They really are digging that hole.....

Sellers are certainly not going to like having their money subject to hold for 21 days.

Another one bites the dust, but with a stylish farewell.
http://www.ebaygoldmine.org/ebay-listing.png

This will be interesting to watch. I don't know how they can do this. Just about every Seller I buy from in Australia offers direct deposit and for many, I think the reduced fees makes the difference between Selling and not Selling on Ebay.

Why do companies universally feel they have to constantly increase profits? It's like a child sneaking into the fridge and stealing a little bit of ice cream - just a little bit more, just a little bit more - then there is none left.

Greed, Greed, Greed, the world is doomed, doomed I say!

I had thought they were going to implement the No Neg Feedback this month too.

"Mayday! eBay raises white flag over forced PayPal in US "

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/18186/1023/

Brette:)

I still maintain that they are finished. I think it's just a matter of time.

Deadlord39 wrote:I still maintain that they are finished. I think it's just a matter of time.

I'm starting to take that view myself. This model of squeezing the customer for every penny can't survive in the current Internet environment, unless the fundamentals and traditions of the Internet itself are modified. That said, the greedy corporations are trying to do just that, reserve a high performance Internet for themselves whilst relegating everything else to the backwaters. If they succeed then eBay's model will probably become the norm.

Deadlord39 wrote:Actually, this would be the PERFECT time for a challenger to come into the picture. As the year grinds on, I expect to see more and more people auctioning off things just to keep their heads above water (here in the US at least). If an online auction company was set up with rock-bottom fees, it would likely drive eBay into the dust.
I have no problems with comapnies making money, even a LOT of money. What I take issue with is hiding it behind bullshit statements like "customer safety" and "better experience". I doubt the average person is smart enough to see the big green schlong waiting for them in those words.

The parallels between Ebay and AOL are ominous (at least they would be if I was a stockholder).  The biggest difference is Paypal...which seems to be the one componet AOL was lacking, a huge moneymaker with no downside (for the company).  Regardless, Ebay reminds me of AOL in their glory days, when they had crushed the competition, and became used to moving and shaking the industry and spouting fiats from on high with no thoughts of repercussions or adequate competition.

AOL was brought down by the slowly eroding market share taken by companies that gouged out little niches in the same industry (and by Prodigy's death gasp of eliminating all hourly fees in favor of a flat rate model, something AOL had to move to and which caused it to lose millions a year). Slowly but surely Ebay's increasing draconian measures are causes leaks and dribbles and spurts of the smaller (and sometimes larger) merchants on ebay to either leave for another service or start their own website.  This is happening WITHOUT either new sellers or buyers filling up the ranks.  My earlier comparison to cannibalization is apt; the same thing happened to AOl in the day as they attempted to require an ever shrinking market base to fund more and more of the cost, and ignored many of the innovations that went on to allow the grow of such giants as Myspace, Facebook, and other social networks (AOL could have done this a decade ago if they had any vision; they already had all the pieces in place!)

AOL's demise was hastened by their buyout and subsequent mis-management by Time Warner. I don't think this will happen to Ebay, as surprisingly their purchase of Paypal is basically keeping the entire company afloat at this time and probably will in the future.

I'm going to look into my crystal ball and see we'll eventually see Ebay as a niche marketer with around 10 million volume in auctions at any one time (they hover around 13-14 million now): respectable, but never approaching their heydey.  They'll still make money but it will be dwarfed by the amount Paypal brings in, and they'll have had to make many concessions just to keep the amount of buyers/sellers at a steady number. I don't know what form this will take (free listing fees, flat 5% seller's fee on items sold, discounts for multiple listings) but as the slow but steady eroding of their client base continues I think they will be forced into it.

That being said, I wish I had the time and money to attend Ebay Live this year. In contrast to past years, which have been love fests, I bet much like the Democratic convention this year it's going to be a blood bath.

Mike B.