It seems like everyone thinks eBay's business is off. Except eBay CEO, John Donahoe. In a CNN Money interview yesterday he was asked several times by Poppy Harlow, "Is eBay losing business because of the changes?" To which he finally stated "No, our business continues to move forward in what is a very challenging economy."
"We're simply doing what our sellers have been asking us to do"
I don't mean to be unkind, but in his initial responses Mr. Donahoe's replies sound pretty "canned." Then he just says things that don't make much sense. I understand being on national TV can make a person a little nervous, but - well, here are a couple of examples:
When discussing fees, Ms. Harlow brings out that many are unhappy with the fee changes. She says, "You say prices are not higher when all is said and done, can you respond to the criticism some people have of the fee structure?"
Mr. Donahoe replies:
We're simply doing what our sellers have been asking us to do which is, lower the cost to list on eBay and pay more if an item sells successfully. So what we've done, is on our fixed-price items, we've lowered the listing cost on eBay, so that ...lowers the risk.
Then he says something that doesn't make all that much sense in my book. He says,
We've aligned eBay's incentives with theirs where they only pay fees if an item successfully sells.
There's always a lot of "aligning" and "incentivising" going on with him.
But anyway, next Poppy Harlow asks again, "has eBay lost any business because of the changes?"
Reply?
Any time there's a change, there's a transition."
Hold the phone! What? Change and transition go hand in hand?
Okay then, what was the transition?
Sellers are adopting to the changes.
(Here again, I don't want to be a jackass, but either they are adopting the changes, or they are adapting to the changes.)
We have plenty of examples where sellers...believe many of the changes we've made are exactly in the right direction."
Since he didn't answer the question, for at least the third time, Ms. Harlow asks, "So, have you lost any business from this?" To which Mr. Donahoe replies,
No, our business continues to move forward in what is a very challenging economy.
Well good. 'Cause I thought things were kind of getting screwed up. But everything is fine.
The reporter asks one more zinger at the end. "Any plans to sell Skype?"
We are very please with Skype as a business, and continue to grow it.
Maybe if she asks that question three times he'll finally answer it too.
If you would like to watch the interview for yourself, you can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/donahoe-cnn
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9 comments ↓
Ouch! Nothing else to say but ouch!
The transition JD talks about is from the core of eBay’s business which was small to medium sized sellers to big box sellers who enjoy reduced or totally free listings and reduced FVF’s.
John, how about some numbers? Like, the percentage EBAY has gone down this week, churn rate, skype growth ANYTHING. Meg would have brought numbers to that interview. John- this is a challenging economy- for the love of God wear a tie next time.
Reminds me of and old joke. How can you tell if John Donahoe is lying? His lips are moving. Only in this case, he’s not lying, he’s Ebayspeaking (a specialised kind of corporatespeak) and spinning and dancing around the questions with strange answers that indicate that he really doesn’t have a clue what’s actually going on. Or that he does, and he’s just determined not to admit it…
No, our business continues to move forward in what is a very challenging economy
Did you hear how tight his voice got when he said that? He knows he’s lying. But he’s got to stay positive for the company without telling lies that would get him in trouble with the SEC. So a non-answer answer. But he knows he’s lost business, big-time.
Well they have lost may business! Any one know of a good auction site us losers can flock to? :-)
Try http://www.onlineauction.com . They’re not perfect yet, but neither was ebay at the beginning, and they are growing fast. Check out their message boards and see how many former eBay sellers are there now, and more being added every day.
You are not alone with your frustrations of ebay, Donahoe and or Paypal.
Don’t let Donahoe continue ruining your businesses, finances and reputations. Empower yourselves. Share this with others, too!
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?jdonohoe&1
petition can also be found with an internet search of:
“Ebay Stockholders and Sellers Calling For Immediate Termination of John Donohoe CEO”
——————–
From a 9 year seller with PERFECT feedback & DSR’s, who is done with ebay until JD is GONE!
This post was removed by ebay from ebay forums on 11/7/2008 the original poster is a hero!! Everyone is complaining, this poster told us exactly what is wrong with the new search.
THIS IS A MUST READ!!!
Are you experiencing slow sales?, look at your item views, they are
not being viewed. The ebay policy which was suppose to give the
buyer a good experience and reward you for giving good service and
free shipping, is in conflict with the new search. Have you worked
hard to keep up your dsr’s and positive feedback? It does not matter
with the new search, Is your search standing raised? It does not
matter. Did you offer free shipping to get a better search standing ,
It does not matter. Here is the cold hard truth. The new search
rewards sellers with lower feedback, lower dsr’s, and policy
violations. Here is how it is. Those sellers are pricing their items
dirt cheap, when they do so, they sell more. They are placed as the
first item at the top of the page if they sell more, no matter if it
is bad quality, bad customer service, bad shipping , or whatever,
they get top search because they sell more. So ebay telling you that
you have a raised search is not true, the truth is if your cheaper
and I mean a lot cheaper, you are number one in the search standing in ebays eyes. If your
selling a better quality item you are cheated. I urge you to
COMPLAIN TO EBAY. Contact ebay customer service and complain
today!!! Contact the BBB in San Jose CA. This is absolutely true I
have had several people investigate, I JUST SPOKE WITH EBAY, THE REP
AGREED IT WAS WRONG AND THAT IT WAS VERY UNFAIR, THE REP CHECKED
ACCOUNTS AND AGREED WITH ME AND SAID SHE WOULD PASS IT ALONG. IF
THEY ARE NOT LISTENING TO THOUSANDS OF SELLERS, THEY ARE NOT GOING TO
LISTEN TO ONE REP. MAKE A COMPLAINT! DO IT! IF YOU DO NOT, NOTHING WILL
CHANGE. This was all planned, it is a scheme to get you to list
more, list with free shipping which raised your FVF, didn’t it. It
all did not matter, it increased ebays revenue, and your sales have
nose dived. I fell into the trap I have 900 listings with free
shipping, and my sales are way below what they should be. I looked at
my active listings no views.
The seller posting this is completely right.
We also recommend you contact the District Attorney’s office in the county where the business is located to file a complaint. Many local district attorneys, through consumer fraud units, prosecute fraudulent practices in their communities. You may contact the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office at the following:
County of Santa Clara
Office of the District Attorney
70 West Hedding Street, West Wing
San Jose, California 95110
Telephone: (408) 299-7400
E-mail: webmaster@da.co.santa-clara.ca.us
Web site: http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/da/
In addition, we suggest that you contact the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General (AG). The AG’s office establishes and operates projects and programs to protect consumers from fraudulent, unfair, and illegal activities that victimize consumers. The AG enforces consumer laws by seeking injunctions and civil penalties and has jurisdiction to stop a particular business practice and seek penalties for violations of the law. For more information, please visit the AG’s Web site at http://www.caag.state.ca.us, or contact the AG directly at the following:
California Department of Justice
Office of the Attorney General
PO Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
Toll free: (800) 952-5225 (in California)
Telephone: (916) 322-3360
Web site: http://www.caag.state.ca.us
You may use the following link to the California AG’s office to file a complaint:
http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL
We hope this information is helpful.
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