@sylviebee wrote:
Also, this isn't about you. Over the years others have also stated here that eBay is trying to get rid of small sellers and doesn't help or care about us, and so the next step is to ask the logical question: Other than fixing technical issues and artificially increasing Canadian's US visibility: "What could eBay reasonably do which would increase our sales?"
As I see it, the issue isn't so much what eBay could do now, but rather the steps they've taken over the past few years, or in some cases things they've omitted to do, most (if not all) of which I expect was deliberate. In effect, it's really too late to put that toothpaste back into the tube.
It seems clear to me, looking at the progression of these changes over time, that eBay has been consistently supporting its larger, commercial, "professional" sellers. This is simply where they've decided to place their focus. They must know that the effect of many of their policies since about 2012 has been to squeeze out smaller sellers of used or vintage goods and make selling easier and more profitable for those who make eBay the most money with the least trouble. In other words, hoping to clean up the site of the messiness that was garage sale sellers through attrition.
So, asking what eBay could reasonably do now to help smaller vintage/collectible sellers, after having pursued policies for the past 5 years that created difficulties or even hardship for such sellers, is pointless. If I can be forgiven for mixing metaphors, the eBay ship is now headed firmly in a different direction, and I can't imagine them ever turning it around to go back now. Those of us still hanging on in the wake may or may not continue to survive, depending on the next set of policy changes.
Many years ago eBay had a primary place in the online selling marketplace, with a large portion of their sellers offering second-hand, collectible, or vintage goods. Around 2012 eBay began turning its attention toward its mega-sellers. Those of us who were around then will recall the sudden influx of big (often Chinese) sellers to the site. This was no accident. Not only were policies and changes to the site made to streamline and automate the sales process, but I have no doubt that eBay entered into special agreements with those sellers on more favourable terms than the average "traditional" eBay seller.
EBay could have decided at that point, in effect, to split its site and keep its "traditional" section going alongside the new, commercial eBay. But they didn't. Instead, they slowly ground away at their legions of smaller legacy sellers, first by jettisoning the worst of them (through the original defect system), by pushing the less thriving of them out (through the on-time delivery policy), and most recently by effectively downgrading those of us who are left (through dropping $USD listings on .ca and making major changes to TRS).
At the same time, other enterprising sites took up the challenge and have done a good job of focusing on vintage/collectible sellers. This is the one thing I've never understood about eBay management. They could have hung on to both marketplaces had they acted strategically at the time. Instead, they decided to turn their attention almost exclusively to trying to appear like any other big retail online marketplace selling mass-produced, new, and brand-name goods.
Anyone who is in doubt about eBay's desired direction need only look at the advertisements on its landing pages. This is what they chose as a corporation, and this is where we are. The simple reality is that it has had the effect of either getting rid of, or driving off, a whole legion of smaller sellers of vintage/collectible items, many of whom I now recognize on other sites. The ones who are still here are the best of the lot eBay had, the most tenacious and the most able to adjust. I expect a lot of those may soon find it too uncomfortable or unprofitable to continue here, including myself, once our lack of TRS status downgrades us to practical invisibility. This isn't a complaint on my part, but a recognition of where things stand.
So there are in fact many things eBay could do to support its traditional smaller sellers -- I can think of a list of 10 or 12 off the top of my head. But I can't imagine eBay would actually want to take such steps or change such policies, reasonable or not, to turn back the clock now.
To get back to the OP's original point though, aside from dealing with minor technical or policy questions, there is very little the eBay Canada staff can do or say that will have a significant impact on us as Canadian sellers. Their hands are tied, not only by HQ policy, but by budget constraints, which is why we so often get non-answer responses or postponements of action. Expecting them to give true insight into eBay's corporate direction or decision-making is naive.
However, I do think it is very much eBay's responsibility to focus on repairing the myriad of site issues before re-arranging the décor as they always do. Of course that work is less glamorous for over-excited young digital designers, but to have a long shopping list of recognized (and some serious) issues dragging on for months, if not longer, is completely unacceptable where a site is charging good money to its users to provide a functioning platform for selling and buying.
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