Destruction for Ebay

May 31, 2008

Current mood:talkative

So I finally got rid (i.e. sold) my last item on Ebay the other week.  For those that don't know, Ebay has drastically changed their rules and protocols in the last year.  It first started when the first and only CEO of Ebay resigned, and someone new took over.  The new guy has raised sellers' fees twice, as if the prices weren't high enough.  Well, the final straw just snapped.  Sellers aren't allowed to leave neutral or negative feedback for buyers.  This makes absoulutely no sense.  While selling musicial instruments on Ebay, I would generally get a 10% non paying bidder rate.  I would without question leave negative feedback for those who would bid, and not pay.  I would also block bidders with excessive bad feedback.  Now, you won't be able to tell which bidders are flakes or idiots.

I think back to one particular idiot whos' Ebay handle was something like jciscomingsoon.  A lot of his feedback indicated that he was a complete nut.  I asked him not to bid on my items, and he went completely apeshit.  He started ranting about the lake of fire, and calling me a atheist demon.  I still wonder how one becomes an atheist demon, or if one could really exist.  I called him out on the fact that, all those people who said he was a nut were proven right by how he was acting.  That only made him madder, and proceeded to call me more names.  But the main point is that, the ability to leave feedback both ways works.  It helps both the sellers and the buyers.

What surprises me the most is Ebay's treatment of sellers.  When an item sells the money is taken from the seller, not the buyer.  When an item is paid through Paypal (which is owned by Ebay), the money comes from the seller, not the buyer.  So when Ebay starts pissing off the sellers, they are cutting their own throats.  When I sold instruments on Ebay, Ebay would make roughly $400 a month off my sales.  I figure Paypal made roughly the same amount.  So what happens when all these sellers stop selling on Ebay?  If Ebay/ Paypal loses $800 a month by just me quitting the business, what happens when they lose tens of thousands of sellers?  I don't see other people trying to fill the void as sellers. 

The big question that is always asked is, "where else are you going to go to sell things online?"  Well, keep pissing people off long enough and they'll find a way.  First off, a lot more people are using Craigslist because they can sell local, for cash, and for free.  Also, Amazon.com is letting people start up their own shops.  I know one guy who had an Ebay business selling coins.  Now, he has switched his entire business to Amazon.
Now, I don't see Ebay going under any time soon.  However, I don't see them being the giant that they once were.  If they really want to help themselves, the first thing they should do is fire their CEO, and make things more seller friendly.  They should learn that you don't shit where you eat.