The current state of eBay

[Ns1]

An intelligent debate would be appreciated

It doesn't matter if you're a buyer or a seller on eBay, because it's a pretty shtty time to be either.

As a seller, could things possibly get any worse? Rapidly declining price levels, an overly saturated market, and rising fees makes for nonexistant profits. It's just SO HORRENDOUSLY hard to make a profit there unless you got crazy hookups. And even when you DO sell something, 1/4 times they want you to send them sht to Africa along with the balance of their cashier's check.

Is it any better as a buyer? FCK no! A search for most items yields thousands of results. But those thousand results are from 50 sellers! Why on earth would you want to see a page of search results containing the same 2-3 links over and over and over?

eBay's declining profit is a sure indicator that they aren't listening to their users. And a Google search will easily turn up thousands of disgrunted sellers/buyers.

So what's in store for eBay? What could they do to make it better?

I would say they should RAISE their fees substantially. Why? To prevent spammers! Who's going to list 10 identical auctions everyday if it's costing them a dollar an auction? This would be BETTER for sellers because gradually, as nonprofitable sellers drop out of the market, supply would decrease, demand would increase, and prices will raise, resulting in higher profits.

This would make the buying experience more pleasant because it will be easier because the buyer will have less bs to filter though. Not to mention, who's going to list all though 1c ebook auctions when it's costing them a dollar each? Less feedback padding will (or should) help prevent fraud.

Anyway, just had to rant, your thoughts?

 

[imported_Mike]

While that might get rid of spammers (which really only affects buyers) it will not get rid of scammers.

 

[KrillBee]

you used to be able to look at completed sales and sort by "buy it now" or "auction"
for some reason you cant do that anymore

theyve changed quite a few features and the look of their site, for the worse

 

[sswingle]

I still use ebay a lot, mostly for buying. I can find what I want, and the price is usually good. It is the only place you can get some things, like collectables.

Selling is a ripoff with the fees, but I usually get an amount that Im happy with when I sell something.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: KrillBee
you used to be able to look at completed sales and sort by "buy it now" or "auction"
for some reason you cant do that anymore

theyve changed quite a few features and the look of their site, for the worse

You can still look at buy it now only items...I do that all the time.

 

[spaceman]

i think it is what it is.
turbo lister has tools to filter certain buyers out which come in handy.
the fees aren't prohibitive enough to not list there, especially when you have an item that needs a market.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

The single biggest problem I think, is ebay's unwillingness to do anything about the problems with the feedback system. I can understand the fees and stuff, but what good is a feedback system when people leave positives on crappy transactions because they fear the seller will unfairly leave a negative if the buyer leaves one first. Or vice versa. Oh, and the scammers suck, however in my paltry 310 transactions I've never encountered one.

 

[mugs]

I don't think raising the fees would have your desired effect. As long as there is money to be made, people will list stuff.

 

[lokiju]

I know plenty of people that have had horrible experiences with Ebay and have sworn off it.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: lokiju
I know plenty of people that have had horrible experiences with Ebay and have sworn off it.

Why are these people having horrible experiences? I think thats the real question. Are they too dumb or lazy to do a little research into what they're buying or who they're buying from/selling to? There seems to be too many people who are too impatient or just too stupid.

I've been using Ebay (buying and selling) for years and not once have I had a problem.
Sure I got the occasional scammer wanting to buy my item but I know what to look for and know it was a scam so I don't deal with those people.

I'm not saying it doesn't have its problems, but I just think a lot of it is user error.

 

[Triumph]

I dunno, ebay works for what I use it for. I don't buy brand new stuff on there, that's absolutely pointless because people always bid it up to market price anyway, so why don't I just order it from a real retailer with a real website? Ebay is for things that I can't easily find anywhere else, usually used stuff. A hard drive tray for a 600 mhz Dell Inspiron. A turn signal for my motorcycle. Or any sort of collectible memorabilia. I hate the fact that sellers now charge exhorbitant shipping fees to pad their profits, but for simply looking for used items that you can't find anywhere else, ebay can't be beat. And a competing auction company won't have the selection because they don't have the audience.

 

[zebano]

I just wonder why it takes $15 to ship a used cell phone? I just want a cheap replacement for my POS, there is no need for $10 worth on insurance (as if). Sellers are just adding their minimum price into the shipping and it sucks.

I rarely use ebay (2x/yr), so this may be fixed now, but when a buyer has a reserve...
1. Why isn't it visible to the seller
2. Why don't bids just start at that amount? I have had auctions where I am the only bidder and since my bid started at $.99 with a max of $20, but there were no other bids, the reserve of $9 (or whatever amount) was not reached.... just stupid. Question to sellers: isn't the min bid configurable? therefor is this just a case of stupid sellers?