eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

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

June 21, 2008

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

By: Ina Steiner

Sat June 21 2008 19:00:17

While vendors told me the exhibit hall was busy this morning before the Town Hall meeting at 11, it was very slow the rest of the day, as witnessed by me. One vendor said it was his fourth time exhibiting at eBay Live, and this one "was the worst." He said last week's Internet Retailer show was better in terms of attendance and quality of attendees. Another vendor said you could not compare eBay Live with Internet Retailer, and was satisfied with attendance. Yet another vendor said they had missed last year's show in Boston, and said this was half the attendance of the show in Las Vegas.

Vendors seemed okay with the show's first two days, and said it was a more business-like environment. But I had expected things to pick up today - a Saturday, when more locals could come (and eBay offered a 1day pass today that also let them into the Gala). Not sure what to make of it.

And, sure enough, I could not see Skype anywhere (see my post from this morning).

Comments (73) | Permalink

Readers Comments

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Aaron

Sat Jun 21 19:36:44 2008

"And that is how eBay Live ends...not with a bang, but with a wimper."

This could also be a metaphor for the inevitable demise of eBay itself. It's not going to happen overnight, in one big avalanche of traffic loss. Rather it will slowly bleed sellers, buyers, and money, until it will become a case study for future generations in ecommerce, for what NOT to do.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Tired

Sat Jun 21 20:14:57 2008

They tried to get the attendance up with all the special 1 day this and that free Gala..... But again they have FAILED!

Maybe a MIRACLE will happen and all these corporate weenies will get fired and they will put Griff in charge, add live customer service for ALL, lower both listing fees and final value fees, make feedback a level playing field, treat sellers with respect, Hire some people who know the definitions of Trust and Safety, allow ALL types of payment services and most of all get rid of the GD Best Match!!!!

Oh... I am sorry was I dreaming or something?????...

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: RichardC

Sat Jun 21 20:19:23 2008

eBay reminds me of Netscape near the end....

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: bob

Sat Jun 21 20:34:10 2008

Griff in charge!!!!!You had to be dreaming,or having an out-of-mind experience.................

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Patricia

Sat Jun 21 20:37:48 2008

This is going to be a bitter voyage for the good ship Ebay. The lack of attendance and the hostility at ebay live should have given even the dumbest person on earth some indication of the bad times to come. Somehow Ebay got a captain who can't steer and a crew that walks into walls! Its going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I believe Mr. Donahoe didn't have his parents there because they were proud of him....they were there to lend some moral support (somebody in the room loves him) and his childhood pictures were probably used as a cushion between him and an audience that pretty much hates him for what he's doing to their businesses. Oh, he'll plod on feeling that sooner or later all the bad bad little sellers who left will be back with their tails between their legs begging for sales that only ebay can bring them. Yeah...but he fails to consider the treatment he's given them and the whittling down of their profits and the hiding of their wares in best match AND the undue damage to their reputations - all of which is causing them to leave. He also fails to realize he's not exactly luring in buyers a mile a minute either! A small fact that eludes him...but is all too real to sellers! Somebody better get an experienced captain on board because there are dead, cold icebergs ahead for Ebay! At first I felt sorry - because Ebay is actually dying. Now I realize it has to run its course, like a fever, before it can turn around. I just hope when the fever finally breaks it won't be too late.

www.ACEOart.net

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Patricia

Sat Jun 21 20:40:30 2008

Griff in charge? I had to read that twice!!!! Somebody here is a real glutton for punishment LOL

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Ming the Merciless

Sat Jun 21 23:30:38 2008

Griff is dead. He drank too much of Meg's Kool Aid and died several years ago -- a Company Man to the bitter end.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Ming the Merciless

Sat Jun 21 23:34:35 2008

Just watched the YouTube video.

THIS is Ebay Live? Mostly empty seats and empty suits from what I could see and hear, and I wonder how many of the attendees are ebay plants beay paid to attend.

Was that The Donna Ho's mommy and daddy on the back row?

Ebay: America's Most Despicable Corporation.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: bonni

Sun Jun 22 04:48:12 2008

This just confirms my suspicion that eBay is well and truly dying. Six months ago, Donahoe said that eBay would be unrecognisable in two years. I think that's true. It'll be a corpse, or some sort of bizarre zombie version of its former self.

Stick a fork in eBay. It's done. It'll just take a while before they actually fall down.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Jeff S

Sun Jun 22 07:34:14 2008

Standing in line at my PO, the customer behind me asked, "do you sell on eBay?". I told her "yes, but its not fun any longer". With her arms also full of packages, she told me she sells on Etsy, and sales have been great- especially to Europe.

I share this story because even in the smallest of rural USA post offices, where word of mouth and small talk reign supreme, the internet "success story" talking points are changing.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: john

Sun Jun 22 09:38:55 2008

EBAY YOU NEED TO WAKE UP. YOU HAVE FORGOT THAT WITH OUT SELLERS YOU HAVE NO SITE!!!!,JOIN THE REAL WORLD AND RELISE THAT BUYERS WILL ALLWAYS COMPLAIN ABOUT SOMETHING, AND PUTTING YOU SELLER 2 THE RANK OF SECONC CLASS PEOPLE WAS NOT THE ANSWER AND THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE DONE.IT'S THE SELLERS WITH ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES AND USED ITEMS THAT MADE YOU NOT THE GUYS SELLING NEW GOODS THEY WILL GO AWAY AND SELLM ON A CHEEPER SITE.WHAT YOU DID WITH FEEDBACK IS THE MOSE DISHONEST THING ON EBAY.SELLERS ARE TIRED OF BEING ABUSED BY BUYERS AND THE ABUSE BY THEM HAS BEGONE.YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!!! , GOOGLE & YAHOO OR MS & YAHOO THAY HAVE THE PROGRAMES TO DO IT. AND MIGHT JUST JUMP ON THIS BANDWAGON.JUST REMBER WITH OUT SELLERS WHAT ARE YOU..IF SOMEONE WANT'S SOMETHING THEY WILL STILL BUY.MOSE GOOD BUYERS KNOW THEY ARE PROTECTED BY PAYPAL PAYMENTS....SO STOP PUTTING THE BLAIM ON THE SELLERS. MOST OF US ARE REALY GOOD PEOPLE AND WE MADE YOU WHAT YOU WERE...........HOPE OYU READ THIS AND SAVE A GOOD CO.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: g***e

Sun Jun 22 09:51:45 2008

Somebody's caps lock key stuck?

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: CashBackAtEbay

Sun Jun 22 10:11:50 2008

If the purpose of eBay Live is to energize and motivate sellers as well as to listen to them, I wonder if eBay got their money's worth out of the event. I was reviewing the videos on YouTube comparing eBay Live 2008 with former years. The snippets available are quite drastic. What a juxtoposition! The 2007 eBay Live had lots of happy employees and eBay famous folks smiling for the cameras as compared to the clips available on 2008, which were gloom and doom.

I like what one of the commenters above said: eBay will "become a case study for future generations in ecommerce."

Best wishes to all surviving eBay sellers. Have you tried Amazon yet?

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: bite me

Sun Jun 22 10:12:07 2008

ebay will be dead because they upset sellers by trying to copy amazon. you can't be amazon without your own inventory and without using skus.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: seller

Sun Jun 22 10:20:09 2008

Has anyone considered the economy as a reason for the slower ebay live? Ebay is not dying... Sellers who cannot adapt to change and complain about every thing are dying.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Henrietta

Sun Jun 22 13:08:56 2008

@'seller'

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Sellers voted with their feet on eBay live just as they have voted with their feet on listing on eBay online. Not everyone jumps up and down and shouts like me!

A lot of sellers have adapted to change and are listing on OnlineAuction.com, eCrater.com, Loudfrog.com,iOffer, PlunderHere.com, eBid.net, this list goes on and on. It is amazing how much less sales volume you need to stay on the same income level when you are paying less in fees.

It is amazing how much less stress you have on a site that actually wants sellers.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: RedINKdiary

Sun Jun 22 13:33:33 2008

As a BUYER do you really think I care if a seller has 4.4 on a DSR? I can read and if I don't like the tone of the listing I will not buy.

What I do care about is that some suit has decided that seller needs to be 'disadvantaged in search' and I can't FIND the piece he has to sell that I need to complete my collection.

I want to know that I have seen everything on offer and I want to see it before it ends, not what some bot thinks I want to see.

I don't want to adapt to change, thank you very much and eBay is inserting itself in between me and the sellers I want to buy from.

redinkdiary.blogspot.com

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: Fruity

Sun Jun 22 13:45:22 2008

They should of called it ebay lied 2008. Their attendance would skyrocket to the more attendees of all-time. We could show up with marshmallows and roast weenies

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: JoeS

Sun Jun 22 14:47:22 2008

I believe Ebay's decline started with when they tried to force store items to the auction core through a huge fee increase on store items. Ebay management unwisely chose this course to force core auction growth. To this date the auction core continues to struggle so that forced bad strategy failed.

I've dealt with many Ebay users in my line of work over the years. Many of these users left or significantly reduced their activity on Ebay since that bad strategy decision. Many of them were great buyers as well and many have ceased that activity as well.

Many of these users were participating in the Ebay Stores program when Ebay put store items in core back in 2006. The results were outstanding as many of these sellers were seeing a great increase in sales. Ebay had accidently stumbled onto then what we know now is the future of ecommerce and that is fixed-price.

Instead of adapting and capitalizing on this popular platform, Ebay management panicked and tried to force these store items to the core auctions for auction growth. Auctions will always have their place but with the rise of sites like Amazon, the fixed-price format is just much more convenient for the buyers. The core has since struggled so we know the store-to-core strategy was a disaster. As a result many good Ebay sellers/buyers left the site or reduced activity since then.

Things have not changed since, as more forced policies are implemented and more users leave. EBAY HAD THEIR FUTURE BACK IN 2006 AND FAILED TO INNOVATE AND CAPITALIZE. Now, they are once again panicking and using unwise forced policies on their customers to try to catch up. I see another disaster on the horizen.

eBay Live Exhibit Hall Ends with a Whimper

by: The Graduate

Sun Jun 22 15:10:32 2008

If I could tell the eBay execs one thing, it would be how much joy I got out of my first sales on eBid and eCrater.

I sold the items for less, and I still made more profit. With fees at 12% on my ebay store, I can sell for 10% less on other sites and still make more. As the volume picks up a little on those sites, I'll be able to afford to post less and less on eBay. My goal is to give eBay 12% of next to nothing and then make an extra savings of $16.00/month when I finally close my eBay store.
EBay idiots, they banked on an extra 2% and instead motivated sellers like me to start listing on a competitor's site.

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