The "New" Ebay

[whirlcool]

Look like Ebay is going to be making a huge change in the look and feel of the website come November. To get a glimpse of what it will look like, click on the link. What do you think? To my eye it looks more like an online retailer than an auction site and for some reason I feel like I've just looked at a JCPenny website.

http://www.ebay.com/new

 

[tecnopolis]

All I can say is I'm with 3PO,

 

[tecnopolis]

I think this is a terrible idea especially right before Christmas rush. I think it would have been better to roll it out after the New year?

 

[launderess]

eBay

Along with Best Buy, Amazon and a few others have annouced "same day delivery" on items to be rolled out soon.

Ebay has no choice but to adapt to changing conditions as they are no longer the big dog on the block in most markets for online selling/auction. More and more you see one of two types on fleaPay; professional retailers/power sellers, or BOL types that post hundreds of small listings making their money on the margins.

Because there is just so much stuff on eBay the small to mid-size seller has to really position their items carefully. Then after eBay's fees, shipping costs, PayPal fees, etc often one barely makes a profit.

 

[tecnopolis]

Well if I were an ebay employee I wouldn't be putting that down payment on that new T E S L A  just yet.

 

[fido]

BOL?

I had never heard of BOL until I joined this site, could someone please tell me what it means!

 

[whirlcool]

BOL means "Bottom of line". It is a product that is just very basic with very few options. And example of a BOL dryer may be a dryer with just a timer and one heat setting. Usually the cheapest model from the manufacturer.

 

[fido]

Thanks whirlcool. I did try to look it up but none of the definitions seemed to fit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bol

 

[whirlcool]

And of course there is

MOL = Middle of Line, a product that falls somewhere between BOL & TOL

TOL = Top of line, the best product in the manufacturers line up with all the bells
and whistles.

 

[launderess]

Look At It This Way

Bottom of Line (BOL)- Lowest priced and often most basic of any produced goods. Few to nil frills or extras, just basic "get the job done" .

Middle of Line (MOL) - Step up in features and usually quality for the "average" consumer. May have some features of the higher priced lines and or get them as "hand me downs" a product cycle year or so afterwards (for instance originally moisture sensors were a feature of TOL clothes dryers, now they are found on MOL and even some BOL offerings as well).

Top of The Line (TOL)- Best in quality and highest priced of a consumer goods line. Here you find latest trends, inventions, luxury, features and so forth.

Quality can also vary by brands. Miele for instance even at their most basic offerings (BOL) are probably going to be streets ahead of say a Candy or Merloni similar product.

If one uses automobiles as an example BOL cars would be simple basic transport. You get something that moves you from point "A" to point "B" with few if any frills such as power windows, and until recently in the USA automatic transmission.

 

[tecnopolis]

Ebay has gone too far...now your pictures have to be up to standards or else......Minimum 1600 x 1600dpi?

This is the face of the enemy., <span style="line-height: 1.24;">Brian Burke, Director of</span><span style="line-height: 1.24;"> </span><strong style="line-height: 1.24;">eBay Seller Standards</strong><span style="line-height: 1.24;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.24;">& Feedback.</span>

 

 

 

[tecnopolis]

.see this video. he brings up good points how ebay has turned the mom and pop seller into an undesirable element on their site.

 

[launderess]

Don't Think It eBay By Nature or Intent is Evil

Just that they are a publicly traded business which by nature must make money for it's shareholders.

The marketplace like the Internet and by extension the world has changed in the twenty years plus (has it really been that long?) eBay has been around. They can either change with the flow or go the way of many other early web companies and become irrelevant or vanish.

As for pictures and format, everyone with a web presence is adapting to the movement away from desktop PCs to mobile devices such as tablets, smart phones, etc... Nothing is worse than tiny small "thumbnail" picture on a standard desktop sized display, imagine how it looks on a smart phone or tablet screen.[this post was last edited: 10/14/2012-22:18]

 

[Iowegian]

eBay has wised up. Yeah, auctions are fun and exciting with the potential of getting something good for cheap, but they lead to unrealistic expections and disputes that cost more to resolve than what you're collecting in listing fees. And when you also own PayPal, you want to cut down on the butthurt griping and just collect your fees.

And that's just what eBay is doing by becoming an online merchant storefront, rather than an auction house.

 

[d-jones]

And that's just what eBay is doing by becoming an online

If that's what they're doing then good luck with that. They'll find that they've got tremendous competition in that arena, whereas they had virtually no competition as an online auction house. I've personally never used eBay when looking for new items. As a lover of nearly all things vintage, that's what has brought me to eBay again and again. But the changes they keep making haven't gone unnoticed, and as soon as a viable alternative auction site turns up I'll jump ship and never look back.

 

[fido]

I wish there was a rival to Ebay in UK, one which does not involve Paypal. Since I moved to Hungary Paypal have blocked my account because I use a UK bank but have a Hungary address. The other day I wanted to buy a starter solenoid for my LDV van and found one on Ebay but none of the payment options were available to me so I ended up having to ask someone else to buy it on my behalf.

 

[tecnopolis]

Ebay can change it's format or whatever it's doing, but do not suddenly castrate me as a seller after 12+ years of loyal seller service with no negative feedback or seller disputes. Which is exactly what is happening.  

If it's no longer business as usual, they should have done more than just change the font they use for their name, perhaps a new name or site altogether?

No, I guess it's just better to throw out the infant with the bathwater as they say.

 

Ellon Musk must be laughing his ass off!

http://ebaysuspension.net/

 

[DigAPony]

Ebay is more profitable than ever but in the process ruined it for the little guy, buyers and sellers alike. They saw all that money changing hands and couldn't resist taking a bigger bite.

Now prices are up across the board and selection is down. The feedback system is a joke, items get buried in their search engine, and with "buy it now" auctions its difficult to get an accurate market price for non-commodity items.

 

[launderess]

eBay's Search System

Is a joke.

Search for "bluing" and you get most anything starting with "blu" or any part of that word. Same for "ironing" as the system delivers anything with "iron", and so forth. The only way one has found around this nonesense is to use quotes so as to return an exact search.

Between eBay's fees, Paypal (which one is required to use) and shipping it is hardly worth selling many things on eBay, which is why one hasn't bothered.

 

[tecnopolis]

They really should start a sister site....vintageBay?  Only selling things that are preowned, not new, so as not to compete with their red carpet merchants selling their iPhone5's or Galaxy's.

 

RE: Ebay search results...their default of "best match" should read, "sellers we make more money off of".

       I have tried to change the default search mode to "newly listed", but every few weeks it reverts back to "best match".

       Also, if I don't agree to accept PayPal, my listing is artificially buried in the results, no matter how you sort the search.

 

[launderess]

Newly Listed

Have set mine to such years ago and it's never reverted. Made the change from my eBay "summary" page display options and that was that.

 

[tecnopolis]

Maybe they'll have a "Bank of America" moment and pause, Naaaaaaa

 

[tecnopolis]

Here's something I found while reading the official ebay Fall 2012 Seller update posted July 24,2012 by Michael Jones, VP of Merchant development.

 

"<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Ending Auction-style listings when they have a bid </strong>[COLOR=#333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px]can lead to buyer frustration. Starting October 1, to protect the spirit and [/COLOR]integrity of auctions[COLOR=#333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px], a fee will be charged for ending an Auction-style listing early after there’s been a bid."[/COLOR]

 

[tecnopolis]

.[COLOR=#333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px]The amount charged for ending an Auction-style listing early is equal to what the final value fee would have been if the item had sold for the highest bid, or the highest bid equal to or above the reserve price.[/COLOR]

 

[COLOR=#333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px]You will be allowed to end early one Auction-style listing with a bid equal to or above the reserve price per calendar year without paying a fee. After that, you will be required to pay a fee to end early additional Auction-style listings with bids equal to or above the reserve price.[/COLOR]

 

[COLOR=#333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px]
[/COLOR]

 

[mixfinder]

Shipping

The cost of shipping has increased sharply and that can't be blamed on sellers or ebay. However I am finding more and more price gouging on shipping costs. It allows the seller to drop the selling price and make it up in shipping. There is a Sunbeam on ebay which is up for it's 5th listing at an opening bid of $7.00 with shipping of $55.00. Considering there are no bowls included one wouldn't need to pack to send glass. And don't even get me started on sellers who take a complete unit or set of something and then part it out piece by piece. If I was desparate for a part of piece of something I would use ebay but my time of on line shopping is coming to a fast end.

 

[tecnopolis]

One part that confuses me is the DSR's for shipping.  Here you can rate a seller on shipping charges which to me is unfair because the cost is (at least in my auctions) clearly listed before you place a bid.  So in essence you are agreeing to the charge. It doesn't change no matter how little or more you or others bid. Therefore you shouldn't be able to complain about it after-the-fact. If you don't like it, don't bid.   

RE: ridiculous shipping fees, now that ebay charges a final value fee on that too, you should see those types of shipping charges disappear since there is no financial advantage to doing it.

 

[launderess]

Right Back At Them

First thing one does upon receiving an eBay package is to open and examine contents for damage, truth in description and so forth. Next thing one looks for is the postage affixed versus what one was charged and paid. If there is a significant difference the seller will be hearing from me.

Once purchased a vintage postcard from Europe. Seller charged something like ten or so Euros for shipping, but figured what the heck maybe it's coming mounted between cardboard and in a protective envelope. Not a a bit of it. Thing came in a regular envelope via normal Air Mail post with nothing besides a copy of the invoice as "protection". Postage was something about 3 or so Euros. Well one dinged his feedback and left a polite word in the comment section along the lines of "over charged for postage but otherwise ok".

A few days later received a total refund via Paypal from the seller along with a snide comment via email/eBay's system that one should have contacted him first if unhappy, and or not have bid if one didn't agree with his shipping costs.

*Whatever*

As for ending auctions with bids on them early, good for eBay and about time too.

Am sick of sellers testing the waters for items by listing them on eBay whilst also having them on offer elsewhere, so in essence the best and first highest price wins out. Ebay is quite right to point out it ruins the spirit of the community. Either you are listing goods for sale on eBay or you aren't.

 

[launderess]

Shipping Charges

One has no problem paying a decent amount for shipping if the funds are going towards proper packing materials and so forth. However 9 out of 10 times sellers are using any old box found in the rubbish, recycle bin or from a local grocery store. Or worse turning USPS Priority Mail boxes inside out. Either way the box is free to them. As for packing material any old nasty recycled bubble wrap is what one sees mainly. That or yesterday's newspaper, and even then many sellers aren't that generous either.

Have found also just because a seller states their shipping cost in the auction that is not what one finds on the package. When you call them out on this sellers will say "I've got to cover my costs for shipping & handling including my time and petrol for driving to the post office".

 

[tecnopolis]

I too would be put off by anything happening to me like what you describe launderess.

Fortunately for my customers none of that will ever happen. 

But sometimes the smallest things you would think would be inexpensive to ship, get high shipping charges. Case in point. I sold a gift card for $25. Yes, it weighed less than an ounce and I could have sent it in a letter envelope and slapped a few stamps on it and called it a day. However, in order to qualify for seller protection. I have to show "proof of delivery" for any item valued at over $20.  So, it's a catch-22

 

[whirlcool]

I sometimes list items on Ebay for friends who are less than computer literate. No matter what I am auctioning, if the shipping price is more than than the actual shipping price and more than $1 I send a refund back to the buyer.

I recently bought a new upper half to my Cory glass coffee maker on Ebay. The woman packed this thing so well it took me a good 30 minutes to to unpack it. Inside there was a very nice letter from the seller thanking me for my business.
That was so nice of her to do that.

Sometimes the postage isn't printed on the box, so you can't tell how much the seller paid in shipping. And I think a lot of people who get gouged on shipping didn't look at the shipping charge when bidding. I know in my early days on Ebay I got stung a few times like that.

I have found a good way to check the shipping is to check the shipping on similar items that other sellers are selling. Usually if they are overcharging it will stick out like a sore thumb.

And yes one time when I contacted a seller before bidding on an item about the shipping cost she said it was to cover: the fuel for the trip to the post office, the "wear and tear" on her car, compensation for the time she spent waiting in line at the post office and the cost of the box.

BTW, the new Priority Mail boxes have the words "Priority Mail" stamped on the reverse side so sellers can't reverse the box anymore. We have a nice shipping store near us with a very large selection of boxes. They aren't all that expensive.
But I add the cost of those into my shipping. I guarantee new boxes when shipping.

And I agree with running an auction for an item concurrently with Craigslist, Greensheet, etc. List it on Ebay and if it doesn't sell, THEN list elsewhere.