eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

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AuctionBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on
ecommerce and the online auction industry
by Ina Steiner, Editor of AuctionBytes.com

July 02, 2007

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

By: David Steiner

Mon July 2 2007 15:37:49

A check of Nielsen/NetRatings shows that eBay users are spending less time on the site than in previous years. In 2006, eBay trumpeted in a Seller Central Report on how buyers use eBay that visitors spend more time on eBay than on other sites, and that time spent on the site is increasing year-over-year. It used data from December 2003 to March 2005 to prove its point. A look at more recent data, however, shows the time spent has gone down.

I was looking at the Nielsen/NetRatings report along with other data to see if anecdotal reports had any merit - you can see my musings in today's AuctionBytes Newsflash article here.
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m07/i02/s00

There's tons of data, I'm interested in hearing what readers have to say, please leave a comment below.

Comments (227) | Leave Comment | Permalink

Readers Comments

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: sewingbonbon38

Mon Jul 23 06:35:11 2007

With the introduction of their new group platform, eBay is going to continue to see a drop in sellers.

Many large successful groups have chosen to move off eBay due to the fact that the new platform is non functional.
And as usual, eBay is not responding to the critical issues with the new platform. If we get any information from them at all, it is of little or no significance. There are serious privacy and security issues with the new platform that are not being addressed by eBay.

Group leaders and moderators are being forced to do the ''deprogramming'' of the new platform for eBay. It is up to the leaders and moderators to find all the glitches, report them or find solutions on their own, instead of having the LiveWorld programmers that are being paid by eBay do this job.

When members have tried to express their concerns to eBay regarding the problems with the new group platform, eBay's response was that they do not accept any comments or suggestions unless they specifically ASK for them

So many leaders have made the choice to move their groups off eBay,
This has caused members to move along with their groups so they can continue to buy and sell from their fellow group members.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Lee W.

Mon Jul 23 07:47:47 2007

It's the beginning of the end for eBay - if you have stock bail out. Too much clutter - not with listings - but with eBay silly business (Express for one). Competition is gaining - sites like iBidFree.com - or similar have a new fresh look and this power seller is jumping ship. Most angry about the Fees, Fees and MORE Fees, less visability of my store, and the star system (too agressive when there is NO ACCOUNTABILITY). Less time on eBay - absolutely.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Alan

Mon Jul 23 09:18:53 2007

Ebay ''should” allow sellers to access & email potential buyers who may be interested in their particular item. Years ago, they banned a software that would extract the emails of customers who recently “bid & lost” on that a particular item. Thus, allowing the seller to email them with a ''letter of introduction'' of yourself & to inform them that you happen to have the same item they lost, up for sale on Ebay right now, along with the link to that auction. My sales increased by over 70% - with my profits increasing by over an astonishing 150%!!! I LOVED THIS SOFTWARE!!! And so did the customers I contacted, letting them know about my auction. After several of my BEST MONTHS on Ebay, Ebay claimed that was spamming & banned the software. In my opinion, they should produce that software themselves & ask all new & current Ebay Buyers if they would like to ''Opt-In'' to emails from sellers like myself, allowing us to email them with links to similar auctions that failed to previously win. This would be HUGE for everyone!!! Why you may ask? (1) The Ebay Seller knows that he will have people of strong interest notified, telling them that, ''Hey...I have this item for sale that you came in 2nd, or 3rd or 4th, etc. recently. Thus, here is a link to it…Happy Bidding!'' (2) The potential client is happy that some is telling them, ''Hey, don't fret or feel like you missed out, I happen to have another one just like it here!'' (3) Ebay will enjoy GREATER PROFITS due to all of the potential clients being notified, coupled with any NEW bidders that participate in that auction. This would be the greatest asset to all 3 parties & should they implement it ASAP! (Hopefully before the holidays!!!)

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Bob

Mon Jul 23 10:46:24 2007

''However, our company policy doesn't allow us to accept suggestions
unless we specifically request them. We hope that you understand that
this policy can avoid future misunderstandings if new products,
services, and features developed internally by eBay employees seem
similar or even identical to a member's idea.''

Now, this is absolutely ABSURD.
They really don't want to hear from us, unless they have already made up their mind and request input on what they have ALREADY decided.
So backward thinking,
and letting the legal dept run the company, all the way into oblivion.

The lights are on, but no one is home..

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: JW

Mon Jul 23 10:46:59 2007

Just want to thank all who have posted here. The insights offered have been very, very helpful. I have already moved to another site and will phase out eBay altogether as soon as I can.

And I don't want to forget the eBay ''insider'' who wrote:

''consider me an ''eBay insider''. the new eBay is pretty amazing. You'll see some amazing features. And the announcement of no fee hikes should be welcomed.
''eBay ''gets it'' and the new ebay will bring back the community and fun that many are used to.
''Be patient, good things are coming...''

I wish to thank this ''insider'' for their ''contributions'' to rational discourse. The shallowness of this comment stands in stark contrast to the depth of virtually all the other comments. In fact, this ''insider's'' comment seems to be emblematic of the whole damned problem.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Skip McGrath

Mon Jul 23 10:53:48 2007

Brilliant article David! My business pretty much mirrors your charts, although I am seeing a slightly higher STR lately --about 5% better.

Besides the store problems there are too many distractions (blogs, reviews,wikis, etc.)and the drop in listings reduce the natural traffic to the site by people looking for products.

I have found that eBay DOES listen to sellers --but that is all they do. They rarely take action on what they learn.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Bob

Mon Jul 23 12:55:08 2007

Ebay has eliminated the very things that made them and sparked their growth. Ebay used to be simple to buy and sell. Read that as ''fun''. Now you need a lawyer and tons of time to navigate the rules and complexities of buying and especially selling on Ebay. Ebay had become so cumbersome for both buyers and sellers, I don't blame anyone for spending less time on Ebay. I don't spend as much time either. Ebay now is like trying to do your own taxes and reading the tax law from IRS from front to back and understanding it.
The second biggest problem on Ebay is the double standard for buyers and sellers. It has always been a problem but with each change Ebay nakes it just reinforces the feeling that the sellers are being judged by increasingly harsh and demanding standards. In most cases we are being judged by standards that are outside of our control. Between feedbacks where the buyers just lie or hold you hostage over a negative feedback which Ebay can use to justify restricting sellers. Show me any other business where punitive actions can be taken over unverified facts. Aside from that, they won't even tell you exactly what standards they are holding you too.
Sellers are trated like criminals, bear the brunt of the increased fees and we can't even offer whatever payment methods WE choose! Is it any wonder that many sellers are abandoning the site? Less sellers means less variety. Less variety means more buyers going elsewhere. That equals less time spent on Ebay.
Not as much fun = not as much time spent . Could it be any simpler?

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Charli

Mon Jul 23 14:20:58 2007

Gene & I left ebay quite a while ago (during the big double billing fiasico that put so many out of business) and opened up a small Mom & Pop shop with a company/person who is geared toward the Whams (work at home Moms). We don't make a huge living but enough and our little business grows each year. We still sell once in a while on ebay but not much. Too much work for too little return and there are other places popping up and making a dent. U-Bid is one.

I still buy on ebay because that's where I find what I collect. If you're a buyer you need to be knowelgable about what you're buying so you don't get ripped off. If you're a seller you need to go the extra mile for your buyers. It's the same everywhere. In any case Ebay has lost what made it great TRUST.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Sandra

Mon Jul 23 14:50:06 2007

i know they aren't-not many sales-then i get buyers who only have a few feedbacks and are powersellers?? or they are not confirmed?? what do i do?? i am afraid to take their payments??

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Fred Murphy

Mon Jul 23 15:58:57 2007

> My question is this, specifically what other auction sites are out there where people are actually having success at selling items?

And my question in reply is why people think the answer to ebaY is a different form of ebaY.

In the real world, auctions are a tiny % of transactions, with most stuff sold at fixed prices.

If a real world auction house only had a 30% sell-thru rate like ebaY does, they'd be out of business in six weeks.

The fact is ebaY is being replaced by many, not just one, fixed-price venues, from web sites to places like Amazon and ecrater.

Rare collectables lend themselves to auctions. Stuff commonly handled in retail stores is fixed price. Who the heck wants to wait a week to see if they "won" a cartridge for their printer, when they need it NOW?

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: JoeS

Mon Jul 23 22:36:40 2007

Lots of great comments here.

I just want to add one more observation. I've been registered on Ebay since 1998 and did quite a bit of selling til the stores debacle of last year. Since then, I've kept a small presence on Ebay for about a year now. Sell through rates have been terrible since then and I'm about to give Ebay up for good. I've been diversifying my business elsewhere and have had some luck. What a waste of an great idea Ebay once was, done in by poor management of the core business.

This management team was never about being there for their customers/users as they have demonstrated time and time again. No, it was all about what they could get away with from their users/customers and now it's coming back to haunt them.

Meg and her team needs to go.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: eeg

Mon Jul 23 23:31:00 2007

GreedBay...FeeBay. The nicknames say it all. The article and the comments are very accurate. I don't need to repeat most of it. Maybe a little fodder to see some things a bit differently?

I have been thru the Wooing stage of the Stores and the consequent letdown. I have not shut down my store as of yet. It is not due to some level of trust, loyalty or sense of community...it is simply because it is still the largest game on the block. They are a marketing means and a tool, until they are not.

As a Buyer, I hate to wade thru the $0.01 listings with $30-$60.00 shipping...so I choose to look at the list from high to low. I check store inventory from the search...my favorite searches are duplicated because I added the same keywords to search stores. However, you need to be familiar with the site to know that you can do things that way. The constant changing of the locations, sizes and colors of buttons, links and tabs must really frustrate those that are trying to learn to navigate eBay. No wonder they are not returning or spending less time there. I have had to spend 0.5 hour in search to find my own listings at times, sometimes never finding them at all.

Not being able to find your own item that you 'know' is there points to the biggest problem facing Sellers at eBay...paying for services not received. eBay is by far the biggest culprit of that kind of fraud online,or anywhere. Fast to give you lip-service, slow to 'implement' policy changes to 'help' us (ie: reduce overcharges on shipping) blah, blah, blah. There is no 'implementing' going on, just documenting what their lips say for the legal department with no intentions of follow-thru or at best, ineffective follow-thru. Every school kid knows that it is only a rule if it is enforcable and IS enforced.

I wonder, if I paid for my fees & subscriptions with Paypal, could I get a refund of my payments thru chargebacks based on services not received? (sense of humor req'd).

As for the numbers being confusing...I just get reminded of Enron, Tyco, WorldCom etc whenever I see conflicting info like this on a stock-driven company. Those guys went on making obscene amounts of money for a long time while playing variations of a shell game to hide losses before the house of cards fell down. I am not saying that is what is happening...just get a moment of De Ja Vu.

To wrap this up, I wanted to whine a minute about why I started buying online in the first place. I could not find a variety of goods, decent competitive pricing or true customer service in the malls, or the chain stores and all the M&Ps were disappearing. Now I see it happening online. I am saddened & frustrated.

C'Mon people...take back your consumerism power. If we don't insist on the basics...we deserve what we get.

Maybe what we are seeing is an ebb & flow that is natural to the marketplace...we went to online because we could not get what we wanted in the B&M world...now the B&M world needs to pick up the slack until they forget and we all have to resort to online stores again until they grow too big for their britches...again. In the meantime, I think I will just try & be a frugal buyer with great items to sell at fair prices, provide excellent customer service, and follow whichever marketplace has the buyers.

Luck to everyone!!

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Violette

Tue Jul 24 16:14:49 2007

One point that has been brought up by others is the decline in buying due to lack of merchandise available. I have to agree with this. Just 2 years ago, I spent over $30,000 buying source materials for my business. But, in the past year, I've only spent a fraction of that. I buy vintage/antique items and my searches are showing a marked decrease in the type of items I want. Where have these sellers gone? I sell unique vintage items and have seen competition in these categories drop, so theoretically, my sell-through should increase, right? Wrong!

I think other buyers are seeing the same things that I am. Ebay is no longer a place to buy unique or antique items and collectibles. Instead, they are just another place to by discounted iPods or DVDs. If they want to bring back the "fun", they need to cut listing fees to bring back these sellers of unique items, who are most likely smaller-scale sellers (since it takes much more effort to list unique items that 100 iPods).

I want to love eBay. I really do. It has a lot of great features, but lately, it's suffering from the kind of bloat we in the software industry call "creeping featurism". They keep adding new gee-whiz doohickeys and so-called "features" and tinkering with things until people get fed up and give up what they're trying to do. Adding new features inevitable leads to new bugs, because nothing ever works right the first time.

eBay needs to take a break and focus on making everything work right before adding new stuff. Give buyers the ability to refine their searches more easily so they can avoid the piles of crap that seem to clog everything. Make everyone -- buyers and sellers alike -- provide valid information prior to be allowed to buy or sell on the site. Verifying identities would eliminate a good portion of the fraud. Make people choose decent passwords or do like banks and have two layers of protection. The new "key" option for Paypal is a start, but it can be confusing to newbies and the less-literate of computer users. Rather than alienating the smaller sellers, they should focus on reining in the high-volume ripoff artists. Steps such as these might entice both buyers and seller back into the eBay world.

If things don't change soon, Google will have an all-too-eager audience waiting for whenever they decide to take the plunge into the auction world.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: pc

Tue Jul 24 21:02:30 2007

Almost all comments confirm what has been dawning on me.

1) Ebay has peaked
2) Plan and begin implementation of your exit strategy
4) Build and get your own site up and running
5) Integrate Google tools (Adwords, GooglePay etc.)
6) Build a profitable on-line store and watch with a smile as the Ebay s**t hits the fan

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: JB

Thu Jul 26 15:39:10 2007

Ebay's "indexing" issues is inexcusable. Sellers paying for 7 days and receiving 6. Some sellers are unaware of this problem as ebay places the auctions as listed in our "my ebay" page. Glad someone is filing a lawsuit. Hopefully in time this will get resolved.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: anonymous

Thu Jul 26 21:16:07 2007

Last night I did a search on google..."Ebay is going down". I had a lot of results, but one was very interesting. It was about why Ebay's stock is going down. It turned out to be a thread in a ebay forum that was very comparable to this thread. In fact, someone on that thread even referenced this one. I was surprised to find it on there....I mean it was long and had a lot of great comments. But this morning when I went to check it, it was gone. I had heard that Ebay pulled the bad comments from those forums, but had never seen it happen.

So for those of you who were in doubt, doubt no more.

WE NEED TO FIX THIS SOMEHOW!!!!

I chose to do this for a living and I have been reduced to working 16 to 18 hours a day to not even survive any more...I am just hoping for a streak that will get me enough cash together to get something else going. A squirrel in a cage is all I am any more.

It was so nice back when I thought I could do what I loved to do and make a living at it.

Meg and Bill are the equivalent of great grand kids inheriting Granpas old but low mile car. It lookds and runs great at first, but dont change the oil and maintain it, you run it into the ground. No matter how many horns, lights, bells, whistle you put on it, it wont run till the engine is fixed or replaced.

Those two need to walk the plank. Oh look what I found.....EBAY. What should we do with it Meg? I dont know Bill......uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: Frank

Thu Jul 26 21:49:27 2007

Yes I echo your thoughts. This month is wrapping up and it is the WORST ever. I've managed to sell 100 items for the month. This is what I would usually do in a WEEK. I really can't get over how dead it is on ebay. To say it's summer and sales are always slow. (Is just kidding myself) it's just plain dreadful not to mention scary.

Just foood for thought. Ebay has changed it so I can't extend my listing from 7 days to 10 days. I simply did this to save a relisting fee. I had no ulterior motive to get my listing on top of the searches. I just had a fisherman mentality and thought If I let the bait soak for 3 more days perhaps I will get a bite or a straggler. Now it's a 10 day listing or you just relist (or spend more in relisting fees) The reason for this new rule was it was better for the buyers.

I'm lost You mean tirekickers or potential buyers? I thought you were only a buyer when you bought and paid for an item. As it stands now. I buy the merchandise (lay out my cash) take pictures list the items answer all questions and I can't extend my listing for 3 more days??? I have all my money and time invested and ebay is worrying about a tirekicker who has "NOTHING" invested that "Might" buy from me. A real head scratcher.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: dale

Sat Jul 28 12:16:01 2007

It's really simple ... What use to cost me $2200 a month to list on ebay in 2001 now costs $7100. After 30,000 feedback I watched income go from 100K to 12K. Competition and industry changes I could handle. Ebay's odd way of hiring me to work for them was disgusting. Greed wins. Customers who enjoyed great products and great prices lose. Ebay killed what made it great - the sellers.

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: BGNW

Sat Jul 28 23:59:57 2007

Quarterly Report to SEC Filed 7/27/07

Very Interesting. Discusses a number of issues, including types of businesses eBay owns, many of the ongoing lawsuits against eBay, declining employee morale, complaints from Attorney Generals Office from various states and much more.

http://investor.ebay.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=950134-0
7-15993

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site

by: ThriftyPeanut

Wed Aug 1 05:16:52 2007

Very interseting data, and some pretty enlightning comments here... I was also a big seller with eBay at one time, but in recent years I have spent ALOT less time on eBay due to higher fees, and most importantly a serious lack of communication on eBay's part. eBay has become nothing more than a big corporation, and their attitudes toward the sellers reflect that.
I primarily deal in used books & videos, and at one time offered all of my inventory on both Amazon, as well as Half.com, but when they got greedy with Half.com a few years ago, we dropped all but a small handful of items from there and went excusively to Amazon for the book & video portion of our business. We have since grown by leaps and bounds, but I still refuse to go back to Half.com because of the corporate greed. My eBay sales have also steadily declined, and as a result I list less & less with them because there doesn't seem to be any point in it when most of the profit is eaten up with fees - I work for myself, NOT eBay.

Sellers are the life blood of eBay, and you would think they would treat them better because of this. I work very hard to run an honest and trustworthy business, and eBay automatically treats me like I'm a criminal. Another big problem I see with eBay is the seemingly huge amount of real crooks out there selling counterfeit items, and ripping people off like crazy. No wonder buyers are spending less time and less money on eBay... If they would do something about the real crooks using multiple user IDs maybe they could start turning "it" all around. In the meantime, I too look for alternatives to eBay - they don't care about me as a seller, so why should I keep generating revenue for them? I was VERY close to opening one of those ProStores last year, but I decided against it based solely on eBay's attitude toward an obviously honest seller. I am proud to say that I have acheived and maintained a feedback on eBay over 2200, and still 100% positive. This may seem like small potatoes to some, but at my current level of business, its a great accomplishment in my eyes. But it really torques me off to just be ignored and have no way to really communicate with eBay, and to be treated like I'm a crook...

For me and my business, the decision is simple: I will move to other venues to sell, and simply treat eBay as I have been treated - like a crook. When they have a change of heart, perhaps I will give them another chance, but only time will tell...

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