Regarding eBay DSR policy

[jesseinkaron]

Hi guys,

I recently published this article on DSR = Denying Sellers Rights

I appreciate any feedback good or bad!

Ebay Policy, Detailed Seller Rating Is Denying Seller's Rights

[jeffweico]

I understand where you are coming from, but I don't think anything will come of this. eBay treats ALL sellers unfairly in one way or another. They DO NOT CARE! They have NO meaningful competition, so they can do whatever they like. If they had a truly VIABLE competitor, right now there would be 3 listings on eBay.

I don't see a competitor emerging. Google would be the one company I can think of that could pull it off, but they are not interested in running auctions. And I can understand why... MSN, Lycos, Yahoo, Excite, Auctions.com, Overstock.com and others have tried and failed with their online auctions. And they are very aware of the negatives of being eBay - being known for counterfeit merchandise, buyers hating them, sellers hating them, etc. Why would they want to take a chance on tarnishing their brand?

Now, eBay DOES have a legitimate problem in that some people DO try to use their site to commit fraud. The problem is their RESPONSE. Rather than zeroing in on the fraudsters, they just put policies in place that are complete overkill. It does not matter to them that 10 innocent sellers got hurt if the ONE committing the fraud is also gone.

And Meg Whitman and John Donahoe both share this bizarre vision for eBay's future, where it looks like a shopping mall with Sears, Kmart, Walgreens, JC Penny, Walmart and other mainstrean retailers and NO SMALL sellers. The problem is, all of those companies have websites and most of them are quite good. Users have no problem finding them.

Amazon is the closest thing the internet has to a real shopping mall. And even THEY realize that Mom & Pop sellers are a part of the picture.

Again, if MEANINGFUL competition existed, eBay would have been driven off the web long ago. But they get away with abusing sellers, having NO customer service to speak of (hint to eBay: FORM LETTERS ARE NOT CUSTOMER SERVICE!) and an extrememly arrogant attitude, simply because competition does not exist.

Sellers have been complaining for years about eBay. Yours is complaint number 22,247,872. Bottom line is do not expect changes anytime soon.

However, I will say that your article is well written.

[jesseinkaron]

Jeffweico,

Thank you for the valuable insight.
I understand that I can write as many articles as I want about eBay, and I don't expect any reaction from them. My only hope is that perhaps eBay cannibalizes its income to the point where they have to reconsider their current path to apparent destruction. As you said, their goal of being an online shopping mall seems unrealistic, the really big players can simply sell from their own sites. We will see what happens when the small sellers disappear and the deals disappear with them?

[jeffweico]

Actually, I think eBay COULD change - eventually. But first, they must get a CEO in there who UNDERSTANDS what made them great in the first place. By the time that happens, it may be too late.

And it really breaks my heart. eBay used to be SO MUCH FUN! It was really cool, and it even gave the economy a boost - CNN dubbed it "The eBay Effect". Not many companies can claim to have done that.

Most users, back then, considered eBay a National Treasure. A unique success story that could only happen here in America. A symbol of everthing that was good in the world. Now it is just another example of corporate greed run amock!

[psthreeusb]

kudos for your eloquent nostalgia jeff. i think it might come down to the type of company the board of directors are after and it is certainly not the fleamarket to the world. but they really are just that. if they got someone in the recapture that identity certainly the customer service would improve in a hurry.

[jesseinkaron]

I updated my article on DSRs to include a poll, readers can give eBay a detailed seller rating for customer service.

very unsatisfied = 1 star
unsatisfied = 2 stars
neither satisfied or unsatisfied = 3 stars
satisfied = 4 stars
very satisfied = 5 stars

Let's see if eBay meets their own standards of a min 4.5 rating ?

Ebay Policy, Detailed Seller Rating Is Denying Seller's Rights