Ebay - Turnaround? ..Or Spinning Its Wheels!

"Gala Apples"

Saw this on a blog and got permission to print it here....dem's my feelings exactly:

Whatever happens to Ebay in the months ahead, it will change. Definitely not the turnaround Donahoe wants but it will change or it will die! Simple as that. For over 2 1/2 years he has been promising a turnaround and a big change....that is NOT happening. Ebay has stagnated from quarterly report to quarterly report and now depends heavily on Paypal's success (which also is not forever). At this point about the only hope Ebay has is to oust present management and his team and hire people experienced in online sales and what it takes to make those sales (the latter being the most important). Donahoe relies on Ebay's name and since that isn't working he probably doesn't know which way to turn at this point. The result is nothingness...a stagnation that will kill.

If Ebay were my site I would immediately divide it in the style of Overstock...with the diamond sellers on one side selling retail and the small sellers on the other side selling auctions and BIN's. Its Ebay's only hope and that hope is fading as days go by. Sellers are leaving and other sites ARE getting a foothold - whether Ebay wants to admit that or not!

Ebay needs to bring community and fun back to the auction side. They need to let up on some of those draconian policies that are chasing sellers away. Make it okay for sellers to make a profit selling on the site!

Take the power to destroy sellers out of buyers' hands and make that an administrative decision! Get rid of the childish DSR's and go back to relying on feedback and that percentage figure of negs and neutrals.

Ebay needs to get their hands dirty - get into the trenches and work with buyers and sellers. Time is gone where they could simply sit back and rack in the money....they need to realize this.

Grannygoodpaint:

I have one word for John Donahoe: Rakuten. I think he best work and work fast on a logical turnaround that is built for success and not the quick buck. Rakuten wants world dominance and they are aggressively working on it. Its only a matter of time before they reach out to US buyers...AND...US sellers...! ;-)

My painting for today....Gala Apples - an apple for the teacher?

Ebay Wants to Be Amazon???

"Blue Hydrangea & Sunflowers"
5 X 7" Watercolor

I have a Google Alert on Ebay and throughout the day I get articles and blogs about Ebay - most I delete. I'm only interested in other opinions on the present Ebay and how it is being run. Some of the articles amaze me in how wrong they are about the problems at the world's largest online auction site. Here's my take on it:

Ebay has and is making a big mistake. Donahoe is determined to go toe to toe with amazon and he’s in for a very rude awakening….that awakening has already started only he is too stubborn or uninformed to see it. Amazon built its business model over years of non-profit before it began to make its niche the hard way - thru hard work, determination and a good business plan. Donahoe believes he can bully his sellers into offering some of the same things (customer service, free shipping) that Amazon offers and then Ebay can sit back and rake in the money. He forgets a couple of things. The outraged small sellers are doing a great job of getting the word out about the bully Ebay has become…about its absolutely hostile environment to all but its large diamond sellers and buyers are not only listening they are finding their favorite small sellers elsewhere! Also in Ebay becoming a cheap imitation of Amazon…it is just that….a cheap imitation and nobody likes an imitator! If you want to buy Amazon style why would you go anyplace else but Amazon? Ebay’s niche was in the rare, vintage and unusual items that people could find nowhere else. How foolish they are to kill the very thing that gets people to its site….the very thing that interests people enough to buy on Ebay. Hey…I can get an iPod anyplace (in fact I bought my direct from Apple)….but the 5 milkglass lamps I needed for my vintage chandelier could only be found on Ebay.

The board of directors needs to wise up and fast. They need proper management…management schooled in the hard knocks of online selling. Otherwise, after this next drastic decline in quarter sales they will finally see that Ebay is on the path to destruction! Its rapidly becoming too late for Ebay to survive

My painting for today is something bright and cheerful to hopefully warm up the rest of the country. Take heart...Spring is next month.

Ebay Loses Traffic This Holiday Season!

"The Snowman's Tree"

Sadly, this is almost an "I told you so" but knowing the thousands of good small sellers that Ebay's new attitude has put out of business is way too sad for sneering and saying I told you so.

I think John Donahoe is learning a hard lesson: all the "noise" he heard when he took office was the sound of good business that he infuriated thanks to his outrageous new policies. Donahoe's idea is to destroy a working business model and turn Ebay into an online catalog store - hence the "diamond sellers" he has ushered in and given free or reduced listing fees to peddle their dropshipped junk. He's strangled small sellers to the point where they simply found the site unmanagable and unprofitable and they left...(a LOT of them are flocking to bonanzle.com). I'm sure the fact that most, if not all, of the sellers who left also BOUGHT on Ebay...is giving Donahoe nightmares because he seemed completely oblivious to losing sales when you lose sellers - any CEO with strong Ebay sales experience probably could have warned him.

Donahoe can't seem to understand people don't want....nor do they NEED yet another catalog store online. Amazon fills that bill nicely and every major retailer now has online presence and does it far better then Ebay ever could! What's left? The "noise" Donahoe kicked to the curb! I believe he's slowly learning the site is definitely going to tank without the small sellers who brought their unique, rare and vintage items to the site...THIS is what people want and NEED! Its deceptively simply, John!

An example....I have a white milkglass chandelier that was here when I bought my home. Two of the milkglass shades were broken but I loved the light and so tried to hide the broken shades. The chandelier is probably 40+ years old so you won't find these shades in any store. I've been searching on Ebay and finally found a set of 5 of these exact milkglass shades for the incredible price of only $6.00. I bought them and they are perfect!!! I wanted a large corning teapot that isn't even made anymore...got it on Ebay and love it!! THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE WANT FROM EBAY JOHN!!!! When I bought a new vacuum - I bought it online from Walmart! When I bought a new external hard drive I bought it from Amazon because I knew they would stand behind it. I buy none of these catalog things on Ebay! GET A CLUE JOHN!! WAKE UP BECAUSE THE SHIP IS SINKING AND ITS YOUR FAULT!

After New Year Ebay will be up against far more formidable opponents then Amazon. All the major retailers will layoff workers - streamline and then put on the most stunning sales ever seen in an effort to do enough business to stay afloat and weather our faltering economy! Ebay will be NO match. An example I heard only today is a local furniture store offering $600.00 in gas and $500 in free groceries if you buy a big screen TV from them! Ebay...whatcha gonna do? You're going to tank even faster in the face of competition like this.

So, I humbly suggest....get rid of best match!!! Nobody - not even the buyers - want it. Loosen up the stranglehold on small sellers and let them do what they pay Ebay to do....SELL!! Stop allowing every nutcase buyer that wanders in to destroy seller reputations while giving the sellers NO recourse! Get rid of most of the draconian policies you put in place this year and do it before the economy sinks even farther - which I feel will be mid-January, 2009. If you don't - your company is doomed! This is something sellers have been warning about ALL YEAR and now finally EVERYONE else can SEE it! Wake up!

My painting today is a little ACEO called "The Snowman's Tree"