Part of what’s wrong with eBay is undoubtedly, says The Times, due to eBay being an idea that was so good and so simple that they did little to change it over the years. eBay was a once the definitive place to buy a dishwasher online and (a nod here to Steve who used to sell on eBay as 99pbatteries) the defacto place to buy batteries. Caravans used to be one of the top performing search word (in the now defunct eBay pulse) – it was in the top 10 for over a decade (and so noteworthy we blogged when it was pushed out of the top 10 by tech) and yet now they’re sold on Facebook. Sell offs make it more bite sized for acquisition but eBay’s strength should be returning to be the marketplace where you can buy and sell (almost) anything. The problem with this is that eBay need to have some fresh ideas.
With the sale of StubHub likely to complete and Investors pushing for a speedy sale of eBay Classifieds they say it will free eBay up to get back to it’s rooks as the destination for self-expressionists and treasure hunters. Giving money back to shareholders, as eBay has recently started doing with a dividend, is says The Times “an admission of defeat – a sign that you’ve run out of ideas”.
In an era when convenience is paramount, eBay is, well, inconvenient”. The Times describes Facebook and Amazon as “Both experiences are vastly different from eBay’s clunky bidding system and the faffing around with shipping. It’s been known for decades that a consumer that occasionally sells on eBay is a much more loyal buyer but eBay are letting these customers slip away.įor eBay to be relevant it has to once again become the default place for buyers to start their search for pretty much anything. You may well say that 2nd hand dishwashers, caravans, and some batteries delivered tomorrow aren’t eBay’s core strengths but equally all the time consumers are shopping elsewhere they’re not considering eBay for other purchases.
Increasingly eBay are missing out on consumer to consumer sales and at the same time also missing out when a buyer wants speed and convenience. Want something tomorrow? Buy it on Amazon. I went with a friend this weekend to pick up a second hand dishwasher she just purchased. I’ve never yet seen a seller complain too much about fees when their eBay sales are sky rocketing, but boy do they complain when sales shrink and they’re not making an income. eBay worldwide are getting fewer sales for sellers than a year ago but asking for ever higher fees. With fees that high, the only thing that can justify them is massive sales and yet eBay’s growth has stalled or worse is contracting. Today you’re looking at double or triple that, even with free insertion fees, depending on category by the time you factor in 10% or 12% final value fees and voluntarily donate a couple more percent to eBay’s coffers through eBay Promoted Listings.
I remember a time on eBay when you could list SIF (Shop Inventory Format, defunct for over a decade) for 3p insertion fee and final value fees were 5.25% of the first £29.99, 3.25% for the portion of the sale between £30 and £599.99 and just 1.75% for anything over £600.Īt eBay Universities I remember happily telling people I ran my entire eBay business for around 6% to 8% total fees (including shop subscription etc) plus PayPal fees. eBay seller grievancesįees are ever growing on eBay and today they are higher than ever, which coupled with eBay’s stated desire to widen their margins means sellers are getting a raw deal. Titled “eBay: online marketplace for sale, one careless owner”, it’s a hatchet job about all that’s wrong with eBay today but as always there are some truths in there and the truth often hurts.Ĭutting through the rhetoric, there are three complaints about what’s wrong with eBay that do have some merit – fees, relevance and financial performance, which can largely be summed up as seller grievances, buyers not being engaged and investor unrest. There was an article in this weeks’ Sunday Times about eBay which makes for somewhat depressing reading.