[tag]eBay[/tag] announced the changes for 2008 this morning to a [tag]community[/tag] on the edge of their seats. Judging from the comments around the net tonight though - most of those folks fell off their chair right after their jaw hit the floor.
[tag]Feedback changes[/tag] cause an absolute uproar among sellers
eBay has decided that sellers will soon no longer be able to leave negative feedback comments for buyers. (Yes, that was a period.) They may however leave positive comments. The initial outrage was over what can be done about buyers who are - for lack of a better term - jerks. They are out there. They have outrageous demands and when not appeased, they leave the seller [tag]negative feedback[/tag]. "Tough," says eBay. eBay's intentions are to be more strict with the buyer behind the scenes, when they receive Un-Paid Item notices from sellers. Hmmmm... it's not flying with sellers.
The decision raises other questions though. Feedback was originally instituted to protect the community from bad members, and to reward good members.
[tag]Sellers[/tag] who sell regularly to the same buyer will now be able to receive up to one feedback comment per week. That seems nice. But what if a buyer leaves a negative comment each time? Can they receive a negative comment from the same buyer once per week? Not if the seller adds that buyer to their Blocked Buyer list I guess. Maybe that is why eBay has raised the capacity of the Blocked Buyer list from 1000 up to a whopping 5000 user IDs. What kind of signal does that send?
What's next?
I have tried to remain positive about eBay for a long time. I have openly criticized the whining, complaining members and suggested they grow up. Unfortunately I cannot disagree with them about this. It is a wrong decision. Sellers will leave. I have to think Amazon employees were howling with glee when this announcement was read today. Because that's where they're going. Some eBay instructors feel the added complications will help us get more students, but PR means a lot. The negative talk surrounding this decision will make people think twice about spending $50 - $75 for an eBay class. This is bad for everyone, including buyers, because there will now be fewer sellers and less product on the site.
If at the end of [tag]eBay Live![/tag] this year, the '09 city is "to be announced," I think that will be over too. My prediction is that 2008 will be the last year of eBay Live! Anyone else get that feeling yet?
As the old eBay goes away with [tag]Meg[/tag], and [tag]Bill Cobb[/tag], the end of eBay University, sellers leaving for their own websites or [tag]Amazon[/tag] - what do you predict the picture will look like one year from now?
Popularity: 4% [?]
1 comment so far ↓
In a COMPUTERWORLD article by Linda Rosencrance, Tim Boyd, an analyst at American Technology Research Inc., was quoted as saying, “”These are the same sellers who have been whining for three years about wanting to pay only for performance… I am so sick of listening to these guys [complaining about this]. That’s all they do is [complain]. Let them strike. Someone will step in and take their place. EBay did not raise its fees; it slashed its insertions fees and raised the final value fees, and for some sellers — some sellers — it amounts to a fee increase.”
I’d predict, if this reflects the eBay attitude as well, sellers will migrate to other sites and where they’ll get a little more respect. I moved to OLA.com quite a while ago.
Leave a Comment