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EBay exposed

Posted on 15 May 2009 at 15:13

Chopping and changing

Fees aren't the only gripe. There's also the feeling that eBay changes policies at will, with little notice to the people that have built businesses around existing rules. For example, the company recently banned the sale of knives in the UK: a seemingly noble response to a tabloid-fuelled fight against knife crime, but the death knell for businesses selling kitchen cutlery for a living.

"EBay's terms allow it to change policy or fee structure with 30 days' notice, although it usually gives more," said Wingo. "That sounds fair enough, but say you're a retailer and you have six months' worth of stock based on one scenario and it's changed - then you're in trouble."

Constant policy changes are one aspect of eBay that have merchants pulling their hair out and rival auctions sites sensing an opportunity. "One of our plans is to put people back in charge of their businesses," said Mark Dorsey, founder of rival site Bonanzle. "Rather than customise their business to suit eBay they can do what they want. The feedback that we're getting is that they are no longer walking on pins and needles and anxiously checking the inbox for policy changes from eBay, which is stressful." Sellers also feel that it's unrealistic to regularly impose policy changes that require them to edit hundreds of listings without providing a better batch-editing tool.

Resentment over rule changes and restrictions is the other reason that Hilton started her own site - she grew weary of being told what to do with her own business. "It's up to you how much you charge for postage internationally, but there's a maximum price for how much you can charge within the UK and there are so many rules and restrictions that, in the end, it feels like you're working for someone else," she said. "I sell designer dresses and yet there's a maximum of how many designer items I can sell a month - I can't list anything designer for two weeks, and yet that's my business."

This disruption is made all the worse by eBay's "customer service", with no telephone support and largely stock email responses.

EBay told PC Pro that it tries to give sellers as much notice as possible about policy changes, but admits it "needs to give sellers more warning about changes that may affect their business and we are making significant changes internally to improve this".

Make way for the big boys

Perhaps the strongest evidence of eBay selling out is the proliferation of large-scale stores, leaving smaller merchants and private sellers feeling marginalised and unloved. eBay isn't so much a car-boot sale these days, as a characterless, out-of-town shopping mall. Small- and medium-sized sellers - the people that made eBay a household name - are getting trampled in the rush.

"EBay looked at the money and said 'wow, we need bigger deals'," said Walt Kolenda, aka Auction Wally (www.auctionwally.com). "Grass-roots people? The small unique collectables? EBay says they don't bring money in. The mentality is 'let's go corporate and get people buying new things'."

As a result of this changing landscape smaller traders feel they're hamstrung by policies that push big fixed-price vendors higher up the search rankings, and penalises them for not being a corporate partner or "Diamond Power Seller". Deals with companies such as Argos and Buy.com are hardly on a par with Joe Bloggs' eBay emporium.