Its not long till ebay is gone. Porsche parts will be harder to find soon.

pjv911 · pjv911's Garage

Has anyone here noticed all the drastic changes ebay has made. It actually looks like they are committing there own death on purpose.
They are crushing all sellers in so many ways it would take 2 days to type.
What a shame. Ebay stock is currently less than half of what it was this time last year. They are actually listing fake auctions to pad the auction count so stock holders don't notice whats taking place.
Sellers have organized many successful boycotts and moved there products to other venues.
I'm very let down by this. I have always praised ebay for what it was.
I'm fairly certain one year from now they will be a 2nd rate higher cost clone of Amazon.

Kurt

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 01-08-2009, 07:13 PM

So who needs eBay anyway? More trouble, and risk, than it's worth.

the · 01-08-2009, 07:24 PM

This whole internet fad will end in a few years.

davidbir · 01-08-2009, 07:32 PM

I disagree with all previous posters. I have found ebay to be generally safe-I have been screwed once in 26 transactions-I have found that ebay is on top of it's business and manages things well.
But yes, the internet will probably end in, oh, two, maybe three weeks....

Jays72T · 01-08-2009, 07:37 PM

Ebay is really just a retail outlet now, was a cool idea but to make more $$ they needed to get more tranactions or take a bigger % of the sales.

rw229 · 01-08-2009, 07:48 PM

Agreed. Very few deals to be had as they continue to raise the seller's fees pushing out the individual sellers. I have been using eBay since '99 and have watched it transform from a cool, find a deal, flea market type environment to an Amazon-like outlet for retailers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjv911

I'm fairly certain one year from now they will be a 2nd rate higher cost clone of Amazon.

Kurt

Nickatnyt · 01-08-2009, 07:50 PM

I have been selling on ebay for 8 years and for the most part I am done with them.

Axeman · 01-08-2009, 07:53 PM

I hate the new feedback rules as a seller, but overall I LOVE eBay. Been using it since 98 and have bought/sold hundreds (almost a thousand) items. Never had an issue so far, when I sell I make sure I write in detail everything from item description to shipping cost, conditions etc. Except for a dummy here and there who don't read the listings properly, it's always been smooth. At this point me and my wife both are eBay junkies and we buy a lot of our stuff from clothing to household stuff on there and we've gotten unbelievable deals. Cheaper and easier than going to the stores, plus we find stuff that we could never find in stores in the first place.

My $0.02

70SWT · 01-08-2009, 08:25 PM

The new feedback rules in particular show the gradual transformation away from an individual buyer-oriented resource.

Craigslist is the best thing going now - until they start charging for all their types of ads...they, too, are gradually bending to the almighty buck...

Blackie911 · 01-08-2009, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson

So who needs eBay anyway? More trouble, and risk, than it's worth.

Another reason(s) to buy from and support our host!

Axeman · 01-08-2009, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSflared72E

The new feedback rules in particular show the gradual transformation away from an individual buyer-oriented resource.

Craigslist is the best thing going now - until they start charging for all their types of ads...they, too, are gradually bending to the almighty buck...

Remember eBay bought a 25% stake in Craigslist!

JohnJL · 01-08-2009, 09:43 PM

Their volume is down, I can corroborate that unequivocally. It shouldnt be...in a 'down' market secondhand markets normally accelerate.

Finnbar McKenna · 01-08-2009, 09:46 PM

The rebirth of the good ole SWAP MEET! hahaha

70SWT · 01-09-2009, 03:25 AM

It's really too bad eBay is straying from its original formula in the name of profits, a tragic process that happens to so many business entities (including a certain company that starts with a "P" and ends with an "E"...) In eBay's case, it will likely not work out quite as well for them.

I knew eBay was going nowhere good when they started showing their goofball, trying-too-hard-to-look-cool ads on TV.

T77911S · 01-09-2009, 03:31 AM

i was on there last night list some bike wheels. the new format really sucks. why do they have to change things. there new search is really bad. i found a button at the top that lets you "opt out" of new search and return to the old search. i guess i just hate change, but then why fix what aint broke.

kmhemi · 01-09-2009, 03:50 AM

quote:
i was on there last night list some bike wheels. the new format really sucks. why do they have to change things. there new search is really bad. i found a button at the top that lets you "opt out" of new search and return to the old search. i guess i just hate change, but then why fix what aint broke.
__________________

I couldnt have said it better myself.

Hesse James · 01-09-2009, 04:14 AM

There were events in the past where people said: this is the end of eBay!
Remember the big rush when they invented to pay for an auction to be set-up. Everybody said: This is the end! Nothing happened. Now they are trying to increase their revenue by pushing PayPal - it is all well planned. Some thousands will quit, 95% will stay and use it and increase profit. Craiglist is wonderful - but for international buyers it is PITA. I just bought some items in the last two weeks on eBay and paid instantly with PayPal. This was like the auction next door. But I also like swap-meets - gothere meet people. But eBay will remain a great source to find things around the world - maybe not the cheapest one, but every warehouse holds some bargains - especially if you search for mistyped item descriptions f.e. Sometimes funny, sometimes a bad deal. I had over 500 transactions, 1 was a total failure, two or three items were not as described but overall a 98% Satisfaction.
Tell us something about your best deal?
I had the complete door panels for a Mercedes 280SL for 2,50 Euro. The panels were crap, but the vinyl in very good condition. Came from an SLC but is the same as SL!

kiwiokie · 01-09-2009, 04:35 AM

Public companies are a terrible vehicle for niche businesses (or in eBay's case being a platform for many niche businesses) IMO ever since investors stopped investing for a share of company profits and invest purely for capital gain. Capital gain requires there to be another punter waiting in the wings to pay more for your one share than you did. Thus the need for a constant stream of new "improvements" that you can sell to the punters as evidence of higher revenue and profits in the future. The wheels fall off this vehicle when the growth stops - la Krispy Kreme. Not sure why it is considered so shameful to just be the best at what you do even if you are not growing at x% per year.

trader220 · 01-09-2009, 06:47 AM

EBay is not going anywhere. You may not like the new format and if that’s the true consensus they will no doubt be forced to change and meet their clients need.

As far as the phony auctions someone claimed they post to boost counts. If you have real credible information then please take it to the DOJ and the SEC right away and let’s get them to take a bite out of EBay right now. If you are just speculating then it’s just whining.
People like to complain, especially on the internet when they feel safe lobbing accusations from the anonymity of their computer, you see it all the time on the stock market forums. The bottom line is unless you have real proof they’re committing fraud and you’re willing to bring it to the proper people then its just *****ing.

I use eBay all the time, yea its not as free and open as it once was but its still a great market place for all kinds of things.

The stock price tumbled? Alert the media… maybe it had to do with the global economy and the global capital markets tumbling too?

Bart_dood · 01-09-2009, 08:05 AM

Ebay fell into the trap of trying to maintain its revenue growth pace without diversification into other markets/areas.
Sure when Ebay was new they could attract more and more sellers and buyers, but eventually everyone knew that the market would saturate and revenue growth per year would slow down. So instead of using their accumulated wealth to invest in more diverse businesses they poured it back into basically themselves, they bought paypal which is basically used 90% for ebay transactions anyway so that didn't help them at all (despite the fact they pushed everyone from ebay into it).
Then they bought skype, the idea being they could use it to link buyers/sellers and to diversify their portfolio somewhat, however they totally overpaid for it and everyone knows it. There is lots of competition for VOIP despite skype being a major player.
They should have kept ebay simple in concept and stuck to the tested formula, perhaps tweaking the feedback system that people complain about.

Instead now they are stuck in a spiral of raising fees causing them to lose sellers, therefore raising fees more to compensate.

Ebay was a company started by techhies who don't know enough about business to run such a large company.