Entries from July 2008 ↓
July 31st, 2008 — Selling Your Stuff
eBay has announced after careful consideration, they are leaving their links policy as is. That is good news. On May 19, 2008, eBay announced a change to their links policy. This change would have required sellers to remove nearly every outbound link from any seller-created page, including listing pages, and About Me pages. Now, we'll pretend the whole thing was a big mistake. We sellers can keep our links. But just imagine the number of hours already spent, changing listings "just in case" eBay went ahead with the new "no links" decision.
Hours have been lost changing listings, and griping on discussion boards that could have been spent productively by sellers this summer. For some sellers, the new links policy was the last straw - and they left.
There is no question that the earlier announcement was carefully considered. So this decision to leave the policy as is screams to be scrutinized. Is eBay feeling the heat of disgruntled sellers? Has the internal communication broken down so one hand doesn't know what the other is doing? eBay doesn't reverse many decisions, so something out of the norm seems to be happening.
The bottom line is - even though we can keep links in our About Me pages and even some in our listings - this was sloppy and hurt eBay sellers and eBay as a company. What a shame.
Jerkin' Back and Forth
Take a look at the lyrics and video from this 1981 song by Devo - does this fit with the eBay we know today? If I had to sing a song to eBay, here's how it would go...
Jerkin' Back and Forth Lyrics
I know I let you tell me what to do
You were confident you knew best
Now things arent working like you want them to
Your confidence is what I detest
You got me lookin up high
You got me searchin down low
You got me I know you know
You got me jerkin back n forth
You told me people like to suffer
You told me thats the way it is
You said that things were getting better
You said I should expect all this
You think its funny
But what I say is true
The reason that I live like this
Is all because of you
There is a thought that keeps me thinking
Like a stone inside my shoe
It is a vision reoccurring
A dirty window I can see you through
You can read the official announcement here.
Popularity: 20% [?]
July 29th, 2008 — Amazon Selling
"Is it true that Amazon requires a UPC for every item? How can I sell my one of a kind or antique item without a UPC?"
Amazon recently announced they would require UPC codes on products listed in their catalog:
Starting in August 2008, our systems will require a UPC for products listed in the Amazon.com Home and Garden store. Items without UPCs create challenges for both Amazon and our merchants, but more importantly, they degrade the shopping experience for our customers due to duplicate product listings and incorrect search matches. While we have always advised merchants to provide a UPC for each of their listings, we have not required it until now.
Items such as antiques, handmade items, or other items without a UPC can still be sold on Amazon.com. If you have such an item, and you have a Pro-Merchant account, you can still create a product description page using the Everything Else category. A word of caution though: If your item SHOULD have a UPC and there is a category specifically for it on Amazon, you may not use the Everything Else category as a work-around. In other words, don't try to cheat. Everything Else means "everything else" other than categorized items. Amazon is pretty strict about keeping the site well organized.
There are two things you can do to try to get around the UPC requirement. First, you can talk with a rep on the phone. If you've been frustrated with eBay phone support - you'll be happy with Amazon. From your Manage Your Inventory Page, in the upper right click "Seller Help" and have Amazon call you. Then ask them what you should do to be able to list your item.
Second, if you hit the UPC wall, you can email Amazon and ask for an exception to the rule for your product. There is a good chance you can get one if you make your case well. Be polite, and don't get nasty if you can't get an exception right now. They assure me they are working on a number of things to accommodate the large number of eBay sellers beginning to sell there. (I predict a "Collectibles" category in the future - you heard it here first.)
Here is some information directly from Amazon you should find helpful:
Currently, we require a Universal Product Code (UPC) or a European
Article Numbers (EAN) for many products submitted through our Create a
Product Detail Page feature. We require this identifying data for the
following products:
* Baby Products (UPC or EAN)
* Camera & Photo (UPC or EAN)
* Electronics (UPC or EAN)
* Home, Kitchen & Garden (UPC or EAN)
* Music CD or Cassette (UPC or EAN)
* Musical Instruments (UPC or EAN)
* Software (UPC or EAN)
* Tools & Hardware (UPC or EAN)
* Toys & Games (UPC or EAN)
* Video & DVD (UPC)
If the item you would like to sell falls under one of the categories
listed above and does not have the required product identifier, it
cannot be listed using the Create a Product Detail Page feature.
However, if the item being sold was manufactured or printed prior to
the establishment of UPC codes, you can write to our Seller
Performance group to request permission to create the catalog page
without the UPC. You can contact this department via email using the
following address:
seller-performance@amazon.com
For more information on obtaining a UPC or EAN, please contact:
Uniform Code Council Inc.
8163 Old Yankee Road, Suite J
Dayton, OH 45458 USA
Telephone: (937) 435-3870
http://www.gs1us.org
UPDATE: If you can find your item already listed by another seller, viola! You can piggy-back on their UPC. This may not help sellers of many one-of-a-kind items, but with so many items in the Amazon.com catalog, search for your product - even though unique - before giving up entirely.
Popularity: 41% [?]
July 28th, 2008 — eBay News and Talk
Twenty-three years ago this month I was living in New York and the world was all a twitter over "new" Coke. Coca-cola had built a brand, and a unique taste that had lasted through two world wars, and spread to nearly the entire world. Then they decided to tinker with the product. If you remember those days, you'll remember it was a big deal. eBay should take some lessons from what happened back then - I know they won't...but work with me here - I can dream can't I?
The Cola Wars
In the years leading up to 1985 Coca-cola was losing market share. People seemed to like the sweeter taste of Pepsi. Back then you could go into a grocery store in the U.S. and there would be a little stand inviting you you to take the "Pepsi Challenge" - blindly comparing a small sample of Pepsi (product "M") and Coke (product "Q") to see which you liked best. (I always picked Coke.)
Well, Coke figured they'd better do something, even if it meant tampering with a legendary formula that had been nearly unchanged for a century. They did research. They spent over $4,000,000 on research and conducted over 200,000 taste tests. All that served as the basis for the launch of a new, sweeter Coke on April 23, 1985.
The world went mad. Seriously. The launch created a public outcry, Coke headquarters received over 40,000 letters of complaint and over 6,000 calls a day to the company's 1-800-GET-COKE number. A psychiatrist Coke hired to listen in on phone calls to the company hotline, told executives some people sounded as if they were discussing the death of a family member. (Sound familiar eBay people?)
87 days later, on July 10, 1985, the company responded to the public demand and re-introduced the original Coke formula as Coca-cola CLASSIC. ABC News' Peter Jennings interrupted regular programming to share the news with viewers. On the floor of the U.S. Senate, David Pryor called the reintroduction "a meaningful moment in U.S. history".
What went wrong?
Coke spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out where it had made a mistake, ultimately concluding that it had underestimated the public impact of the portion of the customer base that would be alienated by the switch.
The Aftermath
By the end of 1985 Coke CLASSIC was outselling Pepsi three-to-one. It put Coca-cola back in the number one spot over arch-rival Pepsi. (Some conspiracy theorists have even suggested the whole fiasco was a cleverly planned stunt to put Coke back on top. But Coke President Donald Keough answered all speculation by saying "We're not that dumb, and we're not that smart", as Coke Classic was reintroduced.)
Lessons for eBay
eBay's changes over the past year have had obvious effects on sellers in the trenches. The executives can talk about all the research they've done, they can try to spin the New eBay as better for everyone, they can say (which they regularly do) that "this is what we hear you want." But they have underestimated their customer's emotional attachment to eBay. Sellers are leaving, and for those that are staying - it will affect you too.
For sellers who stay on at eBay and say, "Go ahead and leave grouchy sellers, it will just mean more for us!" Consider your local shopping mall or (God forbid) flea market...are you more likely to spend time shopping at a marketplace with LOTS of vendors or just a few? We've all been in those malls on the edge of town that only have a couple of second rate shoe stores and a lot of closed stores - after a time or two of not finding what you came for, you don't go back right?
In examining the aftermath of the "new" Coke fiasco - it was discovered that there was much more to the story than just taste. The Pepsi Challenge was a sip taste or CLT (central location test). The Coke people made their decisions based on this small test. But often the CLT is blown away when a person does a home-use test. In other words, if people took a case of Pepsi home, they may not like it more than Coke.
eBay is doing something similar. They add or change little bits here or there, and they say it's what customers want. But are they actually asking "customers" to look at the whole, new eBay? or just one-off features and changes? Once the customer gets the whole product, with all the changes, they don't seem to like it.
Those Coke executives lost site of the fact that people don't drink soda "blind." They associate the drink with the brand. They have emotional connections with that Coke logo. Coke focused exclusively on the product, and left the brand behind. eBay execs have done the same thing. They're ready to throw out everything that made eBay - eBay in pursuit of a "better product." It seems eBay is trying to be more like Amazon just as Coke wanted to be more like Pepsi.
eBay is letting loyal, emotionally attached customers slip away. eBay was fun, certainly more fun than Amazon, but decision makers at eBay are dispensing with fun. Malcolm Gladwell points out in his book Blink, "Coke's problem is that the guys in the white coats took over." eBay's problem is that the MBAs took over. They don't understand people, and they're losing to Amazon.
Coke is once again the number one soft drink. What would have happened if they had not listened to their customers? Well, it's a pretty good bet you wouldn't be reading this.
PS - Just to make the point - TASTE is not what drives listings like the ones below, it's all emotion for a brand. How are the eBay collectibles doing?
Popularity: 29% [?]
July 17th, 2008 — Amazon Selling, eBay News and Talk
eBay had the Q2 2008 earnings call yesterday. The first one with John Donahoe at the wheel. There were decreases. They were blamed on things such as removal of fakes (what?), the economy (shouldn't eBay do better when people are hunting for bargains?), and added supply, which lowers conversion rates (Buy.com?).
Do you suppose the fact that people are leaving for Amazon in droves may play a part? My eBook which teaches eBay sellers the basics of getting started on Amazon.com is called, "Selling on the River" and it's having great success. That tells me something.
Anyway, I got to thinking of all the talk of "taking the wheel," "roadmaps", and all that travel talk and imagined all the eBay executives on a road trip to Pittsburgh. I thought it'd be interesting to be a fly on the windshield (the inside) and listen to their conversations. It's all just below this cool graphic I made up just to help you imagine it too:
John Donahoe: See ya Meg! Thanks for everything!
(door slams - everyone giggles) "ROAD TRIP!" they all shout.
The car takes off with John, Lorrie, Rajiv, and Stephanie.
Lorrie Norrington: Pittsburgh here we come! John, you have the roadmap right?
John: Yep. Right here. Rajiv, you'll navigate okay?
Rajiv: I sure will. I have a new navigation system that will get us exactly where we want to go. It's called Best Match Navigation - I type in the city and it picks the right one every time! P-I-T-T-S...Hey! Got it already! Lets lock it in.
John: I'm pulling over for a minute, I should check under the hood.
Stephanie Tilenius: It seems like it's running fine. Are you a mechanic John?
John: No, but I've ridden in cars my whole life. - I'll be right back.
He lifts the hood, and comes back holding a couple of dirty, well-used parts between his index finger and thumb (as if they stink). He seems disgusted.
John: I don't know who left this stuff under the hood, look how dirty! Yuk. Lets toss them out.
Lorrie: Don't we need them? It seemed like the car was running fine.
John: Nawwww! Listen. The car is running, lets go. You know? I think I'm going to make some more changes to this old girl. It might slow us down a little for awhile, but just wait - you'll see. It's gonna be a LOT better once I'm done.
As they go further, they notice the car slowing down. A lot of noise starts coming from the engine. To make matters worse, they don't seem to be getting closer to Pittsburgh.
John: Well just like I said, we're slowing down. But it's going to speed up any time. Why are people waving and yelling at us? They seem mad...is that smoke? Lorrie do you smell anything?
Lorrie: Let's stop for a sec. Stephanie and I are going to look under the hood too. Rajiv, could you double-check the Best Match nav system? Something doesn't look right. Be right Back!
More noises and clunking under the hood. Lorrie comes back with more parts from the engine. Stephanie has masking tape, paint, and a fender.
Stephanie: That did some good. You won't recognize this car by the time we get to Pittsburgh. It's looking great!
Rajiv (annoyed, from the back seat): Didn't I type in Pittsburgh? Because we're heading to PittsFIELD! Crap. Let me try again... P-I-T-T-S...
Lorrie: John, look at all those people - they're waving and yelling at us. They're upset, oh we've driven over their lawns, ooops, I think we hit someone's store too. Well, we don't have time to stop and talk, they'll figure out what happened when they try to open for business tomorrow.
John: Yeah, it's just a lot of noise. Let's keep going. This car is really slowing down. Look at that boat right there on the River - it's passing us!
Rajiv: Grrr! I can't believe this thing! This nav system is not working right at all, we're gonna have to turn up here John, that sign says Pittsville not Pittsburgh. Gheez, this is frustrating! I'll try again...P-I-T-T-S...
John: Whew! It's getting hot in here - and what is that NOISE? Rajiv, where did you get that stupid navigation system? eBay? Hahaha!
(Everyone laughs - except Rajiv.)
Rajiv: No I bought it from you John, remember? You tried selling it on eBay and the buyer never paid. Don't you remember? They left you negative feedback.
(Now no one is laughing...)
John: Well, it seems like the noise is dying down. In fact - a bunch of those people are getting on that boat. Goooood riddance!! Troublemakers. What River is that by the way?...
(Cell phone rings)
Stephanie: Hey John, there is some kind of analyst on the phone - he wants to know why you're going so slow.
John: Tell him, uhhh, tell him we're going slow because of the weather. Things will be picking up very soon though, what we've been doing is working. Tell him that.
(She tells him.)
Stephanie: Ok, he said he thought this car was designed to do good in this weather.
John: Uhhmmmm, tell him we took some of the fake parts off the car, and now it's going a lot slower, it's going to get better. We'll just keep doing what we're doing.
(She tells him.)
Stephanie: He said it seems like the car would do better after removing the fakes. He wants to know if...
Suddenly, John grabs the phone from Stephanie and throws it out the window.
John: There. Too much noise. Lets just hold the course. This thing will pick up. Hey, if we tried getting on the River, maybe we could move a little faster. We need to be more like that boat. Can you even see that boat anymore?
Rajiv: (exasperated) You know what? This is ridiculous! This Best Match doesn't work. This isn't Pittsburgh, it's just the PITTS! I'm getting out. John, stop the car. Nevermind we weren't moving...
I'll see you guys, I'm walking.
As Rajiv walks into the sunset, and traffic increases on the River...John, Lorrie, and Stephanie can be seen asking a passing trucker for a lift. The big truck he's driving says Buy.com on the side...hmmmmm.
Find out more about "the River" - Learn to sell on Amazon.com at www.SellingOnTheRiver.com
Popularity: 39% [?]
July 13th, 2008 — Selling Your Stuff
July 18th, the official release date for The Dark Knight, the newest Batman movie. For years I've been telling people to watch for big releases, and cash in on the buzz with eBay. Does it still work?
I did some research with Terapeak, and the results are interesting. If you have some old Batman grappling hooks, or one of the three Batmobile replicas in your barn, you may want to drag them out. In fact, as I write this, there is a No. 1 issue of Bat-Man on eBay for nearly $6000. (Yes, he was first referred to as Bat-Man.) As the buzz for the movie increases, so will the interest in Batman memorabilia. And there is some really cool stuff out there.
Terapeak results show the sell-through rate for Batman on eBay, over the past seven days is at 52% and climbing. The best sell-through rate is Toys & Hobbies category, with Collectibles category doing a little less, but with the most items listed. The fact is, this is a great example of a predictable pop culture event, that will pull all the Bat-people out of the rafters to sell their stuff. Collectors will be looking and the competition will raise prices.
eBay used to be the go-to place for these things. My opinion is eBay still is. While I love Amazon, no place has the excitement of the eBay auctions for collectibles. With all of eBay's bruises lately, lets see if they can still perform for the Dark Knight.
Check out the Batman items for sale below. Holy IT Batman!!
Popularity: 17% [?]
July 10th, 2008 — eBay News and Talk
eBay announced today they are reversing their decision to count negative feedback comments as negatives. This was a very hot topic at eBay Live! in Chicago last month and likely be welcomed warmly by the eBay community. Effective in late August, neutrals will no longer be counted as part of the Feedback percentage. eBay will be recalculating Feedback percentages retroactively for users worldwide. In the interim, no one will lose their PowerSeller status as a result of neutrals being included in their Feedback percentage. Sweeet!!
The Neutral as Negative policy caused many eBay Powersellers, Trading Assistants, and Education Specialists to lose their status as such. To qualify for those titles, sellers must have at least a 98% positive feedback rating, and counting neutrals against sellers often brought them below that standard.
People were so upset about it because it just wasn't fair. Neutral does not mean negative. But eBay tried to make the case that since neutral was 'less than positive' it should count as a negative. Fine, if eBay wants to rate customer satisfaction like that inside eBay - go ahead. But as for my public feedback score, lets not reinterpret the buyer's intentions. Good for eBay - they got something right!
Click here to read the entire announcement by Lorrie Norrington.
Popularity: 24% [?]
July 3rd, 2008 — Recommended
Last month's eBay Live! in Chicago was the first I've attended where I was not part of the hired staff. eBay always provided the "Staff" shirts for us, but this year I had to buy my own.
I wanted to advertise my humble blog, but I didn't want to spend a fortune. Then I remembered CafePress. In case you haven't used CafePress, it's a site where you can create designs and slogans, have them placed on shirts, mugs, clocks, hats, aprons, and offer them to the public. If anyone buys an item with your design, you get a commission. They even offer a store to feature your stuff. It's free to create the designs and list your items.
In any case, I created a logo for my shirts. I ordered two polos for eBay Live! with plenty of time to spare. I received confirmation of the order and shipment and eagerly awaited my shirts. By the time I was leaving for Chicago, it was obvious there was a problem with delivery. I was leaving and still no shirts.
Needless to say, I was a bit ticked-off. I email Customer Service and asked them to fix the problem, at least give me a refund since I would not be able to use my shirts (unless of course I'm still a XXL in 2010).
To my surprise, within about 30 minutes I received a reply. I expected the canned "We've received your email and we'll get to it when we can." message. But no. It was from a real human. Support Associate, Santana J. apologized and said a refund was definitely in order and they'd remake the shirts at no extra charge.
I wrote back explaining that there wasn't time for all that - unless they could ship them directly to my hotel. Then I left for the mid-west. When I arrived at my hotel in Chicago after a three-day visit with family - my shirts were there. It isn't often nowadays things go so smoothly - but CafePress pulled it off without any hitches.
It's nice to see that even though I'm a small first-time buyer I was treated as an important customer. I will never forget that service and I will be back.
PS - For Sellers...
In February when I was playing around with CafePress, I created this mug:
I was really just trying to figure out how it all worked, and basically forgot about it. At the time I purchased my shirts, my account had over $40 in it from sales of that mug. I KNOWWW!! Surely you could think up something way funnier than that. It is definitely a proposition any seller with creativity should look into. Shop or Create What's On Your Mind at CafePress
Popularity: 27% [?]
