I know this sounds crazy but I've spent the last while trying to get into Auctions and/or Z shops with no luck.
I've also had several emails from some of the few Auctions customers left who have tried to pay via Amazon payments with no luck.
I'm out of patience. It's not a matter of just switching over to Yahoo or Ebay.
I'm angry. I'm tired of very nice sharky type folks giving me pat answers.
I'm angry about getting emails CONGRATULATING us on the improvement of service by cutting the crosslinks from 9 to 3 even though I rarely use the silly things.
I'm tired of seeing something I've spent a year building after AMAZON emailed me personally to come over from Ebay be destroyed.
For a company that strives to present this big image of making the customer number 1 this is gross.
I've spent a lot of time talking to people inside Amazon. I've even signed a NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT so I can't even talk about some of the stuff that's making me really angry.
It's a shame AUCTION WATCH doesn't do some investigative reporting regarding Amazon's systematic dismantling of Amazon Auctions.
I personally am of the belief that Amazon won't remove Auctions as that would hurt their stock price but that they don't want sellers around who take sales away from Amazon themselves anymore. I think they just want boutique auction sales.
Are you an angry and frustrated loyal Amazon Auction seller?
Let's make some NOISE!!
Let's email some folks!!
Let's email some media!!
I know my business has lost thousands in the last two months alone and that's not counting lost time and productivity.
posted on November 2, 2000 12:52:28 PM
I don't think there are enough sellers left at Amazon to make a stand.
Besides, whether it's ebay, yahoo, or Amazon, they own it and this stuff about customers or "family" is and always has been puffery. They want the money.
If you think you got it bad, Bezos probably starts shaking everytime he gets a call from an analyst or mutual fund manager.
Amazon has to go in the black, or it simply has to go.
posted on November 2, 2000 12:59:23 PM
The payments is the biggest problem right now. CS says they are working "around the clock" to fix that & I hope so. I am worried about my customers who believe they have paid, but the seller (ME) did not ship!
Canvid13: Disclose, disclose! I love good gossip.
Personally, with the addition of Marketplace I am taking a wait and see attitude. I am actually getting a fair amount of bids right now (don't know why) -- if only the payments would reach me.
posted on November 2, 2000 02:47:25 PM
I don't mind the money? I understand that. I'd give them $250 per month instead of $40 if they actually offered a constant product.
These improvements and actions of theirs have severely hurt my trade on Amazon.
They're making this big push with MP but will it have legs?
I personally feel that people really enjoy the auction process.
As for CS I don't think they quite understand what that means anymore. I've heard and am starting to believe that they are doing this on purpose as crazy as that sounds?
There were many solutions to this. The manner in which they have dealt with Auction sellers is pretty bad. It's almost like they think they're Ebay!
Have you noticed that they've removed the 1-800 numbers from the help section?
Not only do we now have to put up with the inadequacies of Amazon but we also have to put up with bidders such as yourself who send out NSF checks and then claim that they'll send another to replace it. (You said it was a new account and you'd look after it right away). Your subsequent email said that because of circumstances beyond your control you would not be able to complete the transaction.
I've been noticing that you've been standing up on your soapbox for awhile now. Maybe you should step down from it and let the honorable people look after the important job of figuring out how to improve amazon.
posted on November 2, 2000 05:04:43 PM
As far as wait and see, it shouldn't be too long of a wait. If Amazon doesn't have a super record setting Christmas, something has got to give under the financial strain. The first thing to go will be the stock price. At the first sign of a lax xmas buying season, it's time to start shorting retail stocks, some analysts are already recommending a short position in retail.
In January 2001, if it is in fact a failed xmas season, there must be cost cutting and/or top heads rolling, not necessarily in that order. The least profitable elements of the site would need to be axed quickly, which may be the auction/zshop/marketplace venue. With the huge gross revenues Amazon has and e-commerce markets peaking, there is no excuse anymore for no profit.
Don't knock eBay too hard, they may end up owning Amazon, if regulators would allow it.
You said "I've been noticing that you've been standing up on your soapbox for awhile now. Maybe you should step down from it and let the honorable people look after the important job of figuring out how to improve amazon."
Your comments are personal and go beyond the bounds of basic etiquette. I am issuing you an informal warning.
Please address the subject and not the poster and if you have a personal issue with another user, you would do well to take it to email.
posted on November 3, 2000 05:22:32 AM
I am amazed to hear anyone is selling anything on Amazon! I started on Amazon when it opened and was able to sell on Amazon almost as well as eBay - then last September when they started messing with the system and opened the Z Shops, for us the bottom fell out and although I have tested the system every few months, we haven't sold a thing on Amazon since last September!
A month ago, I went to Amazon and posted 10 of our top selling items on Yahoo and eBay and didn't get 1 bid on any of them!!!
I don't have time to waste on a site that doesn't attract the buyers - it is a shame that Amazon messed up so bad, as in the beginning they were so good!
I think Amazon Auctions is merely a red headed step child to Amazon's other interests and they could really care less.
posted on November 3, 2000 05:35:49 AM
You're right about the stock Reamond.
If they ax Auctions it will really hurt their stock price. They really are digging a hole.
They could've raised vendor fees. From what I've read on AW and heard from other sellers I am not alone in saying that we were really content on Amazon.
I for one had really built something up on Amazon over the past year with a rating of over 1500.
Can you trust Amazon ever again? Can you chart a sales program with these people? They've broken a fundamental trust.
In a business as large as theirs you can't make jumpy moves. And Valeriet is right. They are hurting a lot of small companies instead of building on them.
posted on December 20, 2000 01:19:54 AM new
AMAZON DOES NOT WANT GOOD SELLERS IN AUCTIONS ANYMORE. IT WILL BE A "COURTESY" SITE THAT WILL NOT PRODUCE MUCH OF ANYTHING. THEY ARE EASING ALL OF US OUT. IT IS OF NO MATTER THOUGH.....THEY WILL BE BOUGHT OPUT OR GO UNDER IN A YEAR ANYWAY. THEY THINK "MARKETPLACE" IS GOING TO SAVE THEM.....THEY ARE CRAZY.
IT WILL NOT BE IMPROVED....BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WANT IT IMPROVED!
