Tracking eBay Changes Coming Out of Today's Seller Conference

by: Rexford

"eBay CEO Jamie Iannone will share information about changes sellers can expect"

We've seen the movie many times.  We know what to expect.  More fees and less, if any, exposure. And a lot of hot gas coming from eBay management.

by: lessthanthreerecords

"or some listings temporarily not appearing in searches."

And this is different than any other day how exactly?

by: Ina

Virtual attendees are sharing tips as they wait for the keynote to kickoff.

While some are sharing links to their Instagrams etc., I'd be cautious about calling a phone number, not sure why a seller would want to post their tel number and ask other sellers to call them - am I missing something?

by: Rexford

Ina says "I'd be cautious about calling a phone number, not sure why a seller would want to post their tel number and ask other sellers to call them - am I missing something?"

No, you are not missing something, you just have good sense.

by: pace306

People laughed when Seinfeld and George wanted to make a show about nothing. It was a funny concept - just have a show where nothing major happens and film it as if it was Blair Witch (that wasnt scary - Texas Chainsaw 2 was).

eBayClosed is the same thing.

Trying to match the Queens funeral with all its pomp and circumstance, eBay is creating a conference that talks about nothing. At least it doesnt talk about ANYTHING that sellers even remotely care about or asked for.

If you read Iannone's transcript to Wall Street (a few days ago) then you know that the emperor continues to not have new clothes, and will not for the foreseeable future.

Articles looking at eBay as a company have titles like "eBay: This Story Is Getting Tougher" and "eBay: A Value Trap With Poor Growth" - and changing the figurines category wont change ONE D@MN thing - ie it wont increase sales.

Buyers cant find what they are looking for because of how eBay shows listed items. Pay for Play is strong in San Jose (maybe next quarter they can have a 23 cent dividend and then all the Wall Street monkeys can bang their cups on the bars and call it a Christmas miracle (once again).

"eBay has continued to see declining GMV and revenue trends, driven by a drop in consumer spending."; "With declining margins and cash flow, the company's capital returns may also have to slow down."; "Already down 40% year to date, there are only a few catalysts that can spark a rebound for eBay."

And thats not ME speaking - thats Wall Street (since there are people here who think that my goal in life is to pick on eBay)(well its easy they are low hanging fruit and the most open mafiaosos in the biz)(That doesnt let Amazon off the hook AT ALL btw)

"Very few tech companies have been able to prove that they have an extended shelf life, and unfortunately, it seems that eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) is not one of them. The internet auction site, one of the earliest internet crazes to spring out of Silicon Valley, saw a brief resurgence during the pandemic when online shopping (particularly for collectibles) spiked. But now in the post-pandemic era, eBay is struggling with a sharp deceleration in marketplace results as well as re-affirming its place in a world dominated by Amazon (AMZN).

"Year to date, shares of eBay have lost 40% of their value. Though a value stock on paper, trading at less than a <10x forward P/E ratio based on Wall Street's $4.41 EPS consensus for next year, eBay will struggle to gain ground from here and may even see more pain ahead."

Yes - Jordan Sweetnuts can speak all he wants - but sleeping all day isnt going to help the company grow.

Who in GD's name is Andrea Stairs, VP, CMO & Seller Community, eBay - and what does she do all day? Sellers HATE eBay for all the nasty tricks it pulls - is that all HER doing? She already left eBay once then came back (pulling a Jaime) - is she abit smarter this time round?

1:40 pm – 2:10 pm: Training Session, Create the Perfect Listing – Learn best practices for titles, item specifics, and how to take great photos. - so you invite seasoned sellers and then "teach them" how to take pictures and add details for listings? It really is "eBay for Dummies"

Id be more concerned with this line from Wall Street "Outside of collectibles and other niche categories like auto parts, eBay has no real "wow" factor anymore.". Like the great Fonzerelli - eBay has jumped the shark ages ago - maybe that DUMMIES guy can fix it ...... LMAO

People have criticized me for saying that eBay has NO CLUE what they are doing and that current management is not capable or have knowledge to run it. eBay with 10 THOUSAND employees has way too much overhead - by %50. But people think I have no idea what Im saying - so lets hear Wall Street say it; "eBay is fighting for its relevance by crawling into its niche - but at the end of the day, the company is still staffed to support a much larger business than it no longer is. To survive, eBay will have to shrink into a much smaller company - a process that is already playing out in its declining revenue and GMV trends. The company's cheap valuation (a value trap!) at present is also a reflection of the widespread assumption that eBay will eventually decline."

1:40 pm – 2:10 pm: Training Session, Win Over Angry Customers: Your Guide to Excellent Customer Service – Get advice on tricky topics like winning over an angry customer, handling returns, policies, and providing excellent customer service. - Well with FORCED 30 day returns - how can you ever have an angry customer?? My last interaction with the San Jose morons was just that stupid. Fed Ex mis-delivered the buyers item - not my fault. I worked with him, called Fed Ex (dopey fed Ex said they couldnt help me since I wasnt the shipper - EBAY WAS - then hung up on me.) eBay (being the outright genius's they are) let the customer open 3 cases against me. 1) SNAD. It took 13 days to clear that one (DUH) since if you dont have the item it cant be SNAD! (give a hearty cheer for the overseas dopes) 2) INR. Ok second bite at the same apple - but nothing I can do - its a FED EX issue. Fed Ex (after lots of angry calls) agreed to try and figure out where it went and get it delivered (they knew but the customer who incorrectly got it said he didnt/refused to give it up). So eBay being the mafia organization they are, held my money and dropped me from %100 feedback to 98. After lots MORE calls, eBay restored my feedback count and sent me the money from the item - they said THEY were going to file a claim with Fed Ex and that I was off the hook. Well it seems that no good deed goes unpunished because they let the customer file case #3 (if you are still following along) since he did a chargeback against me/eBay. "DUDE, what do you want ME to do??)(dude = eBay). Just handle it yourself - its %100 out of my control. So we went through more drama aka money on hold, why are you charging me $200 for the chargeback garbage" and FINALLY it all went away. Angry????????

So if you are still here and following along ........ ALL of this was unnecessary and an example of how NOT to handle things - no eBayClosed conference needed!

1:40 pm – 2:10 pm: Training Session, What Buyers Want – Learn more about what your buyers want directly from them, and eBay will share research it has done with buyers. DUH - they want great items at great prices - what do you think they want? Certainly its not "my fault" that you (eBay) let so many Goodwill/flea market/garage sale sellers with their $15 used pants on the site. Great for them - but it has no impact on me. If you want a classier site - then separate out those people. Again - no conference needed.

2:10 pm – 2:30 pm: Break with eBay Trivia – A chance to win some Swag! Question 1 - On an average day, how many State, local and Federal laws does eBay break ? (A: all of them). Question 2 - Which eBay exec holds the record for comming and going (employment) in eBay and what secrets (dead bodies) are they hiding? Question 3 - what day in eBay history holds the record for defrauding the most sellers with fake Vero/SNAD/INR claims??

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Category Session, Electronics (Refurbished) – Get an overview of the electronics business on eBay, how recent events have changed supply and demand trends, plus best practices for selling in the category. ...............eBay kicked everyone out of this category and anyone who wants to join needs to sign an NDA - accepted or not. Its gotten SO BAD that even youtubers are now up in arms --> eBay follows amazon's lead, consolidating & destroying the refurbished marketplace -- > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzUXmeaZsIQ

Nothing positive ever comes out of these meetings - its just more theft, fraud and BS.

Can we get the new Walkers lite dinner menu (at least) please?

by: AddyUp

I always find these so called seller conferences interesting. If only for their entertainment value.

Plus you get a window into the mindset of what passes as eBay execs.

by: ebayout

eBay is theoretically a market place. A market place brings buyers and sellers together without prejudice.
Ergo, eBay is not a market place. It has no right to call itself one.

by: Frank Abagnale

@pace

I'm so glad you mentioned the article called, "eBay: A Value Trap With Poor Growth". It's a must read and outlines everything perfectly. One of the lines that shocked me was,  "Over the past five years, eBay has spent a whopping $30 billion on buybacks and dividends. This is more than the current value of the entire company." I'm sure people would like to hear another view of ebay besides from people from this blog.  

by: pace306

Frank

I read it and many others - and they are FRIGHTENING.

The rest of that article says that eBay only sustains itself due to the stock buy backs and that at current rates they may not be able to do that much longer - OUCH.

Alot of people here live in a dream world - the same dream world that most eBay Youtubers do. You go out to garage sales and flea markets, buy up sub $50 items that you can make $10 on and broadcast from a shed.

The remainder buy pallets and give you estimated MSRPs and tell you will be rich. Yeh if you sell it ALL at THOSE prices - which almost never happens.

Want to get SERIOUS about selling on eBay and get REAL merchandise to do it with? %100 possible - if eBay (like Amazon with its gating) could get out of your way, but they seem to trip over themselves putting stumbling blocks in front of you at every turn. Just try selling refurbs etc.

Theres NOT one person on the planet that cares about Item Specifics - not one (well ok theres one here that thinks its a good idea - nice girl but instead of having a red Countach poster on her wall theres one of eBays headquarters). Mercari, Poshmark & Reverb all make do NICELY with 1 short listing page and 3 day returns, yet eBayClosed will go on and on and on and make people constantly redo listings or because they got changed the items get hidden - and most people clap like seals at a circus waiting for a fish. "Whenever it announced a Seller Release, eBay makes changes to Categories and Item Specifics. But yesterday, eBay announced it had already started making changes in Collectibles (Figurines); Parts & Accessories (Motorcycle, Scooter, and UTV/ATV); and Home & Garden (Candles & Home Fragrance, Home Décor, Pillows, Furniture, Window Treatments & Hardware)." USELESS.

eBay has 10 thousand employees - roll that number around in your mind and ask if you get your monies worth from them "when you need their help". Insanely bad overseas CS (though we are told by the same person not to blame them - nothing is THEIR fault) only makes things worse.

Dude - its a website - do you need 10 thousand people to maintain it?

Jaime was supposed to be some knight in shinning armor - coming back from old bad Walmart to fix eBay.

Great - hes back - gonna go buy an $8000 watch now? (he says thats his customer now), and people want to know why eBay stock is %40 less then at its high. (its because eBay lost its core mission/audience yrs ago and the free covid money has run out and eBay has no clue what to do next).

I want eBay to succeed, I really do - but dealing with them is like a 3 stooges episode (no offense to the boys - I do like them alot).

Yey, theres more eBayClosed tomorrow - just cant wait.

by: Geetar

We have a rocky road ahead to say the least. Not just with ebay not being able to find their way out of a cardboard box, but the economy is most likely going to enter a long protracted deceleration. This itself will cause sales to slow. I see it already with returns. Items that buyers normally would not return, are returning. Changed mind being the most common, and they are paying return shipping....rather than just holding the item for another project.

Time for me to reduce my listing and find a job. During good times work for yourself. During bad times work for someone else.

by: JohnBilt

@ Frank Abagnale

I touched on that in a post on another EcomBytes thread. They were $5 milion short on the last dividend payment in relation to dividends vs. free cash flow; 117 actual vs - 122 paid in dividends.

I realize that free cash flow as it relates to dividend payments is best viewed on a TTM look back. But cash flow was destroyed in the last quarter. Now this guidance from Fedex coming with a $2 miss per share, has to reflect on Ebay also. Fedex is a huge mover of ebay packages, I thing the %'tage of iceberg lurking under the surface for Ebay trashed sales wil have to wait until revealed on Nov. 2. But It will almost guarantee a reduced or eliminated dividend. With about $8 bil in debt, and about $3Bil in cash net debt $5 Bil. Interest rates increasing, and allocating $4 Bil for additional stock buybacks! WTF, this is definitely a slow motion train wreck.

by: ShortSeller

Like I said, a new shipping service and across the board fee increases. GMV is tanking, US domestic sales and buyers are dropping. Now they want to do the reverse China play and encourage exporting out of the US.

How cute....and naive.

by: terry55

Other then something about 24 pictures and shipping announcement(which is on ebay) did ebay release anything about the fall update, thought they were releasing it today???

by: cfrphoto

Item specifics are needed in some categories to build listings. They are not afterthoughts that can be added later. Ebay is looking through the wrong end of their telescope.

by: Geetar

IDK. There must be a search problem, or they cant list all listings.

I had a few items I couldnt give away for 2 years. I decided to slowly put all my items on the Reverb site. One of the items I couldnt give away for 2 years immediately sold on reverb after I listed it. And for a higher price than listed on ebay. I only had 2. so I ended the other on ebay, and put it on reverb. It did not sell immediately, but it sold this morning. IDK , 2 yrs for sale vs less than 24 hrs for 2 to sell. I sent a message to the buyer, saying wow, you snatched this up as soon as I listed it. He said yea, he's been looking for this, searched all over and could not find one. I didnt ask, but I assume he searched ebay. So if it didnt show up on ebay then...WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

There's more going on than just the economy, and less buyers. I understand they want to go the easy route, and have only listings that sell thousands, but at the same time GMV is slowing to a crawl. It's not the world according to ebay. It's  the world the way it works and you adjust.

Seems this CEO is doing the same as all the others. The world according to me. Then when it doesnt work out, "we have to take more money from the sellers"

by: I Must be Crazy

"they want to go the easy route"

This has been, and continues to be at the heart of eBay's problems. From the early days of "a monkey could drive this train" little forethought has been brought by successive CEO's.

Rather than invest in the infrastructure of the business, they bought back shares. Literally flushing money down the toilet. A quick and easy way to improve ratios.

I think they have reached, or are dangerously close to the point of no return. Geetar's story above tells me that buyers are giving up on eBay and finding items elsewhere. Once eBay's year over year GMV went negative several years ago, I said it will be very difficult to reverse that trajectory. Well, here we are.

The current CEO is the wrong man for the job. He needs to be held to a very tight timeline and removed quickly if the shareholders want to maintain their investments.

by: pace306

eBay search DOES work - when they want it to.

You can see it from when/if you ever get a VERO violation. If your buyer cant find the item, how can some $16/hr green haired, nose pierced community college drop out?

Answer: eBay LET them. eBay gave them the method to make search work. When you join Vero, or payed up via the now defunct verowatch.com - eBay gave you search tools to find EVER possible instance of what ever what you were looking for!

Search worked just fine before Cassini. Cassini was created to help eBay, not sellers, not buyers.

It happens all the time. I collect toys (hobby). I'll find an item by seeing it in a magazine or online or even live and then search eBay for one - not there or theres 2 plus a whole lot of other garbage.

I put the item in Google and lo and behold! Google found a few and SOME OF THEM are from eBay - listings eBay itself didnt show me !

Must be "Meta magic!"

Item specifics are for eBays catalog and nothing else. They demand UPC numbers, right? For any item that has a UPC, theres at least 3 or 4 databases with info/data along with other associated UPCs (similar colors/models).

Its all busy work that eBay gives sellers, then turns around and pretends to be Amazon and sells the data.

If you cant make it on FVFs then by god make it somewhere else! (every eBay meeting).

I understand that eBay needs money to function, I understand that eBay needs "some" standards - but as it sits now ... its so far beyond whats needed - that its a joke.

As stated many times - Reverb,Mercari, Poshmark all make due nicely with a simple 1 page product detail page. Item name, model, color, size, pics, details. What more is needed?????

by: The End

Pace306 is tuned in completely :
"eBay has no real "wow" factor anymore."
The only WOW factor Ebay could manufacture now would be to :
A) Remove itself from the stock market.
B) Enable folks selling on Ebay to make fantastic profits once again.
C) by putting checks and money orders front and center as acceptable forms of payment here in America.
D) Throw out China.
YES there's more but that'll cost   :o)

by: NYSteve

@Pace 306, thanks for the summary...still smiling  :.D

by: iheartjacksparrow

@The End - I know you're a big advocate for checks and money orders, but I don't think any online business could go back to that. Nowadays, every buyer wants everything yesterday. You still need to deposit the check/m.o. into your bank and make sure they clear before shipping the merchandise. It no longer takes two weeks for that to happen, but still takes two business days, which is two extra days for the customer to wait. Plus, if the check bounces, you're out the bank fee. It just seems safer and quicker for the merchant to accept online payments.