IN THE YEAR 2525, IF EBAY IS STILL ALIVE, WE MAY FIND ...
As I approached the hardly dizzying heights of 2500 eBay feedbacks and the time for another eBay commentary, it seemed a look at the lyrics of the 1969 hit single "In the Year 2525" might prove enlightening.
And so it was. The Zager and Evans worldwide hit, which is chilling and cheesy in almost equal measure, is about a population that is only interested in short term gains and failing to look to the future. A lot of people will agree that this is a fair description of a lot of companies, including eBay. We just have to change a few words:
"In the year 2525, if eBay is still alive If PayPal can survive, they may find In the year 3535 Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lie Everything you think, do and say Is in the listings you made today
In the year 4545 You ain't gonna need your site, won't need your eyes You won't find a thing to do Nobody's gonna look at you."
I could go on.
This of course is an exaggeration and a fanciful one at that, but we have a serious point here. I am no futurologist, but we cannot go on the way we are. EBay, likewise, could do a lot to improve its vendor satisfaction and loyalty and increase its chances of surviving a lot longer, although another 513 years seems a trifle optimistic.
To be sure, eBay has a lot to commend it. I get some staggering prices with it and quite a few good ones. Because my prices are reasonable I sell most of the covers, postcards and other paper items I list. Because some prices on eBay are quite low, I often find items for my fair stock on it. And I’m not so hard-boiled that I don’t get a kick out of sending a postcard of a tiny village to that village, or a card or envelope to someone for whom it has tremendous personal meaning.
However, In line with most, but not all, new media companies, the dash for the cash is single-minded and short-sighted at eBay. Its management has little time for little things like seller freedom of choice and economic restraint. It must be admitted here that eBay is far from the worst on this count.
(As for the worst, Google would be a strong nominee: witness its willingness to trample on freedom of expression in exchange for access to the huge and highly profitable Chinese market.)
The new media companies are all in favour of freedom of competition – until it might cost them a penny. In fact I’m sure Carnegie and other 19th-century industrial giants would be impressed by these firms’ ruthlessness in extracting the last possible penny from the people who rely on them for income.
We all know eBay would ban all payments by any means other than its subsidiary PayPal if it could get away with it. The message that eBay does not allow vendors to accept postal payments in cash is arrogant, anti-competitive, of dubious legality and, fortunately, impossible to enforce.
Another small example: on Turbo Lister you used to be able to slide your screen over to the fees column, and the fees would be displayed there once you pushed the right button. Now you are moved away when you ask for the fees to be calculated, so you cannot see the individual fees unless you start over. This makes it much easier to miss a listing mistake (which invariably means more money for eBay). Of course it could be just another computer cockup.
The occasional away-with-the-fairies nature of eBay can be seen by using the facility on the American site to find out what prices are being achieved for certain goods. I typed in "paper clip" and was informed (without examples given) that the average sales price was $5. For "toilet paper" it was $31 and for "rubber band" a mere $1. These presumably are for lots, but the site doesn’t say that.
The addition of adverts on just about every available space is unfortunate. Sellers, being sellers, are resorting to all kinds of distracting graphic devices. I make a point of never clicking on any of the adverts, even in the rare case of a charity one that is of interest, and yet somehow I seem to end up looking at full-screen sales pitches from time to time. eBay, meanwhile, is looking for more ways to display adverts.
I am a keen tennis player and fan, but I found the deluge of adverts inviting teenagers to apply to become ballkids at the 2013 Masters in London a bit off-putting. It was the girl’s look of ecstasy as she reached for the unpictured star’s sweaty towel.
Far worse are the gambling site come-ons, a perfect example if you need one that eBay and other new media companies will opt for more profits rather than social responsibility. Gambling is a big problem for a lot of people, and easy and ever-present availability via the internet proves to be an irresistible temptation for many vulnerable people – as charities who deal with debt and gambling addiction tell us.
Yes eBay helps raise a massive amount of money through its donation programme, and I have used it. EBay does not do this for free – as it says its charges are competitive -- and this has more to do with public relations and selling more goods than innate goodwill.
And eBay’s record on paying British taxes is a bit better than the shocking avoidance of taxpaying that Starbucks has brewed up. For the time being I will do without rather than even look at a Starbucks, not that one can be found anywhere near my small town in Scotland.
I probably will have to endure some revenge for daring to say what I believe, as I have after past commentaries – although eBay of course denied this. I, unlike eBay, am not always going to take the most profitable path.
Meanwhile, my small eBay shop continues to pay its way, although sales are somewhat lower than in the first year. The huge numbers of mistakes in its sales statistics have gone down somewhat, but they are still common enough to make them worthless unless you employ a calculator.
No doubt largely because of the reaction to its often cavalier attitude towards vendors and its ever-increasing costs, eBay went on a charm offensive a few months to try to reduce defections to Delcampe and other internet operations.
One thing that has long annoyed me about eBay is that, I – like all others – was no longer eligible for periodic free listings once I had registered as a business seller. It annoys me greatly to see "private sellers" with five times the feedback entries I have. I will shed no tears if the tax people finally catch up with them, as every sale I make, no matter how tiny, is declared to the tax authorities. (This day of reckoning will come because when push comes to shove from the Inland Revenue, eBay will print out the relevant lists of vendors faster than you can say "bid now.")
EBay has twice allowed business sellers to list up to 50,000 items free for five days each time. I took advantage of this to the full extent my allotted day a week on eBay would allow, and saved a fair bit. Of course so many items were listed that my sales dropped, but you win some and lose some. EBay US also has free offers for dealers, 50 free listings a month, which I generally snap up.
In addition eBay has suddenly started bending over backwards to tackle abusive and unfair actions by buyers towards sellers. And yet this only happened when eBay saw profits were being threatened.
A dealer friend who is a big seller on eBay is planning to switch to Delcampe for shop items, and he is far from alone. Meanwhile, I’m not interested in expanding my "on-line presence" so will stick with eBay for the time being, as long as I don’t get any serious shocks. Better the man with horns you know.
And so it was. The Zager and Evans worldwide hit, which is chilling and cheesy in almost equal measure, is about a population that is only interested in short term gains and failing to look to the future. A lot of people will agree that this is a fair description of a lot of companies, including eBay. We just have to change a few words:
"In the year 2525, if eBay is still alive If PayPal can survive, they may find In the year 3535 Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lie Everything you think, do and say Is in the listings you made today
In the year 4545 You ain't gonna need your site, won't need your eyes You won't find a thing to do Nobody's gonna look at you."
I could go on.
This of course is an exaggeration and a fanciful one at that, but we have a serious point here. I am no futurologist, but we cannot go on the way we are. EBay, likewise, could do a lot to improve its vendor satisfaction and loyalty and increase its chances of surviving a lot longer, although another 513 years seems a trifle optimistic.
To be sure, eBay has a lot to commend it. I get some staggering prices with it and quite a few good ones. Because my prices are reasonable I sell most of the covers, postcards and other paper items I list. Because some prices on eBay are quite low, I often find items for my fair stock on it. And I’m not so hard-boiled that I don’t get a kick out of sending a postcard of a tiny village to that village, or a card or envelope to someone for whom it has tremendous personal meaning.
However, In line with most, but not all, new media companies, the dash for the cash is single-minded and short-sighted at eBay. Its management has little time for little things like seller freedom of choice and economic restraint. It must be admitted here that eBay is far from the worst on this count.
(As for the worst, Google would be a strong nominee: witness its willingness to trample on freedom of expression in exchange for access to the huge and highly profitable Chinese market.)
The new media companies are all in favour of freedom of competition – until it might cost them a penny. In fact I’m sure Carnegie and other 19th-century industrial giants would be impressed by these firms’ ruthlessness in extracting the last possible penny from the people who rely on them for income.
We all know eBay would ban all payments by any means other than its subsidiary PayPal if it could get away with it. The message that eBay does not allow vendors to accept postal payments in cash is arrogant, anti-competitive, of dubious legality and, fortunately, impossible to enforce.
Another small example: on Turbo Lister you used to be able to slide your screen over to the fees column, and the fees would be displayed there once you pushed the right button. Now you are moved away when you ask for the fees to be calculated, so you cannot see the individual fees unless you start over. This makes it much easier to miss a listing mistake (which invariably means more money for eBay). Of course it could be just another computer cockup.
The occasional away-with-the-fairies nature of eBay can be seen by using the facility on the American site to find out what prices are being achieved for certain goods. I typed in "paper clip" and was informed (without examples given) that the average sales price was $5. For "toilet paper" it was $31 and for "rubber band" a mere $1. These presumably are for lots, but the site doesn’t say that.
The addition of adverts on just about every available space is unfortunate. Sellers, being sellers, are resorting to all kinds of distracting graphic devices. I make a point of never clicking on any of the adverts, even in the rare case of a charity one that is of interest, and yet somehow I seem to end up looking at full-screen sales pitches from time to time. eBay, meanwhile, is looking for more ways to display adverts.
I am a keen tennis player and fan, but I found the deluge of adverts inviting teenagers to apply to become ballkids at the 2013 Masters in London a bit off-putting. It was the girl’s look of ecstasy as she reached for the unpictured star’s sweaty towel.
Far worse are the gambling site come-ons, a perfect example if you need one that eBay and other new media companies will opt for more profits rather than social responsibility. Gambling is a big problem for a lot of people, and easy and ever-present availability via the internet proves to be an irresistible temptation for many vulnerable people – as charities who deal with debt and gambling addiction tell us.
Yes eBay helps raise a massive amount of money through its donation programme, and I have used it. EBay does not do this for free – as it says its charges are competitive -- and this has more to do with public relations and selling more goods than innate goodwill.
And eBay’s record on paying British taxes is a bit better than the shocking avoidance of taxpaying that Starbucks has brewed up. For the time being I will do without rather than even look at a Starbucks, not that one can be found anywhere near my small town in Scotland.
I probably will have to endure some revenge for daring to say what I believe, as I have after past commentaries – although eBay of course denied this. I, unlike eBay, am not always going to take the most profitable path.
Meanwhile, my small eBay shop continues to pay its way, although sales are somewhat lower than in the first year. The huge numbers of mistakes in its sales statistics have gone down somewhat, but they are still common enough to make them worthless unless you employ a calculator.
No doubt largely because of the reaction to its often cavalier attitude towards vendors and its ever-increasing costs, eBay went on a charm offensive a few months to try to reduce defections to Delcampe and other internet operations.
One thing that has long annoyed me about eBay is that, I – like all others – was no longer eligible for periodic free listings once I had registered as a business seller. It annoys me greatly to see "private sellers" with five times the feedback entries I have. I will shed no tears if the tax people finally catch up with them, as every sale I make, no matter how tiny, is declared to the tax authorities. (This day of reckoning will come because when push comes to shove from the Inland Revenue, eBay will print out the relevant lists of vendors faster than you can say "bid now.")
EBay has twice allowed business sellers to list up to 50,000 items free for five days each time. I took advantage of this to the full extent my allotted day a week on eBay would allow, and saved a fair bit. Of course so many items were listed that my sales dropped, but you win some and lose some. EBay US also has free offers for dealers, 50 free listings a month, which I generally snap up.
In addition eBay has suddenly started bending over backwards to tackle abusive and unfair actions by buyers towards sellers. And yet this only happened when eBay saw profits were being threatened.
A dealer friend who is a big seller on eBay is planning to switch to Delcampe for shop items, and he is far from alone. Meanwhile, I’m not interested in expanding my "on-line presence" so will stick with eBay for the time being, as long as I don’t get any serious shocks. Better the man with horns you know.
posted by Chad Neighbor at
26.12.12
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