NAME FIVE THINGS EBAY NEED TO DO TO IMPROVE SITE FOR BETTER SELLING

[cartoonsinabox]

Name 5 things Ebay needs to do improve site for better selling ? (Miriam I hope you will look at this topic once in while).

[tea_past_times]

1)Stop Lying
2)Play Fair
3)Charge Less
4)Verify Bidders
5)Fire John Donahoe

[cartoonsinabox]

Tea , did you read Monique's post ?

[cajunfox]

1) Spin the auction portion of the business off into its own separate company, with stores/fixed price listings handled a-la amazon, using a single entry point for injecting all listings.
2) If they keep this insipid system, show total buyer satisfaction percentage and how it's calculated in seller dashboard, don't just give vague "suggestions on how to improve", if a couple bad DSR ratings are what's dragging someone's visibility down but they move a lot of volume and their overall DSR rating is still high, they won't know what they're doing that needs work.
3) Cut basic insertion fees out altogether, have fees only when items sell, this will increase overall item counts
4) Lower overall bar for "buyer satisfaction" from 95% to approximately 92% if neutrals/low individual DSRs/paypal NAD complaints will be held against us, it is currently possible to have 99%+ positive feedback yet still be at risk of suspension under this system
5) Push into new venues for online growth instead of attempting to revamp existing ones, auctions have more or less peaked, but eBay appears to be attempting to shake the auction venue up to squeeze more dollars rather than investing in new venues and ways for people to sell as they did in the past (live auctions, half.com, etc).

and 6) Spin skype off, it was a bad purchase, it's a bad fit and it's entirely unnecessary for us.

[lina-mallows]

Maybe if eBay just left things as they were- and we just ignored them, we'd all be better off!

Don't think of chasing a HIGHER DSR as a goal.
Consider the costs, as they are, and if you get something REBATED- great- if not- don't worry about it.

Get over the POWER SELLER EGO trip. Many POWER SELLER absolutely refuse to display the logo, as it is only an open invitation to being perceived as BIG enough to extort extras from.

I remember once a buyer writing that, the only reason they chose us was because of their belief that if they had a problem, we would be able to more likely solve it. Nice thought....but at who's expense?


As for any one individual being removed from eBay........be careful what you wish for.
And always remember- better the Devil you know, then......

[mondocanuck]

1) Treat your smaller sellers with respect, we are the reason Ebay is where it is!
2) Quit with the fees already, Ebay has made enough money! Anything that allows sellers to entice buyers should be free (second categories, extra photos etc.)
3) Give Canadian sellers a break, we can't get decent DSR's for shipping times and costs no matter what we do!
4) Allow sellers to rate buyers like they rate us, speed of payment, good communication etc.
5) Make buyers register with a credit card so they can be charged if they disappear into the NPB abyss. Protecting your sellers....interesting concept!
6) Fix the feedback system, allow sellers to leave accurate feedback again, most of us are not crooks.

[cgcgraded]

1)Make DSR's 3 stars instead of 5
2)Remove ability to leave shipping DSR's on international orders.
3)Bring back mutual feedback removal.
4)Make neutrals...neutral, and not count toward feedback percentage.
5)Ban buyers who use extortion.
I actually love this extra one from mondocanuck...Make buyers register with a credit card

P.S..... And remove all listing fees!!!!!

Andrew

[mondocanuck]

Yes Yes YES to everything buckingham303 says!!!

[momoftwingles2]

For those who feel that it is only the Canadians who are upset about the shipping DSR's...pop over to the US Power Seller list and read. You'll see that Canadians are not alone. US sellers, as I'm sure all sellers around the world, are having trouble with these scores. This issue is not just Canadian oriented.

Susan
momoftwingles2

[cajunfox]

The DSRs are a poor indicator of success because they don't take into account a seller's target demographic.

I would be interested in seeing research into the scores left by people based on age or gender.

My suspicion is that women leave higher average DSRs and better feedback than men, and that 19-24 year olds leave worse DSRs and feedback than 50+ buyers do.

If a seller sells collectables, their buyers tend to be older. If they sell childrens' clothes, their buyers tend to be female. The people I see selling on eBay with really high DSRs and 100% feedback are people selling these sorts of items.

The DSR system is unfair to sellers who sell in higher-risk categories such as computers, video games, cel phones and such. Buyers in these categories have a much higher chance of being dissatisfied. Why, if someone from eBay is willing to answer or push this question to their higher-ups - why is it that a payment received for items in these categories may be held because a buyer is at a higher risk of being dissatisfied, yet the bar for buyer satisfaction is the same for all sellers regardless of the category they sell in? What about adult goods sellers who cannot accept PayPal and have much higher amounts of buyer remorse and issues with their clientelle?

eBay obviously acknowledges that sellers in these categories have a higher risk of buyer dissatisfaction, so why are they being penalized for lower average DSR scores when the issue is known to exist?

[cottonwoodindustries]

I agree with Mondocanuck - good suggestions

here are mine:

1) DSR should be for:
a)Description of item, good or bad description

b)Shipping time, did seller ship quickly AFTER
payment received or not

c) communication, was there any - Yes or No

2) NO DSR for shipping and handling - all buyers know what the cost is before they bid (I sure do when I am buying, it influences me when I am purchasing anything. Sometimes I buy from someone who has alittle higher shipping cost because in the end the item is actually cheaper that way)

3) NO NEUTRAL feedback at all - Positive or negative

4) If there has to be a DSR - 2 stars only (1 = bad transaction, 2 = good transaction)

5) Bring back mutual feedback removal - we all make mistakes sometimes and it shouldn't be held against us or the buyer

6) IF YOU DO NOT PAY, you CAN NOT LEAVE FEEDBACK!!!

[jakeeangel]

They are looking at removing the neutral feedback option leaving positive & negative only but warned that sellers will get more negs.

Be careful what you ask for! I think they should leave the neutrals but treat them as neutrals NOT negatives.

They are going to look at bringing back the mutual feedback withdrawl but with the BUYER initiating it not the seller as the sellers would far too often neg a buyer and then start the MFW process which was blackmail really.

They want to bring it back to allow for the removal of mistakes and for situations where the buyer & seller resolved whatever issues there were.

They will not ever disallow a bidder who doesn't pay to not leave feedback. They say they won't because there are some circumstances where a seller changes the terms of the listing and the buyer is allowed to back out. As in: sorry it's not new, it's used - pay me! BTW it's a copy not an original - pay me! Shipping isn't $5 it's $50 - pay me! That's not allowed and ebay allows the buyer to back out because of examples like that.

They don't say this out loud too much, but they do acknowledge that some of the CSR's aren't knowledgeable enough to be able to judge the facts in the case. And I know I personally don't want them to knowing that!!

[itrecovery]

it is all technicalities, what they need to do is create real Power Seller program that will stumulate and reward sellers. Discount model is right step, but it is being executed trough... you know what.

[dipmicro]

And remove all listing fees!!!!!

This would be actually a bad thing to do. If listing was free, anyone would list thousands of listings and keep relisting and site would become flooded.

After they decreased listing fees in stores, it is IMO kind of balanced. FVF are little high.

[marcopoloca]

Yes they should treat powersellers like top salesperson and reward them with tons and tons of incentive and exclusive benefits.

Yes they should start fixing all the bugs that's in the softwares. A billion dollars company who's been in business for so many years and still have all these bugs are SHAMEFUL to say the least.

Yes they should retain and rotate many of the powersellers as their board of advisers, or focus group. Most ebay executives have no clue as to the day to day operation of a ebay business, the hardship we faced, the problem that we run into and so forth.

yes ebay and powersellers should act together as powerful union/lobbyist to get better treatment from Canada Post and to fight and obtain better VALUE for our contribution.

[stevec8858]

To be honest it isn't about changing eBay it is about adapting. The strong will survive. I am happy to get rid of a bunch of horrible sellers and clean up the streets so to speak. We should be focusing on adapting to the program and letting eBay evolve and grow and the bugs will work themselves out. Of course there are issues but mostly not with eBay. Canada post is primarly the problem with horrible shipping times and rates outside the country. I claim a dozen items a month on insurance it is alot of extra work and a pain in the butt. I attended eBay live and as a Canadian it could have been better because everything was geared to the .com market. Canada post wasn't represented and it would have been nice to hear about what is instore for .ca. However I can assure you the people I talked to who work directly for eBay are sellers and buyers like you and me and they know what sucks and doesn't suck about eBay. I am confident these issues will be addressed over the next few months. In the mean time I have to adapt to the new system and be successful or be eaten alive. You have a choice! Everyone complained like mad at eBay live about the changes and very few people saw the positives in them. It could be much much worse than it is. Improvement takes change and risk. Life is only 1% what happens to you and 99% how you react!

My 2 cents

Steve

[gsrhobbiescanada]

1) revamp feedback policy. It sucks.
2) reduce store inventory sold FVF. 10% is nuts!
3) fix the listing problems. This has happened only in the last few months/year.
4) get rid of DSR. Feedback is enough.
5) Since Ebay owns PayPal, why not get them to charge the ACTUAL exchange rate rather than an inflated rate.

[momoftwingles2]

wpv2,

Hmmm...store inventory FVF isn't 10% any more! The lowest is 12%!

Final Value Fees in C$
Closing Price
Final Value Fee

Item not sold
No Fee

C$1.00 - C$25.00
12.00% of the closing price

C$25.01 - C$100.00
12.00% of the initial C$25.00 (C$3.00), plus 8.00% of the remaining closing value balance

C$100.01 - C$1000.00
12.00% of the initial C$25.00 (C$3.00), plus 8.00% of the initial C$25.01 - C$100.00 (C$6.00), plus 4.00% of the remaining closing value balance (C$100.01 - C$1000.00)

Over C$1,000.00
12.00% of the initial C$25.00 (C$3.00), plus 8.00% of the initial C$25.01 - C$100.00 (C$6.00), plus 4.00% of the next C$100.01 - C$1000.00 (C$36.00) plus 2.00% of the remaining closing value balance (C$1,000.01 - closing value)

[boneshakerscards]

Many things come to mind, but 1 stands out above them all...

MAKE DSR RATINGS MANDATORY, or if the buyer chooses not to use them but leaves positive feedback, have it 'default' to 5 stars. Why?

Simple, take one look at my ratings. I have over 900 seller feedback, yet only 260 DSR ratings, and surprise, surprise what is my worse... shipping rates, yet I offer FREE combined shipping on over half my items. Many people who buy in bulk and are perfectly satisfied won't bother leaving the DSR ratings for 10-20 items or so, they'll just leave 1. They might for only 2 or 3 items, but not a large amount (since they probably feel like it's a waste of time) when that is my BEST feature in combined shipping rates. Yet that odd person who comes along and isn't 100% happy will make damn sure they blast you and leave less than 5! (or dreadfully 1's) essentially bringing down you DSR when it's not a 100% accurate telling of your overall customer satisfaction!

[cottonwoodindustries]

OK, I totally agree with you. The only people who leave DSR are the ones who complain. Most people do not use it. I know I am guilty of that some times, especially if I am a repeat customer.