Next eBay CEO Promises Significant Changes Ahead

[pierrelebel]

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y14/m11/i21/s02

[pierrelebel]

Of course there will be changes... significant changes.

However, keep in mind that the new CEO has one function: make more money for a smaller eBay without PayPal.

Anyone expecting that Canadian sellers will benefit from those "significant changes" is dreaming in Technicolor!

[dutchman48]

maybe .ca will be eliminated due to proximity to the US and we have too many issues and discrepancies with their policies. Think ho much money that would put in their pockets!

[cumos55]

The regulations between eBay.com and eBay.ca  are significant enough to make it worthwhile to have a separate eBay.ca a valuable commodity.

Listing with Canada Post as the shipping option on eBay.ca is more than acceptable with book..

Because on eBay.com there is a limit to how much can be charged for shipping books and other media... that is why I list on eBay.ca.

That shipping maximum was introduced in the fall of 2008...  and that is when all my listings were moved to eBay.ca.

Listings books on eBay.com would be a nightmare in relation to the selling of books,  and the fact I cold not use Canada Post as a shipping option..

Canada was separated from the US about 10 years ago... and will remain so...

[cumos55]

eBay cannot keep growing without imploding at some time in the future.....

There has been a massive number of listings added to eBay over the past years....

The time is here for eBay to consolidate what it has ... 

There will come a day when eBay will say who can continue selling... and limit the introduction of new sellers to this website.

Too many listings in some categories...   

[rose-dee]

Oh boy.  Fasten your seat belts everyone. 

[lukey9]

I decided awhile back that this was going to be my last year and selling on E-Bay. I will be closing the Store in December after I clear out the stock that I have left. This will be like my second retirement, I retired from my job 5 years ago and this one with all the changes we have now and the next ones coming it is getting harder to make any money and I can't see it getting any better espacilly for E-Bay Canada so the desision was very easy for me

[mdf_jersey]

lukey9 wrote

I decided awhile back that this was going to be my last year and selling on E-Bay. I will be closing the Store in December after I clear out the stock

I hear you. I'm on the cusp right now myself. This is the first year that I have really seriously given thought about pulling the plug. In  recent years I have only been dismayed.  In a way I hope that the new CEO will give me the push to do just that. 

[cumos55]

I have been selling on eBay for 12 years...  Started slowly  and things sort took off about 6 years ago.

This past year has been stutter  step... 

The hack/cyber-attack cost me 20 % of my sales....  and then when it looks like there will be a readjustment... something else happened in October.

My traffic looks good... but even that is lower  this year than last... the cyber-attack and then whatever....

Frustration  ... but not totally ...yet.

I have a dollar value goal to achieve....  and that will take a few more years... 3 to 5 years...

But then if everything falls apart  it will not bother me to say good-bye....

I really do not need this... However,  keeping the brain functional on a day-to-day basis is something I do need. 

Will have to tight up my inventory  in several ways..... and look for ways to stimulate sales...

The new CEO will make adjustments..... but then it will be ... wait  and see.... cross my finger, toes nose  and everything else except my brain...

[2014sportsterguy]

So are these company's both completely separate or just in name ? Does one own the other?
my humble guess is there will be tougher rules to meet to weed out the hobby sellers,


Afterall why deal with thousands of small sales when 1 large seller makes in 1 sale, EBay has grown and does not need dead weight.

[Anonymous]

Worthless article especially when CEO won't give more answers.  It is like calm before the storm which I am sure it is going to happen.

[mr.elmwood]

Crock of poo. Change is constant. The last 18 months have seen radical change. The last 3 1/2 years have seen massive change.

The only thing constant about change, is change itself.

[decal-fx]

I'm personally of the belief, "I'll cross that bridge when I get there"  I'm not going to waste one slim ounce of worry about what this new CEO will do or what changes are to come...

[cumos55]

We shall adjust... as we have in the past.

I do have a measure of confirmation that I must be doing the right thing, based on what I list  and my pricing structure.

It was sometime within the last two years that I found a seller... who does things similar to what I do.....

He sells similar inventory , but does branch out into categories other than books.

It is like looking in a mirror.... too much of a mirror...

Unfortunately for me... he also lives in Winnipeg, and competes ...to some degree ...for the same inventory as I do.

This seller lists about 50 to 100 items at a time ....  and is quite successful...  definitely using my approach to listing and pricing .... but with somewhat lower prices ... usually ... he appears to be quite careful....  a hint for me to do the same.

I have seen him  because I once saw him buy two books at a thrift store, on Saturday,  and they were listed on Sunday evening...

and once he was tracked down... his feedback was checked......  and he even has the same first name as me... His name was noted in one feedback.

It was rather strange to see this happening... but then ... Why do more sellers not do what this seller has done?

and... Why could he not live in a city other than Winnipeg?

So far so good... I will adjust.....  to what the new CEO will do

How did I deal with this seller..... Opened up a new category of inventory on eBay.....Let us see if he can keep up!... 

[gifts_of_elegance]

Sounds like a spy story!    I used to live in Winnipeg too!  I went to Daniel Mac. 

Must be exciting to meet a competitor.  Did you speak to him?  You could have a lot in common and it could develop into a fantastic friendship.  Its always a good idea to have more than one category.  I started with Cross Stitch patterns and magazines.  That gave me the funds to start an inventory of Swarovski Crystal and Swarovski jewelry which I used to start "Gifts".  I added Crystal stemware and China as I went along.  Then came the Christian Dior jewelry which is my biggest seller for now.   I even dabbled in designer bedding.  Now I am contemplating adding finished needlework.  My kids are in terror of what they will do with all my inventory should I decide to walk through the Pearly Gates.  I always buy things that I love and would not mind keeping.  Good luck with your new category and don't be afraid to add some more.

[cumos55]

I will leave this young seller alone..

I figure he is in his 20's ... not a big competitor...  but very interesting to see that he has done his research...and his resultant success....

His approach to selling is a mirror image of what I am doing.....     That is how I caught onto him

He may or may not know who I am.... That Saturday when he bought those two books... he was visibly anxious, and rushing  in what he was doing

Maybe someday  he just may want my inventory.

My high school was St John's ... graduated 5 decades ago..

I grew up in north end Winnipeg... left in 1971, and was back in Winnipeg in 1980.

[gifts_of_elegance]

Sounds like we are about the same age.  (I am not trying to hit on you - our 50th Wedding Anniversary is coming up in May.)

My family arrived in Winnipeg January 1st, 1957, in the morning.  I can still see the row of cars lined up at the train station.  Everything was white with snow, the sun was glaring bright and the air was so cold it almost "crackled".  We left in 1962,  we just could not take another  winter.  My brother still lives there.

[rose-dee]

---

@mr.elmwood wrote:

The only thing constant about change, is change itself.

---

Always true, of course, but in eBay's case, it worries me that this is a new person.  Look what the last changing of the guard did - as you say, massive changes that have made many small sellers' lives a lot more difficult, and made eBay quite a different place.  

On the other hand, this guy may decide to turn the place 180 degrees into a totally different direction -- who knows?  The thing is, huge numbers of small sellers are struggling, but eBay shareholders are happy as long as they make money (in the short run).  The poster above who said that eBay is happy because it's easier to deal with a few giant sellers than a whole army of little problem-making sellers, is quite right -- for the moment at least. 

However, I think eBay has traded quick money for long-term stability and prosperity.  My prediction is that once the big guys (the likes of Target) get finished with their commercial try out on eBay, they'll abandon ship.  I think eBay should be looking at ways to strengthen and support its original base of millions of independent small sellers, because they are the ones who will stay for years if the conditions are advantageous.  

If things keep getting tougher, and sales don't improve proportionately, whole masses of small sellers will just give up, or find friendlier and more lucrative places to sell.  I too, am one of those getting close to the edge, and (to be honest), I've already successfully transitioned over to another site.  So I too will jump if it gets worse here.  

I've continued to say, throughout the earthquake that has been the last 3 years on eBay, that I could accept all the rules, regulations, restrictions, policies and limitations if it actually meant better sales for eBay's core, independent, smaller sellers.  It hasn't for many, many smaller sellers, so my hope is that maybe this new guy will finally turn his attention in that direction. 

In the meantime I will, as always, hold my breath and hope for the best.  

[mr.elmwood]

---

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:

Sounds like a spy story!    I used to live in Winnipeg too!  I went to Daniel Mac. 

Must be exciting to meet a competitor.  Did you speak to him?  You could have a lot in common and it could develop into a fantastic friendship.  Its always a good idea to have more than one category.  I started with Cross Stitch patterns and magazines.  That gave me the funds to start an inventory of Swarovski Crystal and Swarovski jewelry which I used to start "Gifts".  I added Crystal stemware and China as I went along.  Then came the Christian Dior jewelry which is my biggest seller for now.   I even dabbled in designer bedding.  Now I am contemplating adding finished needlework.  My kids are in terror of what they will do with all my inventory should I decide to walk through the Pearly Gates.  I always buy things that I love and would not mind keeping.  Good luck with your new category and don't be afraid to add some more.

---

My first wife went to Daniel Mac. I was a 'Pegger through and through, now, I don't want to live there again. I am loving it here in Dauphin Capital of the Borscht Belt.  I did a year down east. Their winters are worse than prairie winters. All it does out here is get cold. Put on a hat.

I have two friends in the auto parts business. Put us in a room and we are triplets. I met them through eBay. Actually? Vast majority of my eBay friends are exactly the same as I am.

[ammolitehunter]

Hey!

No Problem.

Growing more and more dissatisfied with Ebay antics I opened a stand alone website to market my wares from less than a year ago

I have been able to rise through organic search on Google to page 2 and I am getting 80+ hits a day and my sales now exceed my Ebay shop.

Ebay's emphasis on allowing malicious feedback to impact DSR and lower my shop rating rankled me and so now Ebay gets push back from me and soon likely many more like me.

Another item I have been fighting unsuccessfully is that Ebay ignores proof of fraudulent listings in my category--just allows them to keep listing.

It's up to ebay to create a more just attitude to sellers--or else.