Re: Ebay SUCKS, the truth behind Ebay, deny this you shills!

On Dec 8, 5:00 pm, kim <em...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.ebaysucks.com/

I found this on another site posted by Anonymous. It was posted on the
seller central discussion board 5/4/08 by someone who claims to be
inside eBay management… this post was pulled by eBay moments later.
Note: When you see them saying "I" that's not the admin of this site,
it's the author of the post.

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I posted this at the feedback forum at eBay but it was killed by staff
less than a minute later. I should have known. My ID will be toast soon
anyway. This was the only other place I thought where my statement might
have an impact. Do with it what you will. After Chicago, my only desire
is to be heard.
There will be those who will not believe me and I sympathize. I wish the
facts were fiction but to deny what I know would be to live in a
fairyland of make-believe. I understand that the bulk of this
“manifesto” reveals a plot so against the spirit of eBay that it will be
dismissed as lie. So be it. I cannot force the world to accept it. All I
can do is state the truth as I know it and leave it to you and to your
common sense and experience to judge.

The deck is stacked against me. Aside from the natural resistance to
believe I know that the boards are stocked with eBay’s tools. Their goal
will be to discredit me. I will be accused of being a “disgruntled”,
“paranoid”, and “emotional” seller. Their words will be specially chosen
for effect. That is part of the function of the tools and I am not fazed
by it. However, to protect my own identity within the corporation, I
cannot be too specific lest the details single me out to the powers that
be.

What I intend to reveal is common knowledge to many in the management
division behind the scenes.

By the way, the tools are not only the mouthpieces that promote the
policies. The psychological tactics employed by the powers that be are
far deeper and grander than that. The subtlety of the method is
remarkable. The tools come in a wide range of flavors with their own,
individual “characteristic” rhetoric. From those who are “for” the
policy - and spread various degrees of hostility toward the sellers - to
those who are “against” the change - and spread panic and further the
divide with the buyers. Both serve the same exact purpose: a
manipulation designed to remove the more involved and savvy small to
large sellers who will not fit into eBay’s future business plan.

First, let me correct the record regarding the concept of sellers
extorting positive feedback. While the violation was known to happen,
the activity amounted to less than a tenth of a percent of the yearly
transactions. Further, it involved sellers whose feedback percentages
were below 80%. The absolute majority of sellers did not engage in such
practices. Nevertheless, the powers that be could not resist the fact
that promoting this notion of feedback extortion as a wide-spread
phenomenon would be the perfect cover with which to hide the true
intentions of the policy.

The powers that be want to transform eBay into an overstock warehouse
venue. A kind of outlet store for the internet much like a cheaper and
streamlined version of Amazon. From a strictly business point of view,
given the size of eBay and the growing costs of doing business, it makes
a certain kind of sense to shift gears. Think about it: when eBay
started, sellers were about rare and unique items but here and now the
majority of items are common, used counterparts of what can be found new
online at retail sites. Truly rare and unique items are sold at real
auctions; the “stuff in your attic” isn’t glamorous enough and won’t
keep eBay afloat any longer.

The trend away from the rare and unique to the big box retailer is not
new. Several years ago the powers that be noticed that the big
“powersellers” were simply listing items that existed in their retail
stores or inventories. Thus the concept of “buy it now”, “best offer”,
and “eBay stores” were created. It was the nascent stage of the plan yet
to be. Little by little, without the population noticing, the mechanisms
required to replicate the average retail storefront were already in
place - and with its rise came the slow, steady downfall of the auction
format.

Yet outright pursuit of a retail venue would have led to a major problem
that at the time could not have been surmounted. The vast majority of
people, on and off line, know eBay as precisely the place for auctions
of rare and unique items. The sellers and buyers held onto that
perception too but in truth their opinion even involvement in new and
improved version of eBay is irrelevant by a certain Machiavellian
calculation made by the powers that be. As part of the plan, eBay
calculated thus: even if they lost the sellers as part of the change,
the buyers will be coming back to buy regardless of who or what operated
within the retail-outlet venue.

No, it was the stock holders who the powers that be feared.

Only the stockholders had the power to change the direction set forth by
the CEO and the board. So it became imperative to change the equation.
Part of the plan is to devalue the stock gradually so that investors
merely dumped the stock as opposed to wanting managerial change ala
Yahoo. Then to buy back the stock at lower cost and to such a volume
that no rebellion against the powers that be were possible.

By the end of July that phase of the plan will be successful and there
est of the plan will be revealed without fear of backlash from those who
otherwise would have had the power to pull eBay back from the brink.
Indeed, if you believe the current changes are obvious signals that
small sellers are not wanted - be prepared - you have seen nothing yet.

So far what have they done? All they have managed to do is silence a
seller’s ability to warn others about buyers (half of the purpose behind
the original idea of feedback), burden you with higher and higher fees,
dangle “treats” like discounts while setting the bar of eligibility so
high that the rewards cannot be reached. and, by the way PayPal deals
with “complaints” leave you vulnerable to fraud. What if worse was yet
to come?

They know if you do not feel safe that you will not use eBay. The
changes that have been enacted only eliminates the small sellers.
Meanwhile they want to eradicate the mid-sized seller too. And they want
to ensure that both do not return.

For the mid-sized seller the DSR became the tool of choice. The powers
that be raised the level of what is a good seller artificially high. No
manipulation is required; they know exactly the effect of the policy.
This is why buyers are told that 4 is a good score and sellers are told
that 4.9 yields discounts and higher listing placements. As long as that
fractured point of view exists, eBay does not need to interfere with the
DSR as has been suggested, the buyers will be killing the sellers
naturally.

By August there will be no pretense and the intentions of the new and
improved eBay will be clear. The following is only a partial list of the
rules that will be imposed. It comes from a memo that circulated within
my corner of the managerial department the week before Chicago. I cannot
be too specific about certain items and I cannot reveal details of the
latest additions without endangering my anonymity.

1. Neutrals will be converted to negatives complete with red icons and
reduced feedback scores. Afterward neutrals will not be offered as a
choice of feedback.

2. The entire process of feedback will be automated. Buyers and sellers
will chose standard feedback from a list. For sellers this operation
will be performed automatically upon the buyer winning. For buyers there
will be an extra free line with which to add a few comments about the
seller without restriction to content. Replies will not be allowed.

3. The implementation of a stricter rules regarding shipping. From the
boxes, packing, labels and tapes to where you can buy postage. Orders
have been placed for prototypes of “eBay” boxes. UPS and FedEx will be
instructed not to accept “eBay” merchandise if it’s not inside “eBay”
boxing. They will know, of course, because when sellers buy the “eBay”
postage from the “eBay” source, a detailed list of contents with item
numbers will be available to the shippers upon scanning a bar code. As
for those who continue to use USPS, another level of quality control
will be implemented - buyers will be asked, upon confirmation of
delivery, if the seller used “eBay” standard shipping items. Naturally,
no verification of the buyer’s truthfulness will be attempted, and
continued ‘infractions’ will result in suspension. eBay will have other
ways to check if a seller is not using the “eBay” equipment - as they
will be required to buy at cost the supplies immediately after items are
listed. (This is such a large scale operation behind the scenes that I
feel comfortable sharing as much of it as I know.)

4. Sales taxes will be included automatically; shipping cost and sales
taxes will be used to determined FVF.

5. Item descriptions will be “standardized” with templates which include
the posting of a new, universal return policy. Only yearly subscribers
to the retail-outlet venue can opt out of these universal return
policies but even they cannot alter the template structures being
devised.

6. Strikes against buyers will be eliminated as the whole concept of a
buyer and bidding will be altered. FVF will be calculated when payment
is submitted.

7. Time to Close will be eliminated entirely. Best Match will be the
non-alterable default. Best Match is a system that caters to the needs
of shoppers not bidders.

8. Placement within Best Match will be determined by several factors,
the most important of which will be the extra display features added
onto the listing.

9. DSRs can be removed by retailers and powersellers who pay a certain
yearly fee.

10. The end play itself which consists of four phases:
a) the main focus shifts to retail sellers whose fees are on a per
listing basis
b) stores will be replaced by a classified section, fees will be based
on yearly subscriptions and FVFs
c) occasional auctions will be conducted for unique items (celebrity
auctions, items that have been featured on the news, etc.)
d) total elimination of auctions for regular sellers.

From the point of view of eBay’s agenda to change gears these alteration
make sense. The powers that be want to turn eBay into a retail venue
format. Therefore the “buyer” must be changed - bidding and commitments
to buy are part of the past. In a retail venue, the item is either in
your cart or not and you only commit to buy when you pay at checkout.
The seller is also redefined in the way they will be required to do
business. They will be forced to copy the methods of retail stores.

The goal is to become Amazon Lite. Unlike Amazon the merchandise will be
stocked by the retailers in their warehouses, eBay will be just an
electronic centralized venue for outlet sale - a “trusted” name with a
wide customer base and popular name recognition.

That is the future and as I write this I know that it cannot be stopped.
There are no investors with enough clout and will to challenge the CEO.
Stock holders will simply walk away. eBay will not sink, however, it
will be exactly in the position its rulers intend it to be at.

Sellers, my advice is simple. You are not wanted. Leave. If you stay,
you will be crushed. Leave. Go away. You cannot win.

I am sorry because for too long I have been a complicit tool behind the
scenes. I was part of those teams and think tanks that spearheaded many
of the “innovations” you know very well and which will be used to
destroy you. I know I will not be believed. I will be mocked and
ridiculed by the tools and even those who are real, actual people will
be hesitant to accept what I have to say. What has been done to this
community, the plots and schemes hatched in meetings and across memos,
is far, far worse to endure within my soul than any treatment I will
receive at the hands of the tools by posting this. You do not know how
much they hate you. It is my conscience that I want to clear going
forward. Again I apologize. There should have been a better way for the
powers that be to effect the change they wanted for eBay - instead they
succumbed to cloak and dagger deception.

RIP eBay

I don't know if this is on the level or not. Judging from ebay's track
record the last couple of years I wouldn't be surprised. There are two
reasons to doubt the accuracy of the original post:

1. This post assumes that eBay management is capable of formulating
and implementing a coherent long range plan of action. I have yet to
see that happen.

2. When Meg was still in charge a major effort was made to convert
fixed price store listing to auctions. If I remember correctly store
owners got shafted around August 2007 ebay was; "Getting growth going
again in the core auction business is the company’s #1 focus."

I suppose when we see:Neutrals will be converted to negatives complete
with red icons and
reduced feedback scores. and a requirement to use eBay boxes I'll know this guy is on the level.

The great feedback controversy doesn't really bother me. I have
received two neutral and no negatives in the last year the neutrals
will drop off in January.

Personally I hope this person is wrong I like buying and selling on
eBay and would like to continue. Unfortunately eBay makes it pretty
tough to be a seller.

Ozark
.

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