@evil_akuma_2002 wrote:
Tried listing a couple of items this morning - and found the postage section unduly and needlessly complicated.
Ebay insisted that the methods I wanted to use were ineligible - 500g satchels, posted free.
Mind you, after filling out the form 4 times, it accepted the parameters without a hitch!
Ebay...gotta love it!
More and more, they're working to shed themselves of we smaller sellers, with uneccessary complications and costs.
Thanks Ebay. Glad you remember your roots!
And the weirdest thing is that their new paradigm has failed miserably.
Last quarters results were disgraceful and way below market averages. eBay squandered the Christmas shopping period.
Buyers are a pretty savvy bunch these days and have had a few years to come to grips with e-tail.
Marketing hype and constant unnecessary "improvements" do nothing to add to the value of eBay as a venue.
This sort of stuffing about simply drives buyers to other venues.
If only eBay had kept four things in mind it wouldn't be in the parlous state it now finds itself:
1. Keep it safe - weed out dodgy sellers, buyers and keep on top of security.
Hint - use people rather than algorithms for this. An algorithm is fine for finding but lousy at evaluation.
2. Keep it simple - buyers just want to get on and find what they are after or have the freedom to shop around without being marketed to ad nauseum.
eg - If a buyer wants to set up search to run the way they want then let them. Why default back to best match?
3. Keep it sane - buyers are not computer programmers or web designers and do not appreciate having to relearn how to shop every few weeks or so.
eg - where have the shop categories gone; they certainly aren't in the listing frames any more!
4. Keep it working - If they do have to perform an upgrade for goodness sake, make sure the site doesn't break in the process!
Hint - if the site is so broken or slow that buyers can't use it they will go elsewhere!
This stuff is not rocket science, it's simple retail logic, though that seems to be a commodity in short supply at eBay.
