eBay routinely surveys sellers asking them to rate the company on how well it serves their needs. But a new survey is different, with questions asking sellers on whether they think eBay shares their values and if eBay cares about them:
Thinking about eBay, to what degree are each of these true for you?
(Scale: Extremely; Very; Somewhat; Not too much; Not at all)
- I feel like eBay and I share the similar values
- I feel connected to eBay
- eBay is a brand that "gets me" or understands me
- eBay is a brand for someone like me
- eBay is a brand that I can depend on "no matter what"
- I feel impacted by eBay's successes or failures
- I'm confident that eBay would make things right if something went wrong
- With eBay, I have confidence that the experience will consistently be what I expect.
- eBay is a brand that cares about me
- I believe that eBay's intentions are good
- eBay has my best interests at heart
Basically eBay is asking about its brand perception among sellers. If it finds problem areas, will eBay set out to repair them? Will it launch a marketing campaign to improve its brand? If the findings are positive, will it herald those findings in a brand campaign?
The survey also asks sellers to rate eBay's performance on the nitty gritty of selling, such as the following question:
Thinking about your most recent selling experience on eBay, how do you rate eBay's performance for each of the following?
(Scale: 1 - 5, with 1 being Poor and 5 being Excellent)
- Seller feedback mechanism
- Ease of creating a listing
- Ease of finding right category to list under
- Ease of paying my selling fees
- Ease of receiving and managing payments
- Policies to protect from fraud
- Guidance to choose right shipping option
- Promoting listings
- Managing returns
- Ease of updating tracking information
- Value added services available to enhance offerings
- Pricing guidance
- Standard for seller evaluation
The purpose of the survey matters. For example, when eBay asks sellers to rate its performance on the "Seller feedback mechanism," is it asking because it wants to take remedial action if sellers rate the feedback mechanism poorly? Or is it just benchmarking seller attitudes?
It's easy for eBay to learn where the challenges are for sellers without having to conduct a survey by mining the following to see what sellers are saying:
- Customer Service chats;
- eBay discussion boards posts;
- Social media posts;
- eBay weekly chat board posts.
It's always interesting to review eBay surveys to see which companies it feels are its competitors. When it asked, "Which of the following online marketplaces other than eBay have you used to sell products online," it provided the following possible options from which sellers could choose:
- Amazon
- Etsy
- Craigslist
- Facebook Marketplace
- Newegg
- Walmart/Jet.com
- Overstock.com
- Your own company website
- Other (please specify)
It's also interesting to see how eBay classifies sellers. In the current survey, it asks sellers to describe the type of seller they are, offering the following options:
- Merchant (purchases stock from manufacturers or distributors, has multiple of the same item for sale)
- Reseller (sources from various stores, websites, inventory is mainly one of a kind and not all are multiple quantity)
- Other (please specify)
The survey contained additional questions, including the following:
Thinking about your last 30 days selling on eBay, how satisfied are you with your overall eBay selling experience?
How likely are you to sell on eBay in the next 3 months?
Did you have issues or problems when selling in the past one month?
In what areas, if any, would you like to see eBay make improvements?
The survey also asked respondents to indicate their gender, age range, and how many people work as part of their online selling business.
Do you think the survey provides clues as to what changes may lie ahead or areas in which eBay may focus its attention?
eBay Gets Warm and Fuzzy in New Seller Survey
by: Bidonmine 
by: CanBrit