Meg has been saying all along that she wouldn't stay in power for more then 10 years. You would think that the Board of Director's would have realized that she didn't have the long term viability of ebay at heart but rather the short term propping up of her stock options.
Here is a little post I wrote a year ago predicting this little move and exposing the self-serving actions that were being taken by the ebay executive...
Monique E
12:23 AM
Thu Jan 11th
The auction market was at its peak 2 years ago. There are only so many "collectors" of antique and novelty items out there and they have already tapped into ebay. I believe that, while the antique auction market will continue as it has, it has reached it's peak. This is evidenced by the lower list/sales and bids/item ratios. eBay has tried to hang on by their finger-nails to the format that launched on-line sales (auctions) and milked it beyond it's potential. That is one freakin dry cow. A seller of antique items would probably concede that you are getting less traffic and sales than you were 2 years ago. Just too many competitors in the second-hand/collector market. Any growth you may have realized can probably be directly attributed to your own SEO and promotion efforts.
New item sales are the only potential for substantial future on-line sales growth and auctions just don't work well for new items. Well, hell...everyone who has taken entry level economics knows the demand/supply graph and it's pitfalls. Auctions have reached the saturation point. The supply curve made a sharp jump to the right...everybody and their brother is trying to sell on ebay. As a result, prices and sales per listing have dropped substantially. eBay has these figures right in front of them. They go on about the lower list/sales and bids/item ratios as an excuse to raise listing fees. Huh? For some unfathomable reason, supposedly intelligent business people have made the fatal jump of erroneously ASSUMING cause and effect.
Did the Ivy League educated brass at eBay recognize this fundamental shift in purchasing patterns? Did they take advantage of the new opportunity in on-line retail purchasing? Nope. Instead, they tried to force-feed their antiquated view of the on-line market. They have raised fees over and over in order to prop up their growth for their investors and the stock market...but that could only work for so long. They have reached the point where front-end listing fees are too high to make it a viable format for most items. It was a false growth and now it's reached it's zenith and is on the down-turn.
If eBay had gone back to business basics and read the signs they would have realized the potential and managed the store format properly. This is a corporation that had the potential to become THE major on-line shopping mall.....the world's largest collection of stores. They had the name recognition, membership, resources and expertise to become the leader in on-line retail. The whole Express idea could have made them a fortune. How? By charging low front-end fees and higher FVF's on store listings and providing increased exposure for these listings. I don't care if ebay takes 10% of my gross sales if I've priced items with a 40% profit margin. Unfortunately, I'm not going to list them in my ebay store at all if they are going to charge exorbitant up-front listing fees, and provide little market exposure.
Due to the mismanagement of the store format, experienced sellers are opening their off-ebay sites in droves. They have come to realize that growth lies in another direction entirely. Purchase a fantastic shopping cart for a few hundred, find a reliable host for a minimal monthly charge and invest in SEO and Google adwords. You can drive a lot more traffic to your items while substantially reducing your costs.
It is such an old story really. Ten years from now, business schools will be using eBay as a case study in what NOT to do. How did so many supposedly intelligent, well educated business people fall into the basic Business 101 trap of failing to adapt to the marketplace?
...Or did they? Perhaps we should begin to look at the individual gains that have been made by these Executives. They have been able to ride this beautiful ebay wave to substantial personal financial gain. Have you reviewed the incomes and bonuses these people have made by temporarily propping up the ebay stock? Are they personally in ANY fiscal danger from the short-sighted actions taken in directing this Corporation in the way they have? Somehow I think that when eBay takes the huge fall that it is heading for, Meg, Bill and the others will walk away with a golden parachute that we can only envy and will live out their retirement in a style we can only imagine. Perhaps they aren't so blind after all....
http://seekingalpha.com/article/23690-ebay-s-q4-listings-well-below-estimates-jaffray
Here is a little post I wrote a year ago predicting this little move and exposing the self-serving actions that were being taken by the ebay executive...
Monique E
12:23 AM
Thu Jan 11th
The auction market was at its peak 2 years ago. There are only so many "collectors" of antique and novelty items out there and they have already tapped into ebay. I believe that, while the antique auction market will continue as it has, it has reached it's peak. This is evidenced by the lower list/sales and bids/item ratios. eBay has tried to hang on by their finger-nails to the format that launched on-line sales (auctions) and milked it beyond it's potential. That is one freakin dry cow. A seller of antique items would probably concede that you are getting less traffic and sales than you were 2 years ago. Just too many competitors in the second-hand/collector market. Any growth you may have realized can probably be directly attributed to your own SEO and promotion efforts.
New item sales are the only potential for substantial future on-line sales growth and auctions just don't work well for new items. Well, hell...everyone who has taken entry level economics knows the demand/supply graph and it's pitfalls. Auctions have reached the saturation point. The supply curve made a sharp jump to the right...everybody and their brother is trying to sell on ebay. As a result, prices and sales per listing have dropped substantially. eBay has these figures right in front of them. They go on about the lower list/sales and bids/item ratios as an excuse to raise listing fees. Huh? For some unfathomable reason, supposedly intelligent business people have made the fatal jump of erroneously ASSUMING cause and effect.
Did the Ivy League educated brass at eBay recognize this fundamental shift in purchasing patterns? Did they take advantage of the new opportunity in on-line retail purchasing? Nope. Instead, they tried to force-feed their antiquated view of the on-line market. They have raised fees over and over in order to prop up their growth for their investors and the stock market...but that could only work for so long. They have reached the point where front-end listing fees are too high to make it a viable format for most items. It was a false growth and now it's reached it's zenith and is on the down-turn.
If eBay had gone back to business basics and read the signs they would have realized the potential and managed the store format properly. This is a corporation that had the potential to become THE major on-line shopping mall.....the world's largest collection of stores. They had the name recognition, membership, resources and expertise to become the leader in on-line retail. The whole Express idea could have made them a fortune. How? By charging low front-end fees and higher FVF's on store listings and providing increased exposure for these listings. I don't care if ebay takes 10% of my gross sales if I've priced items with a 40% profit margin. Unfortunately, I'm not going to list them in my ebay store at all if they are going to charge exorbitant up-front listing fees, and provide little market exposure.
Due to the mismanagement of the store format, experienced sellers are opening their off-ebay sites in droves. They have come to realize that growth lies in another direction entirely. Purchase a fantastic shopping cart for a few hundred, find a reliable host for a minimal monthly charge and invest in SEO and Google adwords. You can drive a lot more traffic to your items while substantially reducing your costs.
It is such an old story really. Ten years from now, business schools will be using eBay as a case study in what NOT to do. How did so many supposedly intelligent, well educated business people fall into the basic Business 101 trap of failing to adapt to the marketplace?
...Or did they? Perhaps we should begin to look at the individual gains that have been made by these Executives. They have been able to ride this beautiful ebay wave to substantial personal financial gain. Have you reviewed the incomes and bonuses these people have made by temporarily propping up the ebay stock? Are they personally in ANY fiscal danger from the short-sighted actions taken in directing this Corporation in the way they have? Somehow I think that when eBay takes the huge fall that it is heading for, Meg, Bill and the others will walk away with a golden parachute that we can only envy and will live out their retirement in a style we can only imagine. Perhaps they aren't so blind after all....
http://seekingalpha.com/article/23690-ebay-s-q4-listings-well-below-estimates-jaffray
Kat, Bill Cobb is also stepping down at the end of the year.
As Monique mentioned, Meg said early in her career at eBay that she did not believe any CEO should stay beyond 10 years. As late as last year she regretted not learning earlier that she should keep her mouth shut.
But as Monique put so well in the commentary above, Meg can leave eBay and worry little about the future. She still buys and sells on the site so I imagine we'll start seeing auctions for items from her cubicle any day now. She will remain on the eBay board. She is also a board member for Protor & Gamble and a couple of other high profile companies.
eBay will face a lot of challenges in the next few years and, honestly, Meg was starting to make some big mistakes. The overpayment for Skype, the headlong rush into China without understanding the market and the misjudging of the community's willingness to pay and pay and pay all indicate that it was time for her to go and for new blood to step in. There are a lot of people that are not certain the Donahoe is the right person for the job. We'll know within a year.
As Monique mentioned, Meg said early in her career at eBay that she did not believe any CEO should stay beyond 10 years. As late as last year she regretted not learning earlier that she should keep her mouth shut.
But as Monique put so well in the commentary above, Meg can leave eBay and worry little about the future. She still buys and sells on the site so I imagine we'll start seeing auctions for items from her cubicle any day now. She will remain on the eBay board. She is also a board member for Protor & Gamble and a couple of other high profile companies.
eBay will face a lot of challenges in the next few years and, honestly, Meg was starting to make some big mistakes. The overpayment for Skype, the headlong rush into China without understanding the market and the misjudging of the community's willingness to pay and pay and pay all indicate that it was time for her to go and for new blood to step in. There are a lot of people that are not certain the Donahoe is the right person for the job. We'll know within a year.
Bill
treasure-pot
Co-Author of
and i wonder why?
- She's 51
- She has 1.2 Billion $$$ (probably a little less since eBay stock dropped 20% in the past couple of months)
- She always said she should only stay 10 years (an EXTREMLY long time for a CEO)
- Maybe she's a bit tired after 30 years in various pressure cookers
- Needs more time to manage her foundation
I've never been a fanboy for Meg but even if only a modest percentage of what eBay has become is attributed to her it still represents a major accomplishment. She did really blow it on the Skype deal, she had alluded to this in interviews yesterday with her comment about eBay needing a CEO more in tune with the rapidly changing technology
The departure of Bill Cobb at the end of year may be better news.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.
- She's 51
- She has 1.2 Billion $$$ (probably a little less since eBay stock dropped 20% in the past couple of months)
- She always said she should only stay 10 years (an EXTREMLY long time for a CEO)
- Maybe she's a bit tired after 30 years in various pressure cookers
- Needs more time to manage her foundation
I've never been a fanboy for Meg but even if only a modest percentage of what eBay has become is attributed to her it still represents a major accomplishment. She did really blow it on the Skype deal, she had alluded to this in interviews yesterday with her comment about eBay needing a CEO more in tune with the rapidly changing technology
The departure of Bill Cobb at the end of year may be better news.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.
