Change… It Isn’t Always Popular
Is An "If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It" Attitude Costing You Opportunities?
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been talking a LOT about the positive impact change can have on your business, and encouraging you all to look at areas where a quick (or not-so-quick) "tweak" can help your bottom line.
Well, apparently some of you remain unconvinced that change is always good, because I’ve been getting feedback from people who are quaking in their boots at the thought of touching a THING.
So today, I’d like to make my point (and reassure you ALL) with a pretty darn good example…
I’m talking about eBay: a company who already had a clear track record of success, but recently made some BIG changes anyway!
With over 84 MILLION active users spending almost $2,000 a second (that’s $60 BILLION a year, folks!), eBay is one of the true success stories in the short history of the Internet.
Clearly, eBay wasn’t broken. So why fix it??
Well, they’re smart enough to know that resting on their laurels isn’t the way to keep growing, or reacting to the needs of their customers.
So over the past few months, they’ve been making some pretty radical changes.
The biggest change?
They’ve revamped the way their customer feedback system works… and if you know anything about eBay, you know that having an impeccable customer rating is like GOLD, so it was a pretty risky change for eBay, right?
But that’s just the beginning!
They’ve also changed the way some listings get ranked during a search, played around with minimum bid amounts, changed the way you qualify for coveted "Power Seller" status, and a bunch of other things.
And to be perfectly honest, there was a bit of an outcry at first from regular eBay sellers, who accused eBay of no longer caring about the "little guy" who made them successful in the first place.
But here’s the thing about all of this change…
We have a team of in-house experts who provide personal, one-on-one eBay mentoring for people who want to start full-time eBay businesses, and what our mentors have been noticing lately is that these major changes that seem to have upset so many people are turning out to be HUGE WINS for everyone!
We’ve seen that, by fine-tuning their system, eBay is slowly discouraging the mountains of "hobby" sellers who list one lousy, two-buck item once in a blue moon just for kicks…
… and making it MUCH easier for serious professionals who want to use eBay to build a solid, full-time business.
It’s a SMART move on eBay’s part, because they know it’s these pro’s who make them the most money!
(Oh, and just as a side note, this is ALSO an excellent lesson about the value of focusing your efforts on your best customers! 
So if you’ve been thinking about making changes to your business, but you’ve been afraid of any negative fallout, remember that change (even change that ruffles a few feathers at first), can usually bring opportunity for you AND your customers!
To your success,
Derek Gehl
P.S. If you’re interested in learning more about these changes at eBay, I’ve just finished putting together a FREE video that walks you through the biggest ones, and explains how to use them to your advantage.
It’s part of a brand-new series of three free training videos I’ve created to help everyone cash in on the $60 BILLION that exchanges hands on eBay every year!
You can access all three videos here: http://www.auctiontips.com/
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The eBay video series looks great… can’t wait to see the rest.
Lord knows I am ready for a change – and eBay may be the way.
You’ve explained it very well how following the new rules can make a big difference to being successful on eBay.
I’ve witnessed first hand the problems with lousy sellers.
Sorry, I have to disagree with you. As an ex-eBay powerseller, I still feel that the changes were badly thought out, and showed a complete disregard for sellers.
Sure, you’ll always find some sellers who will benefit from change, but the majority of sellers feel that eBay seriously badly treated them.
You have to remember that the “hobby” sellers, with their “lousy, two-buck items” tat made eBay what it is today (or was until the recent stupid changes). Maybe you feel that these people would be better of somewhere else, but I’m not sure that eBay as a whole would be better off without them.
Also, do you really want to do business with a company whose only interest is grabbing as much money as possible, at the obvious expense of the very people who are making them their money? I don’t.
Say all you like in favour of eBay, the majority of sellers that I’ve spoken to (which is a lot if you include the feedback you get in forums) feel that eBay has treated them very badly. They are leaving in large numbers. How are you going to make money out of eBay when the buyers leave as well?
eBay is shooting itself in the foot. I don’t think you’ll see many serious sellers left in a year or so. There will be the few very high volume ones who can absorb the unjustifiable fees, and the large number of part-time ones who don’t take the time to work out how much they are actually making, but the large numbers that made eBay what it was will have gone.
R.I.P. eBay
Looking forward to the ebay video series. I have to say though, that I tend to agree with Alan’s remarks. I think ebay should be open and accessable to ALL ranges of sellers – hobbyists as well as professionals.
Howdy
As you say, change is never easy but in many cases it is worth it. Perhaps the process that an Internet Leader like E-Bay should take is different from that which they did take. I’m not sure, but I do know many people have become more than a little frustrated with E-Bay.
None-the-less, helping people see the value of E-Bay is certainly a good thing. At this point I’m not personally sure if I can add E-Bay to my own Internet Marketing system on http://Search-Engine-Marketing-And-Beyond.com; but I know more than a few of my readers will be interested in considering this alternative.
Whatever the case, by providing this E-Bay information for free, I believe you have added credibility to your position as an online Internet Marketing E-Bay seller who really cares about the audience for which he is reaching. Thanks or that, I’ll be waiting for the next video.
Guy Siverson
SEO & Beyond Webmaster
Where making a living on the Internet makes sense
Hi Derek. Your first Video looks inviting and intriguing.
There are lots of “Ebooks” out there about buying and selling on ebay – most of them cover the same rule of thumb – Find out what Items people want – Locate /Source the Items – Sell them the Items. That’s it in a Nutshell.
But you have to know how to “Market” (sell) the Items to your “Potential Buyers” and I hope Your Videos will show us how to do that.
Thank you and Godbless, John.
Hey Derrick, The video looks great, look forward to the next ones. I remember one you did a few months back on wordtracker, some great content. So when I saw this I knew I should go watch it right away.
I ‘ve been on eBay since 2000, and gotta say I was a little pissed when things changed in April. I tried to find the right things to sell and jumped around different collectibles, but ended up spending all my profits.
This year I decided to make another run at. I was selling ebooks and really getting the hang of it. I was going to open a store and do it full-time when we heard the news. It may have ran off a lot of scammers and the outdated junk dealers, but also the legit people just trying to get ahead.
The big guys like Ray Johnson and John Thornhill, could easily see opportunity there. They just changed gears and found a way around by putting the ebooks on CD’s and selling them for more. I didn’t have that luxury. So I put more time into affiliate products.
I plan on going back though, because it’s still a huge resource. Bitchin’s obviously is not going to change things back. They also screwed my feedback up too, but that’s a whole other story.
B. Stone
Very glad I spent the time to watch this first video. This video twit my curiousity to watch the other videos. Hope I find time to do that.
I do have to agree with Alan’s remarks. eBay’s identity was created by hobbyist sellers. I believe eBay is trying to kick out the smaller eBayers, and become one big Walmart or Dilliards. Company’s have done this to small home-towns, and put in a big company, so the little companies cannot compete!
So, sad in my opinion that eBay would want to do this to the smaller guys. It takes all types of groups of sellers to keep the industry interesting. Seeing the comparison of objects or things of the little guy vs the big guy. Then in my opinion, if the small guy is kicked out, then everything becomes mono (just create a rubber stamper and stamp it all over eBay), everything the same.
From my travels around the world, I have found the uniqueness of the different countries is becoming monotone. Years ago, you could travel to different cities or countries and find unique restaraunts. Now you can often find McDonalds in every country. I travel to experience the different cultures, the different foods, the different styles in clothes. But, no, it is like they buy everything at one factory and ship it all over the world.
On ending all this “speak my mind” stuff, I agree with B. Stone’s comment on staying on with eBay, “I plan on going back though, because it’s still a huge resource. Bitchin’s obviously is not going to change things back. They also screwed my feedback up too, but that’s a whole other story.” From all these changes I have learned to diversify. I have learned complaining doesn’t get you anywhere, so don’ t complain. Just go on and conform to the changes. Also, I have learned, don’t put all your sticks in one bucket, DIVERSIFY!
I watched your first video and I hope the next ones will tell me just HOW to find the niche my product will fit into. I have a truly unique product but can’t find the niche it would fit into nor do I have the cash to set up a web site of my own. I sure hope I’ll find some help on the following videos.
hi all i agree with every one else ebay is wiping out the battlers who dont have the same resources as some of the bigger guys , trying to build a business is a hard road, & ebay used to be a good tool for the little guy to give it a shot, who cares if they only sell once in a while
im sure the more people sell & make a few dollars is better for ebays reputation
than just having the bigger guys doing it all
i used to be a power seller of sports cards but gicen that away as theres not enough profit in that, all though i was providing more of a service than any thing
as collectors find it hard to find the little cards to complete there collection
any ways im an aussie & know that a lot of sellers have moved to
http://www.oztion.com.au/?r=43600 as fees are a lot fairer
Hi Derek.
I signed up on the page to view all three videos, but nothing as yet.
(Nearly 24 hours ago.)
I know it’s not AOL spam filters because I get ALL your other E-mails.
Any Ideas Wassup?
Pete.
Hi Pete,
Watch your emails through this week..
the next two are on their way..
You IMC Team
Hi Derek,
I am very interested to see your other videos (I hope they don’t break up like the first one). I have an ebay store, http://www.personalised-dog-gifts.com.au which I started about 11 month ago. It is growing but I am always interested in learning new ideas how to get to the next level.
I do feel that ebay’s fees are high. The store listing price isn’t too bad but you can’t rely on people to see your store so you have to list items in auction or buy-it-now. And this is where the fees start to hurt. I think this is one area that ebay needs to look at as there is more competition out there.
However, after a few early blunders, I find that using the ebay site is easy and helpful. With all said and done, it is the site with the most traffic. And traffic is terrific.
Kay
I don’t agree with the if it’s not broke don’t fix it way of thinking. Everything that can be measured can and should be improved.
I think they need to rethink some of their decisions. They need to stop acting like a startup strapped for cash instead of a debit free company that is worth billions that boasts about being one big happy family.
They promote seller discounts but when it comes time to implement those discounts they come up with unrealistic standards that almost non of the high volume sellers will qualify to receive.
Ebay implemented the DSR’s as a five star rating but according to that rating a 4.5 is substandard and doesn’t quality for discounts and will receive a lower search ranking and lower sales.
If I follow that standard the Hilton Garden Hotel in Chicago offers substandard service because it is only a four star hotel and having stayed their many times I can say it is far from substandard and offers excellent service and has Herman Miller chairs in every room but according to eBay they would get a poor rating and should try are work harder at better customer service.
I hear lots of sellers complaining that they are just catering to larger sellers. Well as a larger seller who spends over $5,000 a month in ebay fees that has been on eBay since 1999 I don’t see it.
When it comes to counterfeits eBay doesn’t think they should should be accountable because they are only a venue for selling and should not be financially responsible for sellers that push knockoffs. When it comes to other things like shipping costs and buyer satisfaction they want complete control and want to be more than just a venue for selling.
I understand they wanted to eliminate excess shipping costs in some categories because sellers were using that strategy to make more sales and avoid fees. In my case eBay says I can’t offer $1.00 samples of items I sell and base my shipping costs using their own shipping calculator.
All my samples get shipped from the manufacture. They only ship UPS and for a one pound package to any location in US it costs at least $7.50. I would not want to drive from Pennsylvania to California if I only had $7.50 for gas and tolls but eBay says I can’t charge more than $4.50 or they will shut down the auctions for fee avoidance and excess shipping costs.
I agree the feedback system needs to be fixed and the buyer experience needs to be improved but that doesn’t seem to be their goal with some of the changes they have made. My feedback is over 20,000 and until a few months ago I had less than 7 negatives and most of those were from non paying bidders.
Since the feedback changes our negatives have jumped to over 30 and our level of products or service has not changed. The only factor that has changed is that eBay eliminated all forms of resolving problems between buyers and sellers.
eBay has eliminated the channels for buyers and sellers to communicate and resolve problems. They got rid of squaretrade and the ability to mutually withdrawal feedback.
I see more buyers leaving negatives for reasons other than poor service or items not as described. If they get an item broken or they don’t like the smell or any number of reasons instead of contacting us they just leave negative feedback and it is not like we don’t send ten emails about our 100% satisfaction money back guarantee.
I also think they throw around the term powerseller too loosely. There is a big difference between someone selling $1500 a month and $70,000 a month but they are both considered powersellers and have a completely different set of obstacles to work around and are both held to the same standard when it comes to DSR’s. Someone selling one car a month should be able to satisfy one buyer a month and maintain perfect DSR”s.
A seller that sells $70,000 a month to 2500 buyers has a completely different set of challenges. They most likely have to make excuses for mistakes their drop shippers make, UPS delays, wasted time waiting for echecks to clear and a hundred other factors that happen when you sell to 2500 buyers a month. I actually had someone leave a negative feedback three days after they purchased something.
They made their purchase on a Friday night after 10:00 pm and Monday night they emailed me wanting to know why they had not received the item they purchased three days ago and two hours later they left a negative feedback and filed a paypal dispute for item not received.
With the new system I can’t even give them a refund and get the feedback withdrawn or leave them negative feedback.
EBay is pushing hard for Paypal to be the only payment method allowed but they make it more difficult for large sellers to want to use them. They imposed a $50,000 a month cap on withdrawing funds with the debit card. You can only make 30 purchases a day on the debit card regardless if they are $1.00 or $500 even if you have a $5,000 a day spending limit. They want us to ship items faster but make it harder to get the money out and place large amounts of orders every chance they get.
There’s a lot of changes still to come at eBay.
I have faith that they will work out the bugs and that they aren’t just making changes for the good of it.
There are challenges anytime something changes, and not everyone will be happy.
I wish they would share their overall vision with us – you seem to be on to something here.
Thanks Derek
Hi Derek ,i had been an e/bay seller for 4yrs ,selling jewelry and ive nothing good to say about E/bay or i think we should call it E/fees.I don’t agree that the new changes are good or fair.and i believe e/bay has become a venue for junk selling at below manufacturers prices.(with unrealistic expectations from buyers)
You really do get what you pay for in life and the feedback system now is only for the buyers and sellers now have no rights at all.
I stopped selling on e/bay because of all the new changes and set up my own web site(www.silver925-wholesale.com). i actually gained a lot of info from your articles and benefits which have helped me ,so for that i give a big thank you.I will be interested to see these next videos on e/bay and lets see if you can pull of a convincing argument .But aim sorry to say i think its going to be like turning a Frog into a Prince.(just a faerie tale).all the best garry.
Hi Derek, Friends,Fans and Followers -
Here’s the really Good News.
The eBay ‘Debate’ is interesting – It seems that everyone on the planet believes that to make a $Million you simply MUST master ebay and marketing on-line.
The truth is . . .I pulled in £1.105 POUNDS in 2001 and had never used eBay or on-line marketing!
Then, last year, I accepted an invitation from Andrew Reynolds to attend and meet Derek at ‘Millionaires Seminar’ at BIC.
The ‘Inspirational Dynamics’ I experienced from seeing you Derek and meeting with Andrew Reynolds at the Millionaires Bootcamp, set me off on creating my new product, based on the Principles, Strategies and Methods I applied to all eight of my previous successful enterprises.
YES, successful – Yet Not ONE enjoyed the benefit of the ‘Magic Marketing’ that is now eBay or the Internet.
What’s the moral of the story?
Time to ‘Turbo-boost’ the basics – nothing good comes without effort!
That’s why, today I am making the extra effort to learn and to evaluate proven ways to reach the multitudes, via mass on-line marketing – maybe even eBay!
What about you dear Friend, Fan or Follower?
If YOU are really hacked off as so many of you say you are, here’s something to truly cheer you up!
This is what happened after attending Millionaires’ Seminar in UK..
http:www.MillionairesCopyCatManual.eu
Sincerely yours
George Burrows
Author
Millionaires CopyCat Manual
smiler@MillionairesCopyCatManual.eu
Derek, I have entertained the idea of an Ebay business many times but never took any time to learn it. If the rules have changed to make it easier to make money as you say, I am very eager to explore the possibilities.
Looking forward to the next videos but waiting for the hook as to when you pull out the price tag.
Tony Bright
I’m grateful you are putting out these videos for all to learn by. Having a website, http://www.tip2toeessentials.com, I have tried all I can to get the traffic. I think I will wait to hear what you have to say about ebay before I try very much there. With essential oils, there is not a great percentage anyway because the quality oils are harder and more costly to buy, so if the ebay fees are very steep, you betcha there won’t be as many small businesses in the running. Sure hope it will all get ironed out quickly–the little guy depends on it!
Loved the video!! As for the comments posted here about running off the little guy’s, I whole heartedly disagree. If you are providing a quality product and providing quality customer service, the buyers will come back. If your missing quality of product or service, maybe the little guys (and some of the big guys) really should leave.
I think there is a conflict of interest when actual Ebay employees are allowed to be powersellers Themselves. As they are in positions to have access to key seller files. A person trying to make money from more than one direction can really put the Kibosh on other sellers accounts. It takes alot of prayer and effort to recover. I am taking a chance even speeking of this as it only takes one keystroke from a greedy disgruntaled employee to shut down my ebay account again, and months to recover.
Thanks for the first video. Can’t wait to see the rest!
My husband and I have been power sellers on ebay for over 3 years as dropshippers, mainly, and recently ran into some trouble on there because of one of our suppliers. Needless to say, ebay was not interested in what we had to say about the situation, nor did they try to help us in anyway. They were more concerned with the fact that we weren’t selling items right out of our home instead of dropshipping.
When a company gets so big that they don’t listen to the ones making them the money, then there is a problem. As far as the feedback is concerned it almost seemed to us that they were actually encouraging buyers to leave negative feedback! I understand why so many sellers left! What’s sad is we even get emails from ebay saying that we need to leave feedback for people! We learned a long time ago not to jump the gun on leaving positive for a buyer before they leave you feedback.
Ebay has been, to their credit, paying our bills for the last 3 years, so I guess we’ll stick with it for now. It’s not like you can go on most of these other acution sites and make any money! Ebay definately has the best on-line auction site!
Hi Derek thanks for your emails they are great .When you encourage comments like i have just read ,you are doing everbody a favour. Ebay was ok , the communication between the buyer and seller was great ,hope it stays that way
Does anybody have a problem with the buffer when viewing Derek`s tapes
Hi Steve,
If the video is having problems.. try pausing it and waiting a minute. This will allow it to download and then will play flawlessly
Your IMC Team
Do not recive ur any vedio tutorial.
hello, goomorning iam a 40 year old good photographer and computar opratar i want photo buisnes make money plese advice me iam a village people.
thanks.
eBay has made things harder and harder for small sellers (as well as large sellers, in many cases). I started selling baby products on eBay while I was an employee at their call center. With a whole lot of hard work I was able to quit my job there and work full time from home selling, but I had to add my own web site to really make any money (http://www.littlefornow.com). eBay changes have made my profits dwindle even when sales are good, so at this point I use them mostly as an advertising venue. Many people who buy from me on eBay eventually come to my web site and buy again.
So far, the feedback changes have only come back to bite me once so far. A buyer decided that I was making excuses for shipping late when I was suddenly hospitalized for 4 days, the day after she purchased an item. I shipped her item less than 24 hours after I was released from the hospital. Although I explained the situation to her as soon as I could, she still left me a negative, accused me of lying, sent me several nasty emails, and was angry because I did not call her from my hospital bed to tell her why the $11 item was shipping 2 days late. The previous system would have at least given me some bargaining power.
Mine is a very saturated market on eBay and off, so I am constantly working to increase visibility and sales. I look forward to seeing the rest of the videos so I can learn more about how to use these changes to my advantage.
Hi Derek
Business online I like this thing but I thing to learn it.
I ‘m interest ” eBay ” very good
Thank You
sincerely
Cherdphun
Buyers and Sellers have to understand that no one is prefect! Ebay is demanding that Sellers be prefect , so the Sellers have to suck it up. Where is there democracy in that? Ebay what are you thinking?
We spend so much money on fees, percentages on sales to Ebay and Paypal that we really do not make much money! Ebay is all about themselves with no regard to the pressure placed on Sellers to kiss butt and still get negative feedback.
The auction is a contract per Ebay policy or commitment to the buyer who presses the buttons to buy it now, or to bid on an item. I don’t understand why we sellers have to take abuse from the buyers and now Ebay. To much drama for everybody! I do not hold anyone’s hand while they make the decision to buy one of my items. The “BUYER” opts to buy, we sellers do not even know who we are dealing with. I have lost so much money in fees, because buyers realize they made a mistake or that now they do not want the purchased item. I suck it up and let them go and still pay the listing fees incurred. Buyers wait the full 7 days to pay, and when you report them for “no response” and “non-payment” they use the new system to their advantage. Every time I open a dispute, I know that the buyer will be angry and leave me less than the required 5 stars. It has already happened. They mark you down for one of the following criteria! Way to go Ebay!!
Item as described
Communication
Shipping time
Shipping and handling charges
This morning a buyer responded to the open dispute after 9 days of no communication and no response to the invoices and emails. He said he “Forgot” – another favorite is someone in his or her family died! That is becoming a nuisance; no wonder people are leaving Ebay!
Buyers complain about the cost of shipping, I ship UPS because they insure their packages for $100.00 automatically. If the purchase is over $100.00 it only costs .37 for each additional $100.00 to insure a package. By the way UPS closes all disputes within 7 days! The Postal Service will not even look for a lost item for 30 days, and I am still waiting for an answer from them on a lost item from November 2004. I had to refund the customer and pay the Ebay fees for that purchase.
International buyers are told in my auctions that before they bid they need to contact me for cost of shipping, do they do that, NO! No one reads and that is the source of contention between Buyers & Sellers. If we post the cost of shipping on the auction why is a “Responsible Buyer” allowed to mark us down for shipping costs. I have paid additional shipping on rural zip codes trying to be equitable to buyers. Why are Buyers not held accountable for not reading, therefore making the option of Shipping and handling charges an oxymoron! The Buyer committed to buy and agreed to the seller’s terms when they pushed the button to buy!
Why do the Sellers need to own the carelessness of the buyers? Not Fair!
Why do the Sellers have to be subject to “SHIPPING TIME”-we cannot control the Post Office or UPS. That has now become the Sellers liability. Buyers provide incorrect addresses and items are returned, the Seller is expected to reship and absorb the initial shipping costs plus the costs of returning the package and then the cost of re-shipping do to incorrect information provided by the seller.
I have never written to complain before, but now Ebay has placed “OPEN SEASON” on honest Ebay Sellers. I expect there will be no end to bidding and not paying by buyers. Oh yeah; Ebay can suspend buyers, but what is to stop them from re-registering-nothing and they do.
The contact information that Ebay people provide turn out to be incorrect! Phone Numbers to Movie Theaters, Wal-Mart or Funeral homes??????? Ebay you need to police the unethical practices and fraud on your website. There is a lot of it.
My auctions are very detailed and honest. I don’t know what else to do!
Buyers need to think before making a purchase they do not want or that the shipping is not what they think it should be. This is not a yard sale; terms of the auction are not up for discussion.
This is way to much drama and stress on the Honest Sellers.
Since this new Feedback change I have had 2 sales within 2 weeks that buyers didn’t pay for. Contact information from Ebay is bogus!
This feedback system is not equitable!!!!!!!! Ebay has become a liability not an asset.
Ebay claims the feedback changes came as a result of to many “SELLERS” leaving buyers negative feedback. Ebay has incredible data resources(computer systems), why not write a crystal report and extract the “BAD PEOPLE” and leave the rest of the Sellers alone. Parents do not punish both children for the bad behavior of one! I buy and sometimes sell on Ebay, I use to love Ebay and meeting the nice people, but it is tarnished now… Most sellers feel like Ebay has licked the red off their candy cane and handed it back to them to eat!
Per Jefferson & Lincoln-
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
I have to agree. As a new guy (on eBay) trying to get started, it seems I can’t get noticed in search results because I haven’t enough sales, so I can’t get sales to get DSR high enough, but yet the fees take away EVERY cent and then some, leaving me with products and an extended credit card. I sell painting supplies online at PAINTPROSUPPLIES.COM, and safety gear, binoculars, timeshare weeks as well as painting stuff here on eBay, but things have been slow. I can’t get noticed on searches, due to the little guy gets the squeeze on eBay.
This all seems to me from my experiences w/ eBay, it is going to be a tough row to hoe to get anywhere. I can’t get products for free to resell, and the prices on eBay are rock bottom bargain basement. I add $1.00 onto my shipping cost and eBay tells me that I am violating a rule and that I won’t appear in search results. Between eBay fees and the paypal fees, I LOOSE money for what I can sell for on eBay.
I am anxious to hear the rest of the video series, but have to be realistic and put my efforts to get OUT of eBay and onto the real world of www.
145steve (eBay ID),
PaintProSupplies.com
I hope that the video series has what we all are hoping for. It (eBay) used to be a good place to try and promote your website. I have gotten a couple of bites on my website http://www.paintprosupplies.com from selling on ebay. It is almost like eBay is really just fees for advertising your real website. Run an add on eBay, have an about ME page, and pay the fees just as another way to promote another web location. EBay has really only been good for me to sell an item at well below cost, just to get my name out to people and get them away to my online store.
I just find it hard to make any money at all on eBay and paypal.
145steve (eBay ID)
http://www.paintprosupplies.com
The game is changing so you have to change the way you play. Selling heavy items will bring down your feedback on shipping cost. Selling used items that you have in limited supply is now harder because you will not have the “recent sales” for it and will not receive much exposure for you item. I am looking forward to the videos. We must change our game plan quickly to mesh with the new ebay way.
Hello derek
After watching you first video I hope I have not made a mistake. I have found what I thought was a good niche with sony ericsson k750 mobile phones. I have been buying and selling the k750 and also started repairing ,debranding and unlocking them too. I have created http://www.k750.co.uk and use auctiva for simple management of my ebay listings. I cant wait to see the other videos to learn more tips. I wonder about the ebay and paypal fees but then every business has its overheads think about how much having a high street store would cost.
ebay id Da-fonze
Derek, I trust that video will help many people out there
I originally signed up for a tutoring program to help start an eBay business. So I opened an eBay account. I started to sell items every way thjat I could, research interest in various products and began selling. The long nd the short of it was the FEES killed me and I ended with a ig fat deficit. If eBay has increased their fees and destroyed seller feedback, it seems that the deck is stacked against the seller. I wouldn’t mind if I can learn how to earn a + profit. I will wait for the video with anticipation but wil not hold my breath
Guttengeezer
I am having a hard time finding something. So many i have found cost more money that i have which is very little. I need help due to i am takec care of a sick wife. Thank you
I have been upset with Ebay for the past couple of years and have greatly decreased my online selling with them. Customers are customers and the old theory that the customer is always right is totally wrong. Now Ebay has made it easy for customer’s who don’t like your policies and ones that you can’t please no matter what you do, to leave negative feedback, knowing full well that nothing can be done to them and the feedback can not be removed. Sellers shouldn’t have to walk on egg shells. Sellers should be able to know which buyers to stay away from and now we have no way of knowing if a buyer has a history of not paying for an item or leaves unfair negative feedback.
Then you have the outrageous fees that ebay charges. Most of us do not have a high profit margin on our sales, Our company makes about 20% on each sale before you figure in the listing fees and final value fees. So if we list 500 items at there .35 fixed price fee will cost us $175 just to list the items. Now every seller knows, that a small business will not sell all 500 items in that week and if you’re only making 10-20% before the fees it almost makes it not worth while to list with Ebay.
Ebay should realize that it was the little guy that made them what they are today. They do nothing to protect their bread and butter, THE SELLERS. They leave the door wide open for buyers to unfairly damage a seller’s reputation and the fess are getting higher and higher. My response from Ebay, when I wrote this same thing to them was, well you can leave a rebuttal to any negative feedback. Well whoopdy frigin do!!!!!!!. Most buyers will not take the time go thru the pages to read the rebuttalI on negative feedback just the same as they won’t bother to go thru pages to read all the positive feedback. All that a buyer wants to know is what the seller’s percentage is and if there are any negative feedback, regardless of what the rebuttal says.
I think sellers should find other outlets to sell their products online and leave EBAY in the dust, wondering what happened!
I have been selling part time on Ebay for several years now, when I started selling it was quite easy and simple. Plus I could make a profit. However since the changes that have been recently implimented it seems that only Ebay now turns a profit.
They made a big deal out of reducing the insertion fees BUT failed to mention that the other fees have been increased. The end result is a drastic increase in the fees charged.
The changes to the feedback system seem to have become biased toward the buyer.
Ebay seems to have grown to large and no longer has contact with reality–the millions of diversified sellers are what made them.
There is now a ground swell of discontent among Ebay sellers that if not addressed will turn Ebay into just another web site. Remember if there are no sellers there is no Ebay!!!
Hi you all,
I have decided that eBay is only once making the big$$$. I sell all kind of stuff from collectibles to handmade dresses for kids anything in between. Since eBay started all the changes, the little guy can’t make money. Last month it only cost me on fees and no sales. The rating lowered my score so I get no exposure at all and again no sales. I cant help if buyer is not paying and I can’t send the items out, which I always do the same day and still get low scores. I thing there has to be some one out there that knows about computers to set up descent competition, as long as there is no competitor out there eBay is the KING and it’s good to be the KING. NO DEMOCRACY! Anyone out there????
Thanks for the frank and open input, everyone! I was about to get busy on EBay ( i have bought and sold a little, but not commercially yet as I have other sites that keep me busy). But I think I won’t bother. That sounds like just the sort of @#$% that no one really needs. I just Googled “online auctions” and there are a lot, but none in the same size category as Ebay, YET. I did notice auction.overstock.com, with that I had at least heard of the company, but I assume auction is a smaller sideline? Didn’t check it out. Am reminded of the great epigram (Pot-Shot® #1535) by Ashleigh Brilliant: “You can change the world. But unless you really know what you’re doing, please don’t!” © 1979 Ashleigh Brilliant All this sort of reminds me of Apple Computer when Steve Jobs handed over the reins to that guy from Pepsi whose name I have mercifully forgotten. He ran it into the ground, and Steve had to come back and (spectacularly) rescue it. Meg Whitman where are you? The clods who took over and had to show they could make it better never understood what made it great.
I don’t know about the naysayers – I have made adjustments and am doing fine on eBay.
I started selling higher price items, started a program to contact buyers right after purchase and things are getting better.
I am glad some of the poor quality sellers have left – I am seeing more sales. Better competition is better for all of us. The buyers are seeing this and quality is up.
When life hands you lemons, make lemonade applies to eBay
How to run a business, Over head in any business is always consider No1, if you don’t consider this in your business plan, you will not make it, in any business that you start. EBay is consider as shoe string start up business market.
You don’t need very much to start a business, The over head to start a business on eBay is consider the lowest in the market, Plus you get free traffic, free ad, free eBay on the go, and much more. Large company pay out the nose for all of these perks. If you sell one item on eBay and make 10 to 40 % profit, and pay small amount of money for eBay to expose your product, you are ahead of the game.
A business company pays rent $1500.00 to $10, 0000 per month, insurance $200.00 to $2000.00 per month Light bill, Water bill, Transportation, Works Comp, Inventory, Salaries, Attorney Fee, and much more. Now consider eBay, all the small fee that they charge, compare to having a business in the real world. You must consider eBay is not so bad after all, in starting a shoe string business with hardly any over head on your start up plus eBay gives you 1 month to pay for you start up business. You won’t get that in the real world of business.
Why you think Sear and the big companies are go to eBay .Just think about it.
Everyone seems to be looking at the ebay changes from the sellers point of view but what about the buyers? Ebay seems to want ot change from being an auction site to just a big marketplace for ecommerce stores to sell new items.
But if I want to buy new items from an ecommerce store I’ll just go to a proper ecommerce store – why would I go to ebay? There are plenty of shopping sites that will list a bunch of merchants by price, or I can just click on google ads or organic results.
As far as I’m concerned the only reason to ever go to ebay is if I want a 2nd hand item really cheap (I purchased a sun workstation, cisco router, HP SDLT drive etc all of which I would never have purchased at full price), and if they’re trying to get away from that I think they’ll lose a lot of buyers…
Hi Derek,
I watched your first video and I understand your points regarding potential opportunities. However– the truth is– for new sellers it is virtually impossible to take advantage of the new ebay changes.
You can’t make a sale and provide good service and get good feedback if customers can’t find your listings to begin with
My situation is sort of unique in that I started selling just prior to the changes being implemented. With my first two listings I sold two items which each generated a fairly respectable profit (after all fees!). These were only tests…
For my next two listings I significantly increased the number of items for sale. This is when I realized something had changed. Items views dropped from about 18 per day per item to 1 or 2 (if I was lucky). It was a challenge for me to find my own listings!!!! What’s worse… items were being displayed on the first page of results which had NOTHING to do with my category… strange hugh!?
My initial profits and excitement were gone.
Because the sellers from my first two listings never provided feedback I still don’t have a seller feedback score. But my own score as a buyer is 100%; which should account something (in the absense of any other indicators).
One thing which isn’t taken into account is dozens of questions answered for ebay “tire-kickers” who never buy a thing and yet are still serviced well.
I know I do everything in my power and control to provide excellent service. How does one put a number on that? The fair way to handle the situation is to measure incidents of negative feedback based on a percentage of sales. Obviously, allowances would also have to be made for new sellers. People get busy and don’t return to provide positive feedback after they get what they’ve purchased.
For now I’ve given up on ebay!
I look forward to your remaining videos. (I don’t know why, but I had trouble playing the second one.)
Maybe consult my dear Unazukin (Marillyn) more often now we have these new eBay changes..
Justin, i can not view the vedio. I have a problem with my PC that i can’t figure out . Also can’t view e-cards. Do you have an answer??
Derek,
I’m willing to view the videos and try to learn something, but I have to be honest as it sounds like you are the makleting king for the Ebay way. I realize that Ebay is not going away and there will be no one to knock them off (very sad..come on Amazon), but Ebay wants it both ways. They have stated for years they are a moderator between the buyer and seller. May be they should look up the tem and figure out it’s true meaning. When its convenient they want to dictate shipping charges and a host of other things.
The feedback system now is very unjust..What about if you don’t want to shop with that business? don’t do it. Last time I checked we had choices…such as get in your car and pay $3.50 a gallon and drive the 15 miles to the mall and spend your money on a brick and mortar business. Sorry, on this one your wet behind the ears.
Ebay is DEAD. Well, to me anyway! Why? Several reasons: Its taken me several years to earn my 98.7% feedback, and now, I wake up one morning, and my feedback has been reduced to 93%. (I remember the day when I would NEVER purchase from any seller with a score below 98%!)
THAT’S NOT RIGHT!
And, now as a seller, I can not leave feedback for deadbeat buyers? Who the Heck does eBay think they are? My last Car Stereo purchase arrived DOA. And eBay thinks I am the bad guy?
HERES WHERE IT IS GOING.
I sell Real Estate. I paid $100 for a 30 day classified ad. When the property did not sell, I paid another $100.00. And I paid another $100. Yes, the classified ad did generate interest in the property. But it did not sell
SO HERE IS THE BREATH OF FRESH AIR:
i now make a 5 minute video of the property, put it on YOUTUBE!
I get Great Exposer, Save my $300 and I am not KICKED OFF IN 30 DAYS!
SO HERE’S MY POINT.
Sellers are going to put their products on SPECIALIZED SELLING SITES.
And VIDEO is going to lead the way!
There will be eFurniture sites and eShoe sites, etc.
And, DEREK, We need you to LEAD THE WAY.
No more large Corporate Giant telling us how we have to live by their RULES!
THANKS!
Michael Adams
Santa Clarita, CA
This is all interesting.
Talk about stirring the pot!
I am new to all of this and have been contemplating selling on ebay for some time now. After hearing about the recent changes and reading all these comments I’ll be rethinking that decision even more before wasting my time. Thanks for the heads up!
I don’t think it’s any secret when it comes to big company’s making big profit, it all has to do with greed. And the bigger they are the harder they fall because of it!
Maybe when it comes to the little guy, we should all stick to the freebie sites like craigslist for profit.
Hello Derek.
Thanks for the video’s, I look forward to the next one’s. I have been very apprehensive about selling on Ebay. I hope your information will alieviate these
fears.
I am “Just a little Guy” so I do hope this will work for me.
Hi, Could someone give me a quick ‘lowdown’ please. I have been registered on ebay for 3years and have a 99 rating. Unfortunately I have been without a computer, and therefore, access to the internet for several months! So I am really lost as to what has been going on with changes at ebay. Can you tell me, breifly, what its all about or let me know where I can read up on it elsewhere. I loved using ebay and was hoping to start again now that i have computer and internet so I kinda need to know whats changed.
Finally thanks for the first video, it whetted my appitite for the next ones. Look forward to being able to really getting my ebay trading off the ground, which i have struggled with thus far. cheers Ali
Hi Unfortunately my computer crashed when your video series came out. When I got it working again, I had the text, but the videos are gone. Is there anyway to get access to them. Please advise. Thanks.
Well I have been a buyer and a seller on e bay. The small business sellers would be better off ( with the high E Bay fees ) to sell their small amount of things in a online rebate magazine like RefundingCents. They have a hobbie section as Refund Express does also. I bought coupons on E Bay for Mytle. Beach and it cost the seller more than if they sold them in the 2 rebate magazines. Those 2 mags. sell the envelopes of coupons for $1-2 plus postage that the buyer pays. Thanks
Hey Derek,
Great content and I love listening to you but you might try putting your hands in your pockets or sitting on them on a stool or something. I love your superman stance with the hands on the hips, that would work. Nobody’s perfect, me most of all. Just a thought.
Thanks
I used to both buy and sell on eBay, but haven’t done either in a long time. The reason isn’t simply the fees, but their outsourcing of customer service. You spend an hour trying to explain a simple problem to someone whose grasp of English is shaky (but who thinks it’s YOU who don’t understand your own language), and whose grasp of business vernacular is nil.
This was the first step in their greed, and it’s insured I never buy there anymore. The person who commented on the unethical practice they have of letting employees sell was right on the money. I spent three days trying to find out why my listing wasn’t posted, with the customer service all the time insisting it was (though they never could direct me to it).
I demanded a refund, which I only got after threatening to report to the BBB. I’m willing to look at these vids, but I doubt it’ll make any difference, since I’m pretty alienated as both a buyer AND a seller at this point.
Hello Derek.
Thanks for the video’s, I look forward to the next one’s. I have been very apprehensive about selling on Ebay. I hope your information will alieviate these
fears.
I am “Just a little Guy” so I do hope this will work for me.
Just saw the first video and it definitely grabbed my attention. Also, I only read the first few of these at the top before wanting to jump in the mix, so pardon me if I echo. I have to say I agree with both sides. I dabbled on eBay a few years back and made a little doe from time to time selling trading cards, but to me, even the fees 4 years ago were alot for a dabbler with low priced items. Fact of the matter is, the whole idea of eBay was to create the world’s largest garage sale, so to me, being able to make a few bucks on something that I would have tossed in the trash or given away was great no matter what the fees. I think the first people to take full advantage of eBay were dealers in antiques and collectibles (sellers who needed to find buyers). It’s the eBayers that make eBay what it is, not eBay. Ebay didn’t ask people to start full-scale mail order businesses…the buyers looking for cheap product encouraged that. Personally, I think the new fees and the new changes have forced me to become a better seller in the sense that now I know I need to find items in quantity and at low cost to absorb the impact of the higher fees. I’ve gone from hobbiest to being on the verge of having a full-time business. Ebay is still the same as it was if you are not looking for a full-time career.
As far as the feedback system, I’ll still think eBay should find a way to at least allow sellers to leave negative feedback for buyers that don’t pay, even if it means they can get a wait period of 14 or 21 days. I can certainly understand the discussion about how feedback became meaningless because of retaliations, but I’ve always stated in my listings that buyers should receive their positive feedback between the time of payment and the time the item ships. It’s not exactly a bribe, but it does gain trust from your buyers. Most listings that I see (hundreds a day) state that the buyer will receive feedback after the seller does. To sum it up…THE NEW SYSTEM DOES BENEFIT SELLERS!!! The new rules being implemented are helping the buyers trust you more as a seller. The only option sellers have now is to not leave feedback at all if they don’t leave it when they should. A confident seller has no reason not to leave positive feedback for someone who has paid them. The buyers only responsibility is to pay you in the amount of time you asked them to…and so what if they were a little late. One of the biggest reasons for buyer’s leaving neutrals or negatives is because of broken promises, ie “will ship next day”, etc. If you can’t do it 100% of the time, don’t expect 100% feedback. What may not seem like a big deal to the seller is a big deal to the buyer…it’s THEIR money!!!
As far as the new ratings system, I think it’s great, but it will have it’s flaws, too. I received a 4 out of 5 for shipping and handling, but the item shipped FREE and arrived at its destination in 3 days. Please keep in mind, once you have alot of ratings, a “4.9″ is a “5″. You will never see anyone with over 100 ratings with 5’s.
Having a history in customer service, I always take into account that there will be a difficult customer from time to time no matter how much you cater to their needs, and sometimes a buyer will try to get something for nothing. If you are a seller who does alot of business, look at it this way, at least you’ll buy another positive by giving in. It’s not worth risking a thousand potential sales just because you refuse to accomodate one or two bad apples. Just like the up-front feedback, it is key to offer returns on your product. Again, if you are a good seller, how often do you think someone will actually return an item for a refund. If you have experienced several returns, then maybe you need to rethink your listing strategies.
The key to succes on eBay?! Stand by your product, sell confidently and honestly, don’t gouge on shipping, and treat your fellow eBayer’s as walk-in customers. All you need at that point is a smart business strategy and you won’t have to worry about fees.
I saw one comment that you were too animated. I disagree. Being natural-yourself is better and It’s better than being stiff as a board. An improvement would be a room sounding completely furnished. This should give more saleable-professional, balanced volume, to voice sound; with less effort on speakers part. Not that I’m an expert. I only had 2 years of speaking training and won the annual, public speaking, International Toastmasters and Toastmistress (ITC) competition. Pat Rice
Hi Derek and the rest of the followers of what YOU consider GOOD, BAD & UGLY:
Just went thru the firt of your 2 videos. I am not sure if I agree 100% with your comments but here is my take on it.
Feedback scores. Till the time when the changes went into effect, my non-payer buyers was running around 2 to 4%. As soon as the NEW changes went into effect, it jumped to 12 to 15%. Why? because the buyers are in control and they do not give a hoot about the sellers comments. When a buyer does not send in their payment, I review theri feedback score and all I see is postive feedback and that’s it. SO HOW DO I ESTABLISH THE CREDIBILITY OF THAT BUYER?
Fees discount. Many comments have been made on this subject and I have to agree that the rules that have been set up to reach the plateau, is somewhat unfair to the sellers.
Having said that, as a seller, I will need to stay tuned to Derek’s expertise and my own creativity to see how can I continue to build the business and make it profitable by finding ways and means to reduce the costs and drive MORE traffic.
All the best for Xmas holidays and 2009
Bob
http://stores.ebay.ca/mycoolstuff2000
(your fcuk apparel one stop shop)
with all the changes to ebay, seems easier to buy the IMC course and promote your own sites for income on the net
http://www.backpainsolutions.ca