eBay Probes Sellers in New Survey

by: Basset

In the example shown:

Just one?  Can only pick ONE?

Pfffttt...

by: gizmo

Hmmmm , have not surveyed any small sellers I know. Not important I guess.

by: gizmo

Im sorry , this is to ebay execs. Make separation of new & used items , with separate rules that apply to each. Feedback needs a total rollback to 2008. TRS sucks! trying to stay above water is impossible. Small sellers are getting drown in your pool of crap buyers you have unleashed on us. If I had to choose 1 , Other ( please specify) All the above.

by: LJM

All of the above.

by: LJM

All of the above.

by: Lamprey

Make ALL listings visible to ALL buyers at ALL times.

Enough with the cutesy sales comp set-up games for post-split "success".

Everything else is just misdirection.

by: Ebay Seller-Ebay Buyer

Get rid of listing fees so these free listing promotions are ended and add 1 or 2% to the final value fee.  Amazon charges no listing fee which is why Amazon blows ebay away. Get rid of Maximum shipping in some categories and stop taking any of the shipping money.  Stop making major changes every 6 months

by: Beanie

With a question like this and the options to choose from, Ebay is well aware of the grievances of sellers and many other problems not listed on the survey. Has the noise finally got you Ebay? Go back to what brought you a wildly successful place to begin with. You don't need a damn survey for that....

by: pace306

The ONLY things that will get changed are ones that eBay doesn't directly make profit from. While sellers are supposed to take losses, dont bet on eBay taking any ... ever.

Theres just SO much BS in that survey ....

1) Provide better shipping/returns policies - wont ever happen since its a profit center for eBay. Also, if you chase away all the liar buyers, who wil lbe let to actually BUY on eBay? eBay promises major manufactorers hits/clicks and purchases. Chasing away buyers wont accomplish that.

2) Access to more buyer for my listings - well DUH if you stop hiding peoples listings and doing rolling blackouts by default that will happen. But eBay wont do THAT either.

3) Improve eBay customer service - gonna fire the script reading kiddies over in the Philippines? Hardly - they work for peanuts. And you also don't have to provide free snacks, health care, child care and all the OTHER perks San Jose employees get.

Oh maybe the survey means that the "managers" wont lie when you call. "let me put you on a brief hold to see if we can help you. {insert porn break here} ... SORRY SIR/MAAM, I looked at the issue and Im afraid we cant change the ruling against you - take the loss. - you mean THAT will change?

4) Fees for selling on eBay - DUH YOU JUST RAISED THEM PIGGY!

5) Site experience - umm you removed the traffic tool, discontinued Blackthorne and other such things ... gonna bring them BACK?

6) eBay selling practices - ??? Going to level the playing field? NO, gonna reform VERO? NO, Gona stop blaming sellers when its not their fault? NO, SO what Do you mean? eBay, are you going to finnish YOUR catalog on your own or continue making sellers do it ?

7) Help me become a better seller - ? gonna copy Amazon's emails to sellers about pricing and additional items they may want to sell? STOP COPYING AMAZON - be original for gods sake!

8) Imorove the feedback system - its already been said its not going back to a fair circa 2008 system - please stop lying.

9) Seller Protection - PLanning on STARTING to institute some - since we all know that now THERE ISNT ANY!


Such BS!

by: JustTheFacts

This whole thing is just another ebay carrot. Whatever they decide will still be BAD for the sellers and great for the scammers.

ebay only puts band aids on gushing wounds instead of putting stitches on them and letting them heal.

The new boss is going to be the same as the old boss but is going to wear a different colored shirt to try and look different.

No one wants ebay or their bad buyers. Why can't they all just get together on a deserted island and leave the rest of the world alone for a change.
We are all tired of hearing about how ebay is "fixing this and changing that" blah blah blah. Same crap just a different day, week, month and year.

by: Ric

eBay's sudden concern about the plethora of issues they created for themselves is underwhelming.

Too many times, eBay has offered this type of exploratory survey, raising seller hopes for better things to come. Sadly, the outcome has almost always been a further ratcheting down of the screws eBay applies to sellers.

eBay's never ending changes have turned the marketplace into a ghost town. Those same changes have alienated both buyers and sellers to the point that any attempts the new CEO might attempt will fall on deaf ears.

As a long time eBay seller, I find that the relationship between myself and eBay has become toxic to the point that I no longer care what they do. I have already stopped buying new inventory, and plan to use the 2016 holiday season to clear out my inventory & make a final break from this abusive relationship.

As far as I am concerned, any changes that the new CEO might make are too little and much too late to restore my confidence in eBay's ability to offer a consistent, solid and stable environment from which to conduct business.

Any anti seller policies which might be rolled back will serve to highlight the unstable seller environment which has become synonymous with the name eBay.

A few short years from now, after eBay has self imploded due to managements many failures, geologists will rename quicksand and call it "eBay".

by: donald

Looks like they were listening. Will soon find out how much they care ..

by: moto-science

I only sell cheaper items on Ebay. I hope to build up my outside business to move away from Ebay forever.  My dream is to run my e-commerce without Ebay.

by: forrosebud

''Looks like they were listening...''  Who?? Ebay?? Just another ruse like the crazy abusive spouse who promises he/she will never beat you up again if only you will stay. Ebay sees the sellers jumping ship left and right. Even the long timers on this sight don't even participate anymore. They are too busy setting up business elsewhere. If you are buying into yet another ''I won't hit you anymore'' routine, then grasshopper, Ebay has you (& your money) hook, line and sinker.  Don't keep whining about ebay and what used to be.

by: charcorvet

OH Great - another usely demented, badly laid out survey for me to do before I shut the light and close the door.

As someone already said, the last option - OTHER - all of the above and more

I found an alternative thanks to Auctionbytes and even the crazy spouse says "we're outta here"  

by: Patches

I really don't have any hope for ebay.  The big thing is not showing your listings!  How can you have buyers when you are invisible?  This survey will make me redouble my efforts to move away from ebay with my own website and other venues.  At least ebay can't mess around with all of the hard work I have put into building my own site, they're not the boss of me!

by: mcfiver

From those screen captures, it's immediately clear to me that whoever is responsible for the survey has no clue about selling on eBay. For me, that's the issue in a nutshell: eBay folks responsible for selling concerns are not sellers themselves, nor does it appear sellers are utilized for any of their nutty policy implementations. Until they hire or reach out to sellers for substantive input and meaningful review, I doubt much of anything helpful will result from this survey or any future survey.

by: Frank Abagnale

With all of the stats that ebay has or despite any survey feedback, I think one thing is clear--as far as the US marketplace goes, the average age of the ebay buyer and seller is getting older. I don't know anybody who now starts a tangible business on ebay. Even longtime sellers are expanding into Amazon at a rapid pace (as mentioned in one of the articles here) but you hardly hear of an Amazon seller expanding using ebay. And how many younger people even talk about ebay?

What features does ebay offer to entice new sellers that will convince them to use ebay?? And if they do it will be in a very limited way if they use a multi-channel revenue platform strategy. Will it be the inferior customer service that is contracted offshore? Will it be the hiding of their listings? The commission paid on the shipping? The one way feedback? I can go on and on but we all know the issues. Why would a new seller want to use ebay as their main platform.

And for young buyers, using ebay is considered uncool.  

Many longtime sellers are just riding it out to the end. They either don't care much anymore or they just don't want to start their own website at this stage of the game.

by: Rexford

Ric summed it up beautifully.  In a nut shell, all they have to do is LISTEN to their customers and undo what John Donahoe has done.

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD. NO SELLING LIMITS.  VISIBILITY FOR ALL.

And as for the poster who mentioned free listing fees for all......OH HE** NO.  (Unless you want to see the site flooded with more mega-crap.)

by: Daisy909

Please take it back to 1999 plus BIN with no restrictions. I could sell ANYTHING and make money then!