Today's eBay Rant...

[Bruce B.]

OK, so I log on to eBay just now and go to my summary page, and, lo and behold, it's unrecognizable! I knew that some changes were in the works for searches, but it was possible to opt out of those (which I did) and continue using the old familiar format. This new summary page format doesn't seem to have that option (if I am mistaken, please elucidate).

Why must they frig with something that was perfectly fine??? Is it really in any business's best interest to annoy its clientele? (Of course, that seems to be of increasingly less concern to the staff of eBay, given their recent pricing and payment-method announcements).

There's a lot to be said for the old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

"And they ask me why I drink..."

[JKWidener]

I think they are running scared and trying anything they can to stay afloat. There stocks keep getting lower and lower. And with the way there rule and fee changes have been lately, i can see why. Here is a report from Cnn talking about the decline in stocks for ebay.

And i quote,

"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -- EBay Inc. posted a lower fourth-quarter profit Wednesday and gave a disappointing forecast for the current quarter as consumer spending slows, sending its shares down 6.3%.
Net profit in the fourth quarter, usually eBay's strongest due to holiday sales, fell to $367 million, or 29 cents per share, from $531 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 7% to $2.04 billion, below the $2.11 billion expected by Wall Street.
Excluding charges from a 10% staff reduction last fall and other restructuring costs, earnings per share were 41 cents, at the top of eBay's own forecast, and beating the Wall Street view of 39 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.
But the online auctioneer posted a 16% decline in revenue for its key marketplaces business.
EBay, whose shares are down 56% from a year ago, has faced an uphill battle trying to stimulate growth in its marketplaces unit in the midst of a global economic downturn, while confronting rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. and craigslist.com."

[Al Illinois]

My feelings exactly. Can't anyone come up with some competion for scam-bay? It took me an hour to get my summary page back to the way I had it. Another thing----try to get a message to the morons that are in charge. That is almost "mission impossible". I finally got an email off to them, telling them what I thought of their changes. If there only was another game in town! Al Louck, Oquawka, IL

[JKWidener]

There is another "one" in town. www.wagglepop.com they are slowly growing. not any engines or parts yet, but have found some manuals and pictures pretty cheap. check it out...

[greysteam24hp]

I see nobody answered this. Posibility If you received an email in your home email. If you clicked eBay page and filled in user and password. You are done already given to faked Ebay page to scammer. Caused it inappropriate or slow. Most of time from eBay sent you real email otherwise the scam stole eBay site to use your confidential. Move your mouse cursor pointer to ebay item number hold there and look for their home address below the bar. Close the computer and redo by typing ebay.com then change your password right away. Use eBay check out or eBay online email inbox.

[Gerry Boose]

I am not impressed either. If you go to "My ebay page" and click on "FAQ" and it says as of Tuesday January 20 this is the way it is, like it or not. shrug:

[Roger Eldred]

I agree with Gerry, I WAS NOT impressed. It looks like EBAY is shooting themselves in the foot trying to save their butt's. Just my 2 penny's worth.

[Craig A]

I've had cookies disabled for AGES and NEVER had any problems logging into Evilbay......until just now.
They must want it ALL now.........well........I fixed THEM.......I used my Opera browser which I have set to automatically dump cookies at exit.......

Nosy devils.......

[spfx_dude]

I dont get it guys... Yes, evil bay sucks and doesnt care about anything but money. Yes the same company is a great place for the world as a whole to sell their stuff... BUT we have ENGINADs and nobody really uses it. And when they do the art of negotiation seems to have gone out the window. Why do we keep complaining about Ebay when Harry has begun the frame work of something that is really great? I have pointed a number of people from outside the hobby to Enginads as opposed to ebay.

Just my thoughts.

[Clark Bigger]

I used to buy alot on ebay....not since they changed though...I am getting ready to restructure my collection...and it's going on Harry's site

[Jim Dixon]

I feel the same way. I have contacted eBay several times and complained about the "new" format. It sucks. Asked them why they took something folks were used to, and had to change it to something that is more time consuming (requires for actions to get to where I want to go). Today, it took me many extra steps to prepare a packing list after purchasing my shipping label. They just can't leave well enough alone.

I'm also not happy about the seller not being able to leave a negative feedback for a non-paying bidder. They have made it buyer friendly, not equal to both the buyer and seller.

[oldtractors]

The worst is that they have made it impossible for the occasional seller to sell on there anymore. You could find all sorts of old parts from people cleaning up their inventories. It was like a big swap meet. Now it is mainly dealers and store fronts - more like a Chinese flea market.

[Craig A]

I need to ask as I will have to do a couple Ebay auctions soon.....are they screwing sellers with HAVING to have THEM ho$t image$ or can I write a little html and link my images from elsewhere?

[Steve Barr]

Originally Posted by Craig Anderson

I need to ask as I will have to do a couple Ebay auctions soon.....are they screwing sellers with HAVING to have THEM ho$t image$ or can I write a little html and link my images from elsewhere?

Craig

You can host the photos. In the body of the discription, use the img insert code

<img src=http://yourwebsitehere/yourpicture.jpg> Note: sometimes there are "quotes" around the http string

Since you have space on your web site, use it to host your files. Resize them and you should be fine (just watch the physical size as well). However, use the first photo free so the picture gets into the gallery on ebay. Just repeat the img line and change the picture name.

drop me an email if you have questions....

Steve

[Craig A]

Thanks Steve!
I googled some basic html, then went to Ebay and tried a fake auction to see if I knew what I was doing......
I USED to use an outfit called Vendio for "assembling" auctions and I LIKED IT.......they took care of the images and everything......but they got hungry (was going to charge a monthly fee whether I used them or not) so I quit them. I was hoping Ebay didn't get piggish about that too.......
Anyone savvy enough to use Ebay oughta be savvy enough to use some online photo host for their Ebay auctions.......

[Steve Barr]

I forgot to mention.

If you download their tool "turbo lister" (free - just search their help section), you can build as many listings as you want and save them. When you are ready to list, you upload what ever one that you want. Sometimes I list a bunch at one time and they end seconds apart and other times, I list one at a time and space them out that way...This will save you time when you get the hang of it and makes it fit your schedule. You can even have it calculate the fees before hand. It helps to know where their fee structure changes on the opening price. If you want $50, drop it to $49.99 and you will save a $1 on the listing fee alone.

I sell other items that I would not list on Harry's...Even sometimes when listed on the classifieds here, I get no responses so to ebay they go...Just a different group looking at a different time.

[flasks]

www.wagglepop.com has a new customer...me! I'm so sick of eBay's total indifference to anything but squeezing every penny out of everybody they can and rediculous controls on listings. They've had no competition until recently and although wagglepop is new and listing are sparse, IT WILL CATCH ON and the inventory and catagories will grow with time...we need to support them whether buying or selling. I well remember when eBay first came out they didn't have anymore to offer than the wagglepop site. Spread the word...eBay is a totalitarian conglomerate that must be taken down to size.

[Bruce B.]

And now the latest irksome change...

I see that each individual auction item page has changed, also. Curiously, I see this view only when I use Explorer as my browser. With Navigator it looks the way it always has. (Recently I resurrected my old NetScape browser to use for eBay only, thanks to the heads-up from Craig about eBay's cookie greed. I now dump everything at the end of each session, too.) Previously, one could opt out of the change, but no longer.

There is a link near the top of the new page for sending your comments to eBay. I sent them the following message:

Concerning recent changes to eBay: I am not impressed.

You claim that "We're working to make eBay easier to use." In fact, you are alienating your longtime user base. Those of us who have used eBay for years have become accustomed to, and familiar with, the ins-and-outs of your service. We like it the way it is (or, more accurately, the way it was). By constantly changing your site -- ostensibly to attract new users -- you are making the eBay experience more difficult and less pleasant for your proven customers.

I thought that the new summary page (forced upon us last week) was the end of your "improvements", but I now find that each individual auction page has also been re-arranged.

I find myself using eBay less and less, in direct proportion with your "improvements." And this reduction in usage by not only me but by thousands of other longtime users across the nation results in increasingly fewer dollars going into your corporate coffers.

My advice? If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

<signed, etc., etc.>
eBay user since October 2000

I checked out Wagglepop.com, and while it looks promising, I found nothing of interest ("old iron", vintage machinery and/or advertising, etc.) in the listings there. Also, Wagglepop's corporate policy or mission statement or whatever you want to call it sounds a lot like what eBay claimed when it was a small-scale free service in the San Francisco Bay area. If Wagglepop becomes a large-scale nationwide/international auction host also, what's to keep them from doing what eBay is doing now?

As for Enginads.com, there's a lot of good stuff to be found there, but most of us collectors like the "barn-fresh" bargain finds that you tend to see only on eBay, and the possibility that you just might get a good deal on whatever it is you are looking at.

Plus, for the average Joe who is cleaning out his great-uncle Jed's estate and doesn't know what any of this accumulated barnful of stuff is or have any idea of what it is worth, eBay is the default choice, just by virtue of its size. Joe can list that rusty trinket on-line, have worldwide exposure, and be reasonably certain that the collectors out there will determine a fair price.

So I guess that's the way it is, as Walter Cronkite used to say. I'm afraid we're stuck with eBay, and it's either their way or the highway.

Take a look at the new item view format, and then send your thoughts via e-mail to: viewitem-us@ebay.com, and be sure to put "Comments on the new item page design on eBay‏" in the subject line. You'll get an automated reply within a few minutes.

[K L Workman]

Me thinks Wagglepop is owned by the ebay clan. Almost a carbon copy. Groundwork is being laid out for something in the future. Be prepared for anything.

[Motormowers]

I just love how I went to leave a neutral feedback today from something I won almost 1 month ago and took the seller 3 weeks to ship 150 miles plus it was chipped with no mention of it in his listing. I couldnt leave anything but positive feedback so I did. Just at the end of my feedback I stated NEUTRAL.