eBay Warnings Indicate It Can't Keep Track of Seller Compliance

by: COH

I can't believe investors aren't selling of EBAY stock in droves.  I would.

and just HOW is John Donohoe still employed?  Is wall Street THAT blind?  Meh - I think they invest in Ebay as a loss leadeing stock.  They need losses to offset their profits in Amazon.

by: bitbybit

loss leader stock - how does it feel Donahoe to be CEO of a loser? Obviously JD is not a competent captain of his domain.

by: The End

GOOD NEWS !
Ebay's going off the rails.
BAD NEWS : It isn't happening fast enough.

by: Philip Cohen

@COH,

Anyone who buys and/or holds onto eBay shares would have to be as naïve as those people who believe eBay’s disingenuous claim to have "sophisticated and proactive" systems in place to detect shill bidding fraud and protect buyers therefrom …

Certainly, the “smart money” on Wall Street is not holding eBay stock; that’s the principal reason why,while Amazon’s stock is now ~$360, eBay’s is still languishing at ~$52. Undoubtedly, the “smart money” on Wall Street recognises that eBay Inc is a "dog", and that Donahoe is a very poor dog handler ... http://bit.ly/YvxFEg …

eBay / PayPal / Donahoe: Dead Men Walking ...

by: justsaying

@COH et all:  They are...only it's the insiders that are selling off stock in droves...check out this link, and bookmark it for future reference...
http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ebay/insider-trades

by: conspiracyfact

Ebay has been hijacked for political reasons and is being intentionally imploded. Which special interest is doing this and why are they doing it? I mean who can deny there is social/political turmoil going on everywhere, from occupy wall street to anonymous to libertarianism to tyranny. Is it socialists who are trying to artificially demonize capitalism? Is it the new world order who are shutting down power plants and major industry and ecommerce etc, in an attempt to domesticate the population into welfare? International globalists with no allegiance to any country wrecking stuff to later come in and buy up everything for pennies on the dollar?
The solution to this is bitcoin and voluntaryism/anarchy. Bitcoin is decentralized, like bit torrent and major human rights people like Richard Stallman who created much of GNU/linux are speaking in favor of it. We just need mass adoption then no evil hierarchy or individual CAN control who buys from who etc. We need someone who is intelligent and articulate like ming the merciless to contact alex jones or similar alternate media. Talk on their shows and harness their media power and target the information war at the forehead of this exceptionally evil corporation.

by: Bloggo

@conspiracyfact  - This one is simple. People like JD are in the wealth extraction business, not the wealth creation business. It's something akin to a parasite that doesn't care if the host dies.

by: Patricia

They can't keep track of seller compliance...yet that doesn't stop them from coming out with every silly ham-fisted rule they can think up.  Like a bunch of children playing at managing a company.  They need to go back to the simple feedback percentage they've always had ....and replace the DSR stupidity with "was your transaction satisfactory?, just okay?, not satisfactory?.  Too easy?  Maybe so....

by: Patricia

Well, if we're going by stock price, EBay's stock price was in the high 60's when Donohue took over and shook up the place....I don't think its attained that price since and its now been 5 years of the 3 year make over LMAO

by: Marie

This statement in the current update from today is completely incorrect.

"When asked if items misidentified as needing fixes meant those listings were being mistakenly lowered in search, Moore responded, "With this particular instance, the misidentification lies solely within the communication itself."

It was NOT just a mistake in the communication itself.  The summary found on the Selling Manager has been wrong for weeks.  And it reads almost exactly what the email I received said.  Both are wrong, therefore it can NOT be just a problem with the email.

And because of that and what I've read here and elsewhere, I personal do not believe it was only a small portion of sellers that were affected with bad info.

Just imagine how much better things could be if they would just tell the truth and work from there.

by: Marie

The word "compliance" is a bit misleading.  Some of the stuff they covered in this email is NOT a requirement but a recommendation.  Item specific boxes for example are not required in all categories.  

Condition description is not available in all categories either.   So it is a mixture of information.  Some you need to comply with to stay within the rules as they stand other are a good idea, but not a requirement.

by: bitbybit

Ebay is still doing it. In order to increase my item's exposure the only field not filled in was a ''recommendation'' for style (this was not a clothing item). Obviously ebay is taking the neutral is a negative because it isn't a positive approach. In other words, a recommendation is the same as a requirement or your items will not get exposure.

Ebay never answers direct questions and give back of the hand responses. I agree with Marie that it is a bunch of boloney only a small portion of sellers were affected. They are insulting and liars.

by: Gina

Basically, ignore eBay messages, they'll retract them in a few hours!

by: joyful17

Oh yes...I got one of those letters last week..telling me to 'optimize my listings' by adding the condition of the items.
I was so very annoyed at this (stupid) request, that I actually sent a letter to eBay. ALL my listings clearly state the condition of the items I offer.
If only they had looked at my site BEFORE sending that letter.

Never heard back from them...but glad you posted their acknowledgement  of this gross error...thanks for keeping us informed!!

by: Marie

@joyful

Ebay now has TWO fields in which you can enter the item condition in now.  They felt the need for a second one.  In the second one you actually have a box in which you can type in a brief description.  It can be useful when selling used or damaged items.  But why two fields and not one that offers a comment field is odd, but then again we are talking about Ebay.

by: Gina

"the Chinese sellers are hogging top of search without complying to any best listing practices" - this has been true for years.  Remember the $.01 listing to ensure the item was at the top of the list, with $50 shipping?  IT'S BAAAAAACK!  Non-compliance seems to be the way to stand out...and get the ratings in searches.
Just search for "antique pocket watches"  99% are neither antique nor pocket watches, rather they are brand new kiddie necklaces with cheapo timepieces inside...

by: blaumann2

They want me to fill out their Condition dialog box.
BUT, using Fiefox that box does not display onthe listing page for many categories.
I have reported this to Ebay's Filipino army of drones. They don't really understand and just lie and do nothing.
I have a condition statement in my description.

by: EssexEstateServices

Received 2 compliance warnings, both items canceled from ebay site. I could not get an answer why either listing was canceled from CS.

Here's what I think it was:

1) The item (a small porcelain box) contained the word "Like" in the title. Well, the inscription on the top of the box was something to the tune of: "There's Nothing Like A Good Friend". Comparisons to increase search (spamming) is not allowed, I get that, but how is quoting something directly on the item, and pictures as such, spamming?

2) a lot of 4 replica, souvenir, toy die cast cannons was listed under Collectibles-Militaria-Civil War-Re-enactment & reproductions-other. Well, one of the cannons was an exact replica/reproduction of the Civil War cannon mounted as a memorial at Jackson Square in New Orleans, EXACT!  

Am I on the BAD BOY list now for breaking ebay rules even though I did not but they think I did because of their computer algorithm?

by: Ephemera Dealer

I too received one of the emails telling me that my items need updating.

Over 500 of them.

So I asked myself, should I spent my time using eBay's clunky editor to edit each and every one of those listings with tiny bits of trivia that is completely covered within the item description itself which I wrote when I initially listed the item?

Or should I spend my time setting up my own website and working on my items on other venues.

Wait, let me think...

I have sold on eBay since 1998. Am a TRS with 100% feedback and 5s across the board in my stars. But sales have been in the tank lately.

Do I worry about it? Not so much. I'm busy getting my stuff listed elsewhere and ramping up my own website.

eBay has shot themselves in the foot with this. Once I am gone, so will my purchases be.

Two years ago I spent over $10k on eBay on inventory to use and resell. Last year I spent about $2k. This year, so far? Only about $500.

Read the handwriting on the wall Donahoe, you're driving sellers away, and in the process, buyers as well. You will end up with Chinese sellers selling crap to no one before long.

But will I care? Not at all.

by: Philip Cohen

In fact, the Ho signaled his then already underway plans for eBay in September 2007, so it could be said that he's now into the seventh year of his planned three-year turnaround—Ho, Ho, Ho ...

“We had to create a vision of the future so people could let go of a very successful past.”

One can only assume that the eBay BoD are not keeping count, or they are asleep; regardless, the "smart money" on Wall Street certainly has been keeping count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 … and they still aren’t buying any of it—but they are buying Amazon …

But the greatest joke about these turkeys is that they are even incapable of analyzing competently their own database; clearly, eBay is not a retailer, nor is it a competent IT business—it has become some sort of joke, and a very cruel one at that for many users, and Wall Street obviously recognises this. As Meg said, “a monkey could drive this train”—and it shows …

Surely, if by year/round ten this turkey Donahoe is still dancing around in circles in the eBay executive suite, the referee, or the doctor, should step in and bring his delusions to an end …

And, as a reminder, the following is a selection of the more inane passages from the Ho’s Legg Mason Forum presentation given on 26 September 2007:

“By using a real focus on the customer, we embarked on a series of fundamental changes that will ultimately span a three year period. We started by creating a future vision. This was critical because not everyone felt the impetus to change, given the amount of success we were experiencing. There’s a real push to keep doing what you’re doing because it’s working. …

“Now, the level playing field really means that the little player shouldn’t get shut out. …

“Historically, we focused a lot on our sellers because they’re the ones who pay our fees. But the buyer was someone we had lost sight of. We increased our focus on the buyer …

“We have such volume that many of our buyers said that there was too much abundance. They just want to buy a Nike watch and instead they get 12,000 results back. That’s too many. They want to get to what they want, faster. We agreed. …

“We talk and listen to customers, but for this kind of innovation, customers don’t always know what they want. …

“Even though people think I’m an expert at technological innovation, my own instinct for technology was frozen in place in 1982. …

“Today we’re dealing with phase two or phase three [he can’t even remember which one] of disruptive innovation. We’ve had the disruption, now we’re having to disrupt the disruption. …

“Based on our experience, here’s how innovation at the core worked. We had to create a mind shift at our company—we had to think bold and not just incremental. We had to create a vision of the future so people could let go of a very successful past. …”

Some of this is simply too funny; but it certainly appears that Johnny Ho has let go of that very successful past … http://bit.ly/12xvzyA

Ho, Ho, Ho, it really is long past time for you to go ...

eBay / PayPal / Donahoe: Dead Men Walking ...