http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/29/2317684.htm

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) says the Queensland-based company ebusiness-supplies appointed an external administrator last week.

Wish our SEC was as good as Australia’s ASIC…. Alot of Americans are going to get burnt by eBay!

In the future I think most big sites will be operating with a fixed priced format while auctions will have shifted to collectible “niche” and “specialty” auction sites.

if i found a viable and credible alternative to ebay id be on it like a shot and closing the bay account down period, but until then ….

and yet they continue to make silly money, they have and make more money than many nations,
now they even give away silly money in discounts if that sounds like a company in peril the end of the world is truly nigh

Generally when a company does start to worry, it’s too late.

So by the time they do start back tracking and trying to apologise, the damage is done.

they are not going to be overly worried at this moment

Should ebay be concerned that so many sellers would jump ship, if the right competition challenged them in the auction business? Damn right.

At the moment ebay have got sellers over a barrel, and every little pointless change, feedback alteration, useless response from support and general fluffing around will eventually cause the barrel to break.

If the ostriches at ebay could get their heads out the sand they would see that the emperor has no clothes on – if you know what I mean.

With a new CEO in place, eBay seems to be systematically alienating buyers and sellers alike.

Current eBay leadership currently behave like they have no understanding of how their company was built, how it works, or how it survived. As a result of huge fee increases, forcing payment processing, system changes, and policy changes are motivating both buyers and sellers to imigrate to other opportunities. Add the absolute worst customer service on the Internet to the equation and there is a huge opportunity out there for a new auction start up.

Substantial listing growth on smaller websites, reflects member dissatisfaction with the current path eBay has chosen as sellers seek to escape the mess that eBay has become.

eBay should offer their marketplace for sale since they seem to no longer be motivated to build based on the past success and are in the process of tearing down the very foundations upon which they became a multi billion dollar global market place.

If a well financed company with a recognized name jumped into the auction business offering a well designed marketplace and real customer service, it would be the last nail in the eBay coffin.

Google would be a likely player. They are well financed, they are a recognized brand with worldwide reach, they are the leader in search technology and they have their own payment processing system in place.

If a company with the revenue resources like Google entered the auction business, eBay would be hard pressed to survive a year.

Take another viewpoint… ebay is great when stuff sells. Nobody cares about the fees, because things sell. With people spending less, those unsold fees start to add up – FAST. Sellers get pissed off and pointless ebay clones like ebid, tazbar and the like, experience a false dawn. Niche sites like etsy, craigslist etc start to grow, as they always would, and should. Amazon forging ahead doesn’t mean ebay is done, they are two different platforms, yes, with the obvious overlaps. I just asked 9 people (real people, face to face!) 1) where would you buy a book online? And 2) where would you buy something online for your hobby? 1) Amazon 9/9 2) ebay first port of call, followed by niche sites and forums.

I get the impression eBay is about 2 years behind the times.. all the tinkering ( yes, it is tinkering) was needed back then. What is needed now is a way for sellers to cut their risk in placing items on the market NOW.

The splintering of the market into Ebay UK, Germany and US (then all the other satellites) in terms of search is where Ebay have gone wrong with the Antiques and Collectables.

We for instance, have to list on .com (to gain the traffic), which means no 30% Powerseller discount and no UK traffic.

As we have a success rate of 2 to 1 on .com versus .co.uk, we have to list over there.

Ebay is also extremely expensive to list on, our most profitable times are during promotions, when we can dust off the shop stock and bring it where it can be found.

And this is Ebays biggest problem, they want us to list on the site and then they hide our listings…

Hide it from other countries (unless you pay a fee).

Hide if from main search (shop inventory).

Hide it behind “Best Match” (which can be tweaked by Ebay at the drop of a hat, so you have no idea if your item is going to be seen from one moment to the next).

Hide it on a page after sponsored links (which drives traffic off Ebay).

So what is the main problem for us with Ebay?

VISIBILITY

This was Ebays greatest strength at one time, they made our items visible.

Now they seem to have a policy of:

INVISIBILITY

for listings.

Ebay is fantastic when it provides visibility, everything else should be secondary to this.

If Ebay could understand this, they would once again be a growth company (in my opinion).

Ebay was built on the idea you could find anything.

Now it seems a struggle to find anything if users reports are to be trusted.

Give us visibility and we will give Ebay money.

Simple as that.

More visibility, more money.

Oh, and lower the cost of visibility.

Mark

Recent events have really hammered home how important it is for sellers not to depend on ebay for all their income, and to diversify elsewhere, whether it be Amazon, their own website or other niche / specialist sites.

egg heads and theorists can prattle as much as they want

“EBAY LISTINGS PADDING = STOCK MANIPULATION!” – Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:47 AM PDT

“MAJOR PROOF OF EBAY COMMITTING “STOCK MANIPULATION” BELOW!!! DUMP,
DUMP THAT STOCK ASAP!” – Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:58 AM PDT

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/14/1664258-ebay-beats-tiffany-in-court-case-over-trademarks?threadId=312961&cmt=2259428#c2259428
INFAMOUS EA! COMMENTS
__________________________________________

“UNDENIABLE PROOF OF EBAY FRAUD AND MOST IMPORTANTLY… STOCK MANIPULATION!”

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/tech-stocks-shake-off-ebay/story.aspx?guid=%7B9C510CBF%2D8C4A%2D4D53%2D8BB8%2DED1B0B9AB551%7D&dist=TQP_Mod_mktwN#comment425970

Avenger Posts 4-7!
___________________________________________

“HOW LONG CAN EBAY STAY AFLOAT?!”
COMMENT BY User 220016
POSTS: Jul 22 11:53 PM AND Jul 24 10:13 PM

http://seekingalpha.com/article/86191-paypal-merchant-service-major-source-of-growth-for-ebay

___________________________________________

“eBay drops on TV analyst’s comments”

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/07/24/ebay-drops-on-tv-analysts-comments/1#c13352521

AVENGER POST: 7-24-2008 @ 10:26PM

Signed,
Infamous Ebay Avenger!

At Dawdle, we let people use buy it now at the seller’s fixed price or name their own price. The vast majority of people choose to accept the listed prices and just buy immediately; what we generally find is that buyers will name their own prices for items not in stock.

I’m not sure a model like ours would extend to antiques (so Tias is safe) or handmade goods (ditto Etsy). We’ve been very successful in targeting our niche, and while we’re always open to suggestions from our sellers for new categories to expand into, we think we’re pretty good just growing in gaming. So I just wanted to drop my two cents – the eBay auction model isn’t dead and it’s not going anywhere soon; it’s just that there are people who can build niche marketplaces for specific categories and be successful. Nothing wrong with that.

Ebay – the old Ebay we all knew is dying…and I do not see a new one rising from the ashes. Present management needs to be replaced with a good solid, experienced management team. I don’t see that happening and so they stubbornly wind their way down that road to oblivion.

http://www.ACEOart.net