trane_fanatic Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Who's in on it? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/15/smbusiness...oney_topstories -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EBay seller boycott set to start Monday Ebay sellers plan a weeklong strike to protest changes to the site's fee, search and feedback policies. By Stacy Cowley February 18 2008: 10:19 AM EST (FORTUNE Small Business) -- Activists opposed to eBay's (EBAY, Fortune 500) upcoming fee and policy changes are readying for a weeklong site boycott starting on Monday, with buyers and sellers waiting to see if this strike will succeed where past protests have failed. The boycott, planned to run Feb. 18 - 25, is scheduled to overlap eBay's Feb. 20 rollout of significant changes announced last month. Sellers say eBay's new policies are likely to cost them more money, but what's really inspired an outpouring of wrath is an adjustment to eBay's feedback system: sellers will no longer be able to leave negative commentary about their buyers. Critics say that will leave sellers vulnerable to negligent bidders and scammers. "You get bad buyers as often as you get bad sellers," said M. Owens, a Severn, Md.-based seller of high-end dolls that typical go for several hundred dollars each. On such an expensive transaction, having a buyer cause trouble - by, for example, disputing the transaction and requesting a credit-card chargeback after they've already received their merchandise - can be financially devastating, she said. Owens, who plans to participate in the boycott and avoid buying or selling on eBay next week, is also worried about the impact of a change to eBay's "best match" search algorithm, one of the least-publicized aspects of the upcoming changes. That search method, which will become eBay's default next month, favors sellers with high and detailed customer-satisfaction ratings. Low-volume sellers, like Owens, say this puts them at a disadvantage by burying their listings. EBay spokesman Usher Lieberman said the company is taking a wait-and-see approach to the boycott talk "At this point it's still premature for us to speculate," Lieberman said. "We're empathetic with our sellers and understand that they're concerned, and that some of them object to some of the changes we're implementing. On the other hand, we think we have very good reasons for what we're doing." Rival sites court eBay sellers EBay has no plans for listing-fee discounts or other special promotions next week to combat a potential boycott-related drop in listings, Lieberman said. This week, eBay ran a one-day discounted listing fee special offer on Wednesday, a move that increased listings on the site that day from around 12 million to 16 million. That special offer was not prompted by the groundswell of seller discontent about the upcoming changes, according to Lieberman. "We shouldn't be reading anything into that," he said. "We're always testing the price elasticity of our market." Whether or not the planned boycott will be successful in affecting eBay's bottom line remains to be seen, but auction veterans say this degree of seller backlash to eBay fee hikes and other changes is unprecedented. "I've been getting about 400 e-mails an hour," said Valerie Lennert, an Anaheim, Calif., doll-clothing merchant who became an unofficial spokeswoman for the boycott after posting a call-to-arms video on Google (GOOG, Fortune 500)'s YouTube. Past eBay boycott attempts have fizzled, and this one may too, Lennert acknowledged. With millions of individuals selling on eBay, gaining critical mass for any organized action is extremely challenging. But simply getting eBay's attention is a worthy accomplishment, she said. "There are a lot of people who are really upset, and if we choose to go somewhere else as a group, there won't be an eBay anymore," she said. "We don't think eBay understands that. They think they're invincible, and they don't seem to listen to what we need. Even if listings don't go down, we're reached the main goal: to let them know how upset we are. I'm pretty sure they know that at this point." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Sign me up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 damn - I'm in agreement but didn't know about this - I have two items on there this week - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Oops. I just bought something a minute ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robviti Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 count me out. i'm in favor of the changes to the feedback system. that whole "this seller sucks. Oh yeah, well this buyer really sucks" situation was never very useful to me. sellers shouldn't worry about criticism unless there's a pattern of negative comments against them, and there are still protections in place to deal with potential scammers. funny how the boycott is spear-headed by a collectible doll dealer and someone who sells clothing for dolls. those kind of people just creep me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 The change in feedback is more than welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 I've been on there since '99 and still think that, despite some flaws, it's the best thing going. Boycott? Um, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 I've been on there since '99 and still think that, despite some flaws, it's the best thing going. Boycott? Um, no. You have to admit it was a lot more fun in the early days, back before ebay erected "The Wall". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERIGAN Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Ebay is great for buyers, not so great for sellers. Listing fees for things that don't sell, really add up. Add to that final auction fees when things do sell, and paypal's cut...and only the big boys can really make it work long term... And now the buyer has a huge advantage on sellers. And what happens if someone writes a bad check, or never pays??? How will anyone ever know this is a deadbeat???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Just what I was thinking, Berigan. I recently got my first negative on ebay, from a buyer who never paid, and felt that he could negotiate terms after the auction close. (He wanted my bank account number to do a bank transfer rather than paying by PayPal or money order/cashiers check as I require). I'm not worried about the negative; the comment makes no sense, and his current -3 rating tends to undermine his credibility. What I don't like is that, under the current system, he's burned three dealers already in his first three ebay deals. One more and he's booted off the site, which I think is what he deserves. Why eliminate feedback from the dealer? I don't understand why people think it's a great idea for one party to be able to comment on a deal and not the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.