The exodus has begun...

Topic: The exodus has begun... (Read 2143 times) previous topic - next topic

The exodus has begun...

May 19, 2008, 10:10:48 PM

Today eBay's new feedback policy went into place (neutrals now count as negatives, sellers can only leave buyers positive feedbacks). 3,500 sellers and counting left for ecrater, 1,500 and counting left for onlineauction. One of the Top 5 All-Time eBay sellers completely closed down shop. The CEO that came up with the "brilliant" plan announced he's stepping down as well. This is going to be ugly...

The exodus has begun...

Reply #1 – May 19, 2008, 10:41:34 PM

Wow, I just left feedback and saw this new little notification:

I didn't realize this just started today.

The exodus has begun...

Reply #2 – May 19, 2008, 10:50:33 PM

They should change that to read:

"You can now do charge-backs, leave undeserved negatives without fear of suspension, and generally run amok."

The exodus has begun...

Reply #3 – May 19, 2008, 10:59:58 PM

If it ain't broke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The exodus has begun...

Reply #4 – May 19, 2008, 11:22:48 PM

Did it hit you at eBay.ca Carm? Did your % change drastically as well?

The exodus has begun...

Reply #5 – May 19, 2008, 11:31:41 PM

I never actually left a negative for a seller, but I have left neutral a couple of times - which in my case meant they were pretty terrible. I was always nervous about leaving a negative as I value my 100% rating. Of course, I may see this as a seller, but everybody is treated equal now so it will all balance out again and likely make little difference - except for the sleazy buyers that do some of the antics you describe. We'll see I guess...

The exodus has begun...

Reply #6 – May 20, 2008, 01:25:40 AM

Quote from: eBay warning

You should leave honest and accurate Feedback...

Hard to give honest and accurate feedback when you're only given 1 option.

The exodus has begun...

Reply #7 – May 20, 2008, 03:12:33 AM

Examples!!! "Feedback Left For Others", check the dates!

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=inkedbarbie&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers

He jumped the gun, but a negative for "messy peanuts"???

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=robjennings&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers

More:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=shadowfire0101&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers

How about buyers being able to make their feedback private, so you can't see what they've left for others?

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=10seconds2love&ftab=AllFeedback&userblob=39DDC0B8610A70E0AB45F00E5914AA7463981378CD9C959EF10E3A5FED9405F4D351599E2817C55BA34337D6F56339FD2703D59B73E72BC3

This person openly admitted on eBay to leaving negatives today because... "I just left a negative feedback for a seller. Normally I would have let the issue slide, but with the new policies, I figured why not?"

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000570875&tstart=0&mod=1211264636653

What about the CEO selling stock right before the changes and implosion?

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080519/ebay_insider_transactions.html?.v=1

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/docudrama/2008/01/25/did-whitmans-100-million-in-ebay-stock-sales-foretell-her-stepping-down/

No bad buyers, are you sure? Read about the fraud and scams!

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000701413&tstart=0&mod=1211264115447

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000700776&tstart=120&mod=1211255981199

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=droids2010&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers

"Held hostage for Positive feedback"

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=slotstuff&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers

"I THOUGHT I paid!!"

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=michaelrash40&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers

eBay is practically begging buyers to leave negatives!

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000701512&tstart=40&mod=1211263285889

"I LEFT 27 NEGATIVES TODAY!!!!!!!"

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000701524&tstart=0&mod=1211266686252

The exodus has begun...

Reply #8 – May 20, 2008, 05:03:56 AM

Quote from: P71;219826

3,500 sellers and counting left for ecrater, 1,500 and counting left for onlineauction.

interesting....... doesn't ebay own paypal???

The exodus has begun...

Reply #9 – May 20, 2008, 09:36:46 AM

Quote from: P71;219841

Did it hit you at eBay.ca Carm? Did your % change drastically as well?

I'm registered at ebay.com (ebay.ca did not exist when I first joined). My percentage went from 99.8 to 98.5 overnight.

The (only) upside: We're all in the same boat. The changes affect every seller, so every seller's going to have negative feedback because somebody's husband left the seat up again. The problem with everyone being in the same boat: The iceberg's been hit, the hull's been breached, and the boat is sinking. The captain's scuttled his own ship, but is now madly bailing to keep it afloat (5-cent listing days, stifling conversation on the ebay forums, etc). Sellers are manning the lifeboats, hoping to watch from a distance as the once mighty, unsinkable eBay slips below the water. Our only issue is who's gonna rescue us? What will be our new port of call?

Now that I'm out of nautical references: I've been taking steps to rid myself of eBay. I've been offering free shipping if somebody buys something through my website but charging $10 if they buy through eBay. I've bought advertising on Google. I've been advertising in the local classifieds (which has been surprisingly successful). I'm basically trying to use eBay solely as a vehicle to advertise my wares while discouraging people from actually buying through eBay. For example, if somebody asks me if they can buy
one of my LED lights in any colour combination other than the amber/white offered on eBay I tell them that they can, but they have to do it through my website because, after all, ebay won't LET me sell red/blue lights, so I can't do it through them. I also point out the free shipping on the website. Most people want to save the shipping costs, so they buy through the website, and I diddle eBay out of about $6 worth of seller's fees. Example:

"Can I get these in red/white?"
"Yes, you can, but eBay forbids me from selling red lights through eBay, so you must buy through my website at http://www.tcelectronixx.com. You also get free shipping through the website."

I do the same thing with sequencers and wigwag flashers:

"Will this work in my car? How hard is it to install?"
"Yes, it will. You can view instructions on my website at http://www.tcelectronixx.com - by the way, if you buy through the website you get free shipping."

Are these examples against eBay policy? Almost certainly. Do I give a rat's ass? Not even the tiniest butthole whisker.

I also saw the potential for competitors to sabotage my ratings by buying something, then leaving a neg just because they can. Deadbeat buyers have always been a problem as well. I took the step of changing all of my listings to "Immediate payment required" to combat these. Now deadbeat buyers won't be an issue, and if one of my competitors wants to leave me negative feedback just to make himself look better, it's gonna cost him. I've also changed my settings to no longer accept payments from unconfirmed addresses, which combined with the delivery confirmation I send everything with, should reduce fraudulent chargebacks.

eBay has been actively trying to rid itself of the "online flea market" reputation it has, and has been wooing large retailers such as Sears, General Motors, Dell, and so on. This will eventually explode in their corporate faces because most eBay buyers WANT an online flea market experience. They want that experience because A) They want a bargain, and B) They might be looking for something that you can't find in a store, such as a horn button for an '86 XR7. Most people, if they want to shop at Autozone or Sears, will go to Autozone or Sears' website (or in person). When I search for "1987 Thunderbird headlight" I don't want to see a bunch of ricer headlights for 2002 Pontiac Sunfires. When I search for 1988 Thunderbird tail light" the last thing I want to see is 100 pages of listings for Altezzas. Once buyers stop finding what they're looking for on eBay, they'll look elsewhere. The problem sellers have is that, barring Google starting up their own auction site (something I can't believe they haven't done yet. especially after eBay banned G-pay as a payment option), it's going to take a while for everyone to settle on one alternative, then it's going to take another while for buyers to follow us there.

The buyers will follow, eventually. There's a huge market for an online flea market (eBay's very existence proves that). Why eBay is walking away from what made it what it is today is mind boggling to say the least, but an alternative will surface.

eBay has been a monopoly for so long that it feels as though it can get away with whatever it wants. It raises prices, gives horrible customer service, interferes with sellers listings, and invokes stupid changes with impunity because there are no alternatives. Users were complacent because the changes over the years were a pain, but tolerable. As long as eBay didn't cross the line there was no incentive to leave.

The line has finally been crossed. Ebay has given the push. People are searching for alternatives (I wouldn't have even dreamed about buying advertisp00gets on Google had eBay not pushed me to look for alternatives). A dominant competitor will arise from the group of contenders and establish itself as the "new" eBay. Then you'll see eBay saying "We're sorry, please come back, here are some incentives". Lower listing fees. Relaxed rules. A backpedaling on many of their stupid changes. But it'll be too late. Once sellers and buyers find a new groove, and if that groove works, there will be no reason to go back.

And if you think that a once-dominant player in a market full of small but growing start-ups can't be knocked into oblivion nearly overnight, I have three letters for you: A. O. L.

The exodus has begun...

Reply #10 – May 20, 2008, 09:49:23 AM

Yahoo has a shopping site... I haven't checked out all of the ins and outs of it, but if e-bay goes under, yahoo might pick up the slack.
That is just one example of what I found... I'll do more digging later.

The exodus has begun...

Reply #11 – May 20, 2008, 10:08:34 AM

Quote

And if you think that a once-dominant player in a market full of small but growing start-ups can't be knocked into oblivion nearly overnight, I have three letters for you: A. O. L.

BOOM!

Will the torch be passed on to another website smart enough to adapt or a new player altogether? It'll be interesting to watch it unfold....

The exodus has begun...

Reply #12 – May 20, 2008, 11:13:36 AM

This one never took off http://www.stangbay.com/auction/index.php?

Good ol' "Stangbay" trying to take advantage of the huge Mustang parts market.

The exodus has begun...

Reply #13 – May 20, 2008, 11:30:34 AM

As always an insightful and honest post Carm. I love the site re-direct, that's pure genius! I am also watching to see which site becomes the new ebay, though I have been signing up on all of them. Yahoo's auction site is "OK" but it looks like the other 2 I mentioned earlier are getting the lion's share. All 3 are viable alternatives. I heard grumblings about Google making their own auction site a few months ago when all of this BS was announced, but I can't find it. I wonder if it is still going to happen, or has a better chance of happening now? I had a list of about a dozen "favorite sellers" on ebay, of who 8 have now pulled all of their auctions. None of them were "PowerSellers" but all of them had near-perfect feedback.

The exodus has begun...

Reply #14 – May 20, 2008, 12:01:54 PM

Oooh! Thank the Lord I can go and buy buy buy and charge it all back and keep my 100% nasty sellers won't make me pay anymore! RRAAH! ****ing dicksticks.