eBay is in BIG trouble.
eBay is for BARGAIN HUNTERS. People who go to eBay are not looking for a top service. The buyers are no-frills buyers. They just want a cheap item at a cheap price. The sellers on eBay cater for this market.
Many sellers are LEAVING – and they won’t be coming back.
eBay’s business model needs BOTH sellers and buyers. It cannot work with just one.
If EITHER sellers or buyers leave – the business collapses.
eBay have changed the rules and the sellers are not a happy bunch.
Once you realise what has happened – it becomes clear why sellers are so unhappy.
Let me explain what eBay have done.
(A) FEEDBACK CHANGES
(1) eBay now counts NEUTRAL feedback as if it was negative. Every ebay seller has had his score lowered
OVERNIGHT. For example I had 99.8% positive and I now have 97.3% – A BIG DROP. So big in fact that I will
no longer be a powerseller in 6 weeks time. Not that I care anyway because ebay is finished.
(2) The seller cannot leave negative or neutral feedback for the buyer. Only the BUYER can do that. So that means that buyers can effectively HOLD SELLERS TO RANSOM. They can ask for refunds beyond the warranty period or whatever else they choose to do. No business can operate that way. Anyone who still continues to sell of eBay is on a road to disaster because when you tip the balance too far – it spells disaster.
(3) The MUTUAL FEEDBACK WITHDRAWAL system has gone. This was a means by which buyer and seller could RESOLVE their differences and if they succeeded – the buyer could WITHDRAW negative feedback they had left. This makes sense because if you are NOW HAPPY – why would you still want the negative comment to remain? The PROBLEM with this is: The seller NO LONGER CARES what the buyer does once he has left negative feedback. Instead of WORKING TO RESOLVE DIFFERENCES which sellers would do in the past – the seller will NO CARE because it is TOO LATE. Under new rules once negative feedback has been left IT REMAINS (unless ebay itself removes it – for which it has a complex set of rules). So sellers will NOT CO-OPERATE with buyers once they have left negative feedback because the damage is done and cannot be undone. So why bother helping someone who has caused you so much damage? So - what will happen? The customer servive will SUFFER because the MOTIVE for resolving is GONE!!! eBay – WAKE UP!!!! This does not make ANY LOGICAL SENSE AT ALL!!!
(3) As if this was not bad enough, ebay ENCOURAGES buyers to be HONEST without any fear of retaliation by telling them, once they have bought an item to leave feedback for the seller. Well it is a fact of life that many buyers are NOT HAPPY – through no fault of the seller. From now on – they will leave NEUTRAL or NEGATIVE feedback – and it does’t matter which they leave – it will affect the score of the seller in the same way.
(4) Powerseller status needs 98% to be maintained. This is almost impossible given that neutrals will count as negatives.
So what this all means for sellers is that their business will suffer. When the feedback score is LOWER – buyers will LOSE CONFIDENCE and BUY LESS. How does this help ebay??? The few sellers that remain on ebay will be SELLING LESS and LESS. So how long will they remain as sellers?
(B) PAYPAL CHANGES
(1) First ebay said “You must use paypal as a method of payment to get the lowest listing fees etc”
(2) Once sellers did this – paypal announced a NEW RULE. All payments will be HELD for 10 days
Just in case the buyer wants a refund!!! So the seller does not have access to the money for this period.
This is just total nonsense. It makes a mockery of paypal funds. It is like mickey mouse money. It may be
in your account – but it’s not yours yet!
Many sellers have LEFT FOR GOOD. They have closed their business or gone elsewhere. eBay is NOT CHEAP
but at least it was a way of making a reasonable income. Under new rules – you may as well go home. It is
almost impossible to build a decent business when the cards are all stacked against you.
What eBay have not taken into account is there are a lot of buyers who will take advantage of the new system, and as a result ebay will suffer because sellers cannot continue to survive when the playing field is loaded in favour of the buyer.
eBay requires a DELICATE balance to be maintained between buyers and sellers. If ANY ONE of them leave – ebay suffers.
I predict eBay is going to have BIG PROBLEMS. And judging by how they have handled the existing problems – that means BIG TROUBLE. eBay have no idea who to listen. They think they can do anything.
They have forgotten the first rule of business – they CUSTOMER (in this case the SELLER is also a customer of eBay) is ALWAYS RIGHT. If you mistreat the customer – he will vote will his feet and leave – taking his money with him.
eBay share price has dropped from just over $30 (was up as far as $32)
