Big Wigs Join Ebay ready to squash small Australian owned businesses

[myrisqueau]

So I have noticed a huge migration from all the big companies onto eBay..  A small list I have found thus far

Target

MrToys

Billy Guyatts

Kidstuff

catchoftheday

onlineonly

Dealsdirect

Dicksmith

jbhifi

Kogan

The Good Guys

Ebay dosn't support those who have supported them since opening...all these noobs get latest ebay features, not offered to long term members..

Shame Ebay Shame !!

I dont have a problem with competition, but ebay not giving long term members the same options, just before christmas is a slap in the face...

How do you sleep at night ?  on a bed of paypal stickers ??

[sprinklespowerpuff]

I can't believe Catch of the Day and Deals Direct are here now as well as Target. Maybe there will be only a limited range of items they will be listing but keep certain items solely on their own websites. I don't know. Last time I looked at Target for example, they only had toys. Still, I know what you mean - not good for most other sellers here.

[harley_babes_hoard]

deals direct started as an ebay seller didn't they? I think I remember reading something about that.

[sprinklespowerpuff]

I don't know Harley. I didn't think so. Thought it was only ever their own website but I'm no expert on who or who hasn't started here first before having their own site.

[digital*ghost]

Deals Direct have been on eBay since 2000 and have over 200k feedback, I dunno if they started out here and then expanded or not, though.

JB Hi Fi have a whole 120-odd items listed, and I shop with them on a regular basis either in store or online, I warrant most people would shop with JB off-eBay, and TBH, I'd rather shop with all those guys off-eBay; they're big enough for me to know who they are and where to find them (on and offline) so eBay is the last place I would go to to shop with them, I'd pretty much go out of my way not to use eBay to shop with them - but that could just be me.

I honestly don't know what kind of effect their presence has for sellers of the same items, I mean, in my categories there are literally thousands upon thousands of sellers, some with well-known names, some not, but there's only so much of an advantage other guys can get when we're all on the same site - at the end of the day, my items are all still mixed in there with theirs*, and buyers make a purchase descision based on what they want / need. It's probably quite different for categories that are almost purely price driven, or where other certain things are a high priority (like warranties), though. 

There are certainly some features they get I wouldn't mind having the option to acquire as well, and when special treatment extends to the mass disappearance of negative FB, it's quite disturbing. 

*Not including instances of very low or no visibility, which does happen. 

[amber-eyed-girl]

Digi, I prefer to deal directly with major retailers too. Especially reading the feedback of some, where items like eBay sales take a lower priority to the brand's own online site. Slow shipping, no response to questions, etc. 

But I have seen some deals here, which bring prices to below the brand's site and store prices, where it is tempting. I think that is why the stores with their own web presence come here; offered incentives no doubt by eBay (large volume of customers, highlighted ads, etc.) and it is no doubt cheap advertising to the general eBay public, to get them shopping directly, I believe. Would explain the low number of items listed by the big guys.

[digital*ghost]

---

@amber-eyed-girl wrote:

Digi, I prefer to deal directly with major retailers too. Especially reading the feedback of some, where items like eBay sales take a lower priority to the brand's own online site. Slow shipping, no response to questions, etc. 

---

I half-suspect part of the reason for the poor performance on eBay is (as well as being a lower priority) the lack of sophisticated admin and after-sale software and the like. Their own websites are set up to direct orders to specific stores so that they receive them as the order is made, and they also tend to have more sophisticated stock-keeping systems that know which store has what at any given time, meaning if I order something from JB and they check their systems, they'll select the closest retail outlet to me (which has what I ordered in stock) wherever possible to actually dispatch the item if I get it posted - at least, that has been my experience when shopping with some of these major retailers.

An eBay order notification can only go to one email address, then it would likely have to go through several other steps to get to the point an off-eBay online order is at as soon as it is made. 

And agree- some of the retailers I wouldn't think twice about shopping with in most other circumstances, certainly wouldn't hesitate to walk through their doors, but buying from them on eBay hasn't really been too tempting yet. 😄

[amber-eyed-girl]

There is one here, though, where I did capitulate...but just the once 🙂 

[blue_arroz]

I heard that one of the big boys are allegedly paying a flat FVF fee of %5, this is in order to entice the big boys to come on board plus priorty placement for their listings on the ever reliable "Best Match".

Just Look at Mrtoys, They opened their account last month, and already have 500+ feedback for the month. Their prices are generally more expensive than their competition and they separate postage from the item price  - gotta love Ebay's back room deals. What newbie could or be allowed to do that kind of volume within a month of opening?

[treasuress.4207]

Ok just my 2c worth..... not out to change anyone's mind, just tellin' you what I think.

In the time I've been on Ebay, I have noticed one thing standing out in a big way.  CUSTOMER SERVICE

I have found the majority of big sellers on Ebay have a firmer grasp on the concept of customer service than the big chains have had in a long long time.

My sincere hope is this.

That the big chains, despite their names, and despite the priveleges clearly being afforded them at our expense, will show themselves up very quickly.  The chains are like Ebay - they don't care.  They will take their time responding, they will make mistakes, they will send faulty goods, they will use scripted automated responses, and at the end of the day they will not care whether their buyers are happy or not, just as Ebay don't care that the people (the little guys like us) are the ones who continue to pay their bills.

Do you see where I'm going with this?