Today on logging onto eBay, I noticed a big ad on the landing page for a certain type of cookware that's been advertised all over TV. I rarely take eBay's advertising bait, but this time I was curious to see what sort of seller gets one of these big, bright, shiny ads on eBay's front page.
Well, this seller is relatively new (since April, 2017), with under 200 FB and hawking commercial products -- yes -- as seen on TV. All those familiar items. Where or how they get them is another question, but what struck me was that this seller's listing is precisely the future eBay wants. Total conformity and homogeneity, everything automated and anonymous: deeply discounted product, stock photos, free shipping, product identifiers but no item description on the listing itself, a nice collection of product ratings, no personalized or extraneous text, no specific seller terms, etc.
I clicked on "See full description" and a separate page opened up with a paragraph of descriptive text, i.e. this was meant to be ancillary. The only words from the seller, whoever they are, was a small box at the bottom that began: "We are a genuine seller offering quality items at lower prices. Every item is carefully packaged using the latest technology to ensure safe shipment to you." So, not an authorized seller, but gee, a genuine one -- that's a relief!
As a longtime "boutique" seller of unique items, offering personalized service and follow-up to my customers, it was with dismay that I realized I'm turning into a dinosaur that eBay no longer wants. What I saw today is the future that eBay wants to promote, and it looks just like everywhere else.
Here's the item number for anyone curious to see what I was looking at: 322595631602.
