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eBay Links Policy To Remain As It Used To Be
John McDonald, Senior Director of eBay’s Trust and Safety announced today that the links policy changes that had been announced back in May of this year would NOT be implemented.
These changes were to have removed the ability of users to place links to their personal websites, other marketing venues and more. At eBayLive the Trust and Safety team was inundated with complaints regarding the pending changes.
According to John, eBay listened to users and other entities (software solution providers) like Auctiva, who also stood to be adversley affected by these changes. As a result, there will be no change to the eBay Links policy at this time.
Unfortunately, many sellers had already begun removing their links, and many such as myself closed their About Me page because it really has not other value in my opinion.
Good job eBay. Finally you are listening to your real customers, the sellers! In the future, maybe indepth canvassing might prevent situations like this.
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eBay Continues The Management Shuffle
Rajiv Dutta To Retire
July 16th, 2008
eBay announced today that Rajiv Dutta President of eBay Global Marketplaces will retire in October of this year. Lorrie Norrington current President of eBay North America Marketplace will move into the position that Rajiv held.
Why Does The Management Shuffle Continue?
Frequently in the corporate world, when a new captain takes over the helm, we see changes in the team beneath. Many of the changes in the team seem to be those people with about 10 years of tenure with eBay. As the focus of eBay changes towards a retail experience, I can’t help but wonder if some to the changes are due to the fact that more emphasis seems to be toward that retail type business model and away from the auction format.
Rajiv Dutta will be missed. I had only one or two oppotunities to speak with Rajiv, but found him to be a honest and interesting person with a great grasp of the marketplace. I wish him well in his future endeavors as I have the same wishes of success for Lorrie Norrington in her ascent within the eBay hierarchy.
eBay Wins Fight In US Court vs Tiffany & Co.
Reuters is reporting that a US Federal Court Judge has today ruled in eBay’s favor in it’s fight with Tiffany & Co., regarding Tiffany’s claim of fake Tiffany items on the auction site.
Though this is a major victory for eBay, the auction giant is still reviewing it’s options in the recent French court ruling involving LVMH the parent company of Louis Vitton and other name brand products.
eBay is working hard to prevent fake items on the site, but some feel not enough is being done, and want the auction site to police the items listed by members more diligently!
ebay & Beyond: Basics to Business July 12, 2008
Guests This Week Are:
Larry Phillips eBay PowerSeller and former Board Member of Internet Merchant Association IMAMerchant.org
Scott Pooler CEO of iBusinessLogic.com discussing website design and blogging
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ECMTA Announces First Regional Meeting with eBabes & eMales in Dallas
ECMTA recently announced the first in a series of Regional Meetings to be held around the US (at least at this point).
Brandon Dupsky Managing Director of ECMTA said
Our first regional meeting is now booked and you are welcome to join us! For our first event, we will be joining forces with our friends in Dallas, TX at the Dallas ebaybes & eMales group (I love their name). I have been spending time with the leaders of this group (Stephanie, Herb & Martha) and I’m totally amazed at their accomplishments as well as the professional way they handle things. With their extensive experience holding regional meetings, I expect this event to be a blowout!
Date: Monday July 28th
Location: Canyon Creek Country Club in Richardson, TX
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Cost: $15 (That’s right only $15. Dinner, deserts, beverage & gratuity are included)
Agenda:
6:00 – 7:00 : Back to Basics on “How to Sell on Amazon” with Lily Li
7:00 – 8:00 : Dinner
7:30 – 8:30 : “Growing your Business Through Membership in a Trade Association” with Brandon Dupsky
I will make sure to save time for open discussion on what you want your trade association to be doing for you. I hope to hear more on what myself and team should be focused on.
For those of you near the Dallas area, I really hope to see you and get a chance to talk more about selling on Amazon as well as future goals for the association. If you are interested in joining us, please send me an email at Brandon@ecmta.org and I will get you on the list.
For people in other regions, don’t worry. We have plans to hit all the major regions and I hope to roll this out quickly. Once we finalize some of the details, we will be able to announce more.
eBay Announces Significant Changes To Feedback,, They Really Are Listening
Lorrie Norrington Announces Significant Improvements To Feedback System
Lorrie Norrington, President of eBay Global Marketplace Operations announced sweeping changes to the much discussed Feedback System on eBay. The announcement posted on the eBay announcment board basically says this:
Neutrals will no longer be counted as negatives when determining a sellers feedback rating. This apparently will be retroactive and will require re-calculation of the feedback ratings of all eBay Sellers. This will be effective in late August.
There will be a mechanism put in place to allow buyers to change their negative feedbacks left for sellers if the seller makes the dissatisfied buyer happy in a timely manner. What that mechanisim will be was not disclosed, but more information is coming!
eBay Is Really Listening!
One of the comments Lorrie made at eBayLive, and I am paraphrasing here is “Give Us A Chance”. I have to admit, I for one was skeptical. I have been selling on eBay for 11 years, and have not often been impressed with their response to the voices in the community. Though there will have to be much thought given as to the way extortion by the buyer is handled this is a MAJOR step forward by eBay.
I applaud Lorrie and the rest of the management of eBay in realizing that the recent changes to the Feedback Policy were ill advised, and making changes to it rapidly.
Though more information is to be forthcoming, I expect this announcement will be much appreciated by the rank and file sellers and will have them jumping for joy!
LORRIE, YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION, AND I WILL IN THE FUTURE BE MORE OPTIMISTIC WHEN YOU SAY YOU WILL FIX IT!
eBay Suspends PowerSeller For Leaving Negative Comment for Buyer
Auctionbytes is reporting that a PowerSeller has reported being suspended for leaving a negative comment in the Postive Feedback for a buyer. eBay rules indicate that it is against eBay policy to leave a negative comment in the Positive Feedback 80 character space.
eBay Changes Their Minds Again
In the transcript of the February 4th 2008 TownHall this is the direct quote:
Matt Halprin: Yeah, and to help with the clarification. There is one other tool that will remain. We’re going to watch it carefully to see how it’s used but the sellers can still leave eighty characters of text in their response in the feedback. And it’s not quite as structured as what you’re describing and we are going to watch for abuse of that but still, it is a way to talk about situations in the text and you know, we’re going to have to watch all this stuff real closely to see how the marketplace evolves.
I remember hearing this during the live stream of the event. I took this to mean that sellers would still be able to give an accurate text account of the transaction even though it still would be showing as a positive. I remember thinking at the time, at least there would be a text account of bad buyers even if the feedback showed positive.
When and why eBay changed it’s mind on this is not clear. What is clear is that eBay has clearly taken all credibility out of the feedback system. Sellers can not leave a negative comment even in text format, and buyers can do what they please.
Why Do We Do What We Do
Recently I have been asked why I began ebay & Beyond: Basics to Business Radio. What’s in it for me?
e-Commerce is changing daily. New sites are emerging, others are changing their ways. How is someone interested in becoming or increasing their presence on the internet supposed to keep up? Yes, there are other blogs, radio programs, even infomercials all designed to sell you something or be a cheerleading event for either a selling venue or list or some program that will turn your computer into an ATM machine. Simply list your stuff, and magically money will come pouring in. I was even foolish enough to work as a presenter for a software package that I thought really did want to help people start or grow their business. What a mistake! But I learned an important lesson.
ebay, Onlineauction, Etsy, eCrater, Amazon, Yahoo Stores, ChannelAdvisor, Kyozou, Infopia, MerchantAdvantage, Endicia, PayPal, GoogleCheckout, Hammertap, Terapeak, Shipwire, SalesAmigo and hundreds of other solution providers and venues,,,,,Which one is right for my business? How do I know? Where can I find the information? That is what our show is all about!
e-Commerce Is Still A Business
Business is hard. Plain and simple. In the early days, selling on the internet on venues such as eBay was much easier. There was much less competition, the mega-marts of the internet had not yet joined in. Many Mom & Pop type businesses grew rapidly. Life was good. But make no mistake, in my 11+ years selling on the internet, I have yet to wake up and find money pouring out of my computer! It takes a lot of hard work!
Then came the e-Commerce explosion! Larger businesses realized it was not just a fad. In order to reach the most amount of customers the internet was a must! Accompanying this explosion came the developers who built software and websites proclaiming their value in helping your business grow.
Why We Do What We Do
The purpose of our ebay & Beyond: Basics to Business radio program is to attempt to bring the truth about internet marketing to those that most need it. In todays economic climate, many individuals and small businesses are looking for the information they need to make the right decisions to help their businesses grow. We strive to bring our listeners the very latest information on e-Commerce. We do not focus on just one venue or software. Instead we invite guests to the program to better inform our listeners.
We try and bring our listeners the news regarding internet marketing without being a cheerleader. There are many marketing venues and making the right choice for your particular business model is important. Since we don’t sell anything, our program brings our listeners the opportunity to learn.
With knowledge comes power.
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