

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 7:30 PM, onlineseller wrote:

  I dont want to ramble on but beckit has hit the nail on the head. Everything is right. I just ask that you dont give up on the idea of online sites to buy and sell and help the new ones grow. Thanks for taking the time to blog on this site.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 7:43 PM, rogandantiques wrote:

  While the weather was still good in NJ I saw flea markets pretty much explode with stuff that once would have been sold on Ebay, but now is selling well locally. No point in rehashing all the reasons folks left Ebay, but Local markets and auctions will be picking up steadily since the demise of Ebay's "reason de etre."

  I too have sold off some in the markets during good weather but still maintain a strong online prescence. I see Ebay as a now passing fad that has outlived it's usefulness largely through mismanagement.

  If California elects Meg Whitman to be Governor, you can expect to have to bail out California with a few hundred billion dollars. Time to fire up the printing presses, boys. Easier to just print paper money than actually have anything to back up the value of it.

  Smart investment would be in the ink companies and the printing press companies.

  www.Rogand-Antiques.com

  www.Antiques-Collectibles.eCrater.com

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 7:44 PM, ShortEbay wrote:

  The only hope for eBay would be the immediate firing of CEO Donahoe and President Norrington. After that, they both should be prosecuted and/or committed.

  Skip -

  So it is just occurring to eBay that a "two eBays" idea should be "kicked around".

  Give us a frigging break.

  If the pack of over-educated, overpaid and overly incompetent fools in San Jose is just figuring this out, the disaster that is eBay 2009 is easily understandable.

  Do you seriously think anyone wants to wait until June for yet another empty poorly designed eBay "enhancement"?

  Based on recent behavior, a June announcement from eBay would consist of them telling us how "excited" and "delighted" they are to further tighten the screws and squeeze more money from sellers.

  Sellers have put up with eBay's insanity since May. That is long enough. Way long enough.

  Sellers list on eBay to sell, not to be lied to, not to be treated with disrespect and not to be ripped off by buyers with eBay and PayPal's approval.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 8:08 PM, BuhByeeBay wrote:

  @CityChic who said:

  "....I sell a LOT on Bonanzle and I do so regularly. In fact, I am also a Powerseller on eBay and have sold MORE on Bonanzle the last two weeks than I sold on eBay..."

  Good for you!!!

  Bonanzle is really picking up fast! I too am a PowerSeller and recently closed my store for good. I'm selling slightly less on http://www.Bonanzle.com, but, I'M MAKING MORE MONEY!!!

  I'm having FUN again!!!

  I'm talking with my customers instead of alienating them, as eBay has pitted the buyers against the sellers.

  I have less stress!

  I'm not giving in to scammers because I am in fear of losing my business!

  I pay http://www.Bonanzle.com a measly $1 (that's right - one dollar) final value fee as opposed to $8.94 to the greedy pig eBay and PayPal.

  When I sell 6 items on http://www.Bonanzle.com, I put an additional $53.64 where it belongs - in MY pocket!

  WHOOOOHOOO! Kudos http://www.Bonanzle.com!

  I also take money orders. I'm not being forced to make my customers pay with PayPal (eBay's only payment method, to which they swindle another 2.9% out your pocket).

  Yeppers! People got smart this time around. Now we get to screw you eBay - and the corporate hog you rode in on!

  Open your store today on http://www.Bonanzle.com. Gain a presence now and start branding yourself at the fastest growing alternative ecommerce site on the web!

  Long live http://www.Bonanzle.com

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 8:20 PM, yumyem wrote:

  eBay=finito. We are about to witness the proliferation of numerous specialty sites that will cater to the vast array of disgruntled sellers. From Bonanzle to Wigix and JustParts.com, even if eBay reverts to its old ways (and fees) of yesteryear, they will not be able to replicate success of years past.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 8:34 PM, neveragainebay wrote:

  ebayer since 199, powerseller most of that time.

  I started to see the handwriting a long time ago but I hung in there, that is until they removed the option of reciprocal feedback to buyers/deadbeats, and until I got called a thief and a liar by obviously paid trolls on PP forum. Followed SPP to the T, Yet I lost money, lost my item, then insult was added to injury.

  Top it all of, ebay and PP won't let me close my accounts and removed my info from their unsafe systems, AND they keep calling me on phone.

  I now take every chance I get to tell people just how crooked and corrupt ebay-PP is and why they should never, ever visit or use it.

  Screw you ebay. Be lucky this is the internet.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 8:40 PM, TonyPaine wrote:

  First, kill all the lawyers. Oops, sorry, wrong answer. Maybe.

  It is very simple. The person in charge of ebay must have experience at selling. Call it "retail", or call it whatever you will, but that is paramount.

  To answer that question I hear whispered... NO, an MBA with a background in *consulting* is not selling experience. It is hardly any experience, at anything, at all.

  Just as a well-functioning stock market can fall to pieces under the guidance of persons well-versed in all things financial...

  .. so too can a "selling" company be run into the ground by a college educated fool.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 8:54 PM, DONSCYCLEWARE wrote:

  What would I do to bring eBay back from the brink of irrelevance?

  1. Set up two way communication with my customers (the sellers)

  2. Advertise heavily to bring in more traffic.

  3. Never suspend a seller without hearing their side of the story.

  4. Investigate bad feedback at the seller's request

  5. Vastly improve customer service.

  6. Stop changing the rules every few months.

  Unfortunately eBay has angered many sellers who have spread the bad news far and wide. It will take a long time to improve it's bad reputation.

  If eBay implements these common sense changes it may eventually replace the customers it has lost. eBay has established a track record of thrashing around making poorly thought out or badly implemented changes,making it an undependable vendor that many people now avoid. It will be difficult to replace the thousands of honest sellers they have driven away. However if eBay once again becomes a reliable , profitable place to do business they still have a chance.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 9:38 PM, CrashTheory wrote:

  I was a consumer of the Meg Whitman's sampler. I opened a retail ebay drop store, became a trading assistant and Powerseller. I watched and suffered as ebay dynamics increasingly began to encroach on my rights in contracting (terms of sale) up to and until the point that it no longer was in my best interest to use the medium as a viable market for the exchange of goods.

  Since ebay is within it's rights to set the rules for the site, my only option is to choose to do my business elsewhere. When and if ebay ever returns to what it once was, a site for traders to exchange their wares, I may return. However, it will never happen as long as the site thinks it can dictate how and what i can accept for payment and as long as the seller is a hostage to the bastardized feedback system.

  This CEO, Donahue, has been as effective at growing this company as the Captain of the Titanic was at saving the ship from foundering.

  For those who continue and succed on the new ebay format, good for you, hope it lasts for you! The new rules are unacceptable for me. I've taken my sales and purchases to another venue!

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 10:34 PM, sadLee wrote:

  I have reached the heartsick phase in dealing with eBay. For one clue check the 'Ask Griff' thread on dBay Seller Central. Everyone wondering what happened to eBay should read that thread. To summarize: it was done by Griff (and friends) in the kitchen with the cookie cutter. And that cookie cutter comes for Nordstrom.

  The old eBay idea is completely gone, and eBay as an open auction market is collapsing, apparently by intention, as we watch. What will replace it remains to be seen, but eBay doesn't want it. They have moved on to Lake Woegegon where every seller is above average, and every buyer is wonderful, and 'as is' sales are a thing of the past.

  If I were running the show, I would:

  1. Erase the DSR system

  2. Charge everyone, big and little, exactly the same amount to list and sell on eBay.

  3. Stop hiding shill bidders.

  4. Allow real feedback for buyers and sellers.

  5. Stop requiring paypal.

  6. Make all new search tweaks optional - you see what and only what you search for - no expanded keywords, no best match, etc.

  7. Stop putting ads for other sellers stuff on your item page.

  8. Return eBay in functionality and philosphy as close as possible to say 2002. The best AUCTION site in the world, with individual sellers and buyers in charge.

  9. Take the army of coders who are making one bad change after another to the eBay interface and use them instead to scour eBay auctions for scams, frauds, and knockoffs.

  10. Carefully read and take to heart the post by beckit above.

  Very sadly eBay is actually headed the opposite direction in each of these areas, and is stepping on the gas leaving their customer base in the rearview mirror. It is a really sickening and hopeless feeling having to watch an old friend go like this, particularly knowing it didn't have to be like this.

• Report this Comment On February 18, 2009, at 11:29 PM, pjal wrote:

  Who created eBay anyway?

  Where is that fool?

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 12:38 AM, SICKofEBAY wrote:

  Where do I begin....first of all and foremost....There is NOTHING ebay can do to make me want to stay...I have been selling on ebay for near 10 years....with the last year of Whitman and this last year with the jerk who wears the suit now I can tell you it is mind blowing how we as sellers have been jerked around....example....my original account I had earned over 22,000 positive feedback with a 99.8% rating.....when this DSR came into effect with 6 weeks I was out of business....my auctions were buried God only knows where...Fortunately for myself I kind of saw the writing on the wall and opened up another account late summer earned 10 positive feedback and left it alone until the holidays where I did my business because my other account had red lines all thru it....if a buyer gives less the a 5* rating we are penalized.....and auctions are buried....I pray every night for Google to open up a site and I will move my over 1000 items in a second....Ebay as screwed me over way too many times. AND now the morons decide that we should not take money orders or checks???? what an absurd thought..... That ain't gonna happen.. ...many of my customers are older and some don't even have a debit card....they like to pay the old fashioned way.....I get checks and money orders all the time.......Ebay was sued for federal trade violations.... ...There is NOTHING they can do to make me want to stay.....

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 1:50 AM, bonanz wrote:

  Ebay is a dead horse. I pulled my head out of the sand in Oct. and have been selling on www.bonanzle.com.

  I have been watching the "current users" number grow by the thousands. My "booth" is set up and sales have been increasing daily since October! My fees are practically nothing!!! I love it, I love the set up, I love the price, I love the customer service. If you sell or sold on ebay you owe it to yourself to go look at this site. You will be hooked!

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 7:03 AM, MaxwellZ wrote:

  gdzmo thanks for the tip, I checked www.getitnext.com out and it actually reminds me of the old days on eBay. i can actually find the antiques I am trying to source without having adds bombard me. now only if ebay would duplicate this or bring back the old version of www.ebay.com from 2002.

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 7:03 AM, Dalphie wrote:

  John Donahoe, the CEO, couldn't think himself out of a paper bag. Yet he has a complete dictatorship mentality and his Draconian policies are literally driving thousands of buyers and sellers off the site daily.

  When a user types in an item to search, Ebay shows approx. 35 items for sale per page, then there is about 4" of space where there are advertising links (related to the search) that the user can click to find deals on other venues (clicking on the links takes the user completely off Ebay onto another shopping venue, like Levi's, JC Penneys, etc). Below the advertising space is the pagination to show the next page of items for sale on Ebay, but most buyers think the items end when the advertising links begin. It's insane. We pay high fees to have our items appear and we got lost in the shuffle and items go unsold. But it's okay. Because you have to pay to relist just to have your items not be seen and not sell again. It's a win-win for Ebay.

  The board of directors should boot Donahoe and his faithful toadies out to the curb. He is a perfect example of the new breed of MBA CEOs who are bankrupting companies while lining their pockets with millions.

  Or, keep him, BOD. Another year, the stock tanks to low single digits. GM was able to stay humming for a few years while sales tanked and the stock kept going down. This is how I see Ebay. The long time Powersellers who built Ebay (myself in that group) are going and are gone.

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 7:17 AM, Things2come wrote:

  I agree with what Patricia wrote...a sumation in one sentence

  "On February 18, 2009, at 12:22 PM, Patricia013 wrote:

  Its pretty simple....basically PUT IT BACK THE WAY IT WAS! "

  With each and every "tweak" - "change" -Ebay's corporate decision makers have turned one of the most well known, most profitable, most friendly-and user friendly sites.. into the very opposite.

  I "was" a buyer for many years .. and love to buy collectibles, antiques etc. I've spent a nice fortune over the years and have been very satisfied for the most part.

  However- Ebay has turned it's site into a Giant Dollar store of sorts.. filled to the brim with Junk from China. They've taken away rights and priviledges away from the sellers.. Who have brought us buyers to Ebay.. and made Ebay what they once were.

  As buyers.. we too have depended on the Honest Feedback that "SELLERS" were once allowed to give.. as most of the sellers were also "BUYERS".

  The changes of the "SEARCH" have personally driven me mad.. thus taking away my "rights and Priviledges" as a BUYER.. to search for things THAT I WANTED TO SEE.. NOT WHAT EBAY CORP. HEADS / TECHNICIANS decided...

  The so called "best match" search system is nothing more than a Giant Scam in itself.. promoting sellers to sell GARBAGE in volumes.. so they would be visible first.

  Ebay has spent all of 2008 tweaking their sites, rules, - while eliminating very important factors such as their FORUM BOARDS ....

  Numbers don't lie. If they haven't figured out by now that all their hair brain schemes and efforts to "IMPROVE" (??) this Past Year.. (Feb 2008- Feb 2009)...-- Then eBay is doomed to join the many many other businesses that have failed and gone down the drink.

  They "were" a Unique AUCTION site.. which gave all buyers the opportunity to try to bid and win THE MOST UNIQUE items at a bargain.

  I find it appalling that they've manipulated their search to show me things i have no interest in seeing.., they have angered and alienated their sellers

  with the most ridiculous "rules and policies"

  Ebay has catered.. if not encouraged.... "Volume Sellers"... of junk from overseas.

  The Wealth that built ebay.. was from Customers.. and Sellers who loved the fact that Ebay WAS most unique ..filled with sellers that offered Wonderful items . Ebay has alienated their old time sellers..

  who have since left ebay.

  EBAY- GET WISE TO YOURSELF.. Ebay was once the site known as "IT"... but since Feb 2008- it is now known as the site of "S-IT"....

  WAKE UP EBAY... GO BACK TO WHAT WORKED...

  PUT IT BACK THE WAY IT WAS - use the year 2006 as their marker...While there is time .

  Wipe the boards clean.. dump all the rules, changes , policies out.. and go back to what worked.

  There is (even if just a glimmer).. hope.. that your sellers and buyers may come back.. and EBAY CAN RISE TO THE TOP once again- go back to the way EBAY USED TO BE.

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 7:47 AM, Things2come wrote:

  I'd like to add.. that since Feb 2008... Ebay has become the biggest "safe haven" for shill bidding, theft, fraud,.. and on and on....

  The "Core" of Ebay's business was built by their sellers.

  Ebay has ignored or forgotten.. why and how Pierre Omiydar built ebay .

  If i wanted to buy or look at NEW items from large retailers.. I'd go directly to their site.. not go through "Ebay"... plus going through Retail giant's Sites directly -IF I WERE LOOKING FOR NEW- also offered me Promotional code discounts.

  Dump the "New "Ebay ... and bring the OLD EBAY BACK.- the place we all knew and once loved.. the place to find "IT"... which could also be a nice shot in the arm for overall economy as well.

  Give the respect back to the sellers that built ebay... without them.. YOU HAVE NO BUYERS...

  Changes needed :

  Bring ebay back to what it was Prior to the arrival of Mr. Donahoe

  --Put the forum boards back...

  --****stop 'hiding' the bidders names... (the anonymity just encourages shill bidding. and other crimes)***

  --Bring back the original 'SEARCH'

  --Downsize the advertisements (or as i call them.. "DISTRACTIONS"...

  --The Old Feedback system worked just fine... Bring back the Old Feedback System

  --Stop playing "FAVORITES" using the DSR rating... and bring back the listings to "newly listed" and "ending soonest"...

  --stop changing the rules and policies every 5 minutes... get back to continuity...

  --Being an "AUCTION" site that had the most unique items in the world.. made the thrill of shopping for a bargain Fun.

  --"BUY IT NOW" isn't a great incentive for bargain hunters.It might be suitable for few.. but not all.

  It's JUST common sense...

  *** PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO THE CEO'S OF EBAY.... THE ADVICE IS FREE AND PRACTICAL

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 8:56 AM, jrkirk wrote:

  A good start would be to put it back the way it was. If you are looking for more specific suggestions, they would be: 1) Fix Feedback first, and go back to giving all users (both buyers and sellers) complete ability to give any kind of feedback, including negative for sellers; the current system does not work. 2) Treat sellers like the customers they are; after all, they are the only ones paying fees; no business can succede if the treat their customers like this company has treated their sellers in the past year. 3) Lower fees to all sellers, not just the diamond sellers; sellers have the merchandise, but will not list it if the fees are too high. 4) Allow payments by mail to sellers, instead of insisting on only PayPal payments; this will bring back some of the users (both buyers and sellers) who have left. 5) Replace current management, with old mid-level managers with lots of experience with how the old company operated; there are still good people within the company that know what should be done.

  That is a good beginning, and basically, it is just returning to what worked previously.

  What this company did, was spend 8-10 years figuring out how to run the business, then throwing all their acquired knowledge away and following the advice of consultants. This was just as dumb as the banks allowing sub-prime loans to those who couldn't pay the tab. Having said that, however, the fix is easier to accomplish than fixing the bank mess. Going back to what worked previously is not going to result in immediate improvements, due to the current poor economic situation, but it will move the company into a position to benefit from an improved economy when things do improve.

  Ebay should be benefiting from this current poor economic situation, just as pawn shops and car repo guys are currently. The fact that they are struggling says tons about current management.

  IMHO

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 11:09 AM, TonyPaine wrote:

  The short version (of a VERY long story):

  Mid way through 2004, the ebay aristocracy had a brain fart. Then, they laid forth a path totally devoid of common sense.

  It began, first and foremost, with them thinking themselves to be The Elite. No one knew better than themselves.

  For the next 2 years a battle raged within the ivory tower. During this time, many good execs left, to "spend more time with family".

  If you want to know how to fix ebay, EXACTLY, seek out those individuals. They were there when IT was fun and profitable. 'nuff said.

  Know this: for almost 3 years, every move that the PTB have made, has been made for the sake of the next quarterly report.

  None of it was for the claimed intention, nor was any of it beneficial to ebay's users. Ultimately, it was detrimental to ebay itself; this article, and all like it, is proof of that.

  It really didn't take a genius to see how this would play-out, even from a vantage point of 4 years prior, but then again, I don't think like an Aristocrat. For that, I'm very thankful.

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 11:20 AM, Gadzmo wrote:

  Your welcome MaxwellZ..if you are on Facebook, they have this as well.

  http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/GetItNext/122573...

  or this

  http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=23576754...

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 11:40 AM, TonyPaine wrote:

  One more thang..

  "Scorched earth has never been much of a problem at eBay."

  Okay, I understand 'big business' and how it should follow an emotionless directive. Okay? I get all that.

  BUT--

  There's a point of diminishing returns with that philosophy. How fast can bad PR spread? How far? How many affected?

  In today's world, the answers are quite simple. It's called Viral, or Network Effect. Damned near instantaneous, and all-encompassing.

  You'd think that a company whose Growth was due to those factors, would be more aware of their potential. You'd think so, right?!

  In the grand scheme of things, ebay did the same things that many other companies have also recently did. And, it's came back to haunt them as well.

  Put another way.. a company can crap on just so many people before it does become a problem (at ebay).

  Perhaps it is time for 'big business' to come up with a different directive.

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 2:07 PM, locoste wrote:

  I am another Powerseller that eBay doesn't want anymore. 100% rating, 10,000+ sales, etc., etc., etc. Charge exact shipping. Began selling around 2000.

  I sell one of a kind collectibles, mostly Mid-Century. eBay has been going downhill for a few years, but last fall, it was as if someone had turned off a faucet. Things that should have sold (and after eight years, you know those things) didn't get a bid. eBay did something, something bad.

  I have moved 1,200 books to Amazon and have more to go. Those sought after vintage patterns and needlework kits are going to Etsy. And the other mid-Century treasures -- not sure yet of their destination. I have purchased a domain and may go that route.

  eBay has to play fair -- Diamond Sellers pay no fees and get preferred placement in search, leaving long-time sellers in no-man's-land. More than anything, I can't stomach that betrayal. Of course, DSR (detailed seller ratings) are something out of junior high. PayPal is a scammer's delight.

  In today's economy, eBay should be booming. Make it free or almost free to list, get rid of the "improvements", get the Asian knock-off sellers OFF the site, shelve the PayPal only rule. Then sit back and collect the FVF (final value fees).

  Remember, eBay does not produce or carry a product, after cost of doing business -- everything is profit.

  How do you think Meg Whitman became a billionaire?

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 4:39 PM, rogandantiques wrote:

  @ Locoste

  "How do you think Meg Whitman became a billionaire?"

  I think it is likely she lied, cheated, and generally behaved dishonorably, without integrity or virtue. Because of these behaviors it is likely she will become Governor of California. She has all the qualities of any politician. Now that she has a billion dollars she can buy her way into a government position, and eventually, the presidency.

  Later, when she has raped the people of California and things start to go downhill she can decline re-election and skip out on the downfall. Then, like any good politician, she will blame someone else and run for higher office.

  www.Rogand-Antiques.com

  www.Antiques-Collectibles.eCrater.com

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 8:07 PM, Cyndi57 wrote:

  I'm another extremely unhappy ex-seller and now a really furious ex-buyer. I've been on Ebay since 1997 with over 5,000 perfect feedback ratings and I used to love Ebay. I buy and sell vintage christmas pins; there were maybe 5 of us doing so on Ebay and prices were competitive and our product standard was high. Last year out of sheer disgust over the feedback, DSR fiasco and Ebay's blatant nose-thumbing to its sellers - I opened my own website and sold my pins for about what I sold them on Ebay but I didn't pay fees, I had fun again and I made a LOT more money. Now I've noticed that over the last year or two there are lots of fake pins, cheap knock-offs and junk jewelry being listed on Ebay and selling for high prices - many of them seem to be Ebay's Best Matches. This doesn't do the buyers any favors and I don't want to be smeared in the overall discontent buyers will feel towards the sellers. I quit actively buying on Ebay on January 20th '09 when they messed with the My Ebay pages - anybody interested in the fury over that should take a look at the discussion boards under My Ebay. I'm currently giving Bonanzle a try - they let you transfer over your Ebay feedback and the site appears to be very user friendly and very inexpensive. Reminds me of Ebay pre-2002. I guess I have to say GO BONANZLE - give Ebay the kick in the pants it so richly deserves.

• Report this Comment On February 19, 2009, at 10:11 PM, EbayistheTitanic wrote:

  We ran our own business' for 30 years...left it all behind for this exciting,profitable venture called Ebay-

  Now I'm giddy as the stock plummets daily

  I was good at this,Ebay you farked me!

  The shareholders better turn this ship around,Dona-ho keeps steering into icebergs..

• Report this Comment On February 20, 2009, at 8:12 AM, cokemoraga wrote:

  I am an international seller, and have been selling on ebay since October 1998... so that is a decade! It used to be fun, and things were not complex before. With all the new rules against sellers - DSR, sellers not allowed to leave negative to buyers, cap to shipping fees, it is not the same anymore. I have made thousands of dollars though this past 10 years, and ebay has made more than me with all my fees. Now they own pay pal, and rules there are always against the seller. They don't seem to understand that sellers keep ebay, not buyers. Sellers are the ones who pay always increasing fees, and comissions at ebay and pay pal. They do not understand a buyer can decide if postage charged is too expensive or not. I used to sell hundreds of magazines, now I quite. They only allow me to charge up to $5 for shipping it to USA, or $3 to ship a dvd. Well, I can not ship for those prices! Their solution? Offer free shipping and increase starting price.... who will buy then? Who wins? Ebay does, if I increase starting price ebay charges more fees. That is not correct. They just want to control everything and earn more and more by all means. I used to sell around 3.000 monthly, now I am not selling more than $800, I am listing less on the site, and they are at the same time getting less money from me as well other sellers. I am selling on other sites, and iOffer is my recommendation. Free listing, they only charge if an item sells, and quite a few people is already there, so give it a try. If Ebay doesn't improve, I will list less and less over there.

• Report this Comment On February 20, 2009, at 10:25 AM, donaHOLE wrote:

  Ebay is, without a doubt, the single worst run company in the history of major commerce! Even in this day and age when the landscape is rife with managerial incompetence Ebay stands several cuts above.

  When an individual can end a seller's auction, refuse to pay for the item, then blister pejorative and defamatory huge red ink all over the face of a seller's store front using negative feedback and have total impunity you are going to lose sellers, plain and simple.

  The "genius" who thought this up needs to be removed, immediately and permanently and written into Ebay management material as "remember the guy who actually had the lack of even common sense to do this".

  Ebay has one major problem. THEY HAVE NO F!@#$ IDEA WHO THEIR CUSTOMER IS.

  A child selling lemonade on the curb knows his customer is the person that pays him. Ebay, and for the love of God I have no idea how this is possible, has NO IDEA who is their customer.

  Ebay, listen up YOUR SELLERS ARE YOUR ONLY CUSTOMERS, YOUR SELLERS ARE YOUR ONLY CUSTOMERS, YOUR SELLERS ARE YOUR ONLY CUSTOMERS, YOUR SELLERS ARE YOUR ONLY CUSTOMERS.........YOUR SELLERS ARE...........

• Report this Comment On February 20, 2009, at 3:31 PM, bridgerbot wrote:

  Last Oct, I tried selling on eBay for the first time in a few years. I tried to list an item on eBay and low and behold, I had a mandated shipping fee which didn't cover my shipping cost.

  I notified eBay of this and they told me to add the shipping cost to the price of the item... so I would have to pay additional fees on the shipping cost.

  As a buyer, I have delt with abusive sellers.... it sucked. However eBay's response was to punish all sellers, and then to charge them additional fees. I would only be able to sell an item for $5-10 at a 50-60% loss once you added in the listing fees and paypal. Screw that. I'll donate my old goods to charity before I give eBay $5 to sell my $10 item.

• Report this Comment On February 20, 2009, at 5:04 PM, PhilipCohen wrote:

  Regardless of who pays the fees, or who is now abusing the (broken) feedback system, or DSRs, or eBay’s latest “restraint on competition” attempt: the mandating of the offering of PayPal by sellers, or their failed attempt in Australia to mandate the use of PayPal exclusively, or their many other frantic, and sometimes stupid, manipulations of the system, the fact is neither eBay nor its sellers can flourish without the confidence of buyers, and the application, generally, of “hidden bidders”, particularly in the the absolutely anonymous form (“Bidder x”) still suffered by users in the UK, Ireland and the Philippines (and in Australia until 3 February 2009), which serves little other purpose that to hide from view all but the most simple and blatant of shill bidding that is undoubtedly now running rampant, is not going to improve that confidence anytime in the future.

  All eBay users should by now understand that no action taken (or not taken) by eBay has anything to do with benefitting or protecting eBay users (buyers or sellers): eBay’s every action (or lack thereof) is purposed solely towards attempting to improve eBay’s bottom line, and if at any time there appears to be some benefit to eBay users, that will be purely coincidental.

  Many eBayers now appreciate that the people currently in control of eBay are a bunch of arrogant, disingenuous (and the product of arrogance and disingenuousness usually is stupidity), corporate snakes; it’s very difficult to keep track of such snakes as they slither through the undergrowth; and that habitually “spinning” forked tongue doesn’t help any either!

  It would now appear that if it was not for PayPay, in particular, manning the pumps the good ship “eBay” would undoubtedly be considerably lower in the water. One has to wonder if Captain Donahoe and his fellow officers intend going down with the ship (like Captain Smith) or will they finally see the ice berg ahead and realise the error of their course and hand over to a more competent crew who will allow the ship to be towed back into port for some much needed repairs? (The 1950s classic Fonda/Cagney movie “Mr Roberts” comes to mind; alternatively, could we hope for another “Caine Mutiny”.)

  And a detailed rant on my pet peeve, “hidden bidders”, at

  http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2358...

• Report this Comment On February 20, 2009, at 9:38 PM, AvocadoLane wrote:

  Ebay became greedy and forgot who their customers were. The sellers are Ebay’s customers. The buyers are the seller’s customers. The sellers are the ones who gain the trust of their buyers with good service and communication. In their greed eBay lost sight of this fact. Yes security is needed, but not to the point that the sellers are unable to operate. A company cannot rent stores and then attempt to control every aspect of the shop’s business. Dictatorship cannot work in a Capitalist setting. For eBay to ever gain credibility again (which is doubtful), that would be the first thing they would need to change.

  Many have moved on to www.bonanzle.com. Bonanzle is a rapidly growing selling venue. Yes is has its bumps and grinds, but what new rapidly growing site does not. Bonanzle is by far the best site I have found to date. It is not like eBay in the fact that you have to put a bit more work into it, but at the end of the day they are not trying to take it all back away from you. The sellers/customers are treated with fairness and respect as all honest adult business people should be.

• Report this Comment On February 21, 2009, at 12:36 AM, Babble100 wrote:

  Amazing that nearly all the posts above are whining sellers. Yet there's no limit to the amount of junk for sale on eBay. They whineth, yet they cometh.

  Isn't the bigger problem for the company that fewer and fewer people are buying the junk that they sell?

  If so, ask yourself why the buyers have lost interest. And solve that problem. I think that's where Donohue has tried, rightly to focus. He's clearly not succeeded yet, but he's looking in the right direction. Key is to improve the security of transactions. Too many scams scare buyers away. Its not worth the risk.

  Second point: open a new mega growth window: services. Services are bigger than goods in the US economy. And with the recession, millions thrown out of work are desperate to earn money. Why doesn't eBay help them sell their skills? Whether auction or fixed price. Look at eLance and do it better.

• Report this Comment On February 21, 2009, at 12:42 AM, pennipete wrote:

  Almost 12 years selling on eBay, 100% positive feedback and 10 years of making a fairly decent living, the last two years have made it painfully apparent, eBay has no use for the majority of its sellers.

  The Disruptive Innovation business model deployed by Donahoe & Company has had its effect.

  Replace (Disrupt) the massive "noise" created by small to medium sellers with a lesser number of mega sellers (Innovation). I don't need to reiterate how eBay put the plan in motion. By now, you've read all the above comments. All true. We were effectively and rudely bulldozed to the door.

  Then, the December numbers came out. Upside down. Uh oh. Did the plan backfire?

  January 2009, eBay's original, senior employee Griff creates and moderates a Sellers Advocacy. With this, he begins directly interacting with sellers on eBay's Discussion Boards. His approach; personally tackle every problem and complaint. Of course, the answers have to be delivered with a substantial dose of the Company KoolAid which pretty much cancels out his efforts, however sincere.

  February 2009, eBay began making personal phone calls to the "noise" trying to sell us eBay Stores. Having just closed my store in December, I was surprised to receive two calls in 7 days time. The calls were followed up by email solicitations asking "Did you welcome our call? How'd we do?"

  They are throwing out little bones to the masses. How about free additional pictures, little tweaks to feedback policy, promises of more to be announced and so on?

  Are they trying to reverse the exodus? Too little, too late.

  Time to take in the fresh air, enjoy the freedom of doing business honestly, eschew ridiculous policies, accept all methods of payment (even clam shells if you wish), make a decent profit and do it all simply.

  Enter: http://www.bonanzle.com

  After over a decade of pouring every waking hour into my online business, you'd think the decision to move on would have been difficult. Not at all.

• Report this Comment On February 21, 2009, at 1:15 AM, pennipete wrote:

  Suggesting that eBay should create jobs? Seriously? They have already eliminated the income of thousands of sellers at the worst time ever.

  For many sellers, eBay was their main source of income. Among them are countless veterans, senior citizens, disabled people and single parents.

  Those who are self-employed do not qualify for unemployment benefits, would not dream of going on welfare or taking Social Security early. Indeed, most would run from accepting help, because they have always made their own way.

  No headline news for the thousands of sellers who were effectively laid off. Why? Because they are not whining. They are not standing around looking at their shoes. They are actively seeking and finding other avenues.

• Report this Comment On February 21, 2009, at 12:07 PM, snowfreeze wrote:

  Oh shut up. The buyers are the ones that have been getting defrauded for ages. Try being a defrauded buyer for years and not getting any resolution! With the lost sellers, however, prices for buyers have gone up. So they're screwed either way.

• Report this Comment On February 21, 2009, at 8:52 PM, rogandantiques wrote:

  I understand all of you folks who want Ebay to return to the past, and make things the way they used to be. It isn't going to happen. I used to make my living judging character, and the management at Ebay is of the same ilk as Bernie Madoff.

  They will screw you over, take your money, treat you like garbage and expect you to come back for more. They are exactly like all those billionaires the government is bailing out, who took the money and then spent it on the same foolishness that got them into a mess to begin with. Dishonest, ingenuine, lowlifes, and they aren't going to change simply because you "wish" for it..

  So my suggestion to you is to pick up the pieces and make a new life for yourselves with some one (or more) of the new sites springing up. You can't do worse than you are doing with Ebay, and it will be good for you to start something new instead of being trapped by the warm fuzzy feeling you USED to get from Ebay. It's gone.

  www.Rogand-Antiques.com

  www.Antiques-Collectibles.eCrater.com

• Report this Comment On February 21, 2009, at 8:58 PM, ebayveteran wrote:

  FIRST THINGS FIRST: Bonanzle sellers GET OUT OF HERE!!! This is about eBay and how to improve it! If I wanted a frigging infomercial I would turn on my TV! STOP IT ALREADY! ENOUGH! Either give advice only or please leave.

  And now for something completely different:

  I have sold on ebay for over 10 years. The following need to be corrected for ME to return:

  1. The ability to leave positive or negative feedback for buyers.

  2. DSRs being changed so that shipping is either not part of the calculation or is adjusted in a major way.

  3. Powerseller status and appropriate PS discounts need to be SERIOUSLY RECONSIDERED- WITH A 3.0 DSR AVERAGE AS A STARTING CUTOFF, not over 4.0 which is where it lies at the moment and is ridiculous.

  4. I WILL accept checks and money orders; if eBay wants my business then they will not penalize me for running MY business MY way.

  5. The 21 day hold by Paypal/eBay is RIDICULOUS and it must be reversed as well for me to return.

  6. BEST MATCH sucks and should be immediately dropped.

  7. Off site advertising which directly COMPETES WITH EBAY ITEMS MUST CEASE IMMEDIATELY.

  8. John Donohoe MUST go the way of Meg Whitman, who was another nail in eBay's coffin. Lose Donohoe and start a reversal.

  9. Get back CATEGORIES and the ABILITY TO BROWSE YET AGAIN. My sales were several hundred percent higher before (I do not remember the exact year they stopped).

  10. Offer LIVE TELEPHONE SUPPORT WITH MANAGEMENT WITH KNOWLEDGE FIELDING THE CALLS . This is a must.

  11. Cease and desist the push for FREE SHIPPING. Shipping is NEVER FREE; it always costs either a seller who "absorbs" it or the unwitting buyer who pays an inflated price. EBay simply wants a higher minimum bid and thus a higher inserions fee; we all can see that, can we not?

  12. Finally, a VERY IMPORTANT POINT FOR ME: EBay must NOT tell me how much I may charge for shipping books and media. I am the bookseller with nearly 15 years of experience, NOT EBay. I do not overcharge and if I did I would expect the free market to convince me thusly, not eBay.

  JB from booksandcollectibles (I am signed up at various sites besides eBay and under various names, but I am not here to advertise.)

• Report this Comment On February 22, 2009, at 11:14 AM, perfectpiercer wrote:

  Skip McGrath, as usual, your advice on how to "fix" ebay is as stale as your newsletters. Hang up your pom-poms, as they will get wet when the sleazebay ship sinks!

• Report this Comment On February 22, 2009, at 12:15 PM, saltytheclown wrote:

  2 words sum it up, GreedBay. The Fees are not worth the time to list. The sellers have over the top shipping estimates, UPS sucks for shipping and will not buy off of a seller who uses them. DHL is dead now in the USA, Fed Ex is last good one left.

  Ebay motors is a F%$King Bad Joke, what a rip off and who in their right mind would buy an auto without looking at it and taking a drive. Paypal is a monopoly, Fees are a rip off. Money Orders are not allowed anymore to pay, Give me a God Damm Break. Just like America, something fun and simple has been Ruined By GREED, I hate EBay and will not use them ever again, They Suck Period.

• Report this Comment On February 22, 2009, at 1:52 PM, peeeeeanut wrote:

  For what it's worth, I'm a (very) casual seller who's recently been using Ebay to unload some unwanted household items.

  My own 2 cents? Ebay's actual auction page - where you set up the items to be sold - is insanely confusing. I really think they need a more basic page for people who don't have three hours to enter and format a listing. Sort of a "listing for dummies" type approach.

  They should also offer a flat fee to do a listing with a basic set of services. 10 cents for a "gallery listing"? Separate fees for bold type, for crying out loud?

  It's mystifying. I really think their interface is running some people away. It's too confusing, time consuming, and getting answers to simple questions on their site (how do I share my auctions on Facebook) is nearly impossible.

  Just some thoughts. JCW in Nashville

• Report this Comment On February 23, 2009, at 12:46 AM, NavyRet2008 wrote:

  eBay has its uses although it is not the powerhouse site to sell at that it was 5-6 years ago and they brought that upon themselves. I have tried most of the sites mentioned here and only one site has ever brought me any results, Atomic Mall (www.atomicmall.com). You dont hear much about it and it isnt a big site surrounded by a lot of hype but serious sellers who give them a try discover they are happy they did, especially when they are used to less than positive results at other sites. Here is a link that talks more about the site.

  http://tinyurl.com/atomicmall

• Report this Comment On February 23, 2009, at 10:59 AM, Cicero1962 wrote:

  I buy and sell on eBay and would be considered a "small seller" - you know - the kind Mr. Donohoe wants to drive off the site. Most of the complaints lodged here are valid and have been repeated - ad infinitum - to eBay management for quite some time now, all to no positive effect.

  The problem we have is that Mr. Donohoe is the same type of "Master of the Universe" business jerk that has destroyed Wall Street. Is it any wonder that a person of this ilk is also destroying eBay?

  I only remain on eBay because I am a small seller who does not rely on my sales for income and the site remains useful as a means for me to liquidate some of the junk that is cluttering my house. Nevertheless, after 18 months on the site as a seller here are some of my thoughts about what's wrong with the site and what needs to be fixed:

  1) The fees are WAY too high. I typically surrender close to 20% of my final sale price to eBay. That's pretty dadgum steep!

  2) First listing sell-through rates are WAY too low to justify eBay charging anyone fees simply to list items there. All listing fees should be abolished until the average sell-through rate rises above 75%.

  3) eBay works best for small sellers with unique items if it is exclusively an auction site. Fixed price sales should be taken off eBay and run on another website dedicated to moving "commodity" type items.

  4) Either abolish the feedback system or restore a level playing field between buyers and sellers. The value of feedback as an informational tool for both buyers and sellers is diminishing with every passing month since buyers were prohibited from leaving neutral or negative feedback for bad buyers.

  5) Abolish the DSR system or modify it to a 100-point scale instead of an idiotic 5-star system.

  6) Forcing eBay users to use PayPal exclusively was a big mistake. Both buyers and sellers HATE this. It hurts sales and profit margins for sellers and limits the buyer's ability to pay using other forms of payment they may personally prefer. This was obviously a "fee grab" by Donohue and his pirate crew and everyone on eBay resents the hell out of that.

  7) Find a way to purge eBay of the endless streams of counterfeit and cheap junk being flooded onto the site by communists crooks operating out of China.

  I could go on, but these are the things that presently BUG the heck out of me.

• Report this Comment On February 24, 2009, at 12:03 AM, solarfool314 wrote:

  I started selling as a small time amateur around 2002-2003 and had a lot of fun. I bought shares in he company because it seemed to me at that time to have both momentum and headroom to grow.

  I attained power seller status and am proud of my 100% positive rating. I also got so dissatisfied with ebay that I sold my stock and stopped looking for stuff in my niche to sell.

  I really resented the fact that I, as a seller was no longer able to warn others of a problem customer. I had a couple along the way so I felt this was a real change for the worse. Add to that problems with turbolister, increasing fees, the mandated use of paypal and the whole thing sort of lost its luster..

  I may get back into selling on ebay, on the other hand if I get back into my "hobby business" I may seek other venues to do it instead.

  It was fun while it lasted!,

• Report this Comment On February 24, 2009, at 6:40 AM, NYMArts wrote:

  Recipe to Save Ebay :

  1) Sellers to Accept Money Orders and Checks.

  2) Dump ALL Acquisitions.

  3) Return Feedback to 2001 edition.

  4) Remove Ebay from Stock Market, Return to Privately Held Status.

  5) Ebay is only a Venue. Let Sellers and Buyers Take Care of Business, then Ebay cannot be sued.

  6) Remove ALL TRACES of Corporate Gobbledy Gouk from the Website.

  7) Remove All Community Chatroom Junk.

  8) Return Live and Telephone Landline Help.

  9) Full disclosure of Bidder's Name during auction.

  10) Auction Format is the NORM.

  11) REMOVE JOHN DONAHOE ! to affect Positive Change.

  Grease Pan and Bake at 350 for 45 minutes :o)

• Report this Comment On February 24, 2009, at 6:52 AM, NYMArts wrote:

  Recipe to Save Ebay :

  Then ,

  Remove from Oven

  and Top with WAY LOWER Listing and Final Value Fees.

  Sprinkle with UNCONDITIONAL Return to Ebay.

  Makes 750,000 to 1,500,000 servings :o)

• Report this Comment On February 24, 2009, at 11:30 AM, ballsall wrote:

  How to fix ebay.

  #1. Stop Attacking honest sellers with your Distrust department poids!

  #2. Fire Donahoe YESTERDAY!!! AND DO NOT WAIT 2 MONTHS FOR A STOCKHOLDERS MEETING; SEE THE DAMAGE HE AND HAS POLICIES HAVE DONE TO "SELLERS" THEIR ALL LEAVIN'

  #3. GO BACK TO BEING JUST A VENUE AND DO NOT INTERFERE WITH ANY ASPECT OF SELLER TO BUYER ACTIVITIES

  #4 SHUT UP AND LISTEN NOW TO SELLERS!!!

  #5 SHUP UP AND DO THE ABOVE OR YOUR STOCK WITH BE $8 A SHARE BY SEPT 09; SHUT UP AND LISTEN NOW , SHUT UP AND DO IT!!

• Report this Comment On February 24, 2009, at 11:37 AM, ballsall wrote:

  SEE THE ABOVE EBAY. . YOUR STOCK WILL BE $8; ALL YOU HAVE TO DO ; IS THE SAME STUPID INITIATIVES AND ACTIONS TAKEN BY DONOHOE AND THE TRUST DEPARTMENT(YOU DESTROYED LIVES OF SELLERS!!!!) KEEP IT UP SEPTEMBER 911 FOR YOU IS ABOUT 6 MONTHS AWAY AS SELLERS CONTINUE TO LEAVE AND BUYERS STOP BUYING; AS EVEN THEY SEE THE "ABSURB INEQUITIES" THAT THE TRUST DEPARTMENT ARE IMPARTING ON HONEST!! SELLERS AND THE POLICIES OF JERK-O-HOE AND THE BOYS AND GIRLS AT SCREW SELLERS BAY!!! YEA!! AMAZON IS FLYING . ..WHILE EBAY 16% LOST; IS NOT RECOUPABLE ; AND WILL CONTINUE TO KILL THE STOCKHOLDERS ; WHO ARE ALSO NOT THINKING OF THEIR SOON TO BE "$4 TO $8 PER SHARE BOTTOM LINE. . WHAT A DECLINE. .. ALL DO TO POLICIES, POLICIES AND RULES!!! ALL THAT KILLED YOU SITE AS YOU LISTENED TO THE "HARVARD TYPES" PAST AND FUTURE; THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN IN YOUR SUGGESTION BOX, TO YOUR EMAILS.. YOU DID NOT HEED THE MESSAGE(S) ; AND YOU WILL NOT AGAIN. . SO DIE AS YOU WILL!!!!!!

• Report this Comment On February 24, 2009, at 11:43 AM, ballsall wrote:

  Yes, ebay is already dead!!!! At a recession time they will complete the eulogy in 3 not 6 months! I see the stock going to $3 maybe $5; as the overall economy, the HATE of sellers against eBay is Now maximal!!!! Ebay let JERKS run the site, the oversite of the trust department is: ANTI BUSINESS!!! The attitude of top mgt: Hate sellers. . as we are still getting Paid. . Not for long will you receive enumeration for wrecking havoc on SELLERS, Is correct. . THEY MADE YOU AND ARE NOW "BREAKING YOU DOWN"(to size) . . Amazon, Bonanzle , OLA, etsy are growing!!! And dumb bay is DEAD!!! THE SELLERS HAVE AGAIN TAKEN CONTROL OVER YOUR BOTTOM LINE ; ALL YOUR EFFORTS ATTACKED SELLERS THAT MADE YOU!!!! Now it is your turn!

• Report this Comment On February 24, 2009, at 1:01 PM, rogandantiques wrote:

  Lots of posts here, I suggest letting the voice of sanity and reason dictate your actions. All you need to do is ask yourself where you will make the most money with the least expense. Ebay, where they want to restrict how you get paid and micro-manage your every waking moment? Or some one (or more) of the competitors that have recently made inroads to the online sales arena? The choice is yours, you only live once... go for it.

  www.Rogand-Antiques.com

  www.Antiques-Collectibles.eCrater.com

• Report this Comment On February 24, 2009, at 5:30 PM, juliehowe wrote:

  Put Ebay back the way it was before Troy Donohoe broke it.

  Go back to the old feedback system.

  Fire Troy Donohoe

  Do whatever it takes to lure Meg Whitman back to Ebay.

• Report this Comment On February 25, 2009, at 2:10 PM, EbayNot4MeNoMore wrote:

  As a prior Power Seller, and a buyer, with eBay since 1998, I left last year. Enough already! I went to ecrater.com and use google checkout. Ecrater is totally FREE and fees from Google checkout is minimal. No time limit on ecrater either!

  Ebay blew it when they dictated that you had to accept PayPal or have a Merchant Account - no checks, no money orders.

  Ebay blew it when they and PayPal decided to override the sellers refund policy.

  Ebay blew it when PayPal fails to verify a credit card user before initiating payment - so simple to do to prevent fraud!

  Ebay/PayPal blew it when protection was all for the buyer and allowed chargebacks on a whim, instead of contacting the buyer BEFORE initating the payment to validate the purchase! But wait - they couldn't collect money from the seller if they did that and found it was a fraud use of CC! Ha!

  Ebay/PayPal blew it when they decided to "HOLD" the sellers money until a satisfactory feedback was made by the buyer, or 21 days.

  Ebay blew it when fees kept increasing while actual service decreased for the sellers.

  Ebay blew it when they failed to institute simple checks prior to payments to make sure it was a valid credit card charge by the actual user - but wait - that would take actual customer service! (Slapping my forehead!)

  Ebay blew it when they would not allow Google Checkout - but wait - that's competition and MUCH SAFER than PayPal and CHEAPER too! Oh my!

  Ebay blew it when they eliminated feedback for buyers - now a seller has no way of knowing if a buyer is a deadbeat or virtuous.

  Ebay could have contracted with credit card companies and stated that sellers refund policies would override credit card chargebacks. Ebay chose not to.

  Ebay blew it - plainly and simply. There was, and are, methods that ebay could have used (and still could) to verify credit card users prior to each purchase finalization, but ebay refuses to to do that. After all, ebay will still get the sellers fees even if it was a fraudulent payment that ebay/paypal could have prevented.

  I will admit that my sales were very slow at first on ecrater and was beginning to believe I wasted my time. But, after a few months, it came through and my sales are great! Yes, it is a "set price" site, but I still have people email me for an "offer", and if I choose to accept the lower price, I just go in and reset the price! It works great!

  So, even if ebay develops "2" ebays, the changes they have made still make it a great playing field for rip offs. Thanks, but no thanks.

  As for Megs - please - she is a joke!

• Report this Comment On February 25, 2009, at 4:12 PM, sallyjs wrote:

  Recipe for change:

  --All eBay users buy one (1) or more shares of eBay stock. (At current bargain price, it will be a good investment for awhile as PayPal consumes more subscribers, sellers, etc.)

  --Enlightened users vote their proxies at the annual meeting and overhaul the board of directors and management, alike.

  I dream of a shareholder revolt.

  For the life of me, after selling and buying on the site, and gaining education from various discussion boards, I cannot determine what management is thinking.

  Part of the problem may be the incestuous relationship with the consulting firm from which upper management has been recruited.

  The actual problem may originate from the Red Green Institute of Upper Management: "If it ain't broke, you aren't trying."

• Report this Comment On February 26, 2009, at 8:39 AM, JustWhy wrote:

  Ebay WAS like a relationship to all of the members. It became a part of the family and was visited and nurtured everyday.

  In 2004, ebay was a partner that made me happy and life seemed good.

  Now it is in terminal decline I long for the good times. Right now it is thrashing about in the last throes because the surgeons have decided not to operate and save it. Why? Recovery may take time but with the right treatment it could survive. It is like sitting back and watching something die when it doesn't have to be that way.

  It's illness has changed it beyond recognition from that happy place we once knew and it has become an unreasonable patient, which in all honesty scares me into hoping that someone will put it out of it's misery, sooner rather than later if they are not going to perform the operation it so desperately needs.

  Dr. Donahoe and his imcompetent team should be struck off immediately. He is not fit to practice.

  As soon as the condition can be reversed, it won't take long before our friend will be off the ventilator and recovery can take place over the coming months.

  If Dr. Donahoe is left in charge of this patient, those of us that are left to care will be saying RIP before long.

  So many of us are already grieving for our once dear friend and business partner.

• Report this Comment On February 26, 2009, at 11:06 AM, rogandantiques wrote:

  I see Ebay stock has risen this morning to almost $12.00, so, quick folks, if you bought 10,000 shares when it was $33 per share, how much in the hole are you now? And how much more are you willing to lose?

  www.Rogand-Antiques.com

  www.Antiques-Collectibles.eCrater.com

• Report this Comment On March 03, 2009, at 5:17 AM, BobbyGreen wrote:

  Ebay is all about money now,they do not care who sells on their site as long as you make them money.That is the whole trick they have built from when you guys say "it used to be fun" to now being "new policy changes" why dont they just say "we want more money from you,give it to us" It is really SICK how much money they are making if you just think about it for a minute.

  Something else I noticed......paypal is also being used on that Bonazle site you guys are talking about that is owned by ebay,which I dont need to tell you that,....so why are these sites that are competing against ebay offering thier sellers to use it? Here,let me add a little more GASOLINE to the fire.All they are doing is giving ebay more money to combat against the competing auction sites!!!! HELLO !!!!!!! IS ANYBODY HOME !!!!!!

  Does anybody realize the HURT that would be afflicted on ebay if even HALF of the sellers went on a little strike for about a month and not sell ? I can tell you why,....none of these sellers have a backbone to stand up and take charge.They have fallen into the GREED game along with ebay thinking they will stick it out a little longer and put up with ebays BS and watch other sellers drop off like flies so they can take the business. All these sellers are,are puppets.

  Just to let you all know,I'm not new to all this.I started using ebay in 1998.I found out about ebay by an article in a model car magazine and started buying and selling model cars,which has been a hobby of mine since I was 6 years old.How old am I ? I just turned 40.I'm seeing alot of changes,some not for the better.I used to think ebay was a great link to peoples garage sales and flee markets in other states that I would never see otherwise.Meg WhitMAN as California GOV. ? NEVER!!!!!! whos gonna vote for that PIG,not me.Gavin Newsom,SF mayor will make GOV before she ever will. Shes high on something? who is she? she worked at ebay? oh yah,thats who I want in office.Where's Ross Perote? that old fossil has more ground to stand on than Meg WhitMAN.

  How do you all like the PAID PROGRAM for "Making Money On Ebay" Have any of you caught on to that one yet? its not like Tom Vu selling his get rich realestate scam,no no no, that has to be with NO DOUBT >>>> EBAY AT WORK RECRUITING NEW SELLERS . What do you think? Ebay is out of hand like the Mexican drug cartel.

  The only way to stop ebay is to STOP PAYING THEM !!!!! A hungry LION will only stay alive as long as he is fed.

  Bobby Green

• Report this Comment On March 09, 2009, at 1:24 PM, 8martini8 wrote:

  eBay seems to be giving up on their base of buyers and sellers enjoying the ebay marketopkace and instead are panic-pumping their revenues from the Paypal arm. Their recent implementation of requiring Paypal for payments (and its trandsparent aim of levying an automatic % fee on all $ transactions *on top of* the listing and FVF fees) has driven away a large number of buuyers and sellers who simply prefer to deal by checks and money orders. many people don't have and don't WANT a paypal account fo a variety of reasons -- and many sellers' profit margins are so low already that forcing another 2 or 3 % for Paypal is the final straw.

  Ebay is also now allowing Paypal for porn in their newly renamed 'Adult' (no longer the spuriously named 'Mature') categories -- which I believe heralds their long-deferred entry into the wider market of internet porn transactions -- a potentially lucrative market that they could have *owned* if they'd allowed it 8 years ago, and which may still yield significant Paypal revenue and may alone provide a decent reason to invest in eBay at these current low price levels. But the querstion is about their core business -- I haven't seen it improving in any way.

• Report this Comment On May 07, 2009, at 6:44 PM, buyamericanautos wrote:

  The fees have been a pain since the get go, they are just more noticible in a bad economey. I have always used ebay as a form of advertising to drive business to my site or Jonesinfor.com where the listing is free rather use ebay to host all my items for sale. It doesen't make sense to pay all those fees when you can be smart and dollar pinch (similar to penny pinching, only better)

• Report this Comment On May 31, 2009, at 4:10 AM, PhilipCohen wrote:

  Regardless of who pays the fees, or who is now abusing the (broken) feedback system, or the DSR fiasco, or eBay’s latest “restraint on competition” attempt: the mandating of the offering of PayPal by sellers and the banning of “paper” payments, or their failed attempt in Australia to mandate the use of PayPal exclusively, or their many other frantic, and sometimes stupid, manipulations of this auction system, the fact is neither eBay nor its sellers can flourish without the confidence of buyers, and the application generally of “hidden bidders”, particularly in the absolutely anonymous form (“Bidder x”) still suffered by users in the UK, Ireland and the Philippines (and in Australia until 3 February 2009), which serves little other purpose than to hide from view all but the most naive and blatant activity of the shill bidders that are undoubtedly now running rampant, is not going to improve that confidence anytime in the future.

  A case study of a classic shill bidder on eBay, and a comment on eBay’s knowing facilitating thereof at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2403...

  Quote: “Interestingly, Donahoe also seemed to leave the door slightly ajar for a potential spinoff of his company's online payments unit PayPal, …”

  If this is correct it will be the first logical thought this guy has ever had; he otherwise clearly has no idea of what he is doing at eBay. If that MBA taught him anything then he should be using all his skills negotiating with “the banks” to take PayPal and integrate it into their online payments system, in exchange for an appropriate interest in the consolidated business, of course. Because, the more successful PayPal is, the more likely it is that the banks will finally get off their butts and introduce a like system; if and when that happens the banks will squash PayPal like a bug.

  PayPal will then shrivel back to its effectively mandated, Donahoe-dwarfed eBay marketplace home (for another brilliant Donahoe tactic). Just as well his “performance” (what performance?) bonus now comes in the form shares in lieu of cash, at least he won’t be profiting as greatly from his poor decisions.

  In the meantime, if he is good enough for a directorship at Intel, could they not offer him an executive position too? Then can we can find someone to put the pieces of eBay back together again and let us all (including the stockholders) get on with having some fun and making some money.

• Report this Comment On June 05, 2009, at 8:08 AM, PhilipCohen wrote:

  Shill Bidding on eBay: A Case Study

  For anyone that is interested, a case study of another instance of blatant shill bidding on eBay, and a detailed comment on eBay’s apparent attitude thereto, at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2403...

• Report this Comment On July 10, 2009, at 6:03 AM, Bonznaleisshady wrote:

  ebay has shills and always did that has been my pet peeve for years Bonanzle is nothing but a JokE. Do youre homework look SHABBYGIRLCOSMETICS then go to ebay and compare the prices this seller is a theif shabbygirlcosmetics buys from EBAY and sells on bonanzle at sky rocket prices shabbygirlcosmetics is a ripoff dontbuy from shabbygirlcosmetics shabbygirlcosmetics is picture theif and copys and buys all on ebay and you fools buy her line of bs. shabbygirlcosmetics teef you will be caught

• Report this Comment On July 10, 2009, at 11:01 AM, shabbygirl wrote:

  shabbygirl? The greediest sneakiest person on bonanzle. Bought a mineral vale from her and found out these familys is buying on ebay heatherr9188. Need to throw away your money shop here . you will do just that. work 70 hrs a week. this wonky liar got no job and never sleeps the nosest poerson trys to pretend you got a deal then you find out you were ripped off. not a little but a lot. she will agravate your contemption with her coniving ways. anyone who names her dog snot can't be right.

• Report this Comment On July 11, 2009, at 4:51 AM, saynotobonanzle wrote:

  say no to bonanzle says its all a ruse sellers are the bonaznle site a favor the sellers on bonanzle are doing all the work they have a amazon button next to your listin so you can compare prices i looked at shabbygirlcosmetics used some search engines and this seller is bonkers and shabbygirlcosmetics does sell and buy on ebay lissts it on bonanzle at outrageous prices she is buyer seller heatherr9188 just compared ran a search and has the same items on ebay but bought all of her stock from ebay inflated the pricres through the roof these family shabbygirlcosmetics is trying to do what all ebayers used to do sad and greedy is shabbygirlcosmetics have to agree she is a thief hands down thanks for the info i love search engines i wouldnt buy from shabbygirlcosmetics if they were auctioning off evrything for a mere buck do they buy from any bonz sellers dont look it see fer yaself seller shabbygirlcosmetics is robbing u its all over google all her bonz lsitings but look where she bought that stuff fer yaself on ebay for a penny sellers like shabygirlcosmetics make me nauesus

• Report this Comment On July 11, 2009, at 5:04 AM, saynotobonanzle wrote:

  bonanzle is usinG you sellers to build a strong base so they can sell the site to google yOu are doing all theyre work adding attributes when bonznale reached its objective they will sell it off to google all u knowitalls cant see the forst through the trees keepworkin extra hard for em bonanzle is a farce for so called ebay fleeers when in time youwill be back where yOu were were on eBay dang fools r yOu read webpronews fer yaself about bOnanzle it's nauseatinG

  Mark have another case of brew

• Report this Comment On July 11, 2009, at 9:42 AM, Shabbygirlbooth wrote:

  bonanzle isn;tdoing nuttin U R doing the work they have amazon button next to your listings so you can compare prices i looked at shabbygirlcosmeticsbooth used some search engines and this seller is bonkers and shabbygirlcosmeticsbooth does sell and buy on ebay lissts it on bonanzle at outrageous prices she is buyer seller heatherr9188 just compared ran a search and has the same items on ebay bought all of her stock from ebay inflated the pricres through the roof these family shabbygirlcosmeticsbooth, ileener2007booth,save-a-buckbooth is trying to do what all ebayers used to do sad and greedy is shabbygirlcosmeticsbooth have to agree she is a thief hands down thanks for the info i love search engines i wouldnt buy from shabbygirlcosmeticsbooth if they were auctioning off evrything for a buck do they buy from any bonz sellers dont look it see fer yaself seller shabbygirlcosmeticsbooth is robbing u its all over google all her bonz listings but look where she bought that stuff fer yaself on ebay for a penny sellers like shabygirlcosmeticsbooth make me nauesus when havin one of her bonnazas shabbygirlcosmeticsbooth up's all the alreay over inflated prices so U think U R getTing a deaL. nuseauting shabbygirlcosmeticsbooth hun U R a big ripofFF

  danG theif

• Report this Comment On August 04, 2009, at 11:50 PM, JamesterDude wrote:

  Wow eBay just bit my hand that was feeding them!!!when a person get pos feedbacks and generates $1200 plus dollars a month they still envoked the stupid gold star 4.1 crap(five minutes after paying a $265 invoice) wonder what part of those states made me a bad seller? I am moving on I am trying out http://www.multi-sale.com it is twitter enhanced using the twitter api evey item I list is tweeted to my and @MultiSale simultaneously way cool Thanks ebay for saving all those listing fees http://www.multi-sale.com is free and charges 1% final value at this rate I am sure it won’t be long before ebay is down to 1% sellers

• Report this Comment On August 11, 2009, at 2:54 AM, oneonlyone wrote:

  ebay is down and so is bonanzle did you know that the booth owners on bonanzle are the same peeps they have many booths and boy do they rob you half of the sellers booth owners take your money and never ship the order bonanzle is a rip off with sellers like shabbygirlcosmetics she buys all her invetory cosmetics smashbox bare escentuals over at ebay under jorgesgirl208 buyer name and sells it on bonanzle you hafta to see how shabbygirlcosmetics more than quadruples the price. shabbygirlcosmetics is a huge thief read shabbygirlcosmetics profile on bonanzle and they'll make you think they buy from wholesalers when shabbygirlcosmetics is ebay buyer jorgesgirl208 bonanzle is going down down as sellers rip off buyerstake the money never ship order shabbygirlcosmetics is jealous of her competition and will go the diastance to knock off her competitors greedy seller just search ebay for the exact items they sell shabbygirlcosmetics does not work like she always says she is she just hangs and peeks around then switches to ebay and buys her makeup fools i'll tell yer she's a thieving fool DO NOT BUY FROM SHABBYGIRLCOSMETICS ON BONANZLE UNTIL YOU CHECKED THE PRICE WITH EBAY SELLERS SHE IS THE GREEDIEST THIEF I EVER SAW. HUN YOU SHOULD STOP YOUR FAT FOLLOISHNESS

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