Buyers Call eBay Greedy over Loyalty Program Scale-Back

by: Bloggo

eBay to-do list:
1. Shoot self in foot.
2: Repeat.

by: Philip Cohen

Could things possibly be getting even more desperate at the 'bay ...

No doubt Johnna Hoff will mouth a perfectly satisfactory and logical explanation for this change—LOL ...

What a shame it is that not a word any of them speak can be believed ...

eBay / PayPal / Donahoe: Dead Men Walking ... http://bit.ly/11F2eas

by: fordat1

Why am I not surprised.  The company is doing everything in it's power to drive off customers as well as sellers and THEY JUST DON'T CARE…  

You read that correctly, they just don't care and until they do there isn't much we can do to change it.

by: Anonymous Annie

At first glance it appears that eBay is trying to stop hemorrhaging.

Logic tells me that this is eBay's reaction to some sort of crisis and a dire need to increase cash-flow.

This isn't greed. It's preservation.

Common sense also tells me that this is just the first phase of eliminating the eBay Bucks program entirely.

Think about it... there's quite an uproar already based on these changes. Imagine the reaction if eBay had just unceremoniously cancelled it.

This tactic of ''starving-it-to-death'' is one that eBay has used before. --- They'll basically make the Bucks program so difficult to use and maintain that people will just give up on it and abandon it.

After a suitable number of months... when participation is at its lowest point... eBay will announce that people are no longer interested in the Bucks program and therefore it will be discontinued.

Of course, any observant person will be able to tell that eBay itself created the circumstances in which the Bucks program became untenable and worthless.

But, most likely, the folks on WS will marvel at the what a genius the boy-wonder JS is.

Gag me.  

by: Ming the Merciless

We all got along just fine for many years without ebafia bounty money.

Many buyers have no sympathy for the monthly shafting ebay gives sellers, and the shoe is on the other foot for one policy change.

I'm not exactly weeping alligator tears for these poor abused buyers.

But I do agree with others here. It's just another indication of how desperate ebay is. It must time or nearly time for The Ho to dump more free stock.

We shouldn't forget, however, that leasing Deliver Me NOW ebay branded vans, space in newspaper trucks, paying Lithium blogging snipers, and free snacks for employees don't come cheap.

by: Bloggo

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that juxtaposes apparently contradictory elements.

''eBay Bucks loyalty program''

by: NetWatch

I just started a new, OPEN group on Facebook called Former Ebay Sellers and everyone here is welcome to visit, join, and post there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/formerebaysellers/

by: bitbybit

To me it means buyers are NOT WELCOME on ebay unless they are willing to spend $250 a quarter. Anything less to JD is chump change. Donahoe's only interest is in monetizing ebay any which way he can and now at EVERYONE'S expense. What do you expect from someone coming from Bain? Whether it is greed or desperation, does not matter. They will strip a corpse of their gold fillings and jewelry. They will take sellers money and not show their listings. And now buyers not willing to spend mega bucks on ebay are no longer wanted. They will take everything away from you .. and your little dog Toto too!  

by: Marie

It certainly does absolutely nothing to encourage casual buyers.  They are very important customers too.

by: Captain Nemo

Somehow ebay has managed to take a minor "good will" program and turn it into a negative.

I don't think anyone was buying anything because of earning "ebay bucks", but when you did have a balance - even if it was only $2 - you wanted to buy something to use them up.

Now it's just a frustrating carrot on a stick that ebay yanks away from buyers at the last minute.

by: FREDDY

They should have just rolled over to following month. Looks bad. They have to be really hurting - will wall street pick up on that?  (doubt it). I use to get some very nice amounts. Couple over $100.00 in the past year. But I will not be getting them anymore as I stopped buying on ebay. Don't like what they do to sellers. I was one of them. Don't like their business policies. As said before - ebay sandbox - don't like it leave - so that's what I did.

Problem with Amazon Prime is that buyers think that EVERYTHING is free shipping if you have Prime. Had a neg removed because buyer complained that it was supposed to be free shipping-not always from 3rd party sellers. This buyer wasn't smart enough to question during check out.  Amazon doesn't emphasize that fact. I always look at the third party prices as a lot of the time they are cheaper even adding in the shipping.    

by: Steevo

I think this program, like those ridiculous supermarket card programs are a pita and should be just done away with.  

Why the heck should ebay give anyone any money because someone bought from us?  Not from them, but from a seller.  Sure ebay got paid their commission but if anyone should offer a loyalty program it should be us not them. We made most of the money.  

The sooner all these programs are done away with the better. They are contrived.  

The supermarket ones are worse, where if you don't have the card you *can't* shop at all, because the regular price for something might be $1, but they have it marked up to $1.89 and they give it to you for the real price with the card.  That's dopey.  Should be made illegal.  

Someone got the bright idea at ebay to do something similar but it's just silly.  I am sure they are getting rid of it because it resulted in no good results at all. I doubt seriously that they *ever* have any good results.  

by: FeelingFroggy

Ebay needs my 2.00 each quarter. So be it.

Just another reason to shop elsewhere.

by: Ric

Does eBay's Board of Directors actually have confidence that their CEO has the marketplace on the right track?

Since September, John Donahoe's eBay has been purging sellers by the thousands, pulled Gift Cards from store shelves immediately before the busiest gift card selling season of the year, and now is alienating buyers with this latest scale back in the eBay Bucks Reward Program.

Fact of the matter is that eBay has been gradually scaling the eBay Bucks program back.

Remember it was not too long ago that eBay stopped offering eBay Bucks for purchases of Gold Bullion due to the price increases in the value of gold.

Not long after, eBay announced that purchases of items in the Business & Industrial category would no longer qualify for eBay Bucks Rewards.

Now eBay is cutting back the program in two ways.... Elimination of another eligible category and denying buyers the ability to collect and use eBay Buck balances which are less than $5.00.

This is an obvious money grab for eBay and a sign that management has run out of ideas as to how to increase revenues.

eBay's steady erosion of their eBay Bucks Reward program will certainly act to further alienate, annoy and insult buyers.

Can John Donahoe and his management team become any more disconnected from reality than they already appear to be?

Their latest moves to purge sellers and alienate buyers can be compared to a mall manager who decides the mall needs   some disruptive innovation to grow, so he orders the mall doors to remain locked at all times. Later, in his ignorance, he wonders why the mall has no customers.

Brilliant moves John Donahoe!

Meg Whitman once said that a monkey could run eBay. Too bad she did not select a monkey as her successor and gave us an MBA ( Master of Business Assassination) instead.

by: ebay refugee camp

Ebay has gone from bad to worse to unbearable. This is greed but it is not new. The executives of this company have huge bonus checks dangled in front of them and they are willing to do anything.
It has become so unbearable to sell or buy on ebay. I thought the changes were suppose to weed out bad sellers instead it has made the bad sellers TRS and the honest sellers have lost positions in the search and created a legion of shoplifting scamming buyers.
Ebay must be desperate, just how much money will they save.
They chased away so many sellers with their Donahoe, Swan policy bombs and their Bain and Company assault on small business and their addiction to deceptive business practices.
I urge everyone to begin listing elsewhere, ebay is losing a bundle to the buyer protection program which is being deluged with buyers trying to get a free item. They are holding sellers funds but sellers are winning claims and ebay is eating the costs.
I urge every seller today to file a complaint with the FTC, and the agency in your state that regulates paypal a money transmitter is what they claim they are.
C'mon they continously do things that are just unbelievable.
Did you opt out of ebay's no class action lawsuit or lawsuit I hope so because this is just the beginning of outrageous behavior that is going to come from this company. Rumor has it that paid search position will be installed in the spring along with a hefty FVF increase.
I have been told also that a investigative news reporter is digging in to ebay and paypal and that a bombshell is looming.

by: OldCrabapple

I got the message from ebay and was only surprised that it didn't begin with ''GOOD NEWS!'' and ''YOU SPOKE AND WE LISTENED'' and an explanation that surveys show that 82% of buyers don't like ebay bucks.

by: Mr. Me

"Loyalty" program? give me a break , eBay is loyal to one thing only .... your money!

by: Philip Cohen

Probably almost everything eBay now does is directed at trying to slow the hemorrhaging of their revenue stream caused by all their self-inflicted wounds ...

And what does the "smart money" on Wall Street think about eBay? Well, in August 2007, as Bain’s Johnny Joe Ho was about to take the captain’s chair, the share prices of both eBay and Amazon were ~$40; today, eBay is ~$54; Amazon is ~$398 …

With people like this in control of major corporations, is it any wonder that the US economy is having trouble recovering? And Obama has appointed this headless turkey to another governmental advisory position!—LOL

eBay / PayPal / Donahoe: Dead Men Walking ... http://bit.ly/11F2eas

by: brokentoys19

Sounds like ebay's way of saying "Beat it you pipsqueaks! We don't need your kind around here."

They are hoping to increase average sale price that everyone with ebay bucks right now make a mad dash to redeem/spend them before the end of the year/Q.

All the rejects can go to Amazon or wherever.  For each small spender they alienate, 10 big spenders will join and buy original paintings by infamous, instant artists and whatnot.  

by: LAbay

eBay needs a program that give true value for the buyer like Amazon Prime.