Ebay Boycott! 2/18 - 2/25

[mtechthang]

I missed it but support the idea.

As I remember my history classes from grammar to high school to college, the thing that stands out to me in the American spirit is organized resistance. I know just enough to know that the issues are rarely simple, rarely work immediately, and often people will be hurt on both sides. EBay began for a lot of folks as a place to get some cash from what was to them largely junk or at least a burden. Plus it in some ways is good for the environment (hey, they told us all this!)- selling all the old stuff means no need to produce new. But any economist recognizes that it generates cash which either goes directly back into the old stuff OR may well put pressure on the system to, yep, generate more new stuff (they forgot to mention that). And so it goes. As to the boycott, I was one of the ignorant. I heard about it in time to not place any items for sale but, unfortunately I'd already place a couple of bids on items no one else bid on. As a very small time user and purchaser, I would like to learn more so please do keep up the discussions. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[nobodyspecial]

Ebay seems to be following a natural progression of starting small and growing into something larger and different along the way. As ebay has grown it seems to have gone from people cleaning out basements to an internet storefront for wholesalers moving larger lots of products. I don't see ebay reverting back to the mom and pop level. A new auction site is more likely to come along catering to smaller sellers.

 

[ShortClara]

I would much rather negotiate private sales and see every penny of my money go into the seller's pocket for their item!

I'm actually watching something on Ebay right now that ends during the boycott and there are no bids. I may contact the seller and tell her that if it doesn't sell, I'd be interested in negotiating a private sale with her so that she sees more profit.

Someone did this with me recently too. I sold a laptop to someone and he contacted me to let me know that if I have any more available, he would be interested in negotiating a private sale.

FYI, Be careful approaching the seller; that kind of off-ebay trading is not allowed by ebay. Maybe if you can get their private e-mail address you can pose the question there. through ebay's contact might get them in trouble.

 

[Edward]

FYI, Be careful approaching the seller; that kind of off-ebay trading is not allowed by ebay. Maybe if you can get their private e-mail address you can pose the question there. through ebay's contact might get them in trouble.

This is an important point. On a related note, there have been problems with scammers contacting people who have bid on but not won ebay auctions, offering a similar item for sale privately. The scam, of course, is that the buyer pays but never rceives the item, and is deprived of even what little protection eBay offers.

 

[KittyT]

Here's another update from my friend who does a lot of vintage sales on Ebay:

"Ebay has finally blinked and admitted that if sellers leave because of their unpopular policies they may have to rethink their strategy.

Conservative estimates put lost revenue for the week of the boycott between $2.8 & $4.5 million!

I know I did over $1,000 worth of business in January so they definitely lost on listing and final value fees from me while I was on strike! Not to mention the cut PayPal takes. Multiply that by thousands of sellers and see what you come up with!

Phase II will be coming May 1."

 

[nobodyspecial]

I heard once, but don't know if it's true, that historically January is ebay's biggest month. Any idea if that's true? How does one find this sort of thing out?

 

[KittyT]

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/03/ebay-revenue-dry

Changing customer demands

By Sylvie Barak: Monday, 03 March 2008, 9:47 AM


IN A PESSIMISTIC annual report published on Friday, Ebay corp. admitted that it is having trouble getting customers to return to the site, not to mention the challenges it faces trying to attract new users.

The annual shareholder report was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and in it, Ebay alluded to an assortment of new threats to its business, which, it reckons, reflect "changing customers demands."

Ebay's report comes hot on the heels of a sellers revolt, in which millions of traders boycotted the site after controversial changes were made to procedures and fees. Ebay accepted, in the report, that fee and policy changes made in January have been controversial with sellers. The changes significantly upped the cost of flogging stuff across the board. The week long boycott made a huge impact on Ebay's business, which, according to Tech Blorge, saw a 13 per cent drop in auctions.

With its auction business seeing significantly slowed growth, and the total value of goods and services sold on eBay, plummeting recently, Ebay's cuts from the transaction prices have taken a significant blow, it confessed. Ill-advised business decisions, an expected weakening of consumer spending, and the fact that both buyers and sellers now have a mixture of practical alternatives open to them from Ebay's competitors, mean that the company has good reason to worry about the year ahead.

In the report the San Jose, California-based company said, "We face challenges in the U.S., U.K. and Germany, which are our three largest markets, as growth of listings, active users and GMV on the ebay.com platform in those countries has slowed".

Ebay revenue has slowed significantly in recent years, down from rates of 30 per cent to 40 per cent, with rivals Amazon.com enjoying surging growth in their wake. But its not all doom and gloom for the internet auctioneer. According to Reuters, Wall Street analysts speculate that Ebay can expect revenues of $8.7 billion in 2008, a 14 per cent increase on 2007.

 

[Vintage Betty]

Kitty,

Thank you for keeping us up to date with information on this subject. I am curious...I saw a threefold increase of auction listings that I track the week after the boycott ended.

Do you know of any comparitive data of the week of the boycott vs the week after the boycott?

Thank you,

Vintage Betty