Back in 2001 eBay handed out a few little goodies to their employees. This book marker was one of them. The same day, we also received a book called "for the people". Full of stories from happy eBay sellers as well as a page from Pierre Omidyar, eBay's founder.
In light of recent events at eBay, I wonder if they feel they are holding to the "core purpose" and their "vision for the future"? Have they earned the title of "a global economic democracy"? Or have they abandoned these ideas? I think it's interesting how much these ideas lean toward the seller, and that eBay is a marketplace.
They have gotten so involved in the transaction now that these ideas seem like ancient history. I remember years ago when they agonized over whether to allow Nazi items on the site. It was so agonizing because they were making a moral judgment after demanding to be recognized as "just a venue". If sellers and buyers had a problem back then, eBay's line was typically that it's between those two parties and eBay could not get involved. "We just provide the marketplace."
I also found it interesting in Pierre's page of the book he mentions the member "experience".
A member's experience wasn't dependent on their interaction with us, but more on how they interacted with on another.
Seems that interaction is becoming more and more difficult, because eBay keeps getting in the way. Pierre goes on to say,
I was thrust into the role of communicating the values I believed in, and setting the tone for those interactions. That's actually where the core values for the company come from - basic ideas about people treating each other fairly and equally, respecting individuality, believing that everyone has something to contribute, and trusting that an honest and open environment can bring out the best in people.
eBay as we knew it is over. They have become strangely paranoid. Disallowing links to the outside world, trying to control sellers with smoke and mirror discounts based on shipping charges, and rumors of a PayPal only policy.
Does that sound like a global economic democracy? I did a search for a list of all the countries in the world on Wikipedia, then I looked for the ones that felt they had to tell the world they are a "democracy" by putting in their country's name. Here's a short list:
- Algeria - People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
- East Timor - Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
- North Korea - Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- Laos - Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Western Sahara - Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Not surprisingly, these countries are not known as bastions of freedom.
Then there's one that is no longer around. They clamped down on people who tried to stay connected with the outside world. They even shot their own citizens. They built a wall to keep people in, but ultimately, people figured out a way to leave, and the country melted away. It was called the German Democratic Republic - otherwise known as East Germany.
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1 comment so far ↓
Fascinating piece of eBay memorabilia. It was an awesome mission statement. Pierre created something the likes of which had never seen before… Where a seller in Yakima, Washington could sell something to a buyer in Sydney, Australia. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it.
I think the problem is that eBay has always said it’s only a “venue” for people to sell in. But I don’t think it is or has ever been possible to be just a venue.
If you provide a platform for people to trade on - you will always be in some way, responsible for what happens there.
I think if eBay had come out strong with rules in the beginning, eBay would have been a known entity (much like Amazon is). You may not have liked the rules, but you always know where you stand - and as a seller you could have made an informed business decision as to whether or not to do business on eBay from there.
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