Home › Forums › Random Thoughts › New Catalog Based Search & Ebay's Re-Structured Business Model Plans
- This topic has 73 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 3 months ago by
MyCottage.
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05/19/2018 at 7:00 am #40344
Anonymous
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Summary – If you haven’t already noticed the few categories and products that are already affected by the new catalog search, we will be seeing it across the board within the next year or two. If you HAVE already noticed it in one of the few areas it’s already working in while you were researching an item to sell or trying to find something to purchase on ebay, you’ve seen and probably felt the frustration when your search results bring up only about the top four items as results…if you haven’t figured it out yet that means good luck in the future on having the items your selling actually come up in a search by a potential buyer. If you read further in this post you will see that this is part of structure change in ebay’s plan to shift the platform to big business physical retail companies. For those of you who either want to continue to label it as a darkside rumor or just want to turn a blind eye to it out of fear, the evidence that has been building all along, now has some factual confirmation to it. The following is excerpts from the source present at the Goldman Sachs conference about a month ago. – Please read the whole post as it covers a couple different areas of change coming. –
“Recently At the annual Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco, eBay’s CEO Devin Wenig outlined the future for eBay to investors. Yes it is true, “ebay has and is re-branding and re-structuring toward working with big business physical retailers to bring more product online.”
“sellers will be required to search the eBay Catalog for their products when listing. If their product is not found, sellers should make a request to eBay to add it to the eBay Catalog. If their product is found with incorrect or missing product details, sellers should make a request to eBay to update the product in the eBay Catalog.” Sellers not willing to do the work to update eBay’s catalog are out of luck – eBay explains: “If developers and sellers do not take action to associate their listings with eBay products for Phase 1 and Phase 2 categories, their listings will not show up in the new Product-Based Shopping Experience.” (even then you’ll be lucky if your items is one of the top few that they select to show the buyer)
“Wenig stated eBay’s existing partnerships in the US with Best Buy and Target, UK with Argos, and Australia with Woolworths are some examples on how eBay is working with physical retailers to bring more products online.” – If you think about it this explains the new catalog search base.
“While he did not mention Always Open on eBay in his talk, the recent announcement by eBay seems to fit into this strategy using small businesses to build out more Omni-Channel partnerships.”
“Another significant topic at the conference was structured data. Wenig said the company will continue to build more features on structured data.”
“Finding ways to better catalog thousands of items into four or so best options for sellers is the ultimate goal, and it will be based on structured data points. This includes everything from item location, price, condition, features, options, etc. For example, the marketplace uses item location to narrow the focus for popular items to listings that are closest to the buyer. This is how guaranteed delivery will continue to expand on the site to achieve their goal of many popular products being available to US buyers within three days or less. But delivery time is just one of the metrics. Some items, especially unique products, are not dependant on delivery time. For those, other key points within the structured data will be used to help buyers find exactly what they are looking for.” – (take note of the keyword “exactly” in that statement, this translates to a very narrow search result for the buyer, which means less likely your listing will be seen)
Wenig said “the company does not just want a Buy Box but offer relevant product choices to buyers.” Internally, they call this process providing a “Spectrum of Value.”
“eBay described the catalog process and structured data in much greater detail at eBay Open 2017. Building a catalog of static pages is not just to improve SEO, but a fundamental shift in displaying popular products to buyers.” – (in english this means the new structure is designed to cater the search to the new products being sold from the big business stores)
“And the company will put a premium on the data to decide which listings are served to buyers. Machine learning algorithms will use buyer behavior and history in conjunction with other per product details and item location to display relevant listings.”
“Gaming a system that relies on so many data points is complicated. So the best option for sellers is to provide as much structured data in their listings. Wenig said the company runs on data!”
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Don’t mistake this post as a “darkside” complaint, because it’s not nor was it the intention. However you should look at it for the facts and be prepared to have a backup selling platform in mind if you intend on surviving as a “scavenger” style business and not crossing over to an approved Best Buy or Target seller. From my personal view of the social media groups I monitor designed for sellers like us, the content by sellers in them is already slowly evolving toward Mercari and Poshmark groups and it won’t surprise me in two years that the admins will start changing the names of the groups replacing “ebay” in the title with “mercari” or “poshmark”. For the record I’m not a Mercari or Poshmark seller, I’m stil an ebay seller primarily with the exception of large size items going on FB market place or craigslist however, after almost 18 years as an ebay member and having been in other business aside from ecommerce, I would not be a smart business person if I turned a blind eye to what’s coming. I’ve seen a lot of changes in that many years on ebay going all the way back to the wild west days when you could just about find a quick customer to buy a plucked beard hair and then smile all the way to the bank after your money order showed up in the mailbox….oh how those were the days and fun also. My plan is to conform to the changes at ebay and see what happens… however I will be doing so as I slowly build inventory on a new platform. -
05/19/2018 at 7:15 am #40350
What kind of stuff do you sell?
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05/19/2018 at 7:40 am #40352
Anonymous
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Everything, kind of like you guys but a much smaller scale as of now. My small inventory (about 450 active listings right now) consists of everything from clothes, tools, shoes, art, electronics, collectibles, etc etc etc. with price ranges from $2.00 up to over $500 or $600 dollar area with majority probably in the $10-$40 range. While I’m not a “niche” seller I have a couple areas within those broad range of items that are sometimes kind of “nicheY” to me, but I believe that a well rounded inventory is a safer inventory…especially in a a constantly changing platform like ebay and a constant trend shifting buyer base these days. I have a pretty unique story in how I came to ebays as being one of my primary sources of income as well as the second small business I have that’s unrelated but yet wound up feeding free inventory into my ebay business…I guess I shouldn’t say “free”… I actually get paid to take it but that’s another story in itself.
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05/19/2018 at 8:00 am #40353
l_i_r, thanks for your post. I am not familiar with this concept of “new catalogue search”, but it sounds like you report that eBay is shifting its platform from one that allows buyers and sellers of almost anything to one where buyers and sellers will limited to exchanges of items typically found in a department store. Those of us that make a living off of selling vintage pyrex and used shoes will be left out of the new eBay because there will not be a catalogue category for vintage pyrex and used shoes are gross. Is this accurate?
Can you give any examples of things you can no longer sell or no longer find as a buyer? Also, your unique story of two business – one of which feeds free inventory to eBay is intriguing. I for one would love to hear it. Thanks, Daniel
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05/19/2018 at 9:38 am #40358
aperture, To answer your question: Absolutely not. ebay has been discussing this for some years now, ever since they started asking us for UPCs etc. This is not some stealth thing, and it is NOT designed to eliminate old stuff from the site. And I must say, I disagree with lady in red’s assessment, that the ultimate goal is to squeeze that stuff off the site. Again, absolutely not. (The guy who heads up the Arts and Collectibles vertical at ebay recently noted that A&C (which includes about 14 actual “ebay categories”) had its best year ever last year.)
ebay recognizes that, even if revenue from sales of old stuff is a relatively small proportion of ebays total revenues , it is an important, even vital, attractor and a way to distinguish ebay from competitors such as WalMart. Old pyrex isn’t going to be tossed out.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
MyCottage.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
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05/19/2018 at 8:57 am #40355
Anonymous
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Hi Daniel, thanks for the comment. While I believe Wenig’s long term vision or goal is to eventually evolve into a sort of online hub for big retail names and large scale private branders, I’m certain it’s not something that is going to happen overnight but rather over the course of two or three years and done in such a manner that it slowly squeezes the smaller sellers and used product market out, if not by design, then by mere fact that it will be a byproduct of the new changes. One obvious reason for this comes from some of Wenig’s own statments about how long the process will take their tech department to even implement these changes they have planned along with the fact that he also said it will take the business into 2020 to also fully implement the new paymnet mechanism they are switching to as they go away from Paypal. You’ll still be able to list your vintage pyrex and old shoes but if their new search mechanisms leave us at the bottom of the barrel, we will surely see a decline in actual sales. One thing to keep in mind in that article also is that location won’t be a factor in search results for the unique items, while this a kind of good to hear I beieve it’s going to have a darkside on the the other items that are more run of the mill as your buying market is going to be limited in a geographical sense to buyers that are closer to you so that ebay can follow through with their guarnteed delivery program, thus cutting off the other the side of the country from seeing your listing. We have to keep in mind that CEO’s often speak like politicians because that’s a large part of their job. You have a CEO steering the ship of a big company that is made up of two groups of people, buyers and sellers. Along with trying to satisfy both buyers and sellers he also has to sell his vision for the company to the investors or share holders, so like any politican knows, you are going to have about half of the people who hate you and your ideas and about half of the people who love you regardless of what you do and as the politician in the middle he’s trying speak in a manner to sell his ideas and gain support of 100% of the people. So in reality as he’s telling half of the people to go to hell, he’s doing so in a manner to try to make them look forward to the trip. Kind of like when ebay says “hey we are going to cut your TRS discount in half so we can do you a huge favor and give you a disocount on our cheap packing tape that we will sell you. My personal suggestion is to roll with the punches and conform to the new changes and see what happens, but do so with a backup plan in place. As for your curiosity about my other business that feeds my ebay store, I would probably tell you but it would be too much to type out on here cause I would have to tell some of the good stories that go with it lol. Plus I would have to consider the fact that I might be creating some competition for myself in my area if you live nearby LOL. No, but seriously though if I didn’t have to type it all out I would tell you anhyow. But for now keep rolling with the ebay punches and have a backup plan in mind, it’s good business to have one of those in mind anyhow…just in case. Thanks
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05/19/2018 at 9:30 am #40356
Very good info to keep in mind. May be something, may be nothing, but we should always look for risks to our business and think about how to cover that risk.
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05/19/2018 at 10:00 am #40360
T-Salt, I’ve had about 20 years on ebay. For at least the last 15, ebay has been getting rid of old stuff/small sellers (take your pick) according to someone somewhere pretty much every day. (For that matter, for even longer, sellers have been predicting the imminent demise of ebay.)
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05/19/2018 at 10:44 am #40363
Anonymous
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MyCottage, I think maybe you should re-read the post. I said that even if it isn’t the goal that it will eventually be the byproduct of ebay’s direction they are taking. However I”m not sure how much more evidence one needs than Devin Wenig himself spelling it out to the investors. If you haven’t already started feeling the effects of just some of the changes they have already recently made and the words from the CEO’s mouth wasn’t clear enough then I’m not sure you will ever be convinced until you notice a decline in sales or do broad buyer style search for one of your items only find out it doesn’t show up. As far as your comment about the arts and collectibles having 14 “categories” in quotes, I think you are confusing the current listing categories with the actual subject in the article pertaining to “catalog” type searches they are switching to. The other and very obvious thing to consider in reference to your comment about the arts and collectibles having it’s best year ever last year, I would have to respectfully tell you that it’s completely irrelevant to the changes that ebay’s CEO has announced that are not quite here yet as obviously they were not implemented yet last year. I also have to suggest that no experienced seller should ever use the words “absolutely not” in reference to most anything on a platform in business like ebay that has a rich history of constant change and a decleration from the CEO’s mouth of a massive overhaul and re-structure coming. You said in your reply that it’s the old stuff that sells that is “an important, even vital, attractor and a way to distinguish ebay from competitors such as WalMart.” the two problems I see with that statement is that first, it’s no secret ebay has already been chasing the Amazon and walmart style product base and the second thing is Wenig was pretty clear even his political dance when he said “eBay’s existing partnerships in the US with Best Buy and Target, UK with Argos, and Australia with Woolworths are some examples on how eBay is working with physical retailers to bring more products online.” That statment combined with the upcoming catalog style search results based on “structured data” is basically designed to bring the new unused retail product to the buyer’s search. But in two or three years maybe we can re-visit this post after we see what happens. Who knows, it’s possible DW could be replaced and we get a new CEO that loves small sellers…or we roll with the punches and if the small used sellers get squeezed, then one of the new platorms will become the the new market place for sellers like us.
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05/19/2018 at 11:48 am #40368
lady, thanks for the reply. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
I’ve been following the development of product based search since it began, when it was just a gleam in Wenig’s eye, before there was a single product pages even on ebay.. I’ve also watched Wenig work to bring on brands. I’ve also seen him set up the initiative in Akron to bring on small B&M sellers. I’m convinced ebay wants both because both are important to ebay’s future. I haven’t seen Wenig do or say anything to convince me otherwise.
Product Search is a HUGELY complex undertaking. And yes, as a seller I realize I’ve got to learn to adapt to it. And believe me, I realize it is far from perfect…it will be a long time before its extended to everything (including Pyrex) and probably an even longer time before its extended to everything and done right (or at least close to right…even Amazon, which has had a form of product based search since it began, has problems.)
What you are saying, about Wenig chasing brands and so forth? As i said, people have been saying that since Donahoe’s time, hell, since before Donahoe. When ebay, years ago, first brought on “Diamond Sellers” to the platform, people were saying; “There! That’s it! They are going to get rid of us!”
For that matter, I was on ebay when ebay first started ebay stores. “That’s it! ebay doesn’t want ANY auctions anymore! ebay doesn’t want small sellers! It’s all over for us!”
I’ve never really understood this, except as a kind of kneejerk fear. Amazon added category after category and I didn’t hear Amazon sellers say : Well, they’re going to get rid of books! They don’t want books anymore, they only want TVs! Amazon brought on huge third party sellers—sure, it impacted small sellers, but Amazon didn’t get rid of small sellers.
I think the main difference between our opinions: you seem to believe that Wenig can’t conceive of a site that sells both new and used products, or a site that has both large and small sellers. Yet ebay has been that way for years, and there’s no reason for it not to continue that way.
Look, I would LOVE to see ebay put more emphasis on our type of stuff. I would LOVE to see ebay do more with small sellers in mind. But every business has to prioritize, and right now, ebay has to focus on the part of its business that represents its a major revenue source. And that ain’t us. Hasn’t been for a long time. But that doesn’t mean ebay wants to ditch us.
We’re both just reading the tea leaves. Maybe you’re right, but for at least 15 years, in the face of people saying what you are saying: Look at this change! That proves ebay wants to get rid of us! I’ve been saying, No, that’s wrong.
So far, I’ve been right, and the doomsayers have been, repeatedly, wrong. When I see something that changes my mind, I’ll be the first to post.
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05/19/2018 at 5:45 pm #40384
Anonymous
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Cottage, I’ve been around ebay for a long time as well, about 18 years and I’ve seen the changes and additions etc etc and through all that time haven’t until recently eveer said that they are structuring the platform for big retail companies I think if you read your own post you could see where you are making the very point of the original post I wrote on here. YES ebay will allow the small seller to do business on the market place but what you are by choice refusing to see is that the market place is being restructured for the large scale companies and anyone that has been in business for a day knows what this means. Okay in plain terms with the product base catalog searches alone designed for the big business companies you aren’t going to see your listings come up in searches anymore like they used to especially when the new search rolls out across the board. If people can’t see your items they are not going to buy them. You’re listening to Wenig but you are not hearing what he’s telling you. Think of it like this, when Henry Ford told people you can get it in any color you want as long as it’s black, Wenig is saying, you can sell what you want but the system is being designed for the big business retail companies and the products they sell. I hate to break it to you becasue you seem to be in great fear of this but this is the plan ebay has laid out, and I’m going to tell you now that it appears that you haven’t come across the search results for one of the few areas the catalog base comes up at it in ebay already, I would love to be there watching the first time you do and realize (whether you admit out loud or not) that “theres no way anyone is going to buy my product when there are only 4 or 5 listings in TOTAL that came up in the search results and mine isn’t one of them”. We have already seen in it a few times. Like I said earler I’ve been on ebay a long time as well, I can honestly say that with what I sell (which is everything) I made more money 3 years ago with less than half of the amount of active listings than I have now selling a wide variety of items. I understand your fear when it comes to not even wanting to think about the things that could crush your business on ebay but being so afraid of it and turning a blind eye to it and labeling everyone that warns you about it as doomsdayer etc isn’t going to change the fact when it happens. I don’t like it anymore than you do and I especially would hold the fears and want to label eveyone a doomsdayer and probably want to turn a blind eye to if I had six thousand items I worked hard for years to list sitting on one platform, but labeling it as fiction turning a blind eye out of fear isn’t going to change whats still coming. Even though it is scary and yes it sucks to have to rebuild essentially, at least have a plan to move or better yet start moving already by building on a second platform.
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05/19/2018 at 6:51 pm #40391
lady, Like I said, we’ll just have to agree to disagree. I get what you are saying, I just don’t draw the conclusion you are drawing. A bit ago I listed something (won’t bore you with the details) and the item I listed didn’t show up on the Product page. I made a change and hope it will, but won’t know till ebay cycles through its cycle or whatever. So, yeah, the product page thing is a hugely complex undertaking and eBay has stuff screwed up right and left. This isn’t the first time some of my stuff hasn’t shown up even though it should. It IS frustrating, yes.
But do I think I’m going to be squeezed out of ebay? No. I’m going to try to do what I always do, which is adapt.
But look, you are basically saying, the writing is on the wall, ebay wants us gone and whether they just ax us by fiat one day or by attrition, we should all have a back up plan.
I don’t agree with your underlying premise, but I agree…have for a very long time…that a back up plan is a good idea. If your fear that Wenig wants you gone prompts you to create a back up plan, well, that’s a good thing, because you should have one whether Wenig wants you gone or not. Which is why I see little reason to try to convince you you are wrong. It’s not like a back up plan is a bad idea. There are lots o reasons to have a back up plan, and I would never try to talk someone out of having one. I just don’t agree with your interpretation of where this stuff is headed. Like I said, I’ve seen lots of changes at ebay over the years, and I’ve seen lots of people interpreting them as you are interpreting this one. They’ve been wrong. I suspect you are, too. But only time will tell.
Setting aside my views on Wenig and small sellers of used stuff, no matter what ebay does going forward, I think the competition to ATTRACT small sellers is just going to heat up. Not just etsy, but Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark and all the other niche apps…eventually, it might not matter what Wenig wants or what he is trying to do…small sellers may go elsewhere. I don’t see us being pushed out, but it’s possible we’ll be pulled out, if that makes sense?
So, yep, have a back up plan. That is one thing we don’t need to argue about LOL
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05/19/2018 at 7:07 pm #40394
Wow what a great post on an important topic.
I’m having a tough time reading and comprehending some of your responses “Lady in Red”. You may want to consider some paragraphs and breaks, to make it more readable.
My brain doesn’t respond well to the large uninterrupted blocks of text.
Just the same, it’s a very interesting post.
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05/19/2018 at 7:14 pm #40396
The ebay 2017 report may be of benefit in informing this discussion.
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05/19/2018 at 7:19 pm #40398
anything in particular you want to highlight from the report?
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05/19/2018 at 7:28 pm #40402
MyCottage,
There are several areas of importance. One to start with-
Scroll down to page 4 and read Repositioning eBay’s business. Continue down and through eBay’s progress in 2017.
This link may also help inform this discussion.
eBay CEO Devin Wenig Talks Payments, Catalog, Structured Data, Future
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05/19/2018 at 7:23 pm #40400
If ebay moves away from “vintage pyrex and used shoes” as it is being called here, does that mean that the demand goes away? No, the demand will still be there. Either ebay fulfills that demand or some other platform will. Sellers will just have to move their items to the best platform(s) for these types of items. If ebay wants to lose that piece of the market, someone else will snatch it up. We are already seeing many sites that specialize in certain types of items. This may pave the way for Bonanza, Truegether, or some other platform in the future.
The scary thing would be if the demand for these types of items goes away. That is possible, but I don’t think it is likely.
Mark
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05/19/2018 at 7:36 pm #40403
Mark, Agreed. Years ago I sold at flea markets and antique malls. Both can close down for any number of reasons. Finding a new place can take time and effort, but there’s always some place, because the demand for the stuff is still there. Same thing with ecommerce.
The demand for some things I sell has either gone down on gone away, but fortunately the demand for other things has increased. So I manage.
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05/19/2018 at 7:40 pm #40404
All very helpful, interesting and important. We are all here on the same team and working to help one another succeed.
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Mark Twain
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05/19/2018 at 7:43 pm #40405
Thanks, Adventure, I remember reading that back when it came out. Nothing you directed me to makes me think ebay wants to get rid of small sellers. Going to go read your linked Wenig article, although I think I may have also read that before too.
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05/19/2018 at 8:34 pm #40415
MyCottage,
Taken from page 5 of the report,”We also began testing a new way of searching on eBay called Grouped Listings, where for the first time in our history
users are able to organize their search results by product, instead of by listing, at the click of a button”. As this gets further implemented, this is how listings can get pushed down in favor of product based listings especially if the focus of those listings is on new items which ebay reports being at 80%.-
05/19/2018 at 8:44 pm #40417
Grouping listings and only showing new items are two completely different things. Grouping listings (ie hierarchical organization of search results) sounds like a good thing to me. It’s the standard way of scaling anything. Having to deal with individual listings one by one is antiquated in this world of thousands of search results. When you have a company, once you hit some threshold of employees, you start creating a hierarchy to keep things organized and manageable. Same goes with search results. Same goes with clothing – all my t-shirts are in the same drawer.
As for only showing new items – where does it say that’s going to happen?
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05/19/2018 at 8:47 pm #40418
PS – we also had to use hierarchy/grouping to scale this community. First it was just one thread of podcast comments per week. Now it’s a forum with categories (groups). Doesn’t mean any particular post gets de-prioritized or hidden – all it means is organization and an easier way to find a thread on a topic of interest.
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05/19/2018 at 9:05 pm #40419
Sonia,
Actually threads do get pushed down based on the amount of time has lapsed since the post. Only the most current top ten are available at one time. All others are available by clicking on the main Forum link and then reading through or searching through each forum and the links. That takes time and intentional effort.
Let’s view this through the shopping experience. Buyers do not want to have to search for what they are looking for which is why ebay is working to prioritize what customers see by establishing individual profile and then providing individualized ebay shopping pages. What is known is that if a customer can find what they are looking for and is able to price compare in the moment they see the item, they are more likely to make a purchase and possibly continue shopping than if they have to spend a bunch of time looking for something they want by going through multiple pages and listings.
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05/19/2018 at 9:11 pm #40421
Sonia,
I think ebay’s collaboration with big business to bring them online, the fact that it has been identified that 80% of what is sold is new, and the examples provided under the Product page sections (https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2018-spring/inventory-optimization.html) are tell tale signs that the emphasis will be on new. So, in my opinion, used and pre-owned will still be on the platform but as ebay continues to roll out their changes, I think pre-owned/used listings/products will not have as high of a standing as they once had which may cause listings to be overlooked or not viewed at all.
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05/19/2018 at 9:30 pm #40424
“I think pre-owned/used listings/products will not have as high of a standing as they once had which may cause listings to be overlooked or not viewed at all.”
AE,
Like MyCottage, I’ll just have to agree to disagree with you on this interpretation, and just check in on it in 2-3 years and see where we’re at. My opinion is that buyers are going to get pissed off if they are not shown the cheaper, used options. And there are tons of items that are discontinued, so the only option is used.
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05/19/2018 at 7:47 pm #40407
Ah, OK, yes, I read that article when it first came out, but I had first listened to the actual Wenig speech. The article, as I recall, was not “just the facts” but the article writer’s spin on what Wenig was saying. What I remember (and I didn’t re-read it just now, I’ve got to get some listings up LOL) is that, having listened to the actual talk, I found myself disagreeing with many of the writer’s conclusions. We listened to the same speech but apparently we heard different things LOL
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05/19/2018 at 8:10 pm #40410
I must say, I take some satisfaction from the fact that the listing I put up earlier, the one that didn’t make it onto the Product Page? It just sold — So ebay, you can take your vaunted product page and…LOL
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05/19/2018 at 8:16 pm #40413
MyCottage,
I just want to offer that they have not completely rolled out Product Based Catalogue listings. There are only certain categories they are currently implementing and then they are going to be adding categories which means more items will be product/category based. I read that directly from them. If I recall correctly, it is in the Seller Announcements.
Ebay Seller Hub under Overview. Scroll down to Selling Announcements – about 3/4 way down -
05/19/2018 at 8:23 pm #40414
All I have to say is that I couldn’t stop laughing when I read the phrase “Spectrum of Value.” I still can’t stop! So happy not to be in those conference room meetings anymore where such terminology is discussed and used!
Although, you know, it might not be a bad name for an ebay store… LOL
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05/19/2018 at 8:36 pm #40416
Ok, that wasn’t quite ALL I have to say. After reading through this thread, I’m left with the need to see a very specific example of how product catalog is going to lead (intentionally or not) to pushing out scavenger-type sellers.
1: Could someone provide me an example of how this product catalog thing would negatively affect a listing for vintage pyrex?
2: Let’s take another example. One thing I have for sale is a very gently used pair of Merrell boots – nearly new I would say. So how is product catalog going to negatively affect that listing? While this *is* something that will compete with big companies selling new Merrell boots on ebay, many buyers are not going to be happy if ebay doesn’t show them the cheaper option of buying my used pair. It sounds like there will just be grouping, like on Amazon. As a buyer, I think that’s a great idea. As a seller, I don’t see how this would really hurt – it’s just a more compact (hierarchical) way to format and organize the list of items that are the search results.
What am I missing?
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05/19/2018 at 9:05 pm #40420
Sonia, Agree. What I’ve seen over the years is a tendency by some sellers to view everything as some sort of zero sum situation: either ebay goes with new, or goes with old, but it won’t do both. So, when ebay created something new called ebay stores, the sellers who were using auctions started claiming that ebay was going to eliminate auctions. I remember people claiming things like “Mark my words! There won’t be auctions by next year!” This sort of thing has happened so often that it just seems to be an almost inevitable reaction. ebay brings on “Daily Deals”? ebay only wants big sellers who can afford to sell tons of stuff for cheap prices! They don’t want the little guy anymore!
I could give example after example of this sort of thing. to me, ebay brings on brands or ebay creates product pages is the same thing….it must mean ebay wants to crowd us out!
I just don’t see it.
ebay’s own history shows that it has adapted, sometimes clumsily, sometimes belatedly, but through all that, it has managed to retain auctions and fixed price, small and large sellers, and new and old stuff…despite the repeated claims by some sellers at each step of the way that ebay was going to eliminate one or the other.
As far as product pages go, it is going to be a slow gradual process….much of our stuff, the vintage stuf etc, will be at the tail end of the process. In the meantime, the problem isn’t that ebay wants to squeeze us out, it’s that trying to create this is very complex and it is going to be—and already is—a bumpy road. The concept as you note, is valid, even necessary. But eBay’s execution—that’s where we—small sellers, large sellers, sellers of new and old— feel the pain.
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05/19/2018 at 9:35 pm #40425
Anonymous
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In regards to your post and a few others that don’t seem to be seeing the forest for the trees when the head lumber jack (DW) is standing there next to them pointing it out lol. I’ll give you one example of a search I did yesterday that was responded to with the product catalog and data search results. I searched the item as if I was a buyer and in fact I was researching for a listing I was creating and wanted to see how many and what prices it was at on the current market and then I will usually switch over to see what they have done on the listings that already sold. When I typed in the the description of the product much like any potential buyer would do, the results of the searched literally produced only 3 or 4 listings for me to choose from. Now this was NOT by any means a rare and unusual item that you can’t find, this was an item searched that should have and would have normally under the regular search produced pages of results. So for another seller with the same item for sale that didn’t come up in the search resluts you can see where this is not a good thing. Someone else keeps posting on here about interpretations of Wieng etc but it shouldn’t have to be explained but when you see a source that was present at the event and uses quotation marks around key points that the CEO says and then you have other video evidence of the CEO himself essentially saying the same thing about the changes and direction that the company is going then there really shouldn’t be any debate over whats coming other than to hope that the company will change they strategy but that’s just not realistic at this point. There are two undisputabe facts that CEO Wenig as made clear, they are strengthening their relationship with large retail sellers “Best Buy & Target” and a few others and they are re-structuring their search engines and listing requiremennts to take the company and platform in that direction to cater to what their largest base of buyers want. It really is as simple as that. I have to be honest and say that the complete denial out of fear that I see on here from a couple sellers is just extremely over the top. It doesn’t mean that they are going to put you out of business unless you let it, it may very well and mostly like mean that in the next few years that sellers start taking their business to a new platform like Mercari or Posh or whatever quickly realizes that they will be happy to take the portion of used market sellers from ebay. Will it mean a lot of work for most of us making the transition? YES most likely but that’s why we need to acknowledge what we are already seeing in some cases and what the CEO of the company is flat out telling us. If the Doctor tells you that you have cancer and you refuse treatment out of fear and complete denial then it’s going to end you for sure, but if you accept the fact and get treatment and fight it and adapt to overcome then you might have a chance.
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05/19/2018 at 9:41 pm #40427
sonia, your Merrell boots would show up on the product page, which would show new and used for the same style boot.
here’s a product page for a book:
Note that while it doesn’t have used books at the top, scroll part way down and you see “all” listings, and on the right: “Any condition” with a drop down which allows you to see either new or used.
Not all product pages have the exact same layout, but they are not confined to new, nor do they show you only three or four of the item.
They are far from perfect, and we must remember they are a work in progress. As a seller, I find they can be frustrating because it isn’t always obvious how to get one’s item onto the page. (new stuff with UPCs, pretty easy, but there are ways—sometimes—to do it with older stuff too) So, as I said, the roll out is causing unhappiness as usual. But I just don’t see this as something designed to kill off used or old stuff.
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05/19/2018 at 11:28 pm #40435
mycottage,
thanks for the example of a product page for an item that has new and old versions for sale. As a buyer, I think it’s great that they prominently show the lowest price for the new item. That’s what I want to see first. As a seller, I think that’s fine, too – they can see that now anyway, just not as easily. And bargain hunters (scavengers) can go browsing through the used items. I really have no problem with that. They can make it a little less clunky with a more modern-looking UI, but that’s another matter.lady in red,
Can you give us a link to search results that show only 3-4 items when there are many more (hidden) items that fit the bill?
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05/19/2018 at 10:00 pm #40428
Anonymous
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Thats absolutely not true Cottage. You are making conclusions based on something you haven’t seen yet. I have seen it more than once where the search resluts for an item that would have pages of results only showed 3 or 4 of them. Also By many of your own statements such as the one example you just made explaining how that product page result that you found is actually proving the very point that you are denying this whole time. Your mere description of where you had to go and what you had to do for the one type of product page you found was exhausting enough to locate the product you were searching for her, are you forgetting the basic selling rule and SEO that only a small fraction of buyers look deeper than page 1 of their search results and the fact that those same shoppers buy out of the top 1/3 or so of the first page?
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05/19/2018 at 10:02 pm #40429
lady, Not sure why you think my interpretation is based on fear. Fear has nothing to do with it. As I’ve said, I’ve listened to the same thing many many times before. Almost the exact same words…”Look, here’s the head of ebay TELLING you this! Why can’t you see it???”
Well, because that’s NOT what he’s telling me. In this case: Brands and small sellers can co-exist. ESPECIALLY small sellers of used and old stuff, since we don’t directly compete with the brands on most of what we sell, we supplement their selection instead. Amazon is huge but it continues to co-exist with small sellers. I just don’t get this assumption that a site that has had the two together for more than 20 years somehow can’t continue to do so.
In the same spring seller release in which ebay has pushed product pages, ebay set up the mini stores (or whatever they call them) for small sellers. Really small sellers. In the Akron Ohio area, ebay has set up a pilot program to bring small B&M business owners, including some selling used items, onto ebay. It is a program ebay may extend to a lot of other small cities and towns. It isn’t all about bringing on big brands. ebay, in my opinion, wants BOTH.
Right now product pages are focused on new stuff that comes with UPCs or other PINs. Why? Because , as complex as that is, it’s low hanging fruit compared to developing a catalog for the old stuff.
Amazon is the king of online catalogs. Did you know years ago Amazon had auctions? They gave up, and a few years after that an Amazon exec said the auctions were actually doing pretty well, but said Amazon is basically a catalog business, and they couldn’t figure out how to catalog all that old stuff onto the site. They decided not to try and canned auctions. ebay is the only company I know that is planning on taking a stab at it. If they can pull it off, instead of being a place without old stuff, ebay would probably become very attractive to sellers , and buyers, of old stuff.
And again, I’ll just say about Wenig. I listened to his actual talk, I’m not relying on the writer’s interpretation and his selective quotes. For years now I’ve listened to nearly every one of the quarterly conference calls ebay makes with stock analysts. Like I said, we can agree to disagree on where ebay is headed. We agree sellers should have back up plans, regardless of where ebay is headed. I’d say that’s good advice for everyone.
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05/19/2018 at 10:07 pm #40430
lady, the odds that I’m going to change your mind on this, or you change mine: pretty darn small. Have a back up plan. Do it because you fear ebay’s supposed direction, or do it because its just good business. Not sure how useful the rest of this discussion really is. I think your idea to revisit this in a few years is a good one.
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05/19/2018 at 10:48 pm #40433
Anonymous
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YES used small sellers will still be allowed to coexist on ebay for now, however I think you are missing the point that the changes coming and the direction they have laid out is that the platform searches is prioritizing to big retail and new products. So just because the old car that’s under the brush out in the back 2 acres of the feild is for sale, that doesn’t mean it’s ever going to get purchased when the car shoppers can’t see it and if people can’t see it they are NOT going to buy it. Does that make it any easier to understand now as far as whats being illustrated? and not only what I’m illustrating but what the search engines and the CEO have already started implementing?
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05/20/2018 at 8:44 am #40459
Two questions:
–What is the motivation for eBay to push out small sellers of vintage items? If the category makes money, why actively make them leave?–There’s a difference between eBay highlighting new items on their front page vs pushing vintage items out. If you search for “vintage pyrex dish”, why would anything other than “vintage pyrex dish” show up? All the new Walmart/Target/etc items still exist on eBay, but the search has shown the buyer the vintage items you searched for.
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05/19/2018 at 11:38 pm #40438
lady, If I thought, as you do, that the “changes coming and the direction they have laid out” is “prioritizing to big retail and new products” then, yes, I’d say the handwriting is on the wall, small sellers of used stuff are going to be herded to the exit.
The problem I have is, I have been following the “changes coming” as I’ve said, since before the first product page even appeared on the site. NONE of this is news to me. ebay has been talking about this stuff and ebay’s direction pretty much since Wenig took over. And I’ve been watching ebay implement the changes. I will be the first to say the implementation has been rocky, no question. And I expect it will continue to be. We simply disagree about the direction ebay is heading in. I do NOT see product pages as a step towards the elimination of used stuff / small sellers. I do NOT see adding some brands as a step in the elimination of small sellers, anymore than I see ebay’s pilot program in Akron as a move to push out brands and replace them with small B&M businesses.
I’ve listened to Wenig talk about brands. brands are not, say, Target. Target is a retailer (and, by the way, recently left eBay…and Wenig basically said he was fine with that. Brands are things like Nike or Ralph Lauren. Wenig has pointed out that brands have actually been seeking our ebay in part because they can no longer depend on their old B&M mainstays, such as Sears and Penneys etc. So, online and ebay begins to make sense for them, especially if ebay can help them scale. But ebay would be creating product pages even if not a single brand was boarding the ebay train. The main reason to do it is, as sonia noted, the simple fact that the amount of inventory on ebay long ago exceeded a regular old fashioned search. Wenig has stated ebay should have started product pages years before he took over. He’s right about that. eBay is now playing catch up. Over the years, ebay has tried all sorts of things to improve organic search, with , in my view, minimal success) largely because they wanted to avoid the expense of creating a catalog of pretty much everything. They can’t dodge it anymore.
There is NOTHING inherent in the product page concept which relegates used to no man’s land. The example I gave above, of the book….used and new are both available there, and why wouldn’t they be? Why on earth would ebay not want used there, when ebay knows many buyers prefer to buy used?
I think you are misunderstanding what ebay means when it talks about “new” items as the first to get product pages.. ebay is beginning with new items because there’s more data available for them. So, newer products are the ones getting most of the first product pages…but if a used product has a UPC or ISBN for example, it will be on the product page. “new” is less about condition and more about “new enough to have readily available product date and PINs) There’s simply nothing about product pages that is designed to exclude used items. Have you never shopped for a book on Amazon? Find the book in search, go to the product page, and choose new or used. Same idea. The page is for that book, new or used. On ebay, you can add, fixed price or auction, make offer and no make offer, etc.
But there is NOTHING about this that excludes used.
And brands? Again, its NOT a zero sum game. there is nothing about bringing on brands that means small sellers will get the ax. It just means ebay will include brands AND small sellers and all the variations in between. Which, in fact, is the way it is now.
I sell books on Amazon. I’m a tiny seller there. There are huge book sellers there, not to mention Amazon itself. We all co-exist. I sell a variety of stuff on ebay, including some books. There are huge book sellers here. We co-exist. Again, there’s NOTHING that says small and large sellers can’t co-exist. ebay has no interest in becoming nothing but brands or nothing but new.
Does ebay often emphasize the availability of new fixed price stuff in its marketing? Yes. But that is in part because there are still many many people who have never discovered that ebay has new fixed price stuff. It’s amazing how many still believe ebay is all auctions, or all used stuff. If they want that stuff, they are probably already here. If they want new stuff, they need to be told the stuff is here.
But what I see in ebay’s future (unless it is sold or what have you) is: small and large sellers, new and used, auction and fixed price. Same as it has been for years now. I’m not sure why you are convinced that they can’t co-exist, or why you are convinced ebay doesn’t want used just because ebay is shifting to a product based search experience. No question it’s a rocky transition and takes some extra work for me as a seller, but that’s not new either.
OK, having said all that, let me ask you. The ultimate conclusion you have come to is : we all should have a back up plan. As I’ve said, I agree, although I see that as just good business, rather than an imperative brought on by these changes. But what other practical advice have you got? Other than: keep selling but prepare a back up plan (and, maybe, diversify now, which I also think can be simple good business), what is it you think we should be doing? As for me, I’ll continue to stumble along, adapting as needed, and will depart if necessary but otherwise, just keep on keepin on.
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05/20/2018 at 4:38 am #40453
When I used to sell mortgages on the secondary market, before ‘08, I have dozens of mortgagees to sell my loans to. I had to learn all their guidelines, because I couldn’t have my eggs on one basket. Same will be true for e-commerce…..
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05/20/2018 at 9:12 am #40461
Thank you MyCottage for your excellent posts. Very helpful and solution oriented.
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05/20/2018 at 10:30 pm #40495
Sigilini, Thanks. Glad you found it helpful.
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05/22/2018 at 5:20 am #40602
Anonymous
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Jay, no disrespect but it seems you haven’t encountered one of the catalog based searches yet that we have now a few times. There’s a lot of scared arguments on here about how the searches are still the same, I think one of many things some of the posters on here aren’t realzing is that this new search base is slowly being built into ebay, however they are being worked in and they have made it clear that the plan is to have that be across the board eventually. Trust me you will know when you do a search when the results come up based on the new catalog search. We have experienced a couple different things and the fact is that even with my biggest opposition on this post “cottage”, even he has said it’s a pain in the butt basically. To address your point of “why would ebay actively make small seller leave”- You probably didn’t read one of the replies I wrote to someone else on here but I don’t believe they are going to say “you can’t sell on here anymore”, however like any business they are going to keep grooming their biggest cheese makers. That being said, the point is you can still list your used pyrex, but as I said many times throughout this thread, with the new system your items are not going to be seen like they were before if they are at all. That’s just the way it is in the few spots they have changed already and thats the way it will be when they eventually get it changed across the board. Just like the old car in the back 40 covered in brush that’s for sale, probably not gonna sell when nobody from the road can see it’s for sale. Like I said, trust me you will know you found one of the new catalog based search results when you come across one. You made a comment in your post about “why would anything other than vintage pyrex show up when you search for vintage pyrex?”, We have encoutered a number of searches now where the items we were searching for didn’t come and listings that didn’t even have the same keywords we searched for in neither their title or descriptons show up. The last one we found, we did an all catagory search for a vintage pinback button (like a campaign button) we wound up somehow getting one of these new catalog based results and there was about a quarter of one page of results, they weren’t used or “vintage” items and they were new unused lapel type pins. We played around with the search a number of times before finally actually finding what we were looking for. One of the examples we also have and this was one that wasn’t even off the new catalog searches but still in a category of the old/current one, but we did an all category search as if we were a buyer searching for a rather special set of japanese chopsticks we had listed.. We used a broad search term as a buyer might and simply typed in Japanese chopsticks, we scrolled through over 1500 listings and never found our chopsticks. What we did find was several large scale retail type sellers selling chopsticks SEVERAL who had none of the keywords we used in our search either in their ttile or description or product identifiers that weren’t selling anything close to Japanese Chopsticks such as Pig shaped oven spoon holders , we were slightly pissed to say the least. A phone call to an ebay teammate who then went and got a supervisor lasted about 45 minutes as he duplicated the search and noted the same thing we saw, his reply was “this isn’t right”. Doing this for almost 18 years, i’ve noticed it’s pretty rare to hear anyone at ebay ackowledge there’s a problem on their part anymore even when there is a problem. I asked him if there was some kind of active glitch that they know about and working on and he said “no but I’m going to put a ticket in about this and I’m also going to let my bosses know” and I asked well have you been getting any other calls about this recently and the remarkable reply he gave me was “no but we have been taking a number of calls from sellers that can’t find their listings that fall into the new catalog search”. This phone call and getting a few of the new system while doing some searches for pricing research led me to look more into it. I’ll still be selling on ebay, like I said earler I get paid good money to take peoples stuff ifrom them in my other business so why wouldn’t I make more money on the back end of it by selling it online ? … I will just be adding an additional platform or two to do it on after I’ve already experienced a couple times what the new search is like as well as researched what ebay themselves have actually said. Don’t worry though ebay isn’t going to tell you that you aren’t allowed to sell your used stuff anymore, but starting now and over the next couple years the drops are going to start feeling like they did.
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05/22/2018 at 8:32 am #40608
You feel strongly about this stuff. When you say you’re now gong to sell on other platforms, the obvious answer is where?
Just a note: you’re posting these huge walls of text that are almost impossible to read. I bet most people are skipping over it. In the future break up your text into paragraphs so members can better follow your thoughts.
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05/22/2018 at 6:32 am #40604
With all due respect, I want to offer that it feels like this thread has become about being heard and who is right. With each unique experience and perspective comes a truth which may not agree with another’s experience and/or perspective or truth. What if we swithced the focus to what we know and what can be done by sellers to try to make change?
Let’s shift the focus.
What do we know?
The two new store levels are at the top and bottom tier with nothing in the middle. There are many sellers in the middle but ebay is not finding it cost beneficial to find a middle store level (over 1000 listings but under 10,000 listings) whether it be because they earn more by the insertion fees or because they know they are transitioning the platform to larger sellers.
The level after having 50 free listings at no cost is now a Starter Store.
Starter Store- 4.95 a month for 100 listings – This appears to be really just to bring people on board with having a store as well as bringing in some money for ebay. I imagine sellers having stores is better for the platform overall than just individual sellers selling items.
The other new level is the top tier -Enterprise Store Subscription
“The Enterprise Store subscription will provide high-volume sellers with an upgrade option and additional benefits”. $2,999.95 a month for 100,000 fixed priced listings. This is BIG BUSINESS. The monthly store fee is separate from all other fees collected by ebay including FVF. This is where the retailers can be brought in at. Retailers provide new items. 80% of sales on ebay are on new items. Big retailers are most likely going to be on board with free shipping and free returns which helps the ebay platform immensely and cuts down on their work load because there will probably be fewer calls and follow through. Big business on ebay puts ebay at a higher level of competition when competing with Amazon.
Vintage sellers can still sell but if the platform is coded to bring up listings that meet certain criteria – new, multiple, free shipping, free returns – that is what will come up. Ebay will still be charging people to sell on their platform while not providing with an level platform to sell on.
So, the question comes – What can be done.
1. Top Rated Sellers and those with top level stores such as Anchor stores need to watch their sales and research their own stores. If they are not finding their listings, they need to call ebay because right now they still have a collective powerful voice. If no one says anything, ebay will proceed forward and sellers will be left scrambling as to what to do when they find they are no longer able to bring in monies from ebay sales.
2. Diversify – to which platform and when?
3. Contact ebay social media reps on Facebook.
4. What else?-
This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
AdventureE.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
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05/22/2018 at 10:47 am #40629
Anonymous
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Jay, well the facts don’t lie, whether you accept them or not lol. I did break up the original post into sections and there’s a post up there from someone who complained they couldn’t follow seperated blocks lol. Yes, I’m going to add an additional platform so my eggs aren’t all in ebay’s basket as far as the online sales goes. So far after researching and talking to a number of people about other platforms, Mercari seems the best fit for me at least, while still maintaining my ebay store. I looked at Poshmark but it realy is just clothes pretty much and there is this whole sharing and social people adding to their system of followers and watchers etc that drive their searches where as Mercari doesn’t rely on that as much. I want to spend my time listing and let the platform sell it for me, not compete in a who’s got more friends competition to get a sale. I also have a second business I do already so mercari will just kind of be an escape route ready to go if needed.
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05/22/2018 at 11:04 am #40631
If you’re find a selling platform without competition, please let me know! Those early days of eBay when there was no place else to sell is over.
And the other commenters also asked you to break up your wall of text:
New Catalog Based Search & Ebay's Re-Structured Business Model Plans
“I’m having a tough time reading and comprehending some of your responses “Lady in Red”. You may want to consider some paragraphs and breaks, to make it more readable. My brain doesn’t respond well to the large uninterrupted blocks of text.”
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05/22/2018 at 11:23 am #40634
Anonymous
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I think I originally thought his comment was about the original post which is broken up into secaiton.
I’m not sure how you took that I was looking for a platform with no competition from that post about posh and mercari some selling competition is fine, I was just saying as the post states that I don’t need the type of platform posh has where you need to do the 30 min posh challenge everyday to keep your sales up, it’s a social following concept thing where you comment on x number of sellers items and then follow x number of new sellers and then favorite x number of other people’s listings etc etc. to help keep your listing more visible.
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05/22/2018 at 12:45 pm #40643
–In forums, it’s good to make your point is no more than four to five sentences. If it’s longer, you might as well start a blog and self-publish. If you skim through the forum, conversation are about trading small ideas and building on them with questions.
–I was teasing you about the need to find a platform with no competition. You feel strongly that future eBay changes will push us out. Let’s mark this conversation and see if it’s true in 2-3 years from now.
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05/22/2018 at 1:33 pm #40654
I too agree with long run on ‘blocks”. Just one long paragraph is a problem for me also.
But, as far as 4 or 5 sentences, don’t do many of those. usually 4 or 5 paragraphs, and some longer as you well know. But if you think those of mine explaining things like the difference between reproductions and real prints, or color theory and how we see color in reproductions fall into your def. of “too long and should just self publish”, then I will try to just keep them short.
Now that you mention it maybe a blog connected onto our new Shopify store amy be just the thing. I can always just say here, for more info. go to… and put in a link.
Will have to give that some thought.
Mike at MDCG
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05/22/2018 at 1:35 pm #40655
Mike we love you and your long posts. But I bet your shorter posts are read more 🙂
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05/22/2018 at 1:44 pm #40659
Aaaw gosh, shucks, by golly Jay and Ryanne Love Me! HaHaHa LOL 🙂 🙂
I have to hide my SL posts now because if Susan comes up to photograph and she sees me typing into the forum, she says not again, you need to be listing. Honey it is ABL not … ABP [Always be Posting] 🙂
mike at MDCG
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
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05/22/2018 at 1:47 pm #40662
I can hear her now…
“Put that coffee down! Coffee is for Listers…not Posters…”
🙂
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05/22/2018 at 1:13 pm #40650
Anonymous
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How are your sales looking recently with 6000 items in comparison to lets say one or two years ago with with fewer active listings then? Assuming that you didn’t have as many active listings then as you do now.
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05/22/2018 at 1:22 pm #40653
Good question. In the last month, we’ve had slow sales. But I chalk this up to the slow season. We’ve been through multiple ups and downs in sales over the decade. Every time sales slow down, they always come back. I notice the eBay conspiracy theories are strong in the summer, and dead silent during the holidays. Ask me around Xmas how I feel about our sales.
We probably have 1000 more items now than two years ago. As we’ve discussed multiple times, we dont expect exponential sales as we grow our inventory because we’re listing weird, long tail items. What a large inventory guarantees is the ability to not list for months at a time and still have consistent sales.
We have recently been asking people about their experience listing on other platforms. So far, everyone says other platforms are just small bits of income for them.
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05/22/2018 at 2:00 pm #40666
Amazon is a catalog. I found plenty of used listings when searching for “vintage pyrex dish”.
There are going to be some major growing pains if this whole system is going to work. I’ll adapt as needed. No, I don’t think sellers of one-off goods are going to be pushed out.
Will the listing process change? Probably.
Will listing get more annoying/complicated? likely. I’ve created a new listing on amazon – it will be more like that I think.
Am I gonna run naked down the street cursing the name eBay while pulling out my hair out by the handful (which is what I feel like Lady in Red expects us to do)? Uh, a definite no.-
05/22/2018 at 2:16 pm #40669
Funny RTWV: One thing no body has mentioned is “Promoted Listings”. I use Promo. Listings on many of our items as well as run Sales every week or so.
With Promoted Listings you are basically giving Ebay a percentage of your Sales to get “Special Placements” in Promotions, offerings and the such. In a sense “paying” them for extra exposure. Bonanza does the same thing just called something else.
It is based on a sliding scale. When you sign up or create a promoted listing there is a chart that comes with the .CSV Excel file that shows you what the “average going rate that is being paid by other sellers” is offering. In most cases it is 5-6 1/2% in our categories. So I would think that clicking on 6% and higher and basically just paying Ebay for more advertising and exposure will get you seen more.
Maybe that is where they may also be headed. I bet if you clicked on 25% or 35% of the Sale price of an item, bet they would show you all over the place, above others, on special pages, etc., etc.
Nobody has seemed to mention that out of all this discussion.
mike at MDCG
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05/23/2018 at 1:56 am #40767
Anonymous
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Jay, it is a bit harder to tie $$ to inventory numbers when the inventory is a mixture of different items from one day to the next. However, it is still a measurement of growth or decline to compare over period of time. Two years of drops seems to be the standard answer in what we have noticed from other sellers and in other groups and with us as well.
There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there, however for as many “conspiracy theories” there are as many or more people out there discounting basic facts (market declines or platform updates and changes etc) as conspiracy theories. Kind of like that episode a about two years ago where you guys scoffed and basically laughed off the sell similar “conspiracy theory” versus the relist and good till canceled debate lol. Which actually turned out to be true for the sell similar argument.
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05/23/2018 at 3:55 am #40769
Anonymous
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Retro Treasures – Could you point out any of the info or facts I’ve posted on here suggesting diversifying your sales platforms that would even remotely come close to me suggesting everyone should panic and be cursing ebay over the changes that are being made? or even suggest that I was panicked and angry at ebay?
– “Am I gonna run naked down the street cursing the name eBay while pulling out my hair out by the handful (which is what I feel like Lady in Red expects us to do)? Uh, a definite no.”
I’ve noticed on this site that pretty much anyone who merely states any information that could lean toward or be percieved as an ebay negative change for sellers, seems to be a huge issue for most people on here and quickly labeled as a “conspiracy theory”. I was kind of hoping this site didn’t harbor the Stockholm Syndrome like so many hosted forums do that tend to suppress diverse points of view as a result.
Just an observation but after reading several old threads I’ve noticed there seems to be a high percentage of people on this site (usually the same people over and over) who wait to join the conversation until AFTER the Host or admin’s post their view or opinion on a topic and then submit their input that seems to be tailored to align with whatever position the host has taken. It’s okay to have your own organic input people. It’s good to keep a positive attitude but for the love of Pete, a lot of people need to open your eyes sometimes to what reality is, it doesn’t mean it’s suggestion to panic or cry or get so scared that you bury your head in the sand classify it as a conspiracy theory or darkside report, it’s just good business to know and acknowledge what’s happening in your business world and sometimes, often times with ebay, that means it’s not always great news for the seller’s. You can’t adjust your sails if you refuse to acknowledge the winds of the storm.
Anyhow, unfortuantely the M.A. in Social Psych Thesis says this is where I’ll probably get the boot for suggestive oppositional posturing toward the Silverback and his family. If so I wish you all luck in your business…and personal lives as well.
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05/23/2018 at 8:08 am #40784
We dont do this often, but we’ve just banned you from posting on this forum. You recently joined up and obviously have a bone to pick. Since members aren’t embracing your POV, you feel the need to start being our unwanted psychologist. This is a private forum where we enjoy butting heads, but must eventually agree to disagree.
eBay Community forums feels like a much better environment for you.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/bd-p/selling-db-
05/23/2018 at 8:11 am #40787
Amen!! Thank you Jay and Ryanne.>> Now a question: “How Do You Ship a Cap?” … LOL 🙂
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
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05/24/2018 at 8:48 am #40906
I was really worried there for a minute that the scales were going to fall from my eyes and I was going to think for myself and see the world for what it really is. Whew! That was a close one. Thanks for protecting us, Silverback. Lol!
I so hope Ryanne refers to you as silverback in the podcast this week.
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05/24/2018 at 11:25 am #40922
Yes.. +1 on the Silverback
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05/23/2018 at 5:06 am #40770
lady in red,
I am hesitant to get involved in this dialogue, so I will keep my remarks brief. I want share that if you go back and look you will find plenty of times when there was a difference of opinion between J and/or R and the rest of us and it was (and is still) openly stated. You will also find that there are like minded sellers in here (SL) who openly express their agreement with each other while also expressing when they do not agree with each other completely. In addition, you will find other sellers who (just as yourself) are passionate about what they do, knowledgeable, persistent, highly focused, and yes even opinionated (as many of us are). Really, in order to sell online and/or run a business, one must have those qualities or at least some mix of them. Sometimes that can lead to a challenging dialogue even in a DF. So the question comes – how can each one be right even if others disagree? It’s by choice. If you know you are right and you present facts showing it but others do not believe you, that is on them and not on you. So,share your thoughts, express your opinions, and try to keep an open perspective in the DF experience realizing each one of us has to have our own experience based on who we are as people and as sellers.I would also like to offer that even if someone agrees with you, they may not say anything because not everyone who listens to the podcast or reads the threads chooses to engage by posting or responding to posts. J&R have set up this forum as a “come as you choose” place. So, if you want to listen to the podcast – then listen. If you do not, then don’t. If you wish to read the forum threads, that’s ok too. If you choose not to, well, that’s ok too. If you choose to post about something and share your perspective (even if it’s different), well great be part of the conversation. If you just want to read the threads, that ok too.
On another note, sometimes when people are heavily invested in something, sharing in public that they have concerns or that what they have invested in may not be turning out the way they wanted is not something that is easily done.I would also like to share that there are a lot of men sellers who participate in SL. Men tend to be more factual, concrete based, and solution oriented and not ones to pour out their feelings especially in public. If there is a problem with something they have invested in (especially a business venture) many men do not openly discuss the situation until they have been able to process it and figure out a plan of action that allows them to move forward. Some men find it really difficult to engage in other thought thinking if they are not ready to address a matter. Women on the other hand are socialized to be more communicative about what is occurring, to talk through (share) everything (even the smallest details), and to problem solve together.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
AdventureE.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by
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05/23/2018 at 5:52 am #40772
Anonymous
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Adventure – Thanks for the tips on how forums work but I’ve been in a few over the years and grasp the concept and as a matter of fact I have a pretty good understanding of the psychology inside them. I think for relevance sake to the post you were commenting on I’ll reply to the last half and the real meat of your input. You said…
-“On another note, sometimes when people are heavily invested in something, sharing in public that they have concerns or that what they have invested in may not be turning out the way they wanted is not something that is easily done.”
This statement you made is echoing what I’ve already said. Though in regards to the rest of your post after that, when it comes to the shamed and fear based type of responses that we have talked about, I think we differ in opoinion in the sense that I don’t see much of a difference between the male and female behavioral patterns on this paticular site at least. They tend to blend across both genders here with the underlying commonality primarily being the drive for external validation not from the masses but rather from it’s hosts or leaders that hold the overall control to their chances of being positively spotlighted to the masses through either forum text or through the podcast, thus supporting the note I made earlier in regards to the ones who wait for the signal from the leader in order to be able tailor their response as a supporting one to the host with the control that can highlight them.
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05/23/2018 at 6:16 am #40773
Lady in red,
I am sorry to hear that is your perspective of what occurs in here. I have been in the forum for awhile and have a different perspective.Forums in general draw a need for some participants to have inclusion and validation and to feel a part of the group effort. Group thought tends to occur when people coexist in a group environment.
It seems that in your posts you are upset and frustrated and wanting to be heard and agreed with because what you are going through is frustrating and maybe even a little overwhelming. I think we all feel that way sometimes and we all want to be heard.
All of us in here are doing the best we can at each moment in time based on where we are in our lives and in our practice as sellers.
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05/23/2018 at 8:09 am #40786
Lady in Red, you are coming across as confrontational. That is my perception. It may not be your intention, but that is definitely how it is coming across. You seem to be very knowledgeable and I appreciate your input. Noone here is disagreeing that diversification is a bad thing. Everyone here has agreed with your bottom line plan of action.
I’ve been looking into Mercari and Poshmark for a while already. I’ve been discussing with my wife maybe having her use pinterest to market our unique items, as other folks on here do. Take a look around the forum – there are lots of positive posts about diversification already going on.
While your perception of this site is that we’re all just “group thinkers” bowing to the whims of Lord Jay and Lady Ryanne, my perception is that it is a forum of positive reinforcement, encouragement, open sharing of ideas and improvements. We help each other and keep it light at the same time. Trust me, I call out J&R all the time (cough cough…inventory system..cough), as does everyone else.
**DISCLAIMER: The above paragraph contains mild humor and sarcasm that should be construed as friendly banter – not a personal insult or judgement of character on any individual. Occasionally this style of posting is meant to diffuse threads that are veering toward the cliff. If any individual takes offense to obvious jokes and over the top sarcasm at any point in this thread or on this forum, that individual should report to the following websites:
http://www.takeachillpillthisissupposedtobefun.com
http://www.thisisnottheebayforumspleasedontruinthisgoodthingwehavegoingon.com-
05/23/2018 at 8:20 am #40790
I so wanted these to be real websites!
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05/23/2018 at 4:23 pm #40841
Wait! I’m late to the party!
Did I miss my chance to be positively spotlighted to the masses? Dang it!
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05/24/2018 at 7:50 am #40896
Habnab,
Lol, don’t worry, we will positively spotlight to the masses even though you are late!
Mark
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05/24/2018 at 11:49 am #40923
I started thinking about the coming switch over to a product catalog, and it seems likes a disadvantage for those of us who are good at thinking of keywords, right? For example, this item https://www.ebay.com/itm/232730900326 has a generic Amazon type product catalog entry I think stating the publisher and some other terms less likely to be searched IMHO, but I added costume and fashion design to the title because someone uninterested in paper dolls as toys might be interested in the illustration collection. Sometimes I put man cave or nautical decor, etc. in my title. I believe this is one of Ryanne’s strengths as well. I guess you can put those words in the description and maybe google eventually finds them? Am I missing anything?
I wonder how they will handle products added by users (like vintage items). Does the first person to add it get to make the title, good or bad? It seems like they might end up backtracking on product catalog pages for certain categories and end up keeping the split system they have now, but we’ll see.
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05/24/2018 at 7:42 pm #40951
Christine, Excellent point! This is what I meant up above when I said we will all have to learn to adapt. The effect on the value of key word choice is something we will all need to monitor. We may need to change our approach. Or maybe not. At this point, it’s hard to say just how eBay will handle this aspect.
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