eBay Connect 2019 - conclusions drawn by Mario (Gixen operator)

[countessalmirena]

Mario (from Gixen) was at the eBay Connect 2019 conference (25-26 June, in San Jose) and has thoughts to share. The first point of interest was that he stated that he wished eBay users had access to eBay engineers and executives rather than just customer support. Implicit in what he said was that he was impressed by eBay engineers, and not so impressed by CS.

What we as eBay users - who see the results of eBay tinkering all too often - can take from this is that the more useless tinkering isn't done by the (presumably) high-level engineers working for eBay. We can also take from this a confirmation that there is such a degree of separation between eBay members and eBay engineers that never the twain do meet. Technical reports of glitches and issues by users go from the user to some level of eBay CS - and that seems to be it. The reassurances (and reported timeframes by when something will be fixed) given by eBay CS staff do not (in my opinion) come from the engineers working on much of the infrastructure and future development.

The second point of interest is that Mario will be doing his best to persuade eBay engineers and executives to allow a functionality that will enable a "ahead-of-time dry-fire test" of bids. In the case where an "account problem or a shipping location restriction" would restrict a bid, currently Gixen won't know about it until it places your bid in the last few seconds.

The third point flows on from this. In order to prepare for that functionality, Gixen will have to migrate to using a new eBay interface, starting from September. Some additional benefits will arise as a result of this.

The fourth point focuses on data protection and privacy based on an EU regulation for all EU citizens; Gixen is working towards giving that degree of privacy and protection for all users, not just EU citizens.

The fifth point is probably one of the most useful for all eBay sellers. The eBay talks highlighted "PBSE (product based shopping experience)" and it is very very clear that eBay is moving on a clear path towards its version of Einstein's Universal Field Theory" - well, we could call it the Unified eBay Catalogue Law (UECL). As Mario said, "eBay learned that most sellers were not dilligent when it comes to giving specifics of items they sell, and that an additional effort will have to be made by eBay to make the catalog better."

It will be One Catalogue to Rule Them All. If anyone wasn't already sure that eBay's heading towards the Amazon model, wonder no longer. Unique items will probably continue to be part of eBay for at least the foreseeable future, but more and more eBay will be gently herding sellers towards the UECL...

If eBay is saying that a lot of sellers are just not giving sufficient specifics of the items that they sell, it's food for thought. Does this mean that sellers are not giving sufficient details? Or is eBay saying that the way in which such details are included in listings isn't by using the item specifics options? Or is that sellers just don't include the details in their listings at all? At any rate, this is a big hint (in my opinion) that sellers may be rewarded in some way by making use of item specifics... Perhaps visibility of listings is affected...?

The sixth point is about "eBay managed payments". According to the details produced at eBay Connect 2019, quite a few sellers have already opted in and this is "saving sellers money". It is worth pointing out that numbers can be manipulated by framing them in a certain context, in order to support a particular tactic or choice, and that eBay has skin in the game and can therefore scarcely be said to be a disinterested party. At any rate, it's worth thinking about; sellers should all be doing their own calculations to see how the changed payment situation will affect them.

[chameleon54]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

Mario (from Gixen) was at the eBay Connect 2019 conference (25-26 June, in San Jose) and has thoughts to share. The first point of interest was that he stated that he wished eBay users had access to eBay engineers and executives rather than just customer support. Implicit in what he said was that he was impressed by eBay engineers, and not so impressed by CS.

What we as eBay users - who see the results of eBay tinkering all too often - can take from this is that the more useless tinkering isn't done by the (presumably) high-level engineers working for eBay. We can also take from this a confirmation that there is such a degree of separation between eBay members and eBay engineers that never the twain do meet. Technical reports of glitches and issues by users go from the user to some level of eBay CS - and that seems to be it. The reassurances (and reported timeframes by when something will be fixed) given by eBay CS staff do not (in my opinion) come from the engineers working on much of the infrastructure and future development.

The second point of interest is that Mario will be doing his best to persuade eBay engineers and executives to allow a functionality that will enable a "ahead-of-time dry-fire test" of bids. In the case where an "account problem or a shipping location restriction" would restrict a bid, currently Gixen won't know about it until it places your bid in the last few seconds.

The third point flows on from this. In order to prepare for that functionality, Gixen will have to migrate to using a new eBay interface, starting from September. Some additional benefits will arise as a result of this.

The fourth point focuses on data protection and privacy based on an EU regulation for all EU citizens; Gixen is working towards giving that degree of privacy and protection for all users, not just EU citizens.

The fifth point is probably one of the most useful for all eBay sellers. The eBay talks highlighted "PBSE (product based shopping experience)" and it is very very clear that eBay is moving on a clear path towards its version of Einstein's Universal Field Theory" - well, we could call it the Unified eBay Catalogue Law (UECL). As Mario said, "eBay learned that most sellers were not dilligent when it comes to giving specifics of items they sell, and that an additional effort will have to be made by eBay to make the catalog better."

It will be One Catalogue to Rule Them All. If anyone wasn't already sure that eBay's heading towards the Amazon model, wonder no longer. Unique items will probably continue to be part of eBay for at least the foreseeable future, but more and more eBay will be gently herding sellers towards the UECL...

If eBay is saying that a lot of sellers are just not giving sufficient specifics of the items that they sell, it's food for thought. Does this mean that sellers are not giving sufficient details? Or is eBay saying that the way in which such details are included in listings isn't by using the item specifics options? Or is that sellers just don't include the details in their listings at all? At any rate, this is a big hint (in my opinion) that sellers may be rewarded in some way by making use of item specifics... Perhaps visibility of listings is affected...?

The sixth point is about "eBay managed payments". According to the details produced at eBay Connect 2019, quite a few sellers have already opted in and this is "saving sellers money". It is worth pointing out that numbers can be manipulated by framing them in a certain context, in order to support a particular tactic or choice, and that eBay has skin in the game and can therefore scarcely be said to be a disinterested party. At any rate, it's worth thinking about; sellers should all be doing their own calculations to see how the changed payment situation will affect them.

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I suspect this is a real nugget in the article. I have resisted item specifics in the past. Plenty of my items dont have manufacturers numbers and basically I dont want to be bothered with it. BUT LATELY - I have been adding more and more item specifics to new listings and make sure that every listing ticks at least one item specific box. Why ? because I suspect ebay already downgrade listings without item specifics, so I ensure my listings have a few to keep the ebay gods happy.

I am also playing around with pushing up my prices a bit and using the promoted listing feature. I dont really want to, but if the promoted listings are the only ones buyers are going to see, I want mine included in the selection.

We can ignore and fight all of this stuff, but it is ebay who has its hands on the controls. If you dont play their game you will simply be pushed to the back of the line. Adapt, work with the system presented or slowly fade away.

[brerrabbit585]

I took a lot of my item specifics off after looking at one of my competitor's listings who had a lot less listings than me but sold twice as much. I've always hated them because they're mostly just clutter that I put in my descriptions anyway.

I always put unbranded before because I read of people who had problems listing if they put the brand in but no MPN or the other number. I don't have those numbers and have absolutely no way of getting them. I don't think any of my competitors put them in either so it shouldn't make any difference if I don't.  A while ago I bulk edited and took Unbranded off completely, along with Does Not Apply for the MPN number.  It made no difference to sales.  I know there are categories where it's crucial though.

As for promoted listings, when ebay decides it's my turn for sales I do okay so I'm not giving them a cent more than I need to. Things were pretty dead for a little while after they enforced gtc but it turned around and now I'm glad I was forced to do it.

They're pushing promoted listings like they pushed free postage, but people sell just as much with separate postage. A lot of sellers didn't fall for that one so hopefully they won't fall for promoted listings either. If a seller does promoted listings and then all their competitors do it as well, none of them are any better off than they were before, so only ebay gains from it.

[davewil1964]

A couple of thoughts.

Australian sellers have been given no information about managed payments, certainly nothing that allows number-crunching.

IF eBay are trying to progress to a universal catalogue, they would not be deleting catalogue items. I have been going through all of my listings to cater for the (spurious) book changes, and a lot of items that used to have a catalogue entry no longer do. This results in the old de facto info, like binding and language, disappearing and/or the ISBN field being emptied. This is happening with about 5-10% of my listings. Whether the changes I have made stick will be seen, but it's hardly conducive to the ideal of an UECL.

[brerrabbit585]

I thought they increased the fees on their mangled payments. Someone posted a link to an e-bytes (?) article about it a while ago. It was costing sellers more than they used to pay to paypal, but they were locked in to the new system and couldn't use paypal because that was the terms of the trial they opted into.

[davewil1964]

That could well be right.

I'm sure eBay have, never to be disclosed, monitoring saying differently. After all how would the sellers know if it cost them more?

[countessalmirena]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

A couple of thoughts.

Australian sellers have been given no information about managed payments, certainly nothing that allows number-crunching.

IF eBay are trying to progress to a universal catalogue, they would not be deleting catalogue items. I have been going through all of my listings to cater for the (spurious) book changes, and a lot of items that used to have a catalogue entry no longer do. This results in the old de facto info, like binding and language, disappearing and/or the ISBN field being emptied. This is happening with about 5-10% of my listings. Whether the changes I have made stick will be seen, but it's hardly conducive to the ideal of an UECL.

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davewil, are these out-of-print items? I wonder if the UECL that eBay have in mind is one that focuses on in-print, available-now items. Otherwise, my UECL theory goes ka-plunk - or at least faces serious challenges.

Re the payment system, yes... With eBay not releasing data to Australian sellers to enable comparisons, they're probably doing a Dogberry.

Spoiler

... But "comparisons are odious" is earlier than Shakespeare's Dogberry, though. First recorded use is by Lydgate around 1440.

❝Odyous of olde been comparisonis,

And of comparisonis engendyrd is haterede.❞

REFERENCE:

Lydgate, John. A lytell treatyse of the horse, the sheep, and the ghoos / by John Lydgate; printed at Westminster by Wynkyn de Worde about 1499. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1906.

[davewil1964]

Some are OOP, some aren't. But all had catalogue data (whether I wanted it or not) and ISBNs before the most recent change.

I don't and never will sell new books. I am certainly not Robinson Crusoe in that regard, and I would imagine that a fair body of literary work is no longer in print, meaning the only sources for REAL books is used. Or POD, but that is something eBay doesn't seem to support. Thankfully.

I don't have many comics, but that is another dog's breakfast - if the comic isn't American, the item specifics are severely limited. Mine are books, with real ISBNs, so I might start listing them as Fiction>Humour. Couldn't be any harder to find.

Re comparisons, somebody once remarked "There are lies, damned lies and statistics" (Disraeli, I always thought, but it is a moot point). eBay certainly seem to subscribe to that definition of statistics. The surveys they used to run always asked loaded questions and didn't allow for dissenting voices.

Like would you prefer a), b) or c) (none of which would be attractive options) with no provision for d) Leave things alone. They would then say that x% of respondents selected a) so they were bowing to the will of the members.

[countessalmirena]

From my point of view, long live out of print books.

(I enjoy new books as well, but there are so many interesting and well-written books no longer in print which I want... must have... WILL have.)