Who would have ever imagined today’s unrest in the eBay Seller community? After all, without the eBay frontier where would these Sellers be now? Years ago, many heard of “gold in them thar hills” and invested the time and commitment to find it. In the modern-day eBay gold rush, many made it, and many others chose to stay behind — happy with a nugget now and then. And in general, all were individually pleased – and not thinking too much about how the eBay rush was actually changing the world nor when it would end.
But, the reality is that history repeats itself and no rush lasts forever. Once the major impacts have occurred and attracted the critical masses, it’s inevitable that the time will come when the world’s demand will exceed the capabilities of a single supplier. This time is here and now for eBay and for the world’s on-line auction and exchange market.
Understanding the Boycott
While eBay boycotts have been attempted in the past, none have gained the attention and support of this week’s current Boycott, expected to run from Feb 18 – Feb 25. Currently, eBay listings are down about 4-5% and are expected to decline through the week; eBay’s stock price hit a 52 week low when the changes were announced on Jan 28; and practically every eBay Discussion Board is rife with furious Sellers. One board, posted by mrskillion had over 17,500 posts as of this writing. While there are lots of unhappy people, the immediate impact of the Boycott has not yet been enough for eBay to reconsider the changes being implemented today, February 20, 2008.
For details on the boycott see these links. There is a lot of ranting out there, but these links do provide relatively respectful and objective information.
- eBay Announcement – announcement from Bill Cobb, President eBay North America
- CNN Money Video – good, brief overview video and objective articles
- You Tube Video – from a Seller’s heart
- Boycott Victoriously – good source of links for details and statistics
- PowerSellersUnite – eBay Sellers news, resources, and forums
- Squidoo - multiple lenses discussing the Boycott
How are You and I Impacted?
- For the 1.3 million people who make a full-time living on eBay, I can appreciate the impact of wading through the complexities of eBay to establish a viable business only to be held hostage to eBay’s ongoing, management-by-surprise change approach — one that appears to show a lack of appreciation towards the community and business model it is responsible for creating. They are no longer trusted, which may eventually be their biggest problem of all.
For me, with my FB 152/100%, it’s a different problem. I loved eBay before the concept of Stores, Powersellers, automation, etc. I loved it when it was abound with pop culture and collectibles, vs. today’s high volume, repeat listings. I’m the original target customer, that seems to now be completely forgotten and perhaps never to be found again (literally, the eBay Search engines might not even take notice of me). Today’s eBay is very different from yesterday. It’s no longer fun for me. It’s stressful and fiercely competitive. For those of you buying and selling in the category of children’s clothing on eBay, the real impact of the current changes is ultimately minimal to the cost of selling. However, the policies and complexities in eBay that prevent an easy, fun experience still exist, and seem to be heading in the wrong direction – towards more complexity instead of towards more simplicity.
So, is it an “Outrage”?
Yes. But “Outageous”? No. The time has come. The forces toward expanding the options availabe in on-line auction marketplaces are unstoppable. The ability for eBay to meet everyone’s expectations is impossible — so it must choose a strategy. We all hope it’s a successful one.
Or, Just Plain “Out”?
Yes. This too. The time has definitely come for new options to serve the vastness of the on-line marketplace. I believe the successful new marketplaces will focus on specialty niches, on simplicity, and on their customers — ultimately providing value for their customers and for the markets they serve. This is the inspiration for Loobalee — Coming soon.
— Suzanne Rielle, Co-founder, Loobalee.com
