'eBay Surveys Sellers on Changes to Fees and Search'

[momcqueen]

In the words of Dorothy Parker, "What fresh hell can this be?"

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y15/m09/i18/s01

"eBay is surveying sellers on a host of issues ranging from fee structure to a radical new approach to search. In its letter to sellers inviting them to take the survey, eBay said it was always trying to improve the eBay experience, "and there's no better group of advisors than our customers."

Examples:

"How would you feel if a product search on eBay showed buyers only the top 5 most relevant search items? A link to see the other items would be provided."

"How would you feel if you could purchase access to eBay customer service to sellers that is tailored to your needs?"

"How would you feel if you could opt-in to a program that would allow you to see your competitors' sales funnel data and they could in return see yours?"

""How would you feel if you could pay to promote items that you have listed on eBay to customers when they were viewing comparable items being sold by other merchants, and similarly they could promote their items to customers who were viewing items that you were selling?"

You really have to read this. Can you pipe in if you've been asked to complete this survey? Or is it availalbe only to ebay.com sellers?

[momcqueen]

It's abundantly clear my opinion hasn't been solicited as part of this survey but here are some of the changes I predict on the horizon likely for Spring 2016:

1. Sales Data for Sale. If you as a seller want whatever you used to see as part of Omnitrax (or whatever it was called) you are going to have to pay extra for it. Or, perhaps you will have to pay to keep it a secret from your competitors who will also be offered your data for sale. I foresee ebay keeping Sold and Completed Items secret at some point in the near future with an official price recommendation for what you should list your item to sell for, like The River presently does.

2. Customer Service for sale. If you want 'regular' Customer Service as a buyer or seller, you're going to have to limit your calls to a specific timeframe per day, say 11 am to 7 pm EST. If you buy into the Premium Service, you'll be allowed to call during an extended time period. Or maybe you'll even be routed to a different incoming call centre where staff with an advanced level of training will attempt to fix what ails you.

3. Buy a Spot in Search. For the big spenders, you can guarantee your place in the Top 5 Search Results as determined by ebay for the low-low cost of an extra optional fee (50 per cent of your item asking price or opening bid) when you go to list it. What a bargain! 

4. Ebay Fullfillment Centres. Did one look at your buyer's Feedback Left for Others turn your hair white and standing on end? Don't worry, all that will be hidden from you as a seller now. All buyer feedback as well email, phone numbers will be kept private. So will their address! Let ebay handle shipping for you from one of their two conveniently located Distribution and Fullfillment Centres, both located where staffing comes cheap, in The Phillipines. Send your items to their fulfilment centres and ebay handles the rest. 

5. No discounts for Top Rates Sellers. If you're a seller we like, that's good enough for you. We'll promote your listings on kijiji which we also own. Good job, sellers. Here's a free ad on our already-free ad platform. 

Okay, so my creative genius has been spent on those five. Anyone else want to hazard a guess? 

[pierrelebel]

1 - That will not happen.

2 - That will not happen.

3 - That will not happen.

4 - That will not happen.

5 - That will not happen.

" Anyone else want to hazard a guess? "

eBay will continue over the years to come to find ways to generate more revenue.  Some from sellers and some (more advertising) from outside its sellers.  Somehow eBay needs to find revenue growth somewhere now that PayPal is no longer there.

[momcqueen]

I wouldn't be so bold as to disagree with you and my predictions were mostly tongue-in-cheek but what leads you to be so certain those things would never happen? Were those questions thrown into the survey just to  remind sellers that ebay may do whatever it likes and so that whatever is actually done won't seem so bad after all? That's a classic negotiation tactic. 

[rose-dee]

Save those predictions, 'mj', and you and Pierre can compare notes in the latter part of 2016.  Your tongue-in-cheek musings may be closer to realization than any of us know. 

I'd say all of them are at least feasible in one iteration or another, with the possible exception of #4 (at least the fulfillment centre part is highly unlikely I think).  

As Pierre says, eBay is now going to have to scratch around for cash wherever it can find it, and it can always dangle a few more carrots in front of us (for a price of course).  The biggest potential for extra cash flow for companies like eBay is from user (seller) revenue in ways that are perceived to give sellers some edge or leg up for the cost.  EBay has already been doing this for years, in a number of ways, but I expect it to be ratcheted up as time goes on.  

Customer service for a fee is definitely not a new idea, many IT companies are now using one variation or the other of this concept.  This is the first one I'd expect to see happen, perhaps on a pay-per-service basis.  

You must be in a wry mood tonight....

[momcqueen]

You don't think the question about ebay-approved dropshippers is one step from Fullfillment Centres? They already kind of have it going on with the ebay.com Valet Service......

[momcqueen]

Although I was kidding about the Centres being located in The Philippines. (I hope.)

I'm killing time while I wait for this paypal thing to clear itself up. eBay says I have an order that is Paid and Ready to Ship... but paypal has no record of it... and I'm not the only one out there in cyberspace seeing this. 

[dutchman48]

Is this a new survey in the link below or the same one. It gets better as you go along.

https://survey.ebay.com/survey/selfserve/1f4b/eci15046

[momcqueen]

Gasp! You're one of The Chosen. I can't read the link. Do the survey. Dooooo it.

[dutchman48]

It must be tied directly to my ID. I actually got it on 2 of my ID's. I started to go through it and it was all questions like the first and I got tired of it. Nothing about what Ebay should do or that type of information.

I may see what happens with it but from what I could see, it is quite long.

[dutchman48]

It apparently takes about 20 minutes.

[dutchman48]

It is all about business related questions like where have yo sold, where will you sell, business goals, etc.

The last question was interesting as it sort of asked would you consider a business partner in a long list of tasks.

Absolutely nothing about how to improve Ebay, what you would like to see, etc.

[momcqueen]

That must be another survey, a new one. The first was reported to take 14 minutes or so. This one you have tonight doesn't sound nearly as provocative.

[momcqueen]

Surveys surveys everywhere and not a drop for me. I really MUST be the ugly chick at the dance.

[pocomocomputing]

---

@mjwl2006 wrote:
Surveys surveys everywhere and not a drop for me. I really MUST be the ugly chick at the dance.

---

What do you have your My eBay -> Site Preferences -> Communications Preferences -> Promotions and Surveys ?

The first options is eBay Surveys and Research, is it checked?

I have all of these 5 options off as I do not want to be bothered. It probably affects my eBay Messages for selling promotions which I rarely get. (I get the promos in Promotional Offers but rarely messages.) I thought I had it on for promos (last one).

I just turned them all one and will see what I get.

[momcqueen]

D'oh!

[momcqueen]

Hot off the presses....

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y15/m10/i16/s01

eBay Offers Sellers Fulfillment Service in UK

By Ina Steiner 
EcommerceBytes.com 
October 16, 2015

[cumos55]

eBay keeps looking at getting bigger... more revenue.... and more and more...

The most important thing eBay has to do is consolidate what it has.... working at improving what it has.

The future is based on what eBay has today.... and today is not too stable....

There are adjustments that have to be made.... and some very quickly.

Any company can only grow so big ...

and then they implode... tumble in upon itself.... 

The company cannot keep up   because its base....  what it was built upon ...  is unstable...

[ricarmic]

eBay is doing the same thing we each are doing on our own. It is trying to survive in a very rapidly changing worldwide environment.

The problem is that the larger a company is, the longer it takes for them to identify directions, get agreement on them and implement them...sometimes this means that by the time the "process" is completed to implement the change, the opportunity is gone or has changed. They also have stockholder pressures that influence directions/timing as well.

We are "lucky" because once we see an issue/opportunity, generally it is "fast" (as in days) that we can react and implement the solution.

I just hope that they are able to get things going in the right direction, eBay still remains my best place to sell.....

[pjcdn2005]

I must be missing something. I always think of a fulfillment service as one that already has the item before it is sold and once sold, it is sent to the buyer. In this article, it sounds as if the seller drops off the item at Argos after it has been sold and then Argos sends the item on to the buyer. Isn't that just adding an extra step to the shipping process? How does that help buyers or sellers?

[tobyshitzu]

Its not complete fullfillment the way amzn has.  The point is to save postage cost, there is no last mile delivery (expensive part) with the buyer and seller having to go to the store, so they can undercut the post office.  Argos is catalog stores like consumers distributing used to be here, they are going to throw ebay items on the trucks going to the stores anyway.

Something like that would be awesome for us.  Wouldnt be many  reasonably national retailers with the infrasturcture in place to do it,  Sears maybe, but and no one would want to do a deal with them when they probably wont be around for long