How ebay could improve itself

RFW

soolin wrote: »

So basically you want a second class seller where buyers have no rights at all and cannot rely on the goods they believe they are buying arriving as described, or even at all.

Pretty much what that Onlinecarboot site is doing, it's going very well by the threads on here
I'm sure anyone in power at Ebay will see this thread and snap up this two tier idea. Why not try and cut out them and go for some funding for the OP to do it himself.

I'll help with the Dragon's Den pitch:

"It's an online selling site where people will be able to sell anything they like, we won't have any respect for buyers or ever believe them if they say an item has gone missing. Sellers will post their items when they feel like and may or may not use postage. There'll be no refunds unless the seller is feeling generous. We won't charge much in fees either. So Dragons, who's in?".

I haven't worked out the funding that will be needed, I know OP has a lot of experience with courts so should be able to save a few bob on all the court claims the business will have to endure.

soolin

RFW wrote: »

Pretty much what that Onlinecarboot site is doing, it's going very well by the threads on here
I'm sure anyone in power at Ebay will see this thread and snap up this two tier idea. Why not try and cut out them and go for some funding for the OP to do it himself.

I'll help with the Dragon's Den pitch:

"It's an online selling site where people will be able to sell anything they like, we won't have any respect for buyers or ever believe them if they say an item has gone missing. Sellers will post their items when they feel like and may or may not use postage. There'll be no refunds unless the seller is feeling generous. We won't charge much in fees either. So Dragons, who's in?".

I haven't worked out the funding that will be needed, I know OP has a lot of experience with courts so should be able to save a few bob on all the court claims the business will have to endure.

You make the point much better than I do. As a business though I would definitely support a two tier service, it would mean private sellers wiped out completely- and that means I would no longer have to compete with all those 'private' sellers who have shop names, multiple listings of items and hundreds of vintage items all found in their granny's loft.

I am not sure how this would go down though with the truly private sellers though most of which give excellent customer service and who understand tyheir obligations when selling.

patman99

The best way ebay can improve is to actually start to enforce the 'multiples of the same item must not be listed individually' policy.

The one thing that really annoys me is having to wade through page after page of the same item from the same seller just so they can block-out rivals.
This is the one reason that there are so many listings there are in total. If ebay enforced, then the number of live listings will decrease, but actually searching for that bargain will become a lot easier.

Flyonthewall

patman99 wrote: »

The best way ebay can improve is to actually start to enforce the 'multiples of the same item must not be listed individually' policy.

The one thing that really annoys me is having to wade through page after page of the same item from the same seller just so they can block-out rivals.
This is the one reason that there are so many listings there are in total. If ebay enforced, then the number of live listings will decrease, but actually searching for that bargain will become a lot easier.

Totally agree! Can't remember what I was looking for the other day but the first page or two was fine then it was just the same listing over and over. I really wanted to find other listings. I don't even think the multiple listings were what I was looking for (can't remember now). I went through about 10 pages before giving up.

Not even a single other listing inbetween and no matter how much I wanted the item I was searching for I'm not wasting that much time scrolling through the same listings page after page. Even skipping ahead it didn't change

patman99

I once forgot about the listing rule when listing 10 of the same thing on ebid. Unlike ebay, they closed 9 of my listings & sent me an email.

Maybe it is time to start reporting every multi-listing.

RFW

patman99 wrote: »

I once forgot about the listing rule when listing 10 of the same thing on ebid. Unlike ebay, they closed 9 of my listings & sent me an email.

Maybe it is time to start reporting every multi-listing.

From what I know the new search engine that Ebay are introducing in January is supposed to stop a lot of that. Whether it is implemented correctly and works properly is another matter, Ebay and new software don't make the best bedfellows.

Road_Hog

SlowCooker wrote: »

The majority of items on eBay are not sent recorded and everything works fine. What you are proposing will turn buying from private sellers into a gamble, and that is definitely not good for them or for eBay.

Pretty much everything I sell (or rather sold) went recorded. I don't think you're right in your estimation of delivered items.


As for a gamble, you are missing the whole point. Nobody would force anyone to buy from a tier 2 seller, they could all go and buy frim tier 1 sellers.


But I guarantee you, that two 2 sellers would have the best priced items and also the items that people want, that aren't sold by tier 1.


I can't see why people are getting so uppity about it. I mean, if there wasn't the demand, everyone would keep buying from tier 1, so no buyers or sellers would be upset or bothered by this.


And just to reiterate, this was the model that ebay was based on and what made it grow. Now we have Amazon MKII.

campdave

Sounds like you have a business plan. Ebay aren't going to change, but if you think there is a demand for it, sounds like you'll do well out of it.

Road_Hog

campdave wrote: »

Sounds like you have a business plan. Ebay aren't going to change, but if you think there is a demand for it, sounds like you'll do well out of it.

If I had the capital, then I would.

Flyonthewall

Road_Hog wrote: »

Pretty much everything I sell (or rather sold) went recorded. I don't think you're right in your estimation of delivered items.


As for a gamble, you are missing the whole point. Nobody would force anyone to buy from a tier 2 seller, they could all go and buy frim tier 1 sellers.


But I guarantee you, that two 2 sellers would have the best priced items and also the items that people want, that aren't sold by tier 1.


I can't see why people are getting so uppity about it. I mean, if there wasn't the demand, everyone would keep buying from tier 1, so no buyers or sellers would be upset or bothered by this.


And just to reiterate, this was the model that ebay was based on and what made it grow. Now we have Amazon MKII.

I personally send recorded but that's because I'm a private seller and just wish to cover myself as much as possible. I know it's often not needed, often things don't get signed for etc. Most things, if not all, have been signed though and I've had no problems.

However, for buying, it's rare I sign for anything. I've had to sign for some parcels through couriers recently, but I hardly ever sign for anything sent through RM. In most cases I'd say people don't send recorded, especially not business sellers. It's just not worth it to them.

Buying from tier 2 would be a gamble. Just because you can avoid that gamble by buying from tier 1 doesn't solve anything. What about all the honest private sellers who can offer a great service and will never even be looked at due to the gamble and going to tier 1?

So tier 2 has all these amazing, great priced items, some of which aren't sold by tier 1 and what happens? They sit there unsold because buyers have no protection and nobody wishes to gamble. No sales is bad for the site, it's bad for the private sellers and it's bad for the buyer. It's also bad for the business sellers because unhappy buyers leave sites and the site will struggle if it's not gaining as much money.

I wouldn't say anyone is getting uppity, we're just pointing out some obvious flaws and giving our opinion.

Ebay was originally aimed at private sellers getting rid of their used items from around the house. I didn't use it at the start so I can't comment on exactly what it was like. I'm sure it wasn't like you're suggesting it should be now, but either way the site has grown and improved. It might not be perfect, but doesn't that tell you that how it was just doesn't work for them now.