How is eBay doing for you since the April price changes?

[democraticinsurgent]

I have barely sold on it since then. I closed both of my stores because the economics were no longer viable once eBay raised the prices on the store owners (again).

I have done a few auctions with middling results but my sense is that sell-through rates are not as strong as they were before the changes, and realized auction prices seem lower as well.

What say you?

[Vinca]

1. I seem to be running an art exhibition on ebay. Lots of nice paintings,

no buyers. I've been putting them on at a fixed price and the opportunity to make an offer, but it's crickets. Listed artists, too. I've sold a few other things, but the prices I'm getting are disappointing and I continue to be irked about their feedback and complaint policies. When I filled out their last survey I mentioned that I've gone back to primarily selling in a brick and mortar store as opposed to online because their policies are so biased against sellers.

[democraticinsurgent]

2. i think they may have outsmarted themselves this time

I've been on some of the eBay forums and almost everyone is complaining of huge sales drops, like 75% type plunges, since the changes.

One thing I feared--the complete inter-mixture of fixed price and auctions. There was a reason that stores worked--buyers who liked fixed price items could just go buy them without wading through all the auction stuff. And vice versa. Now it's a mess.

What seems to have happened is that sellers don't know what to do, so it's all mixed up and crazy, at least in the vinyl record realm. Tons of Buy It Now's expiring. Auctions with ridiculously low bids, for the most part.

[Vinca]

3. It's very discouraging. I swear I ultimately blame Meg Whitman

for ruining Pierre what's-his-name's vision. They should rename it egreed.

[democraticinsurgent]

4. I agree, Meg and her bean counters ruined it

Here's a funny animation I found awhile back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acfP8rGrjxA

[grasswire]

5. so why hasn't an ebay clone taken off?

I would use one if it were viable. And I'm sure that many other former ebayers would, too.

[Vinca]

6. That's a good question. Maybe because ebay was first and

there was no competition and their brand became so ingrained it's hard to compete with. Someone needs to come up with a site that is fun . . . like ebay used to be. In the early days there was a real sense of community between buyers and sellers. I remember having long email conversations with people all over the world, just chatting about the "stuff" and our different lives. Now it's more like a computerized store that promotes as little human contact as possible.

[democraticinsurgent]

7. I think this is correct

eBay did a great job of dominating the auction space. They made it THE place to look for almost everything collectible, etc.

Now that they have screwed up, there are countless sites trying to take advantage, but that's the problem. There's not just one really strong contender. There are many fairly weak ones.

It will take a lot of time for a true challenger to emerge. eBay knows this and takes full advantage of it.