Amazon Beats eBay to Punch in Warning Sellers of Weather Delays

by: FeelingFroggy

Ebay doesn't care about the weather. Their only concern is their bottom line....Rain, Snow, Sleet etc effects the seller not Ebays bottom line.

by: Orwellwasright

Ebay could easily have sent a e-mail notification to their entire user base, informing buyers that inclement weather and systematic failure of both Ups and the usps resulted in nationwide delay, and encouraged buyers to be understanding and not penalize sellers for any delays

They could also simply inform sellers that ANY 1's or 2's posted in December or January would be summarily removed or even better blocked

BUT such actions would be taken by  a business partner who respects their associates in a fair marketplace

The sad fact is ebay benefits from seller suffering. If 1000's of sellers drop from above to below standard all the better, Higher listing fees, NO discounts, NO access to listing specials and payment holds all benefit ebay

Not to mention lowered visibility and the excuse to scythe through the base and eliminate competition for the favored sons .

Only in the backwards upside down pathologically abusive world of ebay selling would diminishing the reputations of sellers benefit the host

 

by: Puck

eBay s just getting around to announcing that Admiral Dewey has taken Manila...

by: Ric

There is a simple explanation as to why Amazon is proactive when issues like this arise and eBay is woefully reactive and consistently late to the dance.

Amazon sells merchandise. Amazon works to set realistic buyer expectations in order to have buyers return again and again because they have had realistic expectations set and met.

eBay on the other hand, does not sell merchandise. eBay's management does not sell on a regular basis - many have never sold on eBay at all. While eBay claims to care about buyer satisfaction, they do not care enough to achieve the goal or establish and set realistic buyer expectations.

eBay's corporate cop out is always to blame the individual seller - even when it is clear that eBay has set expectations that are impossible for the seller to meet due to carriers failures.

To boil it down for eBay's MBA's in terms they can understand....

Amazon: Realistic buyer expectations, satisfied customers, repeat sales, exploding sales growth.

eBay: Completely unrealistic buyer expectations, disappointed buyers, fewer repeat sales, elusive and inconsistent sales growth which seriously lags behind the rest of the industry.

eBay's leadership sees to it that eBay remains their own worst enemy.
They busy themselves spewing public relations drivel which fails their buyers, fails their sellers, fails their investors, and fails to achieve the goal of growing sales.

by: giftcentral

@ Puck:

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha!

by: Massachusets Howler

Ebay was DOWNGRADED by MORGAN STANLEY this am and the stock has taken a NOSEDIVE today! Down $1.40 cents today- 2.7%.
If it continues and again falls below it's 200 day moving average- ebay and JD are SCREWED!!

JD must be having a ''thinking day'' but Bezos is working.

All sellers get your stuff out QUICK- use 24 hour kiosks at your local post offices so you can prove it was the storm and not YOU.

JD: With a storm named ''HERCULES'' doncha think you had better make an ANNOUNCEMENT smart guy??- LOL!!
Mass Howler- GIDDY!
PS: Stay warm friends.

by: Massachusets Howler

Puck- Dewey- Manila-LOL!
(That dude Puck is gifted).
MH

by: FeelingFroggy

@ Massachusets Howler

I wouldn't consider a 2.7 percent a nose dive...More a drop in the ocean.

by: Massachusets Howler

We have been around a long time.
Pump and dump works for a while but smart investors know that when it is this obvious the stock starts getting bought by the public- then the big hedgies leave, along with other larger investors- the stock drops and the people holding the bag are the PUBLIC.
That is what we are beginning to see- 2 weeks ago ebay fell below their 200 day moving average- if this happens again, this or next week, what we have been waiting for will happen.
Ebay reports on the 18th I believe- time will tell.
And, 2.7 % in 1 day, after what is supposed to be the high point of the year, is not good for ebay.
Let us talk again in 2 weeks.
With respect to all,
Massachusetts Howler
PS: the cost of the lawsuit settlement WAS a drop in the ocean but this will not be.

by: iheartjacksparrow

Ric writes: "eBay: Completely unrealistic buyer expectations, disappointed buyers ...."

Since a lot of buyers scam and threaten their way to free or discounted items, I'm not sure how many buyers are actually "disappointed."

by: Ric

iheartjacksparrow observes: " Since a lot of buyers scam and threaten their way to free or discounted items, I'm not sure how many buyers are actually "disappointed."

The scammers stay because eBay continues to make it easy to get something for nothing.

The legitimate buyers who ebay has disappointed are likely the ones who are contributing to Amazons consistent double digit sales increases because eBay is no longer on their map.

by: Bijoux Dragon

Have to see the humor in this - What both companies need to do is notify buyers that their sellers are in an area that has had massive power outages and that shipping might be delayed.  Then do not hold a late shipment against them if their power was out.

by: Moonwishes

When our weather gets bad, and we are in the middle of it all,  in my shipping notifications I do send a note at the top of the email telling the customers that while we get the mail out to mailbox for pickup in less than 24 hours, once it is in the PO hands, though things can get delayed. Currently Interstate 90 from the PA line to Buffalo NY is closed due to the storm so if the mail isn't moving due to major highways closures, it can't be the sellers fault for any delays. But the buyers still needs to be informed of the possibility that things may be slower. It would be hard for someone sitting in the FL sunshine to even imagine what we are going through up here in the land of Lake Effect snow!

Most normal buyers I think can understand if they are told ahead of time that their might be a delay. No matter how great the modern world becomes, we still can't control the weather.

by: Rexford

Ric, your post is 99% accurate. Would be 100%, but there is no "leadership" at eBay.  Just some highly overpaid C-level officers.

by: cmabresch

Apparently they do name cold weather -25 here actual temp.

by: ebayisajoke

I like that I can contact my seller on Amazon if I'm buying something and I don't have to worry about Amazon shutting down my seller for me communicating with him about my order. You have to walk on egg shells when sending someone an email through eBay messages, it could get you suspended from eBay and worse, may get your seller's business shut down.

It's a poor way to run a business but when you're dealing with a company that wants all your customers you have to expect that you'll get the shaft at some point.

by: Ming the Merciless

Ebay profits from ANY sort of seller problem in which a buyer can ding DSRs.

Unavoidable shipping delays due to weather? Ebay loves 'em; more sellers they can purge and discounts they can eliminate!

That's despicably amoral the sociopaths who run ebay are.

by: arrjay

I sell on both sites. I live in Michigan, so yes, trying to get my shipments out in 18'' of snow and wind chills of -40 was a serious challenge (I almost didn't get it done).
I immediately got the message from Amazon - never heard a word from Ebay on it until I read this story a few minutes ago.

by: arrjay

I should have added to my above post, that I 'did' contact all of my Ebay buyers about the situation, explaining I would do my best and that there were possibilities (since Chicago's Ohare was also snowed in) there would be additional delays.
Like another poster said above me, I feared writing those messages thru Ebay because of their ridiculous rules and, instead, wrote each buyer personally, using their email address in Paypal.

Ebay's childish rules about 'communication' made me jump through hoops that were unnecessary.

by: Puck

"Ebay's childish rules about 'communication' made me jump through hoops that were unnecessary."

"No communication is the best communication"

Corollary One to eBay Communication Rule As Applied To Seller Shipping & Handling Time:

"Never shipping is the best shipping."