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Ebay policy changes
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Badmike
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:38 am

megnelwil wrote:
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.

This is VERY true. Look at the clothes a lot of us wore in the 1970s and 80s.

Would anyone in their right mind have worn such crap if the companies weren't telling us it looks cool? Likewise look at the shit being offered for entertainment, and ask yourself, did I ask for 190 movies about the Iraq war (all of which fail MISERABLY at the box office since people want to go to movies to be entertained, not preached at)? Did we ask for a movie about the President Bush presidency (the Oliver Stone directed pile of shite that NO ONE will go watch because who wants to be reminded of this?) Did I ask for American Idol's talentless dreck to bombard the music charts (nice to see these people are losing their contracts and failing miserably once they get into the public eye, with a couple of exceptions)? Did I ask for another humorless sitcom about a married couple, he's fat and she's hot, with two obnoxious kids, and wacky neighbors (thank god now most of these fail almost immediately and are cancelled quickly)?

My wife and I have a simple solution, and that is we absolutely buck all trends and "gotta haves" and do our own thing, pretty soon our neighbors and family that get sucked into believing that what corporate America wants is what they want come back to the fold, sadder but wiser, while we have just watched from the sidelines.

Mike B.

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Deadlord
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:05 am

I'm with you, Mikey. I'm not so much a trend bucker as a trend ignorer. I could give a shit about fads, fashion, fitting in, and all that crap. I am so politically incorrect I make Bill O'Reilly look like a media censor. A mangy dog is a mangy dog, not a dermatologically challenged Canine American.

I'm seeing and hearing a lot of complaints, but the solution is simple: If you don't like eBay, don't use it. I buy/sell/trade the majority of stuff off eBay. Usually I just throw up the chum and the items I'd like to see everyone get a fair shot at. if eBay's fees and payment manipulation become too much of an irritant to me, I will cease to use it.
I think the collecting field is becoming a bit too dependent on eBay anyways.

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

Blackmoor
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:11 am

Deadlord39 wrote:I think the collecting field is becoming a bit too dependent on eBay anyways.

This statement rings very true :!:

Games can get you through times of no money but money can not get you through times of no games!!

FormCritic
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:37 pm

The motivation for limiting searches seems to be to establish limits on searches as a "service."

Then, Ebay can sell the "service" to major sellers.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

Badmike
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:08 pm

FormCritic wrote:The motivation for limiting searches seems to be to establish limits on searches as a "service."

Then, Ebay can sell the "service" to major sellers.

Spot on.

As in, "Hey, Nike, how about you pay X dollars and we'll block your competitors items from popping up on searches?"

How about someone "buying" the keywords D&D so that everytime you punch them into the ebay search engine, WOTC's items pop up first?

Yep.

Mike B.

"THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT WHY i DONE WHAT i DONE THE MORE i LAUGH" Cougar
"The Acaeum hates fun" Sir Allen
"I had a collecting emergency" Nogrod
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mbassoc2003
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:24 pm

Or maybe "Hey, Mike. How about you pay us X dollars a month to subscribe to our 'premuim' search engine and upgrade from the shitty 'basic' version?"

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

Badmike
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:59 pm

mbassoc2003 wrote:Or maybe "Hey, Mike. How about you pay us X dollars a month to subscribe to our 'premuim' search engine and upgrade from the shitty 'basic' version?"

Not that far fetched. But when that happens, I'm going to Amazon and get a storefront there. Or just not worry about buying on Ebay anymore (I don't buy much from them now, to tell the truth) and hope that all my customers are upgrading to the new premium search engine....

This business model makes no sense...because it will make them money on the front end and complete destroy the back end.

Ebay's #1 priority should be getting client's items sold. By blocking access, they are only hurting themselves, because I can't covet what I can't see. Nor can I compare prices....well, I CAN, if I go to Amazon or another online seller. Let's face it, if the only copy of a MERP item I want on Ebay is listed at $100, while 15 other sellers have it on Amazon for less, why on earth would I do business on Ebay? Isn't it all about who has the cheapest prices?

So basically they are going to end up driving people into the arms of Amazon, or any other online retailer who can offer cheaper prices than the one or two retailers they profile (in the case of games, perhaps Troll & Toad or Noble Knight or Titan), while losing the sale in cases where the amount is simply too high. Silly.

Mike B.

"THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT WHY i DONE WHAT i DONE THE MORE i LAUGH" Cougar
"The Acaeum hates fun" Sir Allen
"I had a collecting emergency" Nogrod
Co-founder of the North Texas RPG Con
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mnw
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:28 pm

Mike wrote:Or just not worry about buying on Ebay anymore...

That's the way to go. eBay is probably delighted it is driving away small to mid-sized sellers in anticipation of the arrival of its new and best-est ever friends. But have they remembered, sellers are often buyers too? And without buyers it doesn't really matter what their fee structure is or how their search operates. It's hard to say you won't buy on eBay anymore because they have a lock on the marketplace. But I'm seeing more and more sellers using eBay as a gateway to separate private stores. So I'm now trying to hunt out sellers I can transact with away from eBay and I give such sellers preference, even if the prices are a little higher on some occasions.

I checked in on the eBay discussion boards. Murder going on and the pinks have done a runner. One group was complaining about a lack of response on a 800 post thread! Apparently increasing numbers of sellers are being suspended, even some with 100% feedback. 30 days without sales, zero customer support, the daggers are out. eBay might do better to tell everyone to F-off. It might piss the customers off but not as much as being screwed under the pretense of a customer service drive. Nobody likes being lied to.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:08 am

I have found a rather drastic solution to my unable to opt out problem. I have formatted and reinstalled my OS, and have the original search options back, even when I'm logged in to My eBay. Presumably there was something written into my registry by eBay, because clearing my internet history, and deleting all my cookies by hand did not do the trick. We'll see how long it takes before my opt out is reversed by ebay.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

copycat
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:17 am

It could simply have been a script / Active X control which has nothing to do with your cookies.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

Deadlord
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:10 am

Ah well, a good O/S douching once in a while is healthy. Surly might be right, though. Check the IE (if you use it) add-ons and see if eBay stuck something in there.

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

Xaxaxe
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:47 pm

I'm so out of the eBay loop now ... I can't remember my last sale there (February, maybe?). I've bought a handful of items, but that's been about it lately.

But, from quickly scanning this thread and checking out a couple of "auction watch" sites that I like, it seems to me that eBay really, really want to be ... Amazon. Which is fine, I suppose, except there's already a pretty company that does that. It's called Amazon.

Seriously, I've never encountered such rampant cluelessness or observed a company more out of touch with its user-base. I'm embarrassed that I ever defended eBay at this site.

FormCritic
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:29 pm

I have noticed another odd phenomenon.

Several times, my proxy bidder service has reported that my snipe was blocked by the seller.

Each time, I have contacted the seller with the news that my bid was three times what they got...and why was I blocked?

The sellers all deny blocking anyone.

I am wondering if Ebay is messing with snipers. Maybe they are trying to make proxy bidding harder in order to discourage the practice.

?

All they would have to do is identify proxy bidding websites and delay their final bids by a second or so. That would make services like AuctionSniper far less reliable.

Possible?

Mark

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

copycat
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:31 pm

I'm likely alone, but I hope so.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

Xaxaxe
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:39 pm

FormCritic wrote:Possible?

Sure; why not?

I've used a lot of third-party eBay software over the years, and if there's one universal thing I've noticed, it's that the developers all dread eBay making any changes to its code. Even a simple change means that the third-party guys get to spend a week fixing their code in response.

It's also important to remember that, a few years ago (2004, maybe?) eBay made sure that everyone knew whose playground it is. That's when they introduced a "token system" that essentially tracks third-party vendors and forces them to comply to a bunch of rules that no normal person would ever care about. In other words, any maker of sniping software (to use your example) has only two choices: adjust to changes on eBay's terms or give up their right to have an eBay "token."

Which is my long way of saying that I'd guess eBay changed a snippet of code and is currently laughing its ass off at the third-party guys scrambling around to respond. Either that or your specific sniping service has, in fact, lost its token and is essentially being blocked by eBay.

mnw
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:24 am

Mark, if you haven't already tried it have a look at this auction management software. It's far and away the best I've used and it's free.

http://www.jbidwatcher.com/

I use it to auto-load my searches into tabs and then pick the auctions I'm interested in, leaving the others to build a historical and searchable database. Or just drag auction URLs from the eBay site into the application window. The developer responds well to eBay's various attempts to scupper 3rd party software. From experience I'd say failure rate is about 1 in 250.

dbartman
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 1:11 pm

mbassoc2003 wrote:Or maybe "Hey, Mike. How about you pay us X dollars a month to subscribe to our 'premuim' search engine and upgrade from the shitty 'basic' version?"

That's would be just like the other web search engine models!

I'm irritated about eBay automatically correcting my spelling, assuming that what I typed is not what I want, instead of just offering an alternative or leaving it alone. If I typed it incorrectly, I won't get any results dammit!

I'm also annoyed with the changes they are making to the presentation of specific search items. Instead of just giving a list, you get a "user friendly formatting" of the items.

Gus Landt
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:57 pm

I just logged into eBay, and got the following:

We would like to tell you about a new security initiative. To help protect the Community against fraudulent access to our members' accounts, eBay has started noting which computers members typically use to conduct their buying and selling activity.

Sometime this summer, eBay will begin checking to ensure you are logging in from the same machine you have successfully used previously, whether it is a home or business computer. If you attempt to list an item from a different computer -- for example, from a PC you are borrowing in a hotel or library -- eBay will ask you to confirm your identity.

The best way to confirm your identity is to choose an automated phone call -- either now, or in 2 minutes -- that eBay will make to the number you have registered with us. The phone call will provide you with a PIN number to use to complete the confirmation process. This allows the system to confirm it is really you logging in to list items.

If this is not possible, we will provide alternatives such as confirming through Live Chat or receiving a call to a new number. These alternate methods will require you to provide more information (such as your secret question answer).

Most sellers will need to confirm their identity infrequently. By making sure you have a current phone number and a secret question and answer on file with eBay, you can help ensure this authentication process goes quickly and smoothly.

Yep, if you have 2 computers at home, and go to eBay with both of them, you'll need to go through the process of having them call you and give you a pin when you list stuff from a computer if you used your other computer last. Or probably more commonly, if you log into eBay at your work computer during the day, then go home and list stuff that night, you gotta go through this process. Every stinking time.

Honestly, how many sellers never log into eBay during the day from another computer (usually at work)?

I understand the need for security, but this is gonna be a pain to do every time I list stuff...

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