UK sellers, already infuriated that .co.uk items have been removed from the default search results on eBay.com, are not going to be pleased that .com items will now appear by default in some UK categories. eBay stress that this is a “two month test”, and further tests in the future may see UK listings appear by default on other national sites, “with the aim of giving them the most appropriate visibility worldwide”.
UK sellers are, I feel, likely to think that eBay define “most appropriate” as “giving the largest advantage to US sellers”. The timing of this change, frankly, stinks: many UK sellers are still smarting and trying to formulate new sales strategies to deal with the loss of their US market, of which they had been given no warning. To give US sellers this extra advantage right now displays nothing but contempt for British eBay sellers.
UK buyers, meanwhile, may wonder why some electrical items are being included in this test, when the US and UK electrical systems are not compatible. If you think transAtlantic DVD deals are problematic, you ain’t seen nothing yet!
7 Responses
Trouble is there is no organised opposition to eBay in the UK. They are a law unto themselvs and until people start speaking out and opposing these sort of changes then they will carry on
I sell CDS records etc especially promotional ones and eBay use the VERO rules that apply in USA to remove my items and then suspend me despite the 7000+ feedbacks I have
Main gripe is that they do not appoint individual account managers for professional sellers you get a different eBay staff member with every single email you send even if it is a reply to an ongoing query
Contact me through http://www.crucialmusic.co.uk (not through eBay)
Trouble is there is no organised opposition to eBay in the UK. They are a law unto themselves and until people start speaking out and opposing these sort of changes then they will carry on
I sell CDS records etc on eBay UK (especially promotional ones) and eBay use the VERO rules that apply in USA to remove my items and then suspend me despite the 7000+ feedbacks I have
My main gripe is that they do not appoint individual account managers for professional sellers you get a different eBay staff member with every single email you send even if it is a reply to an ongoing query PLUS they never listen and generally only give cut and paste answers
Contact me through http://www.crucialmusic.co.uk (not through eBay) if you want to do something about stopping them
I have been affected by these changes, and have sat and thought, one way to soften the blow slightly is to get USA visibility through the “back door”. Ie Use some of the X promotion slots for USA sellers – to which I have been seeking out similar sellers in USA. Use Ebayworld – the blog that is proving popular over there to get your name out,. – again I have started a sock Blog
It is not all or even half of the story, and will not bring back a tenth of what I have lost, but I feel better for trying
If you’re a UK based seller, and you want exposure on ebay.com, here is an idea that may be helpful.
You can log onto ebay.com using your UK username and password, and then proceed to list your items directly on ebay.com. This will place your item on ebay.com as if you were a USA based seller. Note you’ll have to price in dollars, and you’ll have to pay eBay fees appropriate, but at least it gives you access to the ebay.com market.
For any advice on eBay, you can contact me via http://www.more-auction-sales.com.
bl**dy hell, whats wrong with eBay?
make our listings disappear from the default .com search but allow the bl**dy yanks to show their d*mn items by default on co.uk.
eBay said the reason for taking of UK items on .com default search is because ebay UK has grown so big on its own that it doesnt need help from the “big brother”. Ok fine, I can totally understand it but why on gods earth would eBay then allow .com items to appear on UK. If we have enough listings already to be cut off by .com why would they flood our market now??
Stupid tw*ts
More and more i am reading about ebay and more and more i get angry. I have sold on ebay for a long time and our sales have also plummeted. We now list most things on ebay.com, but you cant enter the correct shipping costs, plus you get ebay users from the UK, asking if we ship to the UK! Customer service on ebay doesnt ecists anymore and they have fed line after line of BS to their ebay uk sellers. I assure you that if and when there is an alternative to ebay, people will go to that site in DROVES. I Only still list items for sale on ebay as there is nowhere else, but compared to last year i spent twice as much time doing it, for half the money. I also dont have confidence in ebay that i used to have and feel i am in a situaiton of “better the devil you know”.
Will someone please open an alternative to ebay and lets vote with our feet
This has made a major impact on my sales, although some listings are being sold it is becoming tougher and tougher to make a profit on ebay.co.uk I hope that this “test” dones not become indefinate and they go back to the way it was – maybe if enough people email ebay and post on the community boards they will listen……Maybe!