If you only read one eBay-related post this week, make it the one that Alan Lewis wrote:
One of the ideas that I had voiced many times was to add each employee’s eBay user ID in the company web directory. When eBay bought Skype, it added everyone’s Skype ID to the directory, making the omission of eBay IDs all the more striking. This small change would give those who don’t use the site nowhere to hide (and come to think of it, eBay IDs should probably be added to public announcement board posts too). “Oh, Bob, I see you haven’t sold anything for six months… are you sure that the changes you are suggesting to the SYI page are a good idea?” Working at eBay without using the site is like being a chef who won’t eat what they cook.
And if you haven’t already read the Forbes piece that Alan refers to, that’s worth a read too.
Unsurprisingly, the Q3 results and gloomy forecast for Q4 brought about a lot of comment. The Motley Fool calls eBay this morning’s most popular four-letter swear word. CNNMoney asks has eBay hit its twilight? And Barron’s, who predicted the eBay staff layoffs a month ahead of time, predicts that more radical moves may be ahead.
Biggest surprise of the week though, is perpetual eBay bad mouther Gary E. Sattler who says he’s not giving up on eBay yet. He calls eBay’s shares “a serious bargain right now”. His one sticking point? Sellers not being able to leave negs for their buyers. Feedback is the least of the issues that eBay sellers, buyers and the company itself face right now: analysts shouldn’t base their opinions on their wives selling off a few of their kids’ old clothes.
Myself, I’m with JPMorgan analyst Imran Khan, quoted on computing.co.uk: “We believe eBay’s biggest challenge is an inferior technology platform, which is making it difficult for the company to compete with other e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon’s.”
‘And finally’, there’s a lively discussion going on in AuctionByte’s comments about who should replace John Donahoe as eBay CEO. I wasn’t aware there was a vacancy.
17 Responses
I read that article by Lewis in the week, the guy talks alot of sense.
As for “there’s a lively discussion going on in AuctionByte’s comments”
Where do I send the cheque Samantha? 😆
And there was me thinking Samantha was Whirly’s “weekend name” 😉
#2 Oi! I don’t wear silk knickers on Saturday you wicked woman!
any one got anything positive to say about ebay
?????????
we have sold £25,000 of stock last month on ebay,
and £49.000 in the last quarter, if this is failure
we cant wait until ebay is successful again
#4 your products suit eBay Norf, mine used to and now they don’t. I have done several million on eBay in the last 5 years but this year is truly pathetic.
I really really want eBay to do well but nothing they do lately convinces me that the good times will return,,,, I hope I am proved wrong.
From the Forbes piece
Wingo, who sees $3 billion worth of online sales flow through his customers, says eBay’s share has stalled while Amazon’s is doubling. “If you put all your inventory on eBay, you’ll lose money,” says Wingo, remarkably candid for someone who has eBay as an investor in his company.
As for me I am still making a good living on Ebay, but over recent months have spent more time on Amazon and am working on a website.Ironically I am finding the changes on Ebay (30 day gtc etc) are leaving me with more time to devote to off Ebay projects,Ebay is more or less running on autopilot.
My sales have broadly stayed the same through the changes,my fees though are running at 60% of pre change, once that penny drops with Ebay I can see them reversing most of the changes
Oh Wow! What an own goal! I adore this little titbit from that article – Thanks for the link Sue – I missed that one – what a gem.
“EBay employees in the early days often were asked to announce how many items they’d bought and sold on the site. It was a badge of pride to be in the community. But that routine faded as eBay grew and the loyalty was obviously missing when eBay’s mail rooms were flooded with Amazon boxes in the weeks leading up to Christmas in 2006. A public relations staffer with a sense of humor had stickers from an ad campaign slapped on inbound Amazon boxes that read: “Next time get it on eBay.” ”
I’m deciding whether to laugh or cry
Scot Wingo hasn’t a clue what he is talking about.
Whirly
yes our stuff suits ebay thats why we use ebay to sell it.
I think its to ebays and your credit that you ever sold anything so large and awkward and specialist
the shame is, your gear does not suit anywhere at the moment,
have you tried to sell a House lately ?
if houses dont sell, no one wants to change the bathroom!
even if your not selling a house
extending or refurbishing your house using the equity in your house, is a no no, these days
I cant remember the last time I got a bath or shower cubicle as a Christmas present, either
so its more the general market place conditions to blame than ebay,
even in our game
the market is suppressed
Auction prices are down by about a third compared to only 6 months ago,
and We dont blame ebay
at least they are actually selling it for us, otherwise it would just sit there looking stupid
I think the credit crunch has hit our market norf , but because I have gone out aggresively this year to get a wider client base we are busier than ever, every side of the business is booming apart from eBay sales/enquiry’s, so although I can see your point clearly that trend is only affecting one channel at the moment.
I would just like say 6 months grace with eBay, no changes, no stupid policies just let the site settle down and seperate the wheat from the chuff, this year has just got my back up.
If I $iss off my punters they don’t come back I don’t need a MA from Harvard to teach me this, eBay can’t grasp that though, I also make a point of not buying on eBay aswell purely because they got on my wick once to often this year….looking ahead I can only see more poncing around at eBay HQ,,
hope i am wrong.
I agree whirly,
a stable and static shelf to show your wares is crucial,
if tesco changed the display postion for milk/bread/ fruit every few days, but not only changed it but hid it behind the beans and frozen food
and you needed to hunt around a vast store to find what you needed everytime you shopped at tescos ,you would sharp go to asda
and as we speak, I have a question to answer and everyone of my items in my shop gives “page not responding” wonderful….
about time they through out those ZX81’s and put in some flaming computers powerful enough to make the site run properly GRRRR.
Slightly off subject…
I saw mention of Daily.co.uk on here the other day, but can’t find it now. I have been on their website and their eshop packages seem good and not too expensive, has anyone got one? views?
Here you go Tony https://www.tamebaynew.wpengine.com/2008/04/get-your-own-ebay-friendly-webstore.html
Thanks very much Chris, and if anyone has one I would be interested in their views.
RE Alan Lewis…
another blog drew attention to a thread on the USA forums where he has been posting (id alanlewis0). I’ve added a link below. It’s long but the comment provides some insight….
https://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=520035035&start=0
an example “I’m sorry to say it, but many people within eBay do view sellers as replaceable commodities. “