Deadlord39 wrote:http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20080603/bs_ ... 8062112762

Maybe they know something we don't.

Yahoo auctions ended on June 3rd.
period.

Write this down and save it.
ebay is moving to a fixed price model. The reason they are doing this is because it produces a more predictable and steady stream of income, AND allows them to pitch to the major retailers/wholesalers. I am beginning to think this new CEO might be a genius.
For example, they can go to Nike, and offer to sell Nike products at a discounted fee, lower than the retailers can. So, Nike says sure, we'll link our site to yours, and when someone clicks on our site, we have what amounts to a storefront. As a bonus, every Nike auction contains a link to Nike's site. If you're looking at an eBay auction for green pump-up Super Jumper tennis sneakers, but you are really looking for something else, you click the Nike link and get redirected to Nike's list of merchandise. There, you find purple high-cut Marathon Man sneakers that you fall in love with, click the link and lo and behold, there is the eBay auction for you to buy them and have them shipped right to your door.
eBay is trying to become the storefront for as many businesses as it can. They could care less about Grandma auctioning off her Mason jar collection, they are after the big game.

OK...I just ran an Ebay search for Judges Guild.

The result came back with 32 items.

Anyone else?  What did you get?

83, total.

OK...

I drove home from work.  


From my home computer:

Now I have 59 items up for auction and 277 Buy-it-Now and another 168 on Ebay Express.

1)  Is a different computer somehow given different settings?

2)  Why are auctions listed as separate from Buy-It-Now if I am searching in "All Items?"

3)  Is Ebay Express a separate list from the one I normally use?  Are these different items, or selected items from the entire list?

HermitFromPluto wrote:I had trouble with searching yesterday. I don't understand this. Why would Ebay downgrade their search engine reducing the potential customer base for listed products?

It makes no sense...so it is either a misconception or there is more to the story.

No one could be that stupid.

Searched Judges Guild on the main page. At 2:30 AM EST, I get 69 items.

I have to scroll down to click the tiny link for viewing Buy-It-Now items. Then I get an additional 275 items.

I wish I could pick some eBay corporate bigwig's brain and just see what direction they are taking. Maybe it makes sense, we're just missing something? I can't see how limiting search results helps them, in any way, shape or form. *shrugs*

Zen

You should replace the Gonzo avatar with a lab rat.

Deadlord39 wrote:http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20080603/bs_ ... 8062112762

Maybe they know something we don't.

Standard corporate horseshit. When the bean counters sniff a profit angle and want to change a model to take advantage, especially an established one, they always start telling the customer what he wants. They commission surveys, "When did you stop beating your wife" style polls, flood the media with unrepresentative case studies, all carefully designed to switch the attitude of the current customer base towards what the company wants. It doesn't make a damn what the customer actually wants and in the end the customer starts believing somebody elses mind rather than their own on the basis of, "Hey, everyone else is doing it, it must be right." Standard marketing crap, money first, nothing second. Shit on the customers who put the money in your pocket. I don't believe for one second that eBayers have all suddenly decided they prefer fixed price and I certainly don't believe any statistics that eBay might put out. I find it deeply suspicious that a new guy takes over and hey presto! All of a sudden the customers want want he wants. This arse has ruined eBay. Many of us were saying months ago he intends to turn the whole place into a shopping mall for big brands, forcing the little seller out in the process. His past comments clearly show how much contempt he has for the small time sellers. The company should be broken up now. They shouldn't be permitted to destroy the online auction industry by leveraging their monopoly in a negative way. If they don't want auctions, fine. Break up the company and hand over the auction side to people who will support that model and build on it. Let eBay get on with its cosy deals with Nike and Disney and the like. And the eBay/ Paypal axis is monopolistic whichever way they try to spin it. It's harmful to the customer and there are meant to be laws against such practises. Same goes for the search engines. Why is eBay allowed to spam Google with its sponsored listings when if you or I tried the same game we'd be kicked off in minutes? It's time to investigate this company and the shady links it clearly has with other major players. What they are planning is shaping up to be a bad deal for the consumer who might end up with zero alternative if these suits get their way. The whole nature of the Internet is being corrupted by these people. What happened to the spirit of screw the corporation that used to prevail in the land of the nerds? I guess they were all hired and put on fat salaries.