posted on December 28, 2000 12:38:56 PM new"Pursglove said the amount of revenue lost to offline transactions is 'insignificant' for the company, and that the changes were prompted by customer complaints."
So now eBay has taken to lying to the media. I honestly wonder if eBay will be here five years from now.
posted on December 28, 2000 12:52:34 PM new
I think it's going to become really lucrative for another auction player to do things right. If ePAY or any other auction house refuses to follow what the people that get them their multi-million dollar stock payouts desire it will happen.
The fact is that currently there isn't a company that realizes that you need good sellers to attract lots of consistent and happy bidders and that both need the ability to negotiate not only their sales but their problems in a fair and as hassle free platform as possible. This is what you can build on. This is what ePAY built itself on and this is why a lot of the .coms are dying. They forgot people!
posted on December 28, 2000 01:08:20 PM new
I made these remarks in a thread speaking to this issue on another site. I hope you don't mind my also including them here.
This has to be looked at in the bigger picture.
eBay owns the farm and we are sharecroppers.
They can make any rules they want. Even if the rules are illegal, unenforceable, impratical, unclear, unfair or plain stupid, they can still make the rules.
We must attempt to conform to their wishes, accept the consequences if we don't when subjected to inconsistant and sometimes contrdictory enforcement, keep our complaints to our selves or leave.
As long as we are unorganized and without pratical alternatives it's our problem to muddle thru and keep paying the fees.
History shows this is a reoccuring situation which has always existed in only slightly altered form for centuries.
History also shows that it eventually come to an end.
posted on December 28, 2000 01:19:44 PM new
Ray, eBay lied to Wall St. when they predicted 50% growth over five years. Now they are lying to the media. They are not thinking clearly. Obviously they can pull any sort of crap on us mom and pop junk dealers. (Though they forget WE built the multi-billion dollar site.) But eBay WON'T get away with lying to Wall St. analysts or to CNET.
This is kind of like the Emperor's New Clothes: eBay is loudly proclaiming they are clothed in rich garb, while the rest of the world is seeing them naked. Once eBay has established a reputation in the media (as being exactly what WE already know), there will be no forgiveness.
One aspect of eBay's huge success and public offering is that they can no longer hide their dirty little secrets. The media is catching on and it's only a matter of time before the feds start investigating. And once eBay starts lying to the feds, it will be all over.
posted on December 28, 2000 02:55:17 PM new
For EBAY to continue to call itself a "venue" is a lie at this point in time since this new rule has been issued. Once a business begins to tell you how, where and when to conduct your business, they become your employer. The feds will definitely be interested in this because since they are no longer a "venue" they are making themselves liable for any fraud and numerous other problems. They always hid behind the "we are just a venue" statement..they can't do that any more. Its like the difference between independent contractor and employee...once an employer begins to tell a person how, where and when to do their "business", the business becomes the employer....which also leads to tax issues...I wonder if Ebay has carefully thought this through. The implications are enormous.
posted on December 28, 2000 04:30:24 PM new
ePAY will do just fine. Look at these message boards? How many real sellers are here and how many are people just trying to be glib and goofy?
As long as the "community" is as goofy as it is, ePAY and any other company can get away with what it's doing.
Maybe if an association were organized of Auction Sellers with different levels to represent the needs of garage sale sellers and small businesses and corporate sales, ePAy, Amazon, and Yahoo would start to listen?
But the odds of that happening are as good as ePAY reforming on its own...
posted on December 29, 2000 08:39:23 AM new
"In the very early days, many of our users didn't want us to crack down on offline trading. They felt it built a sense of community on eBay," he said. "That may have been appropriate in the early days, but it isn't appropriate now."
Ahhh, yes. The good old days of eBay. Those of us who have been on eBay for four or five years or longer have had the honors of watching it turned to dung over the past three.
If those of you who have only been using eBay for the past three years had been around a few years longer, I can tell you the difference between the eBay of five years ago and today could almost make you cry.
posted on December 29, 2000 10:37:00 AM new
Woe, Canvid! Maybe I missed something and your post was directed towards one individual or two but your comment :
"Maybe if an association were organized of Auction Sellers with different levels to represent the needs of garage sale sellers and small businesses and corporate sales, ePAy, Amazon, and Yahoo would start to listen?"
I sell on eBay and Yahoo and I DO fall into your "association" category. Your post took me by surprise and I do not think it is a fair assessment of "all" the people who post and learn here.
posted on December 29, 2000 10:46:57 AM new
It doesn't matter how many die-hard ebay sellers stay with ebay.
Every business as a "critical mass" level they need to maintain to remain in business. That is, sellers can come and go so long as X-number in total always remain on ebay. If the goers out number the comers (that sounds bad I know ) there's a net loss. At some point even though ebay will be far from empty the number of sellers could drop below what it takes to keep ebay in a cash flow that sustain their business.
posted on December 29, 2000 11:10:46 AM new
This is a very interesting discussion. It's too bad that many of the contribtors here only talk and not do
"As long as we are unorganized and without pratical alternatives it's our problem to muddle thru and keep paying the fees. "
Exactly ...
"Obviously they can pull any sort of crap on us mom and pop junk dealers. (Though they forget WE built the multi-billion dollar site.)"
Spot On ...
"But eBay WON'T get away with lying to Wall St. analysts or to CNET."
I can't respond to this (I know zero about how Wall St. works, and I could care even less!), but unless enough of 'us' walk the walk (i.e. STOP listing and buying on eBay instead of just talking about it), I doubt we'll see the demise of eBay any time soon ... (I know what general apathy results in, 'cause I am Canadian!)
"The feds will definitely be interested in this because since they are no longer a "venue" they are making themselves liable for any fraud and numerous other problems."
The Feds are not interested in the "Mom & Pop" junk dealers, whether their product is legal or not. You have to attack using other resources ...
"They always hid behind the "we are just a venue" statement..they can't do that any more."
It's semantics, and keeps pork chops on the table for the lawyers on both sides who can argue this until the Sun explodes ...
"I wonder if Ebay has carefully thought this through. The implications are enormous"
The only real implications that I can see are that a lot of young kids (eBay SafeHarbour staff) will be put out of work, and, we'll have to go back to face-to-face communicating at garage sales (this is a good thing btw) ...
"ePAY will do just fine."
Right ....
"Maybe if an association were organized of Auction Sellers with different levels to represent the needs of garage sale sellers and small businesses and corporate sales, ePAy, Amazon, and Yahoo would start to listen?"
I doubt it, but the idea is sound. There are many 'experts' here (I consider myself an 'expert' wrt video tape, I suspect twinsoft feels the same about computer software, etc.) who should be included in such an Association ... not just those who sell a gazillion widgets every month ...
"Happy Holidays! Drive Safe"
And, if you're out on your bike at night, wear white ...
) there's a net loss. At some point even though ebay will be far from empty the number of sellers could drop below what it takes to keep ebay in a cash flow that sustain their business.
