eBay Blindsides Trading Assistants

by: pace306

You have to read between the lines (aka understand eBays lies)

"delivering a significant number of sales leads." - the FVFs werent enough so tuff luck - we are out of here .... FVFs are the only thing WE care about!

"eBay is not giving up the idea that consumers want help selling their items" LMAO - another eBay/JD THINKING DAY MOMENT ... well dont make it so gd da_n hard to sell (pics), dont make the selling so onerous (the non existant "Seller Protection", and people could do it themselves. As it is selling on eBay is like walking a mine field if you are a seller - one wrong dsr move and BOOM there goes your TRSP discount!

"Our strategy at eBay is simple: provide our customers the best possible selling and buying experience" ...... THAT my friends is the Obamacare of online selling!

Ina wrote "In May, eBay's Director of Consumer Business Vikram Singh had told me the Trading Assistant program was "stable" when I asked if it were growing or shrinking" The FVFs and lack of em means we lie when asked a question - then cover our trail so we dont get caught by the SEC.

OOPS, looks like the eBay Trading Assistant(s) just got "Trust & Safteyed", "VERO'd", or as the industry calls it "eBAYED"!!

by: Ric

Now we know why John Donahoe lowered revenue forecasts for eBay.

Donahoe has known for some time they were going to pull the rug out from under the Trading Assistant Program.

In a sign for the routine disregard eBay corp has for sellers, Donahoe declined to offer Trading Assistants any lead time, and with no notice, he simply ordered the plug be pulled on the program.

This is just the latest despicable act of a CEO who is systematically gutting eBay regardless of the negative consequences for individuals who will be negatively impacted by his desire to implode eBay.

Small sellers beware.. first there was the purge of 15,000 sellers quickly followed by the cutoff of the Trading Assistant Program.

As Donahoe continues his destructive innovations, we should expect that we are nearing the announcement that small sellers are no longer welcome and our selling privileges will be discontinued without notice.
 

by: Ming the Merciless

The Ho and his bloated staff of parasites are preparing another mass extermination.

Ebay is running out of discretionary funds for events like On Location. These freed up funds can now be used to buy back more ebay stock to give to the parasites.

They also know the enormous amount of truthful unpleasantness and bad publicity they'd receive this year.

What I do for sure is this.

If The Ho further damages my business with his patently illegal policy changes and illegal search manipulations, he, his minions, and ebay will be my personal innovative destruction project for the rest of my life.

by: Ming the Merciless

A non violent innovative destruction  project, of course.

Having said that, I would rejoice if God zapped the ebay campus when The Ho and his parasites were in residence.  

by: Patricia

Thank goodness i don't need ebay anymore.  A few years ago this kind of news would have scared me but i put in the sweat equity and now I'm doing okay without ebay!  There is life outside of that asylum!

by: Marie

This is a great example of EBay's clear disregard for how it treats the very people that have help the company earn the big bucks to include those outrageous bonuses.  

If they care in any way, it doesn't show.  To give a business a 27 day notice that they will be shutting them down is pathetic.  And make no mistake for some of the TAs it will have to shut them down while they reorganize or rethink where they can go from here.

My guess would be that Ebay feels it is giving away too much income / sales leads to these TAs and therefore wants to bring it in house so they can increase their income.

Now since Ebay is a for profit company, I can honestly understand them wanting to do this.  But it is the way they go about it and the complete disregard for the impact this move will have on people is what gets me.  They don't have to do business this way.  They choose to do business this way.

If they want it back in house, fine, that is their right.  But do it with dignity.  Get together with the TAs and help them develop a business plan to move away and be more independent.  Not come in and pull the rug out from under them and offer them no net.  It is no way to run a business and it certainly is no way to treat people with real lives that will be significantly impacted.  It is an outrageous move by Ebay!

by: Philip Cohen

In other words they won’t support this “re-test” any longer because there simply is not enough in it for them; then, they should have known that would be the case from the first time round—cretins …

Still, it's nice to know we can always be confident that whenever eBay does anything, or even an eBay spokesperson moves their lips, they are, invariably, being disingenuous ... http://bit.ly/11F2eas

This is yet another demonstration of eBay's desperation, to generate FVFs, sinking beneath the waves; not that it had any real chance of drifting very far in the first place if the views/sales being obtained by many others was any measure ... http://bit.ly/15hBArk

It really is quite sad that Donahoe has brought the eBay marketplace to such a point of desperation; oh, well, maybe “eBay Now” will save the day …

“Only the mediocre are always at their best”—Jean Giraudoux ...
John Donahoe is indeed doing his best at eBay ... http://bit.ly/12xvzyA

by: Rexford

I think that on some subconscious level the Ho wants to destroy eBay.  Nothing else makes sense.

From what I have witnessed, particularly lately, management is ruthless and has no conscience.  You'd think that they'd at least care about the PR around these types of stunts.

Death by 1000 cuts AND Creeping normalcy--the way a major negative change, which happens slowly in many unnoticed increments, is not perceived as objectionable.

by: FREDDY

@ Rexford.
I think that on some subconscious level the Ho wants to destroy eBay.  Nothing else makes sense.  IT IS AT THE CONSCIOUS LEVEL. Intentional destruction for personal gain.
Destroying a company and selling off the parts has been done for years-nothing new. However, in this case, the company was VERY profitable, no union to bust, just pure and simple greed.
I think it has become a game with him - regardless of the lives it ruins. He doesn't look at it as people- just ''noise''. Insignificant   annoyance like a mosquito.  The pictures of him show it with his smug look.  Everyone on this planet will eventually have to answer for the actions that they have took. Feel sorry for him and people like him. According to my beliefs, they are doomed.

by: blaumann2

In fifty years Donohoe's time at ebay will be part of every business school curriculum. It is an incredible example of destroying a unique and successful business. Taking the leader in an industry and making it into a rabid dog.

by: ebay refugee camp

Who needs ebay's fingers in iut anyway if you are established you can continue what you are doing on your own. If not just go elsewhere, I do believe those who have invested money in this program aare entitled to a reimbursement, I wouls suggest calling a attorney and for those of you who did not opt out of the class action policy I would not worry this is just blatant bad business practices. I am concerned that ebay is making moves to sell themselves and eliminate sellers.

by: Ed

ebay has no conscience. These poor TA had to go lease buildings, buy all kinds of equipment and hire employees. This can happen to any seller on ebay.

We had huge inventories going into the last years holiday season. We were shipping as many as 100 packages a day. It would have been nice if we would have had a 27 day notice but no they hit us a few weeks before Christmas and our sales dropped to maybe shipping 3 packages a day. We had 7 people leave.

We had thousands of dollars of inventory and our sales have never gone over $3,000 a month. We have are scared to buy inventory for this season in fear of how ebay deals with it's Top Rated Sellers.

We hope that you take into consideration that this could happen to you. We are lucky that we were able to move much of our inventory to the retail stores we sell.

Where would you sell $40,000 to $50,000 dollars of the products you sell on ebay. What are these TA going to do to recover?

You could be next.  

by: Anonymous Annie

Disgusting. Shameful. Wrong!

by: IFindBugs

1) When you go to bed with an elephant, you must always remember that the elephant may very likely roll over on you without the elephant even knowing (or caring) that it has done so.

2) The character and motivation of the person/organization with whom you make an agreement is always more important than the text of the agreement.  Since nobody would knowingly let a serial killer babysit their children, why do so many people seem to think that eBay will change its nature?  eBay (and many large companies) regularly start and stop programs with little regard for the damage it does to their ''partners''.

3) I really feel for the TAs that are going to have serious financial problems because of this.  However, I suspect that if they actually read the agreement that they entered into, they will probably discover that eBay is acting well within its ''rights'' of the agreement (not matter how deplorable eBay's action is).  People need to actually read, understand, and take seriously such agreements.  One must always remember that the agreement was written by highly paid and highly skilled lawyers who are NOT working for you.  You must always assume that if something is not specifically prohibited by an agreement, then it can, and probably will, happen.  There is usually a reason for every bit of text in such an agreement.

4. If I am wrong about the text of the agreement, then the TAs need to get a good lawyer because between all the TAs I am sure that millions of dollars of damage will be done.  

5. Regardless of the statement just above, at a minimum, I would guess that the TAs who signed up since the date that eBay internally started thinking about making this change have an excellent legal case.

by: baconsdozen

Another sign that ebay are floundering like a ship with no rudder.
Sites like ebid,etsy and the rest must be thinking all their Christmases have come at once as ebay manages to upset even more of their customers,certainly it's already noticeable how many sellers have opened accounts on the alternative sites.
The postage charge commission is enough for me to double efforts on selling from these and my own web sites,tools are heavy to post and expensive enough without ebay getting a percentage of them.

by: Rick

You can bet that Education Specialists and trainers are next. When that day comes, I'm going be howling with laughter, reading how the last wall of eBay shills spins that. Danni, you reading this? LOL - they're coming after you soon!

by: Small Guy

I've been a Conservative most of my life, defending corporations and businesses that create jobs by honestly selling goods or services.

But watching Ebay develop the way it has gives credence to the Liberal's claims that corporations are evil and don't care about individuals or the ''little guy''.

EBay's consistent anti-seller (anti-customer) actions are truly mind-boggling.  Your readers keep saying it can't continue on, but so far it has.  

I quit buying and selling on Ebay about a year ago with 500 transactions and a 100% feedback rating, but I still follow the saga of Ebay's disdain for small sellers.

I enjoy Ming's precise analysis and surgical indictments.  He has planted so many ''stingers'' that Ho's  behind must look like a pin cushion.

But knowing Ho's creative rationalization skills, Ho probably tells stock holders, it is acupuncture.

by: fab1959

Watching this site unravel is like seeing the aftermath of a car wreck. Disgusting, but I can't turn away. I'm finding that continually reading about the unrest among the seller ranks is just making it harder and harder for me to continue to feed ''the beast'' that feeds me. I am so sick of ebay's corporate BS, and yes, I have moved to two other selling channels, but the unfortunate truth is that I'm still getting most of my bread and butter sales from evilbay. I've been listed in the trading asst directory for many years and have had maybe two inquires about my services, and neither one turned in to a customer. While its demise is yet another indication of the current mindset against small sellers, this change luckily won't affect me at all.  

by: AGardenCottage

It seems there needs to be a source outside of eBay for the trading assistants to find people to list on eBay thru them. Advertise in local paper or CL or on your listings... develop a website where all of you can find clients... mayb e on FB or ??? Good luck...

by: Rexford

If Amazon continue to open up categories to small sellers, eBay will be dead in the water, particularly if they open up fashion/clothing.