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Ina Steiner AuctionBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on
ecommerce and the online auction industry

by Ina Steiner, Editor of AuctionBytes.com
July 02, 2007
Perminate Link for eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   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.

Reading AuctionBytes Blog: eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
Comments (227) | Leave Comment | Permalink
Readers Comments

eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Matt Price
Tue Jul 3 00:33:04 2007
As a seller since 1997, I have been around the block a few times on eBay, both as a buyer and as a seller.  However, something happened about 2 years ago that disturbed me.


We started putting electronics and perfumes up in symphony with our eBay drop off business and we found that we were having outstanding results with the mix.  Then eBay started to play around with the searching functions of the core listings & auction listings and since then, our sell through has fallen through the floor.  Customers are not purchasing anything.  We have sold perhaps $30 last month on eBay when our normal sales were $1,000 or better in a month.


I am very concerned about this, since as an auctioneer and as an eBay seller, I am finding that more people are flocking to my website for purchases than eBay, where it is “secure.”  I gave all of my auction attendees an open survey about what they did not like and what they liked about eBay and found the information startling.  It was a very BIG eye opener.


First, customers did not like eBay Express.  The reason is that for the most part, their trusted sellers are not selling there.  When querying a few fellow sellers, I found out that their staff is strung so thin, that they can not get the items out the door as eBay Express wants.  So they don’t list there.  Additionally, even my online guests say that for the most part, the shopping destination has made it clearer that they can get it cheaper from a local store than on eBay express.


Second, my customers complain that the Feedback, even though it is here to stay has become confusing.  They don’t want to be bothered with selecting any more than 2 options when it comes to things – they want to click, enter some info, and click and be done.  Several of them have told me that any more than 3 clicks and I lost a sale.  This is great, since it is driving customers to our website, but it does little to help with the dilemma eBay has.


Third, my customers are baffled about the Hidden ID’s at $200.  They think that now because the person’s ID is hidden at the $200, that eBay is hiding or condoning Shill bidding.  I understand the policy, but for most, it is making people a bit afraid to work on eBay because they believe that they are fighting possible shilling.  On voicing my concerns to trust and safety, I get a canned response followed up by another canned response, so I feel that there is no need to report their concerns.


Fourth, what is getting me to post more off eBay is the fees.  Since they have gone up, I have attempted to keep up with the changes, however since we are making on average 20% on the sale, not able to recoup the costs of eBay and PayPal fees, our fees are 27%, which have now put us in a negative situation, which if you include fees for the store, is more than the 7% that we are loosing.  Sure, we can raise prices, but what is the sense if I can post them other places and get a better return?


Fifth, I as with many other store keepers are a bit upset that eBay went with Adwords in listings and searches.  Since this practice, it has driven customers to other sites, perspective and returning, because they are under the impression that I no longer sell an item.  They are more willing to go where they can get the item (off eBay) than on.  What perplexes me and upsets me is that I can not put links to my store off eBay, but eBay puts links on searches and in my listings to other companies and off eBay sites for the same or competing products.  The situation is upsetting many sellers to a boiling point which they see no one responding to their complaints.


Sixth, my customers now consider eBay a place where fraud and crooks do business, rather than a platform for honest sellers to globally represent their goods.  It is a shame that eBay which was once a leader in quality and security now has a mark against them in the public.  It would seem that more and more of the trust & safety procedures that are put into place cause more harm to honest sellers than good.  I am sure that there are some out there that believe different.  Even when we pitch that we do eBay Live Auctions, I get a cringe.  This means that we have an image problem.


Last, with the explosion of drop off stores evaporating into thin air and taking peoples money and their merchandise, my customers simply do not trust them even if they have big guns in marketing, and they intentionally stay away from them when they are shopping on the site.


I by no means am saying that these changes have harmed me in particular; it has driven traffic to our site and to our other areas which we at one point in time considered dead areas but kept them because of the little amount of money that it takes to maintain them.


I am sure that you have heard tons of these issues arise in the last several months.  Probably more than once at eBay Live.  But what used to be fun and a great way to make money has turned into a burden that is not breaking even.  In order for eBay to become fun again, it will need to go back 5 years ago.  We need to examine two things here – eBay’s and PayPal’s credibility & questionable policies.  Once we have looked at them, we can then say eBay is a stellar place to sell items.


I think this need to be talked about at the next Town Hall meeting.


Your thoughts?
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Patricia
Tue Jul 3 00:36:14 2007
You're dead on with your research but there is another 800 lb gorilla in the room...FRAUD.  Ebay has done nothing to stop it.  They speak about it but nothing is really done.  Yes, word of mouth does get the news out and the news is don't shop on ebay because its full of scammers who rip you off.  I've been selling on ebay for 9 years now - this year is by far the worst for sales.  I am noticing less and less new buyers and I've become more and more dependent on buyers who have been with me for some time.  This can't go on - without new buyers my business will eventually fade away.  Instead of fancy ''IT'' ads, they need to seriously clamp down on fraud and THEN use advertising to tell John Q Public that buying and selling on ebay is safe and fun again!  At the same time they need to institute REAL customer service and not just a convoluted mess of forms.  They need more Live Help who know what they're talking about and they need some phone service.  Unless they own up to becoming active in their site - they're going to lose it and that will be sad for all of us who depend on sales. :-(
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: John L
Tue Jul 3 00:38:05 2007
Good job and research Ina. To add to your 2006 theory, I would say...

eBay has been constantly speaking about the "Fun Factor" for sometime. Using it as the fix for what is broken. What would be fun is to get the items you paid for, in a timely manner, with less risk.

That is what eBay should focus on, that is what people should expect to get from eBay.

eBay of late has been like my new cell phone. My phone does all this "fun" stuff. It can take pictures, save dates and calendars, now it even plays music and surfs the web.

But, every since I have owned a cell phone, they all drop calls. I would pay extra for a phone that simply WORKED! I can buy a camera and an MP3 player, I need a phone that works.

eBay needs to WORK! I am not going to have fun with blogs on an eCommerce site that does not work. Get back to basics and make sure the transactions work.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: John L
Tue Jul 3 00:39:44 2007
Good job and research Ina. To add to your 2006 theory, I would say...

eBay has been constantly speaking about the "Fun Factor" for sometime. Using it as the fix for what is broken. What would be fun is to get the items you paid for, in a timely manner, with less risk.

That is what eBay should focus on, that is what people should expect to get from eBay.

eBay of late has been like my new cell phone. My phone does all this "fun" stuff. It can take pictures, save dates and calendars, now it even plays music and surfs the web.

But, every since I have owned a cell phone, they all drop calls. I would pay extra for a phone that simply WORKED! I can buy a camera and an MP3 player, I need a phone that works.

eBay needs to WORK! I am not going to have fun with blogs on an eCommerce site that does not work. Get back to basics and make sure the transactions work, eBay.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Cowbell
Tue Jul 3 00:44:58 2007
Chris,

I don't see any "whining" here. I see a lot of business people discussing options and criticising what they (and I) consider to be bad decisions on the part of eBay management.

The store fiasco was just plain stupid on eBay's part. No other way to say it.

The business world does indeed change, and we need to change with it. When eBay priced auctions out of my market, I simply moved my merchandise elsewhere.

When they made my merchandise hard to find, I moved it off the site entirely. When they restructured the pricing, which would have made auctions cheaper for me, my stuff was already gone.

No "whining" here, I am making simple statements. When I pay for a service, I expect to get it. A place to list is useless without buyers looking at it.

eBay was especially stupid about Half.com. eBay bought it, gutted it, and left it to rot. I haven't seen a commercial for Half in many years.

They wanted items in eBay stores, so encouraged Half sellers to move there. To do so, they eliminated a lot of merchandise from Half.

When they yanked the stores, they encourages sellers to use Half, but they did not return the merchandise categories.

All you can sell there now are books, DVDs, CDs, video games, and VHS. Why not cassettes? Or vinyl records?

I used to be perfectly content to pay eBay and PayPal alone. I was making plenty of money using the site exclusively.

But it was eBay itself that forced me to seek other options. I certainly didn't waste any time writing guides or blogs. I used my time to post hundreds of items at Amazon.

If eBay doesn't want my money, I have no problem giving it to other venues. Especially ones that have a vested interest in seeing my item get sold.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Duane
Tue Jul 3 00:45:23 2007
Barbara, I dont think these comments are coming from junk sellers.  I have been on as long as you and I also sell antiques and collectbles and I have to say that I talk to my customers and many many of them who are buying nice things from me express the very content of this articles.  I hear it in real life as well.  Go ahead and take "what you can get"....but what you get could be a lot better.

 There is not much of a comparison on shipping any more.  UPS has hidden charges and ever town that is more than a mile from Chicago is considered rural.  The post office is trying to get rid of Parcel Post and has gotten rid of surface.  The Internet Streamline Sales Tax is on the way.  I am still selling on here, but I am actively looking for other venues so that I can leave after 10 years plus.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Mario Vodopivec
Tue Jul 3 00:48:25 2007
The methodology used here is COMPLETELY wrong. You just can't use Alexa for trending.

eBay number are NOT down, Alexa toolbar user base is down. Take a look at a number of sites in completely different industries (cnn.com, homedepot.com, amazon.com, etc), and you will notice IDENTICAL trend since beginning of 2006. It's Alexa user base going down, not ebay.

With all due respect to David, both he and Ina write great articles, but on this one he is plain wrong.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Barbara
Tue Jul 3 00:53:12 2007
I agree that the people voicing their concerns are businesspeople who know what's happening with their bottom line and I am a small self-employed seller.   I hope, for the sake of all the people who are voicing their opinions (including myself), that eBay management is reading this.    Ina and David, will a transcript be sent to them?
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Marty
Tue Jul 3 00:56:13 2007
There are definately some valid points in the posts here, and I think ebay should take note of them and really understand these issues.

Overall I take a somewhat different view. I believe that taking stores out of core search, the fee increase, the sliding customer service and lack of effective advertising are all issues with the site.

I fail to believe however, that eBay operates in a vacuum and this country and the economic health of the middle class has been driven into the ground is not a major factor in the leveling and even decline of some stats on the site as well as other retailers.

When savings drop to the lowest level since the depression. When 80% of retailers miss estimates, when inflation is out of control but said to be 3-4% and mortgage foreclosures are up 90% in a year to the highest level in 40 years, sitting and blaming every move eBay makes is not taking into account the big picture.

Its is this big picture and the failure to hold on to their customers (sellers) as Ambassadors of the site (by treating them well having reasonable fee increases etc) that has led to an exodus and decline.

Does eBay finally get it? Well at EBay Live I met with many people from ebay and I believe they are finally getting the picture. Stores were back in the picture and Pinks have returned to the boards. Even small token gifts were sent out unexpectedly.

Across the world people love eBay. If you think business is any easier outside of eBay these days then I think you are wrong. Businesses are closing left and right and you can buy a home in Detroit cheaper than a car. People need to wake up and smell the coffee.

By the way the Traffic graph for Amazon and other E-commerce sites have similar patterns. This is because many people spend less time poking around eBay and are watching Youtube or are on Myspace of Facebook or any other numbers of places.

I for one hope eBay can make some changes and turn the ship around. I do believe it will be difficult. I feel advertising has been too cute and nerdy and not struck home with people who are not already on Ebay. I believe the efforts of staffers recently are to be commended but they need to keep it up and need to take into account all these opinions (not just mine) as just as fast as eBay wound up it can unwind with negative word of mouth.

Contrary to the opinions of many here I do believe eBays web 2.0 efforts have been useful and insightful. Many eBayers are doing very well with building content as the emphasis now is on natural search not paid search. I have my first commission junction affiliate check that just showed up today, some friends are making 30% of their Ebay sales from their content sites.

Sure Ebay should bring traffic, but I can tell you one thing, broke people dont buy things. Even people like myself that are business owners are spending less, a lot less, everyone is.

Marty
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Mario Vodopivec
Tue Jul 3 01:01:22 2007
I forgot to say - if ebay numbers were lower, that would be visible in the quarterly reports - and while eBay profit grew from Q1 2006 to Q1 2007 mostly due to higher fees and phenomenal paypal growth, the number of listings also slightly grew from 575 million to 588 million.

So there is nothing at all here to indicate ebay is slowing down. It's just not so.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: duane
Tue Jul 3 01:11:08 2007
Mario..ebay listings were up on the international scale but U.S. listings were down 2.8%
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Sheila
Tue Jul 3 01:20:49 2007
I'm a very small eBay seller, so anything I say is anecdotal, personal and likely not statistically significant.  I haven't listed anything on eBay in several months, because my heart has gone out of it.  Why? I sell vintage collectibles.  I put my soul into every listing, spending hours making each one look professional, beautiful and perfect.  In the past, most often I was rewarded.  A very high percentage of what I listed did sell.  I rarely had to re-list an item.  But this stopped within the last 12-18 months.  Suddenly, no matter what I listed wouldn't sell.  I did not change my style to list things with high opening bids.  I didn't start listing things with reserve prices.  I never charged outlandish postage.  The categories of the items I was selling were essentially the same.  And my 100% positive feedback seemed not to matter.  After 16 out of the last 18 items I listed closed with no bids, the fun went out of it.  Now, with postage going up again, gas prices out of sight, and the last eBay fee increases, why bother?  Will I list again?  Probably - I have too many things still to sell.  But it's no longer at the top of my agenda, and I've even closed my business checking account.

One more observation:  As an occasional eBay buyer, I buy one particular item of new lingerie.  When I first started buying it, about three years ago, there were just a couple of individuals selling it.  Now the numbers run to the teens, and it's not unusual for that item to be listed and relisted and close with no bids.  Apparently, the amount of [new] merchandise available to sell is flooding the market, and this has got to have an impact as well.  I've noticed this with several other brands of items I always watch and infrequently buy.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: me
Tue Jul 3 01:59:49 2007
Nail on the head!  I have been with ebay since 1998 and had great sell thru rates, then this past year  the ever increasing fall in that rate and the hassles ebay has imposed upon the sellers has felt one sided for sure.

After selling off my stock I have not been selling on ebay for couple of months now and feel great about it.
Fees and ever increasing fall in  profits is just not worth it and the fun is gone.  I miss it but  can live without it since they don't care about us anyway.  

Buyers, you won't have anything to buy if ebay chases off all the good sellers.

I  was a power seller for about 3 months  back in 2003 or so but did not do this for a living I did it  for a fun pastime and making a little extra cash but prided myself on pleaseing my suctomers and being honest, that is more than ebay has ever done for me.

I may get back to selling later but if they are cutting unproductive sellers then I may not.  This for sure does not make sense.  Sellers are also buyers so Ebay wake up.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Candy
Tue Jul 3 02:37:15 2007
For what it's worth, I've been selling full-time on eBay for nearly 9 years now, PowerSeller since about my fourth month here, have been a Shooting Star since even before the first eBayLive in Anaheim, and have a 99.9% feedback rating.  I know how to run a business, I know how to market, I know how to advertise, and I spend an extraordinary amount of time assessing my product, my market, my customers, etc. in order to keep up with the changes that affect any business over time.

And I hate selling here now.  By this time next year I hope to be gone, or at least mostly so, unless there are some major changes in the interim.

Ebay used to be fun.  Ebay used to be really profitable if you put some time and effort and thought into it. It hasn't been either for some time now.

 I won't go into the why.  All the posts before me have touched on just about every reason I would give.

 One thing I haven't seen suggested, that I've wished for some time now that they would do, is to have the eBay home page consist of 3 doors.  

 Click on Door #1 and you will be taken to auctions ~ and to only auctions ~ and to ALL of the auctions.  Same list if you are logged in from California as you would get if you were logged in from Maine or, for that matter, Malta.  You like to see if you can get a bargain, or to help set the market price for an unusual item, and don't mind waiting a bit to achieve those goals.  You want auctions.  If you want to narrow your consideration, you can choose to see only items listed by sellers selected by geographic location (including country), by feedback rating, by feedback percentage, or by perhaps number of items listed.  Once you view a listing, you can choose to view that seller's entire offering, including Fixed-Price core and BIN Store listings, but that's the only way you will see any of those kinds of listings if you've entered through the Auction door.

 Door #2 takes you to Fixed-Price core, and only Fixed-Price core, listings.  Again, the same stuff regardless of where you are.  You want to buy quickly, not bid in an auction, but you don't want to wade through crap listings.  So you go to Fixed-Price core to see if what you are looking for is available for you to buy now at a price you like.  To narrow your consideration you can choose to see only items listed by sellers selected by geographic location (including country), by feedback rating, by feedback percentage, or by perhaps number of items listed.  Once you view a listing, you can choose to view that seller's entire offering, including Auction core and BIN Store, but that's the only way you will see any of those kinds of listings if you've entered through the Fixed-Price door.

 Finally, there's Door #3.  Going through this means you will see only Store BIN listings.  The upside is that there will be a lot of items here priced lower perhaps than in core, because the listing fees are lower, and/or that you won't find in core at all because they are not worth enough to list there.  The downside is you have to wade through a lot of stuff to find your gems, but they are there to find if you are willing.  To narrow your consideration you can choose to see only items listed by sellers selected by geographic location (including country), by feedback rating, by feedback percentage, or by perhaps number of items listed.  Once you view a listing, you can choose to view that seller's entire offering, including Auction core and Fixed Price core, but that's the only way you will see any of those kinds of listings if you've entered through the Auction door.

 As a buyer and as a seller, I'd love to have my choice of doors and then to be the one who narrows it down once I'm inside.

 Just my two cents.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Candy
Tue Jul 3 02:45:30 2007
Obviously, at the bottom of the third to last paragraph, I meant to say, "that's the only way you will see any of those kinds of listings if you've entered through the Stores door."

In any event, I've long thought this would settle a good part of the arguments.  Store sellers wouldn't feel ignored in search.  The buyers wouldn't feel overwhelmed by stuff they don't want to see.  A store seller can use Auction or Fixed Price to interest buyers who can then see their store, so eBay gets the core listings they want.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Nat
Tue Jul 3 02:51:48 2007
What most people forget is that Pierre wanted ebay to stay OUT of buyer/seller relationships. This worked early on because sellers were less likely to be fraudulent, and more likely to be smaller 'mom and pop' stores. As ebay has grown, it has become increasingly difficult to stay out of buyer/seller relationships. And yet if they were to get involved and tackle fraud etc, then there would be the potential to blame them for everything (and I guess get sued a lot). This of course, makes their tactics with dealing with fraud, feedback, etc, extremely vague. And yet, it is this exact vagueness that is hurting ebay so much. If they had implemented a battle plan for being an impartial third-party in the first place - and get personally, meticulously, and informed-ly involved in buyer/seller relationships - then perhaps they wouldn't be going down.

I'm only a small buyer, but I never realized that ebay was such a trap for fraud until recently. Now I double and triple check everything about the seller, their feedback, their listings, their return policies... And even if everything looks legit, I still get nervous about being ripped off. Why? Because I know that ebay won't do much to support me if I do... I see so many fraudulent items listed time and time again, by PowerSellers, and they never seem to be removed.

Time for a new marketplace.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: donnell wells
Tue Jul 3 05:34:26 2007
Not really sure who Mario is - he must be related to Dick Cheney - you know -
the guy who could care less about the facts, and upbraids any and everyone who questions the status quo served up by those in charge -

Ebay begged all of us to open stores-
I could not open my email account for months without some come hither seductive eBay offer that praised the idea of opening a store since my auctions were doing so well.........
Yikes, the moment I took that bait, they quadrupled the fees and left all of us without the proverbial paddle.
I purchased inventory for my store and after the oily persuasion from the higher management to " come to the middle of the rug"  so I can really jerk it out from under you - I was so irate that I had a paragraph in my listings that outlined the perfidious nature of the eBay management and asked my clients to opine on how it affected their buying habits.............
IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN EBAY JERKED ALL OF MY LISTINGS THAT HAD A WELL-DESERVED AND FACTUALLY CORRECT CRITICISM OF THEIR ACTIONS.....

GAG ME WITH A SPOON - THE OAR IS NOT NECESSARY.....

My frustration is beyond definition at this late date.  Between the constant tweaking of "new" concepts that are utter failures, the lack of responsibility for their own constant and never ending mistakes that create havoc in the actual marketplace that we
pay vividly for and have no recourse when blocked and the seriously disturbing "NEW MATH" approach to just exactly how long your item is actually on the auction block (and believe me, you would be horrified if they would release the truth about the 7days you think you are paying for and how much face time your item is actually given)

Sign me,

BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU WILL RESULT IN LOSS OF DIGITS...........
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: donnell wells
Tue Jul 3 05:37:43 2007
MERCI FOR THIS TIME TO VENT!  
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: Phil C
Tue Jul 3 05:49:24 2007
As a buyer and part-time seller I think Ebay's attempt to kill off the little guy is working. I can't afford it anymore. And as a buyer, Ebay's longtime refusal to seriously address counterfeits, knockoffs, and outright fraud have me searching a LOT less.
eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site   eBay Users Spending Less Time on Site
by: gb-in-uk
Tue Jul 3 07:10:22 2007
I couldnt agree more with most of the above. Heres a few thoughts from a disgruntled and fed up UK powerseller.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In addition to the above, one of the great things about ebay here in the UK is that when we listed an item for sale, it would be presented to the GLOBAL MARKETPLACE. We used to enjoy selling great stuff to people all over the world. ************************************Not anymore. In february, ebay REMOVED uk listings from ebay.com.********************** Ebay has never ever given a straight answer for this, and i complained so loudly at having my market taken away from me without warning, they stopped me (and others) from posting comments on their discussion boards. Some people have even had their accounts suspended, just for asking questions! So we are now paying more fees, for less product visbility. I believe this is also the case for ebay canada? This is of course in addition to the rapidly increasing fees (they are a website, why do they need more money?). Ebay sellers are finding that they are having to spend more and more time, for less and less money. Even before when you could advertise an item for 99 cents, whatever it was, and the market would dictate the selling price, thats not happening anymore. More sellers are listing at fixed price (BUY IT NOW), or a very high starting bid. Ebay.co.uk has seen both buyers (who have had countless fraud experiences on ebay, as its VERY easy to run a scam on ebay), and sellers exiting in droves, the problem is theres nowhere else to go. Many of them are now starting up their own websites and having far better success than they were on ebay, for far cheaper, and far more control. When ebay removed  uk sellers from the main ebay site, everyones sales here in England  PLUMMETED, i mean really nosedived. Our sales are down 75% since february! (and we're not newbies at this) Hundreds of ebay shops , maybe even thousands here in the Uk have closed as its simply not worth it anymore. And what does ebay say? NOTHING! Despite furious and angry posts on the discussion boards and blogs,and 1,000s of emails to ebay by angry sellers, ebay wont give us a straight answer, mirroring, the terrible almost non existant cusotmer service that ebay provide, another eason why people are leaving.Ebay is lying to people about what is going on, it could be suggested,  Ebay was built thru the strength of its COMMUNITY, the users of the site. Any changes or suggestions, were run thru the community, ensuring that ebay met sellers needs. Now thats gone out the window, ebay will not and does not listen. Im lucky in a way as my ebaying is only part time, but i still miss the regular second income!

The CEO MEG recently sold all er shares. I wonder why? Does no-one find that highly irregular? It would be nice if google opened an alternative ebay, i would drop ebay like a stone and list all my items there instead. In addition, their accquisitions of late are stupid. $75 milion for stumbleupon? Who the heck brokered that deal. I bet the authors of the site are still laughing now! A networking site that could have been built for $25,000 max!!!!!!!! These are our sellers fees they are spending!

The worst thing that you can as a corporation is to ignore your customers, lie to your customers, and continue to rip them off. Ebay is on a downward trend, and just like a runaway train going down a steep hill, the decline gets faster and faster until.....................

well, you decide.

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