While I appreciate the comments from other powersellers that eBay makes their money from us, I think we sometimes forget that we all make our money only if regular folks out there choose to buy stuff from us via eBay.
My suggestion to Miriam/eBay is to increase the focus of advertising on the safety features available to the average buyer.
I believe there are a lot of regular folks out there that would buy from eBay if they understood what safety features are there for buyers.
I have had the pleasure of working in a large information systems department and in my casual conversations with folks it is clear that the average person does not understand how safe transacting business on eBay is for the buyer. Virtually everyone knows what eBay is, and most I talked to have browsed it and found stuff they liked, but I was shocked at how little folks (especially systems folks!!) know about the safety features eBay/PAYPAL provides for the buyer! These are the same features that tend to frustrate us and cause problems at times too. Everyone seems to have heard about people being ripped off by someone and that sticks out in their heads, and while there are some eByaholics, I hear a lot more folks that have seen stuff but not purchased as they’re worried about the safety factor.
While I too am sweating about some of the changes, especially the feedback aspect because I sell what I would consider higher risk material, some of the changes like the lower listing fees actually improve my business model. While I too don’t like the levels for the fee reductions it is a proven model to motivate people to change their behaviours by costing/saving them money. The aspects that are being focused on are what the average person tends to care about when they are buying something - none of us make money if the average person doesn’t choose to buy via eBay.
