How Ebay Killed Its Buyers When It Killed Its Sellers

smile · #1 09-18-2008

I read an article today in my business class on ebay and how the company is falling apart. It basically stated that ebay is drifting away from its original business model.

At one point in the article some financial guru stated that Donahue was implementing new tools that were long over due and would restore buyer confidence and will have a long time effect.

Then another financial head said something very true. Most of the people who are buyers on ebay are also sellers. Since ebay started to implement these new tools to protect buyers they basically killed the buyer. A majority of people who sell on ebay also buy on ebay, and a majority of these people are small sellers. So if you go and kill the small seller which is the majority of your business and has been the foundation of your business you will basically kill the buyer, in turn wiping out the buyer and seller which equals ebays stock falling to nothing and the business collapsing.

I was a seller on ebay for over eight years and I think I bought just as much as I sold. So when ebay wiped out my seller account they wiped out my buyer account and here I am with no account and ebay preparing to implement layoffs to employees because there stock is doing so bad and there reputation among buyers and sellers (same person in most cases) is so bad.

Also what made Ebay so successful was this garage sale type of strategy where people were into a item they were bidding on. Most people who buy on ebay liked the thrill of the bidding. Amazon is just a straight buy it now. Also ebay got people emotionally involved when they were bidding on a item that they wanted. Ebays original business model was one in a million and they killed it.

Another good point that was made was now ebay has made people feel nervous both buying and selling.

Like I said before - Ebay is like that best friend that stabbed you in the back, you will never trust them again.

ambercolour · #2 09-18-2008

Donahue got an MBA at Stanford, but I agree his strategy is wrong.

Quasi_Mojo · #3 09-18-2008

Would there be a digital copy of this article online somewhere?
Where did you read it - what publication?

abusing-eBay · #4 09-18-2008

haha, you reminded me to check ebay's stock.

It is going down since the started the new rules.

pls see :

EBAY: Basic Chart for EBAY INC - Yahoo! Canada Finance - Share Prices, Charts, News and more

Thank you for your post. I am feeling better now.

I am having a good day for it.

Caseyjr86 · #5 09-18-2008

Ebay is a company that got big during the dot com craze, it made it through it and now, its time is coming... Maybe.. Lots of if's but ebay is trying to protect itself from counterfeiting etc.. Maybe online bidding just is not meant to be. (Just a thought). Realistically if you want a safe and controlled environment you have to take the steps paypal and ebay take. Sucks for us, but something we might have to live with?

I for one don't want ebay to die, even if they screwed me over. But I have the last laugh, because I'll keep getting back on and making money. Good money. I agree though, ebay IS past its prime.

**aspkin** · #6 09-19-2008

Another reason not to invest your whole business into eBay, if you're not already diversifying it's time to. The best thing you can do is start your own website with a shopping cart with all your items and promote it using adwords or whatever. Just diversify more and you'll feel more secure.

smile · #7 09-19-2008

Im sorry I do not have a copy of this article its not something I got from the internet. I get business journals in my graduate class that we read and then hand back and then discuss in like a round table on how things could be avoided and fixed, like the same way we do here. The last month or so it has been Bear Stern, Lehman Brothers and just the other day eBay. We read about the companys and how they started, got so big and in the last few cases fell.

When I got the journal on ebay I wanted scream, if they are writing about ebay in this journal then ebays in trouble.

The majority of my business class has or is using ebay and they were all complaining and all of them both bought and sold simultaneously.

There was 2 key ways to get ebay to change and a proposed business model that would get ebay back to number one again. Im just not sure if ebay knows this, and Donahue’s school is **** compared to mine.

There is a way ebay can save itself and a way we can destroy it.

trashybarbie · #8 09-28-2008

Oh Baby!! We're in the same boat. I am a small seller/buyer. I to seem to buy as much as I sell. I seem to sell just to keep up with my buying habits. I have been suspended from ebay for over a week now and I am going through major withdrawls. I got suspended for have a shipping time of 4.4. It needed to be 4.5. So they suspended me and canceled the sales I had! So lame! After years! I have noticed that all of their new policies seem to be designed around squeezing the little guys like me out. I have actually been struggling with complaints lately. I have also noticed that eBay has become a VERY seller hostile site and I really don't know what they are thinking. I figured they the little guy was their bread and butter. What about all of those comercials? You know where the guy finds the boat from his childhood etc.? How will the little seller who has that boat in his garage get that item seen? If he only sells every know and then his item gets lost at the end under the "best Match" bull****.
I've looked around for an alternative. But I can't find anything I like better. I need my Original Barbie and my Vintage Little People! It's like herion!

Quasi_Mojo · #9 09-28-2008

The alternatives will continue to grow as eBay pisses of more and more sellers. It's just going to take a little while.

JohnnyBoy · #10 09-28-2008

I think ebay is taking the right steps towards making online selling safer. Alot of people have gotten ripped off on ebay. They just need to lighten up with the "suspend now, ask questions later, if at all" policy. Work on their peoples skills. Something is terribly wrong when there is a huge active community of people dissatisfied with you. (yes im talking about this forum) And the 21 day funds hold on new sellers by paypal is bogus. I could see a week, maybe two.

Quasi_Mojo · #11 09-28-2008

eBay has only made it easier for Sellers to become victims on eBay, rather than buyers, with their new policies.

Jonas · #12 09-29-2008

I've noticed with the new policies sellers get scammed a lot more.

whome · #13 10-01-2008

This craziness of only buyers getting to leave feedback is starting to rear it's ugly head on my account. In the last week, I've had three people leave me negative feedback because they obviously know how to game ebay's system. Two of them I'm sure are competitors. And now you can't even leave neutral feedback. Simply ridiculous.

aking · #14 10-01-2008

What is the deal with only being able to leave positive or neutral feedbac? There is no option to leave negative feedback.

Quasi_Mojo · #15 10-01-2008

whome, if a eBay members account is suspended, all negative and neutral feedback that the account holder has left is removed. Also, if the feedback violates the Feedback Abuse Policy, you can have it removed, as well.

If you don't know how to get a seller suspended, contact Modee. He might be able to help.