eBay Replaces Community with Commodity

by: i'd rather remain anonymous

bob and paul = ebay sock puppets.

yes we continue to list on ebay - store only - and then we download through mr. grabber to bonanzle and ioffer.

i as many with disdain for ebay have changed our worlds. ebay was once 85% of my sales now it is 15%. guess where the other 85% comes from - elsewhere.

call who you want morons but while i will continue to make my $4.50 per hour from home i will not be in the unemployment line with JD when his time comes. and it will.

by: Pat

Ina! How about opening your discussion forums up to all of the huddled masses that need a place to meet?!? Whnever I try to register I get a message to contact the forum administrator

by: David Steiner

Pat,

The forum administrator would be me. I have the forums set for manual registration to cut down on spamming. Just send an email with the subject "Forum Access" or something similar to me at dsteiner@auctionbytes.com and I'll set you (or anyone else that would like access) up.

David Steiner

by: Ooops I'm Naru'd Again

@Bob & @Ming

I'd have to disagree, there was a time when it seemed management did actually care, or at least wanted some input like Ina said.  

On the Canadian ps boards  former country manager Jordan Banks did attempt to reach out to sellers to get input on how to increase international seller's profitability.  

However, (from what I gather) when he wanted to make changes suggested to him by users on .ca he got denied by .com corporate and he eventually he moved on to greener pastures. (sound familiar?)

This move of getting rid of ''the community'' shouldn't really be a shock.  Especially if you ever sold internationally.

In fact, the moves made in the last year discourage it completely - I mean with things like 1) 1 way feedback 2) the shipping time DSR 3)paying for more exposure to list on other international ebay sites 4) increased exposure on search for free shipping (I mean how can you ship free internationally), 5) shipping caps on media (impossible for any Canadian seller since Canada Post doesn't have media mail shipping rates like the USPS does) ...why would anyone every sell internationally anymore?  

It's just not worth the paypal charge back risk or hassle period.

The result? You see more and more US sellers say ''ship to USA only'' and the eBay ''community'' becomes a handful of ''diamond'' sellers.

The biggest mistake that JD ever made was thinking buyers were more important then sellers.  

!!! The sellers have the product to sell and that draws the traffic !!!  

That annoying ''noise'' he heard when he took over was ebay's heart... the community. Just look at all the great posters who were on the SC and PS boards that have left.  Now that he's cut that out there really is no eBay.

by: Kitty

Of course eBay is eliminating staff connected with community function.  It spends way too much time deleting angry discussion threads, managing trolls, and squashing small user attempts to band together.

The only problem is:  If eBay removes all the community functions, the visitor site count will dramatically drop.  I myself am on eBay with various usernames each day.  Many are.  

But eBay is extremely adapt at shooting itself in the foot.
I expect after the whole feedback system is abolished, the discussion boards and chat rooms will completely disappear

by: Daisy

How ironic. Companies are falling left and right. Yet Ebay is deliberately killing their own once healthy, prosperous business.

by: Peter Leeflang/CEO Leeflang Archives Corporation

I'm not worried about Ebay management's move towards only selling commodities and only allowing major sellers on their site.

My customers are smart. They'll vote with their money.

And that vote won't be for Ebay.

It is already happening.

by: ...happy holidays - ebay style

@ Ooops I'm Naru'd Again

I stopped selling International last March.

Noticed a big drop in profits since then.

Still get about 5 emails a week asking to ship International

- I refuse -

I loose money - ebay looses money - Does that make any sense ????

Why in the world do they (ebay) want to loose money on International sales?

Why isn't Google starting an Auction site???????

99% of ebay sellers would move over there within 24 hours!!!

Oh, my, JD really is stealing
Christmas...

by: philly

Why isn't Google starting an Auction site???????

99% of ebay sellers would move over there within 24 hours!!!

HOW TRUE!!!!

Is it Disruptive Innovation? Seems more like DESTRUCTIVE Innovation.

by: Small Guy

I used to sell antiques on ebay.  Ebay used to monitor and prohibit sellers from selling fake antiques.

Today Ebay's "antique" listings are full of fake antiques from Diamond sellers.  I actually think Ebay is committing fraud by allowing this practice.

Stupid uninformed buyers are buying these fake antiques and Ebay doesn't care.  They are too busy trying to shut down complaints from honest small sellers.

Ebay is self-destructing.  Will the last Ebay Executive to cash his or her bonus check please turn out the lights.

by: Trish

Ebay got rid of a lot of community & small sellers that made them big.
Now many of those sellers have found a home at a place that cares.
Bonanzle was recommended by Auction Bytes as a great alternative site.
I've been there 6 weeks,very happy,made some sales,made a lot of friends & watching it grow by hundreds every day.
So when Ebay goes crying about bigbox stores hurting them,it is hard to feel sympathy..what goes around,comes around.

by: thebleeper

If you don't expect a lot you won't be disappointed.  A better site without screaming raging racist trolls will emerge eventually.

by: Ooops I'm Naru'd Again

@happy holidays

Last year when my sales were tanking, it was thanks to the eBay community boards I found out about Google base and hooked my Ebay store into it.  

Almost instantly, sales improved.  

It was the first time I questioned the relevance of eBay.  Before that I thought eBay was the only place on the net to sell peer to peer.

Without the disruptive innovations, I never would have realized how much I was missing out on (Thanks JD!)

If you're a small/casual seller I suggest you ''park'' your items on a site that hooks into google search results.    

If your hobby has grown into a business that supports your family and and maybe a few employees like mine does I suggest you download your paypal history, save those e-mails to your hard drive and set up your own website and drive your own traffic there. Let the web crawlers do their job and concentrate on SEO.  

Nobody likes change but the reality is you will have to change in order to be successful in selling your items.  

Stop hoping for something that won't happen...The Ebay we all knew is gone..come join the butterflies and leave the caterpillars behind.    

by: Ming the Merciless

@ Bob

One of the finest posts I've ever read here and absolutely correct!

And, folks, Bob is NO ebay troll. He speaks the truth.

by: nancybusinraeligh

Just sent an email to a friend from ebay, and I quote here:

''Just checked in on the boards..........all he(xx) is breaking loose and yet......some things never change.  What's up with all the threads being shuffled around?  What's up with some of the most redundant nonsense staying put?  I know logic isn't ebays strong point but this is insanity.

What do you want to bet Griff is behind this?  And why is my Hail and Farewell thread still there?  Seriously!!  Maybe Griff is scared to move it because it's a popular thread????  Is he afraid of the reaction?''

Insanity reighns supreme, and we have seen Griff's insanity :)

Get out folks, anyone left on deck will not get a lifejacket, those are saved for only those in captains quarters.

by: Ray

eBay was NEVER about ''community''. eBay was ALWAYS a business about making money.

The eBay ''community'' was and is about the people who work and deal together. The early eBay (Meg and crew) simply used the community ''feel'' to eBay's best business advantage.

The community is still here. The current eBay just doesn't think the old ''Hey look everybody, we're a community'' schtick will work again.

......and they're right.

by: oh_puhl_eeze

I started a thread on SC about this blog which was deleted.

I started another thread on SC about eBay's complaints re. the big box co.'s and it was moved to ''The Soapbox''

Regular posters are receiving ''pinkslaps'' for months old posts.

At least one regular poster has been suspended from the boards with no warning.

by: nomorebay

Meg Whitman AND John Donahoe started this ''Disruptive Innovation'' SCHEME AGAINST ebayers.  Whitman was Donahoe's boss at Bain and brought him to ebay, with most understanding that she was training him to take over as ebay's CEO, when she parted.  In Sept. 2007, Donahoe announced to the Legg Mason group that ''WE'' are in our ''second or third phase'' of ebay's ''Disruptive Innovation'' plot.  Meg Whitman was ebay's CEO at the time.  Whitman jumped ship before the worst of the plot struck the best users.  Donahoe appears to be getting some sort of sick pleasure destroying those ebayers who had previously helped ebay to become, a once great, site.

ebay's trying to sanitize ''Seller Central'' by deleting MASSIVE numbers of threads and by moving others to ''The Soapbox'' and elsewhere.  ebay management is very aware that the media gets much of the information about ebay's current climate from the ''Seller Central'' board.  Perhaps ebay is also afraid that the Diamond Sellers will be scared off, when they learn just how upset & angry ebayers are, due to Whitman & Donahoe's destruction of ebay.

FIRE JOHN DONAHOE!

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?jdon
ohoe

by: nomorebay

CORRECTION...

The Fire John Donahoe petition is at:

http://www.petitiononline.com/jdonohoe/petition.html

by: bizbabe

I have to wonder that, at a time when other online retailers are moving toward more community features, eBay is moving away from it.  The advent of sites like Facebook and Myspace has shown that communities can be a powerful thing. Granted, eBay's version of community needs lots of work.  Other online retailers focus their communities more on the buyer side, with reviews and forums and such.  

As a seller, I don't have time to hang around the eBay forums and only ever used them to look up information. Honestly, I'm amazed that some of those sellers had time to run a business with all the time they spend on the boards.  I'd like to see eBay focus more on the buyer side for community, since that's more in line with what other retailers are doing.