That Was The Week That Was

Top blog post for me this week was an excellent and balanced editorial by Ina Steiner at Auctionbytes on the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance position paper released on Tuesday October 1st.

Runner-Up: In Australia the reverberations from the EBS scandal are still rocking eBay and PayPal's credibility. ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) TV's 7.30 Report investigated the EBS Fraud (which left about 3,000 ebay buyers and other creditors owed about $1.68 million) and revealed the inherent flaws in PayPal's Buyer Protection Policy. eBay's Daniel Feiler was interviewed and filmed and arrangements had been made to interview and film a spokesperson from PayPal, however PayPal withdrew from this at the last minute.





Retro Current: This is an archived blog post from Adam Nash That Was The Year That Was 2007, interesting in view of the persistent rumors about eBay wanting to sell StumbleUpon and shopping for more classified sites in Europe.

Secrets and Hot Gossip:

Tech Crunch on the not so secret subject of StumbleUpon being for sale.

Brews News eBay hides sellers from buyers Glitch or planned disruption?

John Lawson's video commentary also on the Pesa position paper.

Blog about PayPal, or how to antagonize your customers just because you can.

Take a break!

Just a nice story from a UK newspaper that has nothing to do with e-commerce or business or the economy. Nice photographs!

Also ran:
An interesting article on shipping from internetretailer.com in view of eBay's determination to increase revenue by forcing sellers into 'free shipping'.


Y'all come back!






Related Articles and Links:

eBay Queen of de Nile

Top news today in the USA is a third quarter PESA/ECMTA Position Paper, "Deteriorating eBay Market Conditions Erode Seller Confidence" dated September 30, 2008. You can read the full text here.

I read this as a rational and businesslike statement of opinion from the organization representing the most privileged group of sellers.

The non PowerSellers, who have no customer service, or discounts or even any voice would agree with the statement "In the first nine months of 2008, we have observed a substantial deterioration in the value of the marketplace for merchants."

Naturally when anyone important drops pebbles on eBay's glass roof there is a galvanic response. Fortunately, Richard Brewer-Hay the eBay blogger who is both literate and likable was the spokesman this time. He manages to convey the official line without resorting to Bayspeak or denigration. Such a refreshing change.

If eBay chooses to parade a dissenting opinion as 'evidence' that this statement is incorrect rather than listening (as opposed to hearing) then, unfortunately eBay will reap the consequences in the fullness of time.







Y'all come back!








Related articles and Links:

Trading Assistant Journal
Professional eBay Sellers Association
eBayInkblog
Barrons Blogs

These Boots Are Made For Stompin

Often at the moment when things are happening we are so busy reacting, doing damage control or simply trying to understand, that it becomes very difficult to look up and see what is ahead so we can be pro-active.

We know we need a plan. Success does not come to those who do not plan. Most of you reading this had a plan which involved eBay. eBay, which likes to keep plans secret, has announced so many major changes recently; implemented with their normal lack of forethought (or maybe not, who knows?) that any pre-existing plans we had are worthless. Sometimes I feel as if management is busy fiddling while eBay burns, Donohoe as Nero.

My plan was to 'duck and cover'. I certainly suffered from 'unease and paranoia' for a while there! I pulled my listings and joined the boycott. I have come out of this with my reputation intact which was my goal. Now it is time to look forward and make new plans; so let us take a step back together in order to try & see more clearly what lies ahead.

I just finished re-reading John Lawson's (President of 3rdPowerOutlet) funny and very informative three guest blogs on Scott Pooler's Trading Assistant Journal. Please go read John's takes 1, 2 and 3 on the Pesa/ECMTA Summit in New Orleans April 23rd 2008, be sure to read the comments on Part 3, and then come back.

For me, a very small ex-eBay seller it is interesting to read what the 'big boys' worry about. To summarize, in order, Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) and feedback, eBay's desire to see free shipping, and DSRs. In the comments he mentions being unsettled about the secrecy surrounding the Buy.com deal. SNAP! Exact match. These are what would prevent me from returning to eBay in the forseeable future.

In many ways I agree with John on the question of feedback. I would agree totally if the whole feedback/DSR scheme weren't so loaded and so tied to finding. If I had more belief that eBay would step up to their responsibilities, which they never have, I might be able to swallow it. eBay's whole historical modus operandi has been to strap on the bovver boots and start stomping first, then look at the dead seller on the floor and go 'Ooopsie, a glitch'.

Just about a month after implementation of feedback changes there are a lot of damage reports on the boards both in the UK and Australia. I admit I don't check the US boards, it is a disassociation thing and I will not apologize.

To summarize, we have sellers being suspended or restricted. Sellers who have not been TOLD WHY they are suspended or restricted, or how long they are suspended for; because eBay does not know, it is an automated process with no appeal. Sellers who have no access to their dashboards so they can complete their contractual obligations to buyers of listings ended prior to suspension. A venue which obliterates those listings in the suspension process so sellers loose all the data, and that my friends, is pure spiteful pettiness.

What do you think? What direction does your new plan take you?

Y'all come back

Is eBay Live?

Please go to Randy Smythe's Blog, My Blog Utopia! and read his post entitled
"A Walk Down Memory Lane" in which he reminisces about all the eBay Live conferences he has attended beginning with the first one held at Anaheim California 2002. It is amusing and educational.

Ina Steiner over at AuctionBytes has a series of retrospective articles from eBay Live 2007 held in Boston. I was particularly amused by her coverage of the eBay Live TownHall. Ina is currently attending the Internet Retailer Conference in Chicago. She has posted many, many pictures but these, one of the PayPal booth, another of Google plus (just for fun) Google Checkout were special. Thank you Ina!

Also last year, the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PeSA) published a paper "Unhealthy eBay marketplace Dynamics - Seller Perspective" available here. I found this quote quite compelling:

In the past, PeSA has not had an issue with eBay fees. Our perspective was based on value received and that as long as sellers were receiving value for those fees, we found it to be a fair relationship. However, over the past 2 years, sellers have seen eBay’s take rate of member sales increase, while the value received has diminished. Sellers, not eBay, have felt the impact of the additional cost and lower sales.

Beautifully put, and if they had just shut up there, things might have been different. But no! They went on:

eBay should reward positive contributors in their marketplace. Sellers that have shown outstanding contribution to the marketplace should be rewarded with better placement in search. If the better sellers are shown higher in search, then buyers would have a greater chance of a positive buyer experience. As more buyers have positive experiences, they will return and be more active. As under-performing sellers find themselves in lower placement, they will have a strong economic incentive to pursue best practices.

Sound familiar? With 20/20 hindsight vision; this recommendation paired with eBay's inability to comprehend the basic principles of retailing, and matchless propensity for getting it wrong is the root and cause of all our problems today. Go PeSA!

Interesting article from Scott Wingo on Seeking Alpha, he has just discovered that when you go to leave feedback a pop-up box appears saying "You should leave honest and accurate feedback without fear of receiving negative or neutral ratings." Knock me down with a feather!

This year's eBay Live will be held in Chicago from June 19-21. It is the first that has not only failed to sell out but is still offering tickets at early bird prices. I wonder why?


Y'all come back

The Noose is Tightening

Dumb Clucks in New Orleans

Yesterday was the first day of the E-Commerce Merchants Trade Association (ECMTA) and Professional eBay Sellers Association (PeSA) convention, Spring 2008 eCommerce Summit in New Orleans.

The executive director of PeSA is Jonathan Garriss (Gotham City Online 4.9, 4.8, 4.7, 4.5), who hailed the recent eBay changes with this statement.

“One of eBay’s mantras for the last 10 years was that they provide a level playing field for everyone but they now realize that just doesn’t work in today’s competitive environment. So they are doing a lot of things they never did before, like treating their biggest sellers like their customers and giving more things to their better customers. Any business does that.”

Just in case you missed the point, he is telling you that he and his group are special. On the PeSA website they modestly say they are eBay's largest and most prestigious sellers. If we were living on Animal Farm they would be the 'more equal'. Right, now that you are thoroughly impressed & clearly understand your place we can proceed.

Lorrie Norrington eBay President of Marketplace Operations was the keynote speaker, you can read her speech here. We will discuss some of the more obvious oxmorons in her keynote presentation at a later date, next week.

Tempting though it is to poke fun at these large and prestigious sellers, one wonders if reality is setting in with the first question after the speech.

Q. Based on a group study this morning, 2 out of 5 of the current PowerSellers with the best store listings on eBay Pulse will not qualify for PowerSeller status based on DSR ratings, when that goes into effect. How are you going to address this issue?

Ms Norrington was not sympathetic, nor was she flexible on the subjects of feedback, DSRs or shipping. Her responses can be condensed into one sentence "We told you this was coming" but that was not her most chilling statement. This was:

So, in the case of the new feedback system, we haven’t rolled it out yet, and as we do roll it out we’ll learn from it.

Can ya feel the noose guys? That tight chokey feeling around the neck? Mmmm?

I would like to have been there to observe the reactions of eBay's largest and most prestigious sellers to the Dumb Cluck Of The Day Award winning statement, which came from an eBay executive, (with an MBA from Harvard no less). I guess he doesn't do a whole heap of online shopping.

And the Award goes to . . .

Dinesh Lathi, VP of Seller Experience:

The fact of the matter is that free shipping is the standard for eCommerce now. Sellers who want to meet buyer expectations need to aspire to that. It is our job, the people here on stage, to help you do that. So, there are definite things in the works at eBay that will help you accomplish that. Look for that soon.

Here ya go Dinesh, I hope you enjoy your award. Meanwhile perhaps you could be thinking about the names of all those online vendors with free shipping. Inquiring minds want to know!

The only ones I can think of are hp.com for ink & endless.com for shoes, and I do a LOT of online shopping, selling too...

Finally a few comments on Mr Lathi's statement

This needs to be interpreted in the light that I believe eBay management sincerely thinks they are the center of the eCommerce universe, therefore they set the standards by speaking them into being. Davey

if free shipping is the standard then why did the Ebay store charge over 5.00 to mail a 6.00 keychain that weighed less than an ounce! Like I said, MAKE SENSE! Patricia1

and my thanks to Richard Brewer-Hay for exact quotes from the Q & A session.

»§«.·´¯`··´¯`·.·»§»«§«·.·´¯`··´¯`·.»§«



Next post . . . Paypal Again Y'all come back and be sure to click VICTORIOUSLY on any interesting links in the sidebar!