eBay Silences Founding 'Voices' Members

by: David Steiner

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by: whatever

I think the dismantling of Voices in in-line with Donahoe's focus towards big business.  This has paid off with bailout money they're now getting from the US government:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2074169/eb
ay_will_receive_scammed_us_government.html?cat=3

There's no reason to keep the ''Voices'' of a group that he thinks he doesn't need anymore.

by: SteveO

To those who think Voices is a bunch of sycophants; it wasn't always that way.

That's what they want it to be now but it was never intended to be that. It only became so recently. As it was neutered, it became so timid and irrelevant it became useless to anyone-eBay or the participants.

I know a few of the kool-aid drinkers found Voices to be the finest honor of their lives and made a big deal of it.  While they were way too visible but they hardly represented the core of the group.  There were a lot of well rounded and realistic people in Voices at one time.  The past-tense of the word was intentional.

The bureaucrat desperately wanted to be rid of the people from the early groups.  The eBay they always speak of is dead.  Their bleating about "community" is passe' and irrelevant as the stories about how far grandpa walked to school in the snow.  It's time to move on.

It was almost comical watching eBay figure out how to do it in the most cowardly way possible.  First they began to demand an unrealistic level of participation.  That made the calls overcrowded so you'd hold for 50 minutes and be told you had 15 seconds to speak.  That allowed the bureaucrat to get rid of the people who had a life since they were trouble anyway.  

They demanded more participation and then used the excess participation as a reason to get rid of even more people because of the overcrowding.

Then they wanted unsolicited input limited and highly restricted in style and length.  

That's why this action was merciful and needed.  

eBay no longer cared about these people but the people couldn't accept it since they thought eBay loved them and their 5-10 years of feeling special.

This way is better for everyone.

by: ebaystillsux

SteveO said,
"This way is better for everyone."

I could agree with that. But I think eBay might as well close down the Voices program completely.

It's nothing but a joke now. As someone I used to know on the eBay boards might say, Voices is as much a lie as the Pez story was.

In fact, I've often wondered if the whole concept of "community" was nothing but a social experiment on Pierre's part at the expense of its members who bought into that particular lie.

by: Marty

Look, I cleared up some untruths and told it like it is.

Do I think Ebay is heading in the right direction? NO

Do I state that all the time on the discussion boards and in Voices, of course I do.

The hard part is learning how to change things as best you can. No it is not easy, and no we dont have much say, but we do have a lot of people inside Ebay that love this company and feel like we do.

Sure its hard to be constructive during times when you feel the direction is totally wrong, the abuse of the community so strong etc. BUT , these bad decisions have had their own consequences and sooner or later people will be looking at why things went wrong and looking for ideas as the company's results have sputtered.

I never met Mr Donahoe, but I have met Meg Whitman and she was definately more of a community person than JD is.

JD's background would easily show you his current management style. I do believe he needs to get a realistic picture of what was making Ebay work and why all the right moves in a pure business sense are not always the right moves for a company like Ebay.

I dont have all the answers , but I do feel I have some of them, and to the extent I can get heard I will be.

Im actually working on a BusinessWeek article submission (reporter expressed interest) and have some others adding ideas as well. It will be along the lines of "What EBayers think will Fix Ebay". If anyone would like to chime in feel free to email me as I the lid is coming off this Ebay puppy and people are poking in to fix this wreck! LOL

Marty

by: Dyna

Honestly Marty it has been tried before.  You can't put a bandage on leprosy and assume it won't spread.

But, good on you for continuing to  try.

by: Zeke

Looks like eBay's "blogger" woke up from one of his naps long enough to write the party line about this topic.

http://ebayinkblog.com/2009/08/21/ebay-voices-keeping-on
e-foot-in-the-present-and-one-in-the-future/

by: Harriet

Marty-

Many years ago, a wise person told me that instead of complaining about a situation, the best thing to do was to get involved and try to change it from the inside. That was the constructive thing to do. So I applaud you for trying to change things from the small part of "inside" you were allowed to reside in.

The problem with this situation is that you have absolutely no power, nor do you have any influence. The man at the top is not at all interested in what others think. He is oblivious to opinions. It is his way or the highway.

eBay was a highly, even fantastically successful company, even JD said so.

So, why oh why would a CEO take such a successful enterprise, strip it down, change everything about it that made it unique and destroy it???

We all keep talking round and round about things, but it always comes to the end with this question.

No one has that answer but JD. And I am not at all sure he is thinking with a clear head.

Something is very wrong here, and it is not getting better. It is getting worse with each passing day.

I am sorry for the Voices people who tried their darndest to keep it going in a good direction. I believe they made an effort. But it really didn't matter, since they were only paid lip service to. It was/is a mollification for the masses. But influence, no, not likely.

I don't see any hope that any of us can make any difference at all.

We really do not matter.

So we need to diversify to other venues.

Selling online is a great deal of fun. Find a place where you can sell and enjoy it again.

by: Ming the Merciless

It's all about the stock price and stock options.

As long as the sleazy ebay execs can persuade the corrupt brokerage houses and their puppet 'analysts' to keep pushing false information about ebafia with false and/or misleading numbers, nothing will change.

As long as ebafia can avoid thorough investigations by the SEC and the DoJ, nothing will change.

As long as ebafia retains much of its former image as a warm and fizzy corporate 'good citizen (barf!) that allow grilled cheese sandwiches with someone's idea of the Vorgin Mary burnt into bread, then nothing will change.

1. Make comments and expose the truth on these 'analysts' and business publication blogs.

2. Write REGULAR SNAIL MAIL complaints to the agencies that I post somewhere here nearly everyday.

3. Tell your friends that if they want to buy cheap Chinese refurbished, rebuilt, used, open stock, warranty free junk, then shop ebafia. Remember, word of mouth built ebafia, and word of mouth can and will destroy it.

4. Close your Skype account. You may not have much choice now about PayPal, but you do with Skype.

5. Use any competitor of StubHub which ebafia also owns.

6. Don't buy a GM vehicle or a Roger Penske truck on ebafia.


The next scheme the The Ho will come up will be to invite United Health Insurance Co. to sell policies on ebafia so their CEO, who currently earns $112,00 a day, can steal even more.

by: longtime Pez dealer

The Pez story isn't a total lie. In the mid 90s, I remember way back before Ebay, there was this dweeby Indian looking guy & his girlfriend that liked Pez. They'd some to shows in the SF area, they'd always ask questions and had no money, rarely buying anything really good. I remember telling them a buck and a half for a rare Pez, and they tried to give me $2 for it:) Finally, a day came when she wanted to sell out her awesome collection, which was mostly common junk. Off course, dealers lowballed her, so Pierre got his revenge by destroying our businesses with Ebay. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have paid her just to be done with it!

by: Buck Efay

Jd was handed a Ferrari, and he swapped out all the important parts with a Yugo. Now it's all SNAD, FUBAR, and FINISHED!

by: Sleepless in Chicago

Ming - You are my fave.... I agree w/you 100%...  Love your post....

"It's all about the stock price and stock options.

As long as the sleazy ebay execs can persuade the corrupt brokerage houses and their puppet 'analysts' to keep pushing false information about ebafia with false and/or misleading numbers, nothing will change.

As long as ebafia can avoid thorough investigations by the SEC and the DoJ, nothing will change.

As long as ebafia retains much of its former image as a warm and fizzy corporate 'good citizen (barf!) that allow grilled cheese sandwiches with someone's idea of the Vorgin Mary burnt into bread, then nothing will change".... "

What would happen if the Q3 (or Q4) numbers are really bad and they can't fix them...... then they take every seller's Palpal money and claim bankruptcy... every seller will be out that money... 90% of sellers will take it as a loss rather than sue them and incur more costs in legal fees... and Ebay knows that....

Risk/reward ratio should be considered by all sellers.....

by: ex powerseller

Q3 is a total waste, take it from a seller. Ecrater & bonanzle are making more sales with less risk right now. Ebay lies & says the reports are wrong. They are not. Sales are non existent, and these dummies in the golden tower just happily steamroll along like Caligula's head cutting machine. If you have any money you can get out of Paypal, better do it now.
Why dio you really think they are dumping the powerseller title? It's because there are none anymore. I've seen my status drop every quarter since JD & his gang of crooks seized power.

by: Ming the Merciless

Don't forget that Q3 earnings will reflect the withdrawal of the 'free' shipping FVF discount which will pad sales figures to appear better than they actually will be.

The only thing these people are good at is manipulating their books.

They're the French Chefs of bookkeeping.

by: Ann Castle

@ Powerseller

I do believe you're right.

After 8.5 years as a powerseller I am no longer as of last month.  Part due to the incredible decline of eBay's ability to drive traffic and created sales (al la Best Match) and part because I refuse to struggle any more with their tom foolery; it's too expensive both in time and money among other things.  

When I go the post office tomorrow morning there will be no shipments for eBay.....they are all Amazon and eCrater which are producing very nice results recently (last six months) so it's not what I sell, it's where they makes the difference.  I still have an eBay store and about 300 items listed....not one sale this week...not one!!

The recent dive in sales is most astonishing.  If eBay is able to demonstrate some kind of increses in both traffic and revenue for Q3 I'll be 95% sure that they cook the books.

by: Ebay Paid My Bills

FEEDBACK IDEA!

I'm thinking of including this note with each item shipped:

WE HAVE LEFT YOU POSITIVE FEEDBACK FOR YOU PURCHASE!

Thank You for buying this item from us.

I hope you are happy with your purchase.

If for any reason you are unhappy with your item please contact us.

DO NOT LEAVE US FEEDBACK!

Buyers who leave feedback will be put on our NO BID LIST!

WE DO NOT WANT FEEDBACK!

Again, thank you for buying from us on Ebay.

by: ex powerseller

Ann, it's true, it's true! After not trying anywhere else to sell online EVER, ebay has forced my hand, as we need to eat & pay bills. 20,000+ pos, 99.7% not good enough? Funny thing, when I first contacted Amazon and told them my user ID, I had a phone call back within hours begging me to come onboard & saying they had never seen such a great product line. I told him I was leaving my old venue & stretching my wings, he asked if it rhymed with Schmeebay? I told him I had better names fir it then that:) If they don't want my money, amazon has gladly taken it, filled the gap & even removed a negative from a serial returner. Yes, they actually listened to BOTH sides, and checked BOTH our feedbacks. Of course, the first thing Mr crook did was tell me " I have 100% perfect feedback on Ebay", BFD, every buyer has 100% perfect feedback & never does anything wrong on quirky old Greedbay. I never even knew you could leave feedback for buyers on Amazon til this goof. Meanwhile, at Ecrater & Bonanzle MY customers are following me there, Haha donuthole, I'm proud to say about 50% of my sales on other venues are from former Ebay buyers, and I'm usually their first buy at the new venues. I hope the Ebay goonsquad that troll for Ebay tell your bestest buddy Donho that. Print it out for him. These are OUR customers, they could care less about Ebay. In fact, many tell us they are glad to not have to use Paypal as they don't trust it. There's still millions of people out there that will never ever give Poopal access to their bank accounts, and good for them. All former Ebayers, check out these 2 sites. Ecrater is FREE to list, no commission, Bonanzle dirt cheap, costs less than $1 a sale and you can take any form of payment you like!!! The faster y'all dump Ebay, the better off we'll all be. Just start small, list 20-30% and you'll see growth. I found out on Bonanzle, there are users that make photo albums & steer you traffic!

And to Ebay paid my bills: Don't put that note in there, my friend. I'm telling you that's a short route to undeserved negative feedbacks. I know the system is fixed, but better to say nothing, or do as we do, put in a discount coupon for your website, saying thanks we hope you enjoyed your item, we try to give our customers 5 star service.

PS to the Ebay brownshirts: The more you try & grind wonderful fair sellers under the bootheel, the more we will rebel & the more customers will leave! Personally, you've lost at least $10,000 in Ebay fees from me alone, and maybe $50,000 in sales. To say nothing of the bad word of mouth, the $5000 my sister pulled from PP money market, the thousands in recurring sales I've steered off Paypal & more. If you think you're gonna hit me, well now I'm gonna hit you back! After Q4's sales are in the toilet we'll see how many of your multi death corporations & chinese junk merchants put up with Ebay's garbage once they are not making any sales. Viva La Revolucion. You are fighting an unconventional war here, and we will triumph in the end. You know, Amazon could survive without sellers, but Ebay is NOTHING without us. They have NOTHING, they sell NOTHING, they produce NOTHING. Without us, EBAY IS NOTHING!

by: Mercy the Mingless

Voices 1999 = Jim ''Uncle Griff'' Griffith 1999.

Voices 2009 = Jim ''The Seller Advocate'' Griffith 2009

by: Buck Efay, Huh Huh Huh!

Voices in his head = John Donahoe 2009

Silence= Ebay sales 2009 and beyond

by: fruity

ebay is hiring special manager to set up some type of program to encourage or create a conduit for ebayers to interface with the media.

and I think there should be some clarification, that while some of them are not paid, I think its well known that there are agreements that some of them have had to sign and that some of them gain a financial benefit and I think that you should clarify that on the record. What happens is, there's an exchange of sorts that goes on, and those with access and a sense of being a part of the inner workers, many times they give testimonials. Not intentionally, but it does have an impact on the rest of the community. Ebays best line of defense has always been with letting those peers into the community be the word-of-mouth. Its not just limited to voices.

and also, there are alot of Voices members who fought hard to keep this site going, many who were able to get ebay to back down and see it the community way.

and then there's the ones who basically I'm surprised they havne't swallowed their own tongues by now. Who like to herd people and befriend them and pretend they understand and they're with you. They're not. They're still in the game doing recon.

They're easy to detect because over time they're flip floppers. And they'll only talk indirectly about what is really wrong. Its very superficial.