Home › Forums › Buying and Selling › Selling on eBay › Wenig Steps Down
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Jay.
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09/26/2019 at 7:41 am #68268
Anyone see this yesterday? Thoughts on how this will affect the platform?
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09/26/2019 at 8:53 am #68270
There’s another thread up, but I can’t link to it for some reason.
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09/26/2019 at 9:00 am #68271
I saw a post on Reddit about it yesterday. The comments were of the usual “eBay is doomed’ variety :/ Lets see who the new person is and what direction they go in.
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09/26/2019 at 9:12 am #68272
Yep.. All over the youTube Ebay guru sites I subscribe too. Several know Wenig personally and have a lot to say about what things he brought to Ebay and most just increased Ebay profits at Sellers expense but very little to make things better for the Sellers. They are hopeing the Vice President may get the job because he is very pro Seller.
Here is a guy who has been mentioned here on SL before and I subscribe to his Video-casts. Many are long and tedious and not for many vintage sellers but this one is short and he covers some points about Wenig being at Ebay and some good points about where he thinks [his opinion] Ebay should place it’s focus. In my opinion, all good points.
from Daily Refinements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0bqDmE0tbY&t=1055s
mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
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09/26/2019 at 9:56 am #68273
I’m personally hoping they pick someone who is pro-seller. I have mixed feelings about Wenig. I think he made some good decisions and some very poor ones. Change can be good. I’m optimistic.
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09/26/2019 at 11:32 am #68276
Me too. Do check out the YouTube video link above. Only about 15 min. This guy is pretty good. Has passed on a ton of good tips for me.
The interesting thing is not only has this come at the start of 4th quarter BUT we are going to be moving toward Ayden as the company to handle the upcoming Managed Payment System. Talk about a whole roller coaster ride for all of us. Then add to that the Ebay board of directors having to replace Wenig and the “New Kid on the Block” coming in and trying to take up and make a mark for him or herself, control changes AND Deal with Ayden taking over and using the delayed payment system they use.
As Betty Davis said, “Fasten your Seat Belts, it’s Going to be a Bumpy Night” or in our case maybe 4th Quarter or Year would be better used to replace “night” in that phrase. LOL 🙂
Mike at MDCGFA in Atl
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09/26/2019 at 2:50 pm #68283
At this point, I’m not overly concerned about Q4…..I don’t think Wenig’s departure is as abrupt as it may seem, and much of Q4 has already been planned out and will just proceed as planned…marketing campaigns, any new seller tools etc. In fact, in ebay’s press release about the departure, they state that they are not changing their Q4 forecast, which suggests a certain confidence in their planning. So, I’m just going to keep on keeping on for Q4. But next year? It’s anybody’s guess.
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09/26/2019 at 3:05 pm #68284
@MDCGalleries not a fan of that youtuber. As far as 4th quarter goes, I’m optimistic. My sales go from meh to holy crap awesome every other week it seems. If this continues through 4th quarter, I’ll be happy. I might need heart medication, but I’ll still be happy lol.
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09/26/2019 at 3:08 pm #68285
@mycottage I agree that this was not a surprise. I certainly wasn’t. I’m confident 4th quarter will be great. I haven’t had a bad one yet and I’ve been selling for years. September has been super up and down for me, but the ups have been really up. So I’m looking forward to more up days through the rest of this year.
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09/26/2019 at 4:40 pm #68287
Just watched the first part of Chris’s video. I don’t really agree with his first point. Some of his points are valid, but I think he heavily exaggerates the impact of the 4% penalty on ebay’s profits, and his hint that it may be illegal is laughable…No, Chris, it isn’t illegal just because you don’t like it…and his criticism of Promoted Listings misses the point that PL isn’t just about the additional PL fees…it’s also about increasing sales velocity on the platform, which means ebay also collects more regular FVFs. The idea that this is just some sort of short term gain for ebay is probably wrong. I think these are two of his pet peeves, he doesn’t like either one…but they have nothing to do with Wenig’s departure. He makes it sound as if Wenig’s job was to boost short term revenue. I think one reason Wenig is now leaving is because he saw his job as to create a sustainable ebay, a company that would continue to be successful for years to come. So, I have kind of the opposite view of what Wenig was initially asked to do, and what he was trying to do. While ultimately Product Pages seem to have been a failure, there was NOTHING short term about the idea behind that….Wenig, far more than Donahoe, was looking at long term profitability, IMO. I’m not sure the current Board is taking a long term view….my concern is, they are taking a short term view: sell off Stub Hub and Classifieds for a quick buck, then sell off ebay itself for another quick buck. I hope I’m wrong. I hope they really do want to ensure ebay’s long term profitability…but we’ll see….
His second point , about seller’s focusing on one thing, loses focus. LOL He goes off on a couple more of his pet peeves (and I agree with him on these….ebay could do a better job of marketing/advertising, and I would love if eBay negotiated better shipping rates for us (although I don’t think that is as easy as he seems to think…) Also, while he seems to be agreeing with the spin off of Stub Hub and the Classifieds, as far as I know, he has long been an advocate of multiple income streams…which, of course, is what ebay has with those two things….so it’s bad for ebay, good for sellers?
His third point? I agree with his improvement ideas, which he has talked about before. They are all good ideas. I don’t entirely share his optimism that Elliot Management wants to bring in someone to really improve ebay. That’s what they say, of course, but that’s also what Icahn said when he split off PayPal and left ebay hanging blowing in the wind. But, I do hope he’s right…that Elliot really does want to improve the marketplace long term and is committed to doing that. If they do want to do that, they could start by implementing some of his suggestions.
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09/26/2019 at 6:58 pm #68289
okay, i see there are a million youtube videos on this topic already from the “gurus,” but i don’t have the time to see if any of them have covered the points of what i can find from 5 minutes of using google & quickly reading through articles. here are the highlights of what i’ve found:
What’s Next for eBay Stock After CEO Walks
a few paragraphs down:
The roots of today’s events reach back to a January letter to the eBay board from Elliott Management, in which the activist hedge-fund firm asserted that the stock offered 75% to 100% upside—or $55-$63 a share—with some restructuring of the business. (Then in the low $30s, the stock has moved up to the high $30s.)
okay, lets find the letter:
Elliott Management Sends Letter to Board of Directors of eBay
there is a link in the article to read the ENTIRE letter, but the website is now down. ugh. lets try to read very quickly through this to see what is relevant to us as ebay sellers:
II. Revitalizing Marketplace: eBay’s Marketplace is a strategically valuable asset that has weathered prolonged, self-inflicted misexecution. Management should turn its singular attention to growing and strengthening Marketplace.
III. Operational Improvements and Margin Expansion: Today eBay suffers from an inefficient organizational structure, wasteful spend and a misallocation of resources. By increasing operational efficiency, eBay can free up capital to invest in capability- and revenue-enhancing activities.
okay, what does this entail?
As a successful third-party marketplace, eBay thrived through the dot-com crash, the 2008-2009 recession and the more recent retail challenges because it has demonstrated resilience in the face of changing market demands. This includes long ago shedding its original reliance on used goods or auctions. While surprising to many, only 10% of items sold on eBay today are sold via auction, and fewer than 20% of items sold are used goods. As a result of its ability to successfully evolve and grow with the broader e-commerce market, eBay today is the world’s second largest online retailer outside of mainland China,
(me: okay, i am sort of in a panic reading over how they EMPHASIZE that only 10% of items sold are on auction, and less than 20% are used. i realize that this is a way to show how much ebay has “progressed” over the past 2 decades, but ah no, i don’t need to see them outwardly saying that in a letter that is going to set the course for the future of the site).
blah blah blah, walls of text saying that “we love you ebay so much, but you need to change”
Moreover, strong technical execution is particularly necessary today as eBay is undertaking several mission-critical initiatives, including the rapid growth of Promoted Listings and the move to intermediate payments. These represent tremendous upside opportunities as Promoted Listings has the ability to dramatically scale from its current size while Managed Payments will develop into a multi-billion dollar revenue opportunity with substantial profits. So far, eBay’s execution of these initiatives has been inconsistent from the onset, with issues ranging from a lack of PayPal support for Managed Payments to the inadequate reporting and analytics functionalities on Promoted Listings. Fortunately, all of these issues are fixable and through an aggressive emphasis on operational execution and continued enhancements to the platform, eBay will be able to successfully capture these significant and near-term value-creation opportunities.
so, they want to put MORE emphasis on promoted listings in the future. wonder how that will go with the large number of sellers jumping ship from PL over the past week? also interested in their interest in managed payments.
Its success was evidence that eBay was a natural platform for continued, innovative expansion into new and growing markets. That same innovative energy has not kept pace in recent years. Other successful, niche category marketplaces, including Etsy (~$7 billion market cap), Wayfair (~$9 billion market cap), Reverb, LetGo, OfferUp, The RealReal, and countless others, have succeeded where eBay was well-positioned to win. Interestingly, many of these were started by or are currently run by former eBay executives – accomplishments that should have been achieved within eBay.
We highlight these missed opportunities as a strong indication that significant market potential remains. eBay’s platform provides a truly unique forum for innovation which can and should be leveraged to expand the universe of what is transacted on its Marketplace. While we have no doubt that eBay is focused on this, we believe that more needs to be done given the stakes. We suggest that this be a Board-level priority, with key directors working alongside Management on a plan to invest and win in new products and verticals. We believe eBay should engage in a full operational review of how it spends its development funds and undertake rigorous analysis of the ROI of the investments to ensure it is best allocating its investment – both internal development spend as well as the potential for targeted M&A. With the scale of its resources, fewer distractions and proper attention on the matter, eBay can succeed in new growth vectors.
what new sort of items should be sold on ebay? interesting.
The Plan calls for a nearly $250 million increase in operating expenses from 2018 to 2021, allowing the Company to grow spending, but at a rate slower than that of revenue growth, achieving greater levels of operating leverage.
i found the letter worth it to skim through, but if you don’t have the time, i emphasized what is most important for us as sellers in it. while they didn’t mention the auction/used % of sales again, it was definitely worth noting. curious to see why so much emphasis on PL & MP, but i guess that will come in focus more over the next year.
Back to Barron’s:
In Wednesday’s announcement, eBay said—not for the first time—that it expects to update investors on the strategic review process this fall. Goldman Sachs is advising the company.
here’s a new yorker article on elliott management from august 2018. might be good background reading for their history with other companies:
Paul Singer, Doomsday Investor
The head of Elliott Management has developed a uniquely adversarial, and immensely profitable, way of doing business.
there’s a lot to unpack before making a call one way or another, but activist investors, or vulture capitalists as they are sometimes called, are not usually seen as benevolent.
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09/26/2019 at 8:52 pm #68290
almasty, I’ve been following the Elliot thing since the letter first surfaced, and that’s why Wenig’s departure was no surprise. My guess is, the Board has made it clear that they want to strip ebay of the last two higher growth businesses it has: Stub Hub and Classifieds…and very possibly they have made clear that they are prepared to oversee the sale of ebay itself once those sales have been completed. I think Wenig made clear that he didn’t want to be the CEO in charge of the dismemberment of ebay. He didn’t have the votes to stop them, but he also didn’t have to be the guy doing their bidding. So, he’s gone.
For Q4, I don’t think this stuff really matters. For 2020 and beyond, I think we will have to confront the very real possibility that ebay as we know it might vanish. I’m not saying that WILL happen, and I’d love to believe that Elliot is sincere when they talk about getting rid of the StubHub and Classifieds distraction so they can concentrate on MEGA (Make eBay Great Again), but as I recall, Icahn told everyone the same thing…once the PayPal distraction was gone, he could focus on MEGA….and of course, Icahn took his money and ran away instead. So, we can hope for a different outcome here, but I wouldn’t want to bet on it. As soon as I wind down from Q4, I’ll be opening an etsy account and probably some others as well. And I expect to be doing some FB selling in Q4, trying to move some larger items while people are in a spending mood….
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09/27/2019 at 6:39 am #68292
Yeah, I can definitely see that if you’ve been following along since the beginning this would be no surprise. It is no surprise that once they were able to get the attention of the other shareholders, that this happened. I guess since it went from a matter of “when?” to “oh, it actually happened” that you really have to wonder what’s going to happen next.
I completely agree with you on your 2020 perspective. Q4 is fine and is nothing to worry about. I would probably say Q1-Q2 or even Q3 of 2020 are probably okay. It will take them awhile to separate Stubhub & Classifieds. Beyond that? It is really worrisome.
I found this article after I posted the others last night, not sure if you saw it back in January:
So, yeah, it is good to be positive & optimistic about your business and the future of Ebay, but if this is the future of Ebay it could be anything or nothing?!
I’m already listing on Amazon, Etsy, other websites. Diversifying is a really good idea at this point. I definitely think it’s time to get a shopify type store as well – I talked to my husband about this last night and he was like “I told you to get one a year ago!” 🙁 No matter what happens, the worst thing is to have your eggs all in 1 basket. Online reselling overall looks like it’s in a period of flux. The best is to try to get yourself to the point of not being dependent on any website you don’t actually own and call your own shots on.
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09/27/2019 at 7:17 am #68293
Yep.. That is why I switched away from WonderLister and went to SixBit last year. SixBit already had a functional Etsy interface and I knew through the grape vine that Shopify was being worked on. They came out of BETA last month and went live. Now SixBit will synch / coordinate / balance financials and inventory and storage for all 3 and add in Pirate Ship to ship from all 3 in one spot there is the 3 tier diversified model. BUT.. Shopify is a web site building and hosting, e-commerce merchant gateway app only. You have to build your own traffic and customer base which requires knowledge of SEO, active social media presence on all available outlets and content writing on blog pages. This will take a lot of time and work to SLOWLY build Sales. Your only search engine will be mostly Google and you will have to rank well and work hard to be found and seen in high page rankings on mother Google. But I know some of this already.
So SB is like our command central to keep 3 platforms co-ordinated and we will have to start building the Shopify stores brand and presence on all the social media outlets.
So our plan for balance of this year and all of next is to build as strong of a presence as we can on all 3 platforms, keep listing on all 3 stores and keep buying our used, vintage items.
If not and Ebay shuts down or shuts out old used stuff, I will just go full time into my studio and start making the heck out of my custom artwork and hand made home decor items and just focus on new handmade artist stuff and let it be what it will be.
Yep.. we all will just have to wait and see and as R. Crumb said in the late sixties.. “Keep on Truckin'”
mike at mdc galleries
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09/27/2019 at 1:24 pm #68308
I went into Sixbit chat earlier this morning. It sounded good until they told me I needed a Windows based computer or a partition running a virtual machine on my Mac. Agh. Any recommendations for a similar service that can run Shopify & Ebay that is mac or web based?
I was thinking of Fillz because it can handle both Ebay & Chrislands. However, I don’t know if it can import all of your Ebay listings with pictures & descriptions into it like SixBit can. I’ll have to contact them to see. I still need to choose whether I want a Chrislands or Shopify store. them. Chrislands also has a $250 set-up fee, while Shopify has no set-up fee. This is actually why I’ve been putting off setting up the store for the past year, but I guess I better get started working on it now.
Yeah, if I had started on this a year ago, the SEO and marketing would’ve been more in place. I’ve been experimenting with Etsy on how to do this to an extent, but it’s not the same.
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09/27/2019 at 7:50 am #68294
I agree with you both about the need to diversify. It’s always been a good idea, I’ve just never really needed to do it…but this injects too much uncertainty. And yes, almasty, I had seen that article. Truth is, I can see scenarios where the sale of ebay could be good for us…here’s just one example, let’s say WalMart buys ebay, maybe they’d fold the sellers of new stuff onto their 3rd party marketplace, but keep ebay for auctions/used stuff….a way to help them distinguish themselves from Amazon, and at the same time they wouldn’t be cluttering their own marketplace with hard to catalog used/older stuff….So, I’m not all doom and gloom about this, but the Elliot letter injected a lot of uncertainty into the situation, and Wenig’s departure , although not unanticipated, is a clear sign that Elliot holds the winning hand and no matter who is named CEO, ebay’s direction will likely be dictated by Elliot….If I were an eBay employee, I’d be more than a little concerned abou
t my job security….-
This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by
MyCottage.
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09/27/2019 at 11:05 am #68303
@MyCottage: Agreed. No gloom and doom about it. We are business minded people. We will do what we need to. Certinly no grudge being held against E-bay. For decades I worked for the corp. structure and in turn that was for the shareholders. Had two different companies I worked for sold off and we eventually had to move and me find new jobs. At least here I don’t have to move I just have to spread out onto other online venues.
It is what it is. And if it turns out like one of your scenarios, and Walmart were to jump in and who knows then as you state Ebay could turn back into a complete used vintage platform or who knows. We will deal with everything as it comes up.
Right now we do advertise and need to figure out how the best way to promote on both Ebay and Etsy. With free shipping we are transitioning into, managed payments and promoting having changes, we look at it as an opportunity to learn, grow and expand.
The same way my old partner and I did back in the mid seventies. We took a $10,000 original start up amount and built the business into a mutli-million dollar business, we owned 7 acres of land and built our own building. Took 22 years but we got it there.
mike at MDCGFA
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09/27/2019 at 12:14 pm #68305
The same way my old partner and I did back in the mid seventies. We took a $10,000 original start up amount and built the business into a mutli-million dollar business, we owned 7 acres of land and built our own building. Took 22 years but we got it there.
Hey Mike. I’m always curious what happens when people build up these successful businesses. What ever happened to your place? Did you cash out? Why work so hard now?
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09/28/2019 at 12:41 pm #68362
Hey J: Took a buyout. Owner/Partner did a divorce many years earlier and that was a large pay-off because the former wife had an equity stake in the business. Then for 10 years he kept messing around with female employees to the point where I almost quit hiring females knowing that as things in the world were changing that we were heading toward big or potential lawsuit issues.
Then the last straw was he ended up secretly eloping with a woman who was in our shipping dept. I had hired her years earlier and she had received several written warnings from me, and I was on the verge of letting her go and then, BOOM! I go over to his house one Sunday morning to go play golf, and of course she is there, and he announces to me they had gotten married earlier that week.
Over the course of the next month every kid and grand kid she had suddenly became instant employees, many of whom were not good employees. What a headache and I lost control of her kids in the workplace. She was promoted, her daughter became our office manager. then others dispersed throughout. I had enough. So, we agreed to end a 22-year relationship. I did a cash out and had to drag him into court to get even close to what I was into the business. Got a lot less than what I should have.
He continued for another 13 or so years then died. I saw the online photos of all the equipment listed at an Auction. Photos of many things I had built by hand. Same layout as I left it. The business never grew beyond what it was dollar wise, size wise or customer base wise [less what he lost].
So, then the buyout cash got slowly consumed not by any lavish living but did have to move and go elsewhere. So, from CT., I did several large company consulting jobs that took several moves. Then when all that was over and being in a dying industry, [silk screen printing] being replaced by more and more digital printing and then large format, big silk screen printing being replaced by wide format digital printing capabilities my skill sets became less in demand.
So, we came back to Georgia. I dabbled in a few other small ventures, a golf tournament business, some home building in spec homes and remodeling, a spray foam insulation company, and then lastly buying and selling used vintage items at 6 booths at antique malls. After realizing that was a dumb business model whereby the only person making any real money was the landlord renting vendors booths, I took everything online and the rest is history.
The why work so hard part comes from the fact that a bunch of the buyout cash we used to take care of aging and ailing parents, funerals and some of their medical expenses. Also, we like this new venture of buying and selling online, I was also able to start making some things back in the studio and by nature I have always been a person who worked tirelessly. I worked 12-16 hrs. a day 7 days a week for 22 years for the old partner. But now it is much more a labor of love.
But now with Susan having all her medical expenses that pretty much exhausts anything that could even be thought of having living expenses covered by not working. Susan had the first operation when she was first diagnosed with Cancer in April. Then after that operation she was scheduled for 32 weeks of cancer treatments. 8 weeks of chemo weekly, 16 weeks of radiation 5 days a week, then a final 8 weekly treatments of chemo again.
She finished her first 8 weeks chemo and now have found out before she proceeds with the 16 weeks of Radiation, she needs another operation in a hurry. They can’t proceed with radiation without the operation. So, we are dealing with those visit almost each day and surgery will be in a few weeks. Then she needs recovery time before she starts up again.
Lastly, even though we have Medicare and the Advantage plan supplement the costs are something else. We are seeing charges at around $7,000 to $9,000 per chemo treatment and have no idea of what the radiation amounts are going to be. It seems most is being covered, but we still have co-pays and deductible amounts every time I take her. I am guessing / figuring about $350,000 and up plus this new operation to come by early next year.
So why work so hard… well there you go. The full answer. A dumb ass partner, caring for parents, housing parents here, funerals, health issues and to TOP IT OFF car problems on both our cars AND Our house HVAC went out Thursday afternoon and had to have a new system put in yesterday.
So, what was a completely debt free situation except for our mortgage of $834 a month last year is now a situation where I will have to work 12 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week until I drop dead at the keyboard.But at least I like doing this, but I am tired of my phone telling me I have not been active for the last six hours and would I like to get up and take a walk. LOL 🙂
Mike at MDC Galleries
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by
MDC Galleries & Fine Art.
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09/28/2019 at 4:48 pm #68368
Thanks for sharing this story. Had no idea it was such a rollercoaster for you guys. Because you’re smart and work so hard, doesn’t surprise me you’ll do fine. Lesser people would have crashed and burned a long time ago 🙂
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by
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