eBay CEO Jamie Iannone Rejects Predecessor's Approach to Buyers

by: Carl

I am interested what this will mean for Chinese sellers of cheap items that don't spend a penny... they don't appear to be his main concern. He spoke against them twice in that little statement of his.

by: The End

If there are 159 million buyers globally,
then there can't be many in the US.
That's hugely unimpressive.
Time for a Shiney New wholey American ONLY venue where we will accept Postal Money Orders and checks.
KEEP IT OFF THE STOCK MARKET.

by: Cranky Senior

Apparently the latest eBay CEO, Jamie Iannone. is not aware that those who buy on eBay are, for the most part, COLLECTORS. Everyone else heads for Amazon or Etsy (Etsy being where all those who offer hand-made items took refuge after EBAY ran them off…), or elsewhere. Perhaps someone should let Jamie Iannone know that eBay's target audience is COLLECTORS who frequent eBay looking to add to their COLLECTIONS? If Sellers do NOT offer items that are COLLECTIBLE, buyers will leave and not come back. Dear God, when is eBay going to hire someone who actually understands how it works???

by: iheartjacksparrow

Unless someone sells on eBay, I highly doubt when they wake up they go straight to eBay.  

by: Silver Ice King

Just more proof that Ebay is interested in keeping all of their scammer buyers because they will realize more money when the buyer sells the scammed item.  This has been happening for years and the point has been mentioned in many comments both on here and even on their own discussion boards with never any kind of denial by anybody at Ebay but they have finally admitted that this is the type of buyer they are looking for.  I do not know the amount but there have been estimates that this has accounted for as much as 15% of Ebays revenue which would explain why they cannot afford to really do anything about it, as their stock price would drop and in turn their bonuses right along with it.

Noting new to the approach just a new spin put on it by the a CEO trying to explain why things on Ebay continue to decline big time if you remove the Promoted Listings revenue and the Mangled Payments revenue.  I can't wait to see what the Audited Financial Statement notes say about the Steiners Federal Lawsuit, unless they consider the potential losses an immaterial amount so they do not have to disclose it.  I put nothing past these unethical executives so it will be very interesting to see how they deal with it, which also explains the delay in releasing their 2nd Qtr results this year.  I will say that spin on the lost buyers was a very creative one since they have always bragged about how many they gain each quarter, even when a large number of those are just new accounts created by their scammer buyers.

by: ebayout

High value buyers need high value sellers.
Lowering the fees on high value items would attract more high value sellers.
Marketing 101 still works...just not at eBay.

by: The End

Where I come from, Gen Z and millennials are almost dirt poor.

by: toolguy

I think he's lost his mind!

My average selling price is $34 per item and I sell about 1000 items a year

My average buying price is $21 and I buy about 30 items a year

by: JohnGermaine

So - a heavy focus on a few rich people who buy ugly overpriced handbags and other high dollar stuff.  Sad. I don't sell any of that junk so I guess they don't want me any more.  That's okay, there are finally other good places to sell.

by: Ladygray

Wow, depressing.  I'm a low value seller. Where does this mean for me? Are we to be pushed down in the search engine or driven away with fee increases?

by: DeathFromAbove

"Changes in our marketing mix and product investments have been focused on attracting and retaining these enthusiasts particularly Gen Z and millennials."

Well, that's about as good as drilling a 6" hole in the hull of your fishing boat before you head out.  This demographic overall has no money, no assets, and is interested in "experiences" rather than "material goods" or "property".  Should be targeting boomers and gen x.  This clueless executive doesn't realize that Gen X (the first of the last 3 generations to earn less than their parents) is buying garbage pail kids trading cards, boomers and late gen Xers are buying the "high value" items.  This information is so obvious it should be slapping him in the face.  Know your market.

by: 1st Armored Div. 1971-1973

Is ebay telling me that they do not want my 7K I sent them last year selling to people who on average spend $20-$30 per transaction. They are my bread and butter not the occasional $200-$800 sale.

Sounds stupid to me.

by: Gumball

Bonanza had beaten Ebay three times this month for daily sales. Never would have thunk it, but now I understand why.  I predict tens of thousands of small sellers will bow off Ebay come subscription time. With the higher fees and lower sales, they will have no choice. Ebay can become the Nordstrom's of the internet. However, Walmart with its low ticket items beats the pants off Nordstrom's in earnings, GMV, etc. Sounds like we have another Yuppy running the store, i.e. female Donahoe.  

by: Chicago48

eBay defines high value buyers as those who sell; who purchase at least six days a year; or who spend over $800, Priest explained.
^^
I kind of get where he's coming from.  It seems he will be aiming for the "business" buyer and seller.  Someone who is a high-volume seller on Ebay ($100K?) and who also purchases supplies on EB, like packing materials. As for trying to rope in the "luxury" bag buyers, he's got a lot of competition from therealreal which lists on the stock exchange, Poshmark, StockX, and Tradesy.  It will be darned hard to compete because they have the market.  When you see Youtube and influencers they don't mention Ebay for Luxury items, they always mention those other sites.  And StockX has the market for high-end sneakers.

by: Marty2020

There are tons of 'buyers' whose first question in the morning, while logging in, is: What am I going to get on ebay for free today?

by: ssusannss

This is hysterical. Most sellers I know used to be buyers, but we are treated so shabbily by eBay that we buy elsewhere.

I would never, ever sell high end ANYTHING on eBay and risk having a box of rocks returned to me. It happens every single day and eBay does nothing to protect us. Authentication or not.  

by: eastwestphoto

Did Iannone say what he is going to do,  to Help PROTECT High value Buyers & Sellers, from low valued , especially in the Feedback abuse area?  

by: stirringpassages

I'm one of the low value sellers (cookbooks) on eBay and have been one for over 20 years with top-rated status.  HOWEVER, apparently no "high value" buyers or "low value" buyers either apparently will darken my door as sales have been DISMAL with absolutely NO new buyers whatsoever.  Between the high fees  so called "Item specifics" and mangled payments it's no fun and definitely not profitable any more to use eBay.  
I certainly would NOT buy high end purses or high value anything else on Ebay even with so called "verification" - lots of knock offs out there - pretty scary.  I have been badly burned on a jewelry return and so I would NEVER buy any jewelry on eBay.  Some things you just have to personally examine I guess - learned that the hard and costly way on Ebay.
For me, eBay has certainly not been either low value or high value friendly type of place.  Definitely time to move on.

by: HardWorkingSeller

Finally we have a CEO that has grasped the nettle.  Chasing GMV by giving away margin makes no sense other than allowing the CEO to hang on to their bonus package in the short term by promising jam tomorrow.

'The Street' needs to understand that eBay needs to focus on what it can do well and what makes margin.  That might mean lowering revenues in some areas, or in aggregate.  The fact that they're starting the messaging to sell this fact is a good sign.

eBay is a smaller but fantastically profitable business trapped inside a larger, less profitable marketplace that's trying to be all things to all people by being a me-too Amazon clone.

It needs to drop the stuff that dilutes earnings, lower the market cap by share buy-backs, focus on margin and drive earnings per share up.

Sounds like the CEO (a) gets it and (b) is willing to try and break the cycle of just chasing GMV headline number.

by: pace306

Iannone is just telling Wall Street what they want to hear - some kind of "new magical roadmap" to eBays "glorious new future". If you believe ANY of it - I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale - cheap!

Iannone doesnt know if he wants eBay to be Amazon, or some higher end retailer - and as we all know - in most cases - a jack of all trades is as good as none.

Amazon (as an example) doesnt only survive on high end purchases (buyers). A majority of buyers buy the few items they need and then only come back when they need to.

They buy cereal when its on sale, they buy electronics when theres a deal and the like.

LONG TERM consumer buyers are those who have PRIME. It doesnt pay to get into your car and go to Walmart to get items, when you can do it on your phone and have it next day. But shipping etc is "FREE" - just you pay for it with PRIME membership.

As for going high end - who exactly are these magical people hes making up?

Are they the people who cant get jobs cause of covid? the ones who cant pay for rent cause of covid? the ones who never finished college cause of covid? are THEY the people buying $800 sneakers?

Rich people dont need eBay - they dont need a deal and they DONT buy used sneakers - they dont have to.

Regular buyers need to put food on the table, pay rent and taxes, and at $3+ a gallon pay for gas - they too dont need or want $800 sneakers.

So whos left? Oh yeh sure - the gangbangers selling weed onthe corner - THEY need $800 sneakers - are those your loyal customers????

Because eBay has no inventory - they must make selling on eBay easy quick and safe - terms no longer used in eBays boardrooms.

I dont buy food on eBay - but I "count on it" to have all the oddball items I'm looking for (electronic parts, vintage toys, collectibles etc). As long as it does - I'll be an eBay "buyer customer". They have already chased away %50 of the smaller sellers I used to buy from - their accounts exist, but they post NO inventory.

As a seller .... I know theres NO SUCH THING as SELLER PROTECTION. I have to ship every item with insurance - because either one or the other or both (buyer or eBay) are out looking to steal the items or funds from me.

I have to have a lawyer on standby - just waiting for the fake VERO crap that eBay pulls (just cause they get paid to - then lie and mumble something about US trade law)(btw eBay knows less about US trade laws then most people on the planet know about particle physics)

Iannone doesnt have a real approach. He continues the previous CEOs view that sellers are trash to be used then discarded - and if you can drain their bank accounts all the while then good for you.

Sure - keep taking the hit on paying to authenticate items that a few rich hoodlums want to buy - great business model.

MAYBE take fakes and copies seriously by pulling all the fakes on site, vet your sellers, refuse to let new sellers sell certain brands until they have established themselves, eliminate VERO by changing the TOS to put the onus on the individual seller and then STOP playing games with sellers funds.

Change eBay and it will shine. Play games and the numbers will continue to sink.