Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Eve of Destruction

First I was astounded
Next I was angry
Then I got busy

The angry and busy lasted a long time and there were periodic announcements which made me angrier.

Next came hurt. How could a whole community be so carelessly yet methodically discarded? Surely there was a mistake? Maybe if we explained carefully and politely they would understand?

Smiling faces saying one thing meaning another.

Reading corporate announcements carefully not for what they said but for what they left unsaid.

Careless slap after calculated smack, the incessant repeated hammer blows of destruction, sadness and depression, punctuated by moments of sheer disbelief and flashes of incandescent rage.

Insult tossed on top of injury.
Smug assumptions of superiority from a position of supreme ignorance.

Sellers are numb. A way of life as we knew it is gone. We now have to endure the stink of decay and decomposition.

WHY? Pappa John, our leader. The boyishly smiling man who had a whole 20 year career as a consultant, fixing things he did not have the ability to build, the supreme commander waiting eagerly for his photo op to declare 'mission accomplished'. The Chief of 'Only a Venue' who has a calling to micromanage YOUR business so you can pour even more into the groaning coffers of a corporation that has never EVER paid a dividend to shareholders. He who knows best; what is good for you is what is best for him. If you should stumble and fall it is because you are unworthy and there are plenty more where you came from.

I urge you, pack up your baggage and walk quietly away. Don't burn your bridges, you may want to use them again some day, just walk away. Don't look back.


Y'all come back and be sure to click VICTORIOUSLY on any interesting links in the sidebar!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aloha Henrietta

As each day goes by, I am sharing more and more of your frustation. Good people, mentors and experienced sellers, being thrown to the dogs and being told, "Leave if you don't like it." It looks like one day eBay will rue the day they adopted this superior attitude; Cold Stone certainly did with their franchisees who are now suing the hell out of them.

Although I have experienced none of the injustices my mentors have, I see the writting on the wall and it looks familiar; leave while the going is good. I am branching out to iOffer, eCrater, and applying for category expert on Wigix.

Now I see ehy you and so many others feel hurt and betrayed.

Anony Mouse

Mad Fashionista said...

Extremely well put, and oh, so sad. A business I loved is being systematically destroyed in the name of what? Greed? Stupidity? A combination of both?

Anonymous said...

Standing ovation!!
well said.

Anonymous said...

My feelings exactly, spoken so well. Why couldn't eBay have just opened a new venue for Shopping.com, etc., without tossing aside the one they had already built, and the good sellers along with it?

Anonymous said...

@above

I think it's due to the new ceo's failure to recognize good sellers as those who have good feedback, have no disputes filed against them, have a high repeat buyer percentage and a high sell through rate.

eBay defines a good seller as one who lists alot of volume.

I spent years on ebay cultivating buyers, bringing them to my auctions and to ebay in general. Several started out at 0 transactions when they bought from me and are now in the 1,000s.

Ebay is under the belief that losing it's "nichy" sellers will not effect their buyer market and current buyers will remain on eBay and just buy from the remaining sellers left.

two reasons this is a terrible assumption:

1. sellers like me who have left ebay do not buy from ebay anymore & dont support a site that doesn't support them, and no sales in mean no money to buy.

2. current "nichy" buyers who loved the bay, where they could buy anything, crafty vintage yard selly junquetique schtuff, are not going to shop on ebay anymore where there will be nothing but foot fetish items and dropshipped toasters available in 62 colors.

eBay better hope the foot fetish holy sock seller is also into toast.

Anonymous said...

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