Small Ecommerce Business Get’s The One Two Punch From Google And eBay In One Day
eBay Analyst Day
Much has already been and more will be written about the first eBay Analyst Day held in 3 years. eBay executives did their best to put on their smiley faces in an attempt to encourage the folks from Wall Street. I will not attempt to regurgatate most of what is already out there, however here are two things that I took away from the event:
- PayPal is the leading money maker of the company. Some of you will remember I wrote about this last August in a blog post. One of the things I found almost laughable was the talking point eBay made that PayPal’s integration into the eBay platform had risen several percentage points over the past 6 months. Of course it did! eBay made it almost (this is as close as I can come to saying Monopoly) mandatory. Who were they really trying to kid?
- eBay will now be focusing on the “Secondary Marketplace”. First this is not a term that has been used before that I am aware of. What it really means is the liquidation marketplace. Out of season or end of live product. It was said, and I paraphrase here, “We are interested in attracting those businesses that have stuff in warehouses that they need to dispose of”. This certainly does not seem to include the small sellers that have one of’s.
While eBay continues to state that they embarce the small seller, in my opinion the only reason for this is the increased search engine visibility they receive by “allowing” these sellers on the site. Once buyers are on the site they are directed to the sellers that eBay wants them to see, not necessarily what the buyer wants to see.
eBay told analysts that 2009 would be very difficult on the eBay site, only slightly better in 2010 and incrementally better in 2011 IF the economy improves. eBay also said that it’s focus is now on the current customers and less on attracting new buyers.
Bottom line is lower volume sellers are in for a tough couple of years based on the current direction of the company.
For complete analysis of the eBay Analyst event check out http://www.ebaystrategies.blogs.com by Scot Wingo CEO of Channeladvisor.com
Google announced yesterday, during the eBay Analyst event (maybe to hope to sneak it out there with little attention????) that effective in May 2009 there would be a significant increase in fees for those merchants using Google Checkout.
Again, the small seller takes it on the chin with these fee increases.
Colderice did a fee increase comparison on his blog, and I think it brings home the point very well.
Every company needs to make a profit. I do not blame either eBay or Google for making these moves. They need to do what they think will improve their position in the marketplace and ultimately their bottom lines. This is what their stockholders expect.
All users of either eBay or Google need to decide whether their businesses can adapt to the changes or not. If not, the answer is simple. Change your marketing strategies to other venues or payment options.
Large eBay PowerSellers Getting Booted The Exodus Continues
PowerSellers On The Lookout
eBay PowerSellers are watching their emails and waiting by the phone for the notice that they have been suspended or placed on notice or restriction. Several very large (Top 25 in category) eBay PowerSellers are reporting that they have been suspended or restricted on the site. These PowerSellers are reporting that due to the increase in neutral and negative feedbacks from buyers who know that they are immune from negatives, they are being scrutinized by eBay.
What totally mystifies me is why eBay would do this without CALLING these sellers to discuss the perceived problems. What further just blows my mind is that according to the affected PowerSellers, their TSAM’s (Top Seller Account Managers) have NO CLUE as to what is going on, and worse yet no idea how to remedy the situation.
eBay vs Amazon
From the postings on forums by the PowerSellers I have seen, they report that they had moved a portion of their products to Amazon prior to the suspension, and there is some specualtion that the suspensions are a result of this move. One PowerSeller speculates that eBay determined the seller had opened and populated an Amazon Store, and is angry over the loss of listings on the eBay site.
Randy Smythe reported in his blog Tusday on the exodus from eBay. Based on the increasing number of seller accounts being suspended, I would imagine the number of exiled ebay sellers will increase dramatically in the very near future.
Saying Good-Bye To An Old Friend-eBayLive 2008
It was a very long drive back home to Western New York. With over 8 hours on the road, I have had a chance to reflect on the friends with which I reconnected, the new friends I met, and the one friend I fear is gone forever, eBayLive. I have had the pleasure of attending 6 of the 7 previous eBayLive events, and since it has already been announced that there will be no such event in 2009, I fear that the announced 2010 eBayLive in Orlando will not happen, or if it does, it certainly will not be the event as I knew it, much like eBayLive 2008 was certainly not anything like the 6 previous conferences.It was defintely sad to see the dramatic change in the atmosphere in this year’s event. One eBay employee that I spoke with said that there were 7000 registrations prior to the start of the event, yet I and many of the vendors and attendees that I spoke with felt the number of actual attendees was significantly lower. One indication of this I saw was at the Gala on Saturday evening when over 25 large boxes of eBayLive 2008 shoulder bags, the bags given out when attendees picked up their badges, were placed out on the Gala floor for the taking. In addition, we noticed that all of the tables at the Gala had several extra bags on the chairs.
Another sign that all was not good at the event was the very noticeable presence of a large security force. Now there has always been security, but not in the numbers and not as visible as at this years event.
The most obvious indication of the concern of eBay members was the mood. From the opening of the exhibit floor on Thursday, the mood of the attendees was in my humble opinion, depressed. The large number of eBay booths on the exhibit floor with large numbers of eBay employees staffing them, were often nearly empty. I witnessed the employees huddled together talking because there were no customers crowding around their booths as in years past. The attendees were subdued, and the exhibit floor was quiet.
Also notable was the obvious decrease in vendors and exhibitors. The exhibit floor was occupied by a large number of eBay booths, but it was very obvious that there were probably 30-40% fewer exhibitors over previous years.
When talking with vendors and exhibitors, they all mentioned the change in the demographics of the attendees. In previous years, there was a healthy mix of new users and experienced PowerSellers. This year there appeared to be far fewer newer users and the general feeling is that the vast majority of attendees were more experienced users looking for information on multi-channel marketing. This indicates to me that sellers are looking to move away from eBay to other venues.
The one thing that really glares to many experienced eBayLive attendees is that eBay usually makes at least one major announcement during the event. This year, with the exception of the PayPal changes, and the opening of the eBay API to third party developers, there was no BIG announcement. Many attendees are worried that the usual major announcements will be made in the days or weeks to come via the eBay Announcements Board and email because eBay did not want to risk a major confrontation with the users at the event.
Well, that is just a brief synopsis of my reflections of the event. I certainly will post more as I digest and review my notes and the 10+ hours of podcasts that we recorded and will be available later today on our website www.basicstobusiness.com. Just click on the Archived Programs tab on the navigation bar. Be sure to listen in on Saturday from 10 AM to Noon ET to our weekly live internet streaming radio show ebay & Beyond: Basics to Business as we recap the eBayLive 2008 event and remember to register for our contest and win an autographed copy of Jay Berkowitz’s new book The Ten Golden Rules of Internet Marketing!
-
Sponsors
New Page 1 -
-
Affiliates
-
Join Me on LinkedIn
