What Do You Think of eBay's New Ad Campaign?

by: toolguy

@Rexford

I don't sell Mr. Goodwrench tools

I sell tools used to repair aircraft, think about that the next time you fly ~ LOL

by: FeelingFroggy

@ Tool

I just cancelled my plane ticket..

by: Trying-My-Best

Love reading how eBay Executive's sum up the eBay experiencce -

ay is built on the diversity of the buyers and sellers that make up our marketplace - they create a rich and dynamic environment for commerce that is unmatched in possibilities,'' said Suzy Deering, Chief Marketing Officer for eBay North America. ''Our priority as a business is to marry our streamlined, personalized shopping experience with our unparalleled selection of inventory to meet the evolving needs of millions of shoppers - uniquely enabling them to shop the products that they love.''

Suzy Like others on EbaybExecutive Suite seem to believe they can justify their salaries by simply stringing big vocabulary words together espousing pedantic cloud in the sky prose (see, I can do it too).  The lesson here for her and her fellow execs is ... it's okay to speak pure, simple,  normal English.

It's no wonder eBay has lost its way if this is the way they speak in San Jose.  Meanwhile, over at Amazon, they are laser focused on their buyers and sellers -,I'm sure they just doubled up on their borrrring beigggge  box orders.

by: bitbybit

Ebay's not going to win the ''my box is better than your box'' against Amazon. It's what is inside the box that counts. Ebay is just using colorful tape instead of their usual duct tape method to try to repair their disruptive successful past image. Instead of building on a once solid foundation, ebay is being held up by tape...lots and lots of tape.

by: iheartjacksparrow

@toolguy - I just checked the sold items for Bidadoo for the last couple of weeks, and I imagine there's not many sellers who post here who are selling school buses and towable generators. If they are taking in a million dollars a month on eBay, good for them. And they probably pay enough fees that they don't suffer from rolling blackouts and secret seller limits.  

by: Trying-My-Best

@toolguy
Trust that' Amazon extensively tested their boxes (thickness, weight)  and air pockets/bubblewtap  packaging - to withstand the rigors of transit.  It would be foolish to assume otherwise.  As a result, I've never received a damaged box or item from Amazon.  With that said ...

I just got a NWT Tommy Bahama Silk shirt for my dad (Fathers Day gift)  from a TRS eBay seller - the shirt is rolled tighter than a hot dog and hog-tied all around with ridiculous amount of  eBay ''colorful tape'' I'm afraid to open it without cutting through the damn  shirt and dreading having to unfold it for the post buying experience reveal.  This, my friend, is the typical eBay buying experience for many.  

I paid $69.99 for this shirt with free shipping.  Good money.  Would it have killed this seller to pay a few dollars more for Priority Mail We're talking about 12 ounce package weight ... in a PM box ... for 3 dollars more?!

After wrestling with the eBay colorful logo tape ... my dads $69.99 eBay shirt ... it's not as seen/described in sellers photos ...it's a wrinkled mess.  I can't gift it to him.  And I'm not paying return postage to this seller either.    I have time to buy same shirt on Amazon and will look forward to delivery in a boring beige box.  

Toolguy, no need to respond.  
eBay Execs - particularly Suzy Dering - you all may want to rethink your boring beige box ad campaign - it's gonna backfire as buyers pause and compare Amazon boxes to eBay sellers colorful cheap small gray mailers experience and,  much like the $69.99 mess I just received ... they will happily stay on Amazon and eagerly wait for their beige box to arrive.  

by: toolguy

@bitbybit

What's in the box?

A AMP 59239-4 Crimper I just sold on eBay for $88 + $7 shipping.

My customer looked on Amazon and fell out of his chair!

He then proceeded to buy mine on eBay!

Now I have to decide what color box to ship this in? I think I'll pick the Red White & Blue box from the United States Postal Service. . .

by: pace306

TOOL

If you actually had 1 brain cell (that wasnt effected by 420) you would be DANGEROUS.

Ive been selling on eBay longer then you, have made more money (selling online then you), have been selling "ANYTHING" longer then you, have worked for bigger companies then you, and have more industry contacts then you.

Now that we have established "our credentials" lets move forward.

Since reading ISNT a fundamental in being a grower, its obvious that you simply cant/wont/dont read industry magazines, dont subscribe to industry newspapers and generally besides telling people about that ONE GUY who sells in a NARROW category ... has NO CLUE about how this industry works.

Do you deal with manufacturers? DO you speak to their reps, local/regional and national distributors? Do you do ANYTHING besides tell us about Bidoo's rusty generators?

You can bad mouth Amazon all you want - but the numbers DONT lie.

AMAZONS # out gross and outclass eBays by a LARGE amount.

eBays stock is 34, Amazons is 1000.

Amazon (as an example) just placed an order with BOSS (car stereo company) for $100 million dollars. Thats just ONE BRAND - now multiply that by 10,000 or MORE. (I speak to them so the rep tells me).

You have NO CLUE what goes on - and you can send Devin Wenig an Xmas card - because he allows you to sell a few hundred dollars a month worth of Bidoos crap - but thats NOT whats going on here in ecommerce AT ALL.

1) the FUTURE of ecommerce is Amazon vs Walmart. You may not be bright enough to see it - BUT EVERY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE is talking about it and THEY have the numbers and industry contacts to prove it.

2) Internet retailer Magazine - the magazine the ecommerce industry uses as a guide says CLEARLY (since they were discussing CLOTHING this month) that out of the top 15 places ON LINE that people buy clothing - eBay ISNT on the list. Can you explain it away with your rusty tools? Amazon is there. Walmart is there. JC Pennys (who may go chap 11) IS THERE. That info came to them from buyers, clothing makers and the retailers themselves.

3) TWICE magazine listed the top 100 electronics retailers - GUESS WHO WASNT ON THE LIST!? EBAY.

4) the ecommerce industry is buzzing about who WILL PICK UP HH Greggs & Radio Shacks biz since they are going OOB - and ALL the experts agree it ISNT eBay.

I can go on of course if you would like - but for you to yack about eBay and electronics - as if 1) eBay is a bellweather for ANYTHING and 2) that eBay is better for old rusty tools then electronics is simply MORONIC.

You have zero frames of reference and zero understanding of anything besides the rusty tools and pot.

PLEASE sit down and let the grown ups talk.

much obliged.

by: FeelingFroggy

Silence is golden.

by: toolguy

@pace306

"Ive been selling on eBay longer then you,"

My vw ID is from Jan 1998, you care to share your older ID?

"have worked for bigger companies then you"

I worked at Boeing: Market Cap $112 Billion

Yes, you are so much better then I am.

----->BUT<-----

Pace, but in reality I'm a BETTER eBay seller then you are. . .That's a FACT!

I have NOWHERE near the problems you have.

Why is that?

and the bottom line is you're bitter as can be and will die being bitter!

What a shame. . .

PS: Get over yourself, if you were that good you would be successful instead of complaining week after week after week. You're PATHETIC now days.

by: toolguy

@pace306

Before I came to eBay I was a tool maker, Jig & Fixture builder if you know what that is. I built tools that assembled DC-10's & C-17's.

I worked Theodolites and laser trackers to place details within a hair on X Y & Z axis.

I wasn't peddling electronics I was building tools that assembled AIRCRAFT.

You know, the stuff that has to be perfect 1st time around because at 30,000 feet there are no second chances.

Yea, I'm just a nimrod that smokes pot.

Yea right ~ LOL

by: toolguy

I consider eBay to be my business partner NOT MY ENEMY

They aren't perfect but for me they're the best game in town for what I sell.

My #1 complaint is FVF fees on shipping.

I don't have any gripes about if my items are seen or not.

I have NO evidence my items are NOT being shown.

My stuff sells, even the stuff that's been on the site for a while eventually sells.

My niche is no longer a niche as at one time I had only 50 competitors, that number today is about 1500.

I take good pictures, brief descriptions and fair honest prices. I also stand behind what I sell. My listings DON'T have rules or regulations.

I keep it simple and my customers like it that way.

What sellers have to keep in mind is that they DON'T run eBay, if you aren't happy move along to another web site.

eBay has no handcuffs on you!

by: Barbbie

My son usually receives his amazon purchases in thin plastic envelopes. I usually receive my remaining FBA returns in padded envelopes.  I stopped using FBA because of the really, really poor packaging of delicate items (that they charged me for all the breakage until customers clued me in on the issue!) It practically took an act of congress for them to change it from envelope to box because you see, the warehouse guy has to go by what is written in his orders not by common sense.
I sell all over. I usually buy on walmart (not marketplace) or Ebay. The reason is, I want what is advertised and feel that if the feedback - not the number- the comments - do not indicate a drop shipper, then I have a good chance of getting what I ordered. I have not had a real problem on ebay as a buyer.
On Amazon you do not know who wrote the ad, if the picture is actually of what is in the ad or the accuracy of any of the info in the ad, even on common items. Selling there and seeing and experiencing the issues has made me not want to buy anything there.  But yet I am grateful to all those diehards who will pay anything to purchase on Amazon - with a minimum 1.00 or 15% fee they will pay more for some items.
However, I have not seen the ad, but kind of sure nobody cares about what color the box is - hoping this is a lot of exaggeration!  If they were trying to say ebay is more interesting, I think there surely must have been a better way to do it.  

by: RKTOYS

Amazon sellers have a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome.  I recently asked in the seller forum how long they'd keep e-mailing me over an A-Z claim that they'd refunded despite proof of delivery and an unresponsive customer.  I wasn't looking to start a fight but more than a few took it as a personal affront.

You think Donahoe's line about fraud as a cost of doing business is galling?  There are plenty of sellers on Amazon who think that way too.

When I started years ago, sellers could do anything they wanted to buyers.  These days, buyers can do anything they want to sellers.  What hasn't changed is that too many blame the victim.  Yesterday it was "you know it's dangerous to deal with strangers or buy sight unseen."  Today it's "you didn't double box it, triple insure it, quadruple sign for it, and have Ed McMahon deliver it with a camera crew standing by?  totally your fault you were robbed."

by: felyne

As a buyer only on both, I shop
Amazon for one thing and ebay for another. Ads don't alter my mind. Sounds like people here are talking about packaging. If I get a used book or food or supplements, I'm not going to ebay. If I want to find classic or vintage stuff, I'm not going to amazon. Amazon can be very pricey. I think of eBay as wholesale most often, or hard to find things. I haven't looked at 'LetGo' yet, but I think I'll check that out.  

by: Rexford

Barbbie says "My son usually receives his amazon purchases in thin plastic envelopes."

This likely has everything to do with Amazon not giving their sellers enough money to cover the cost of the shipping.  They give a few dollars to the seller and then expect the seller to ship the item in a box.  I feel for those sellers.

by: blueribbon1844

I heard one ad a month ago on the Rap/HipHop radio station for eBay fashion. How many rappers are shopping eBay?

That's it though, I haven't seen advertising online, on tv, print, not even a single billboard.

I have noticed my fees are up this month, higher than they have been in 12 months. So yeah, thanks for that :(

by: jj

I have to admit - I received my last eBay purchase in a colorful box - it was a cereal box filled with old newspaper to protect a plate I had ordered (granted it did arrive unbroken).  This is why I don't shop on eBay anymore unless I absolutely have to.  

by: pace306

Theres still no fool like an old TOOL.

Ive been a seller on eBay since 1998, you started as a BUYER.

Yes you worked for Boeing, on a line as a low level worker tightening bolts on old airplanes.

Did you RUN Boeing? Did you spend their money? Did you BUY or SELL any of their products?

I know - you were a VP right? You worked in Seattle and made deals on selling planes to the military and airlines. You also designed and drafted the planes themselves. It MUST have been you that helped Boeing convince overseas airlines to buy Boeing planes ... since you tightened a few bolts during assembly.

Obviously, you dont know what the word PARTNER means. You also (as stated) have NO CLUE about the industry you claim you are in now (selling on line) which is probably how much you knew about the AIRLINE industry.

I'll spare you my biography - but I helped RUN $100 million companies - as an EXECUTIVE (head buyer) NOT as a bolt tightener on the line.

When a companies sales percentages are 5x BELOW the national average - the facts cant be argued.

Selling a few rusty tools in no way shape or form describes how ecommerce works or whats going on IN THE INDUSTRY.

How many Comdex's did you go to ? CES's? How many meetings were YOU in with Apple, IBM or Sony?  ZERO.

Again - please let the grown ups talk. 420 dude!

by: JohnGermaine

Haven't seen it but if they are promoting ''their'' brand, then they are taking the wrong tact. They are a platform is all and that is the biggest part of the problem with selling there, they forget what ''their'' job is.