eBay Strategy Revealed: Overstock Inventory from Diamond Liquidators
EBay Analyst Day Notes
EBay Analyst Day Notes, part two
EBay Analyst Day Notes, part 3
I have read through Ina's observations and all of the comments from readers of her blog. I have compiled some of the more interesting thoughts and observations here.
Ina:
eBay telegraphed the contents pretty early, so there are no real surprises yet. PayPal is definitely being featured as the "Star" of the portfolio, with the most upside. Look for a PayPal/BML integrated checkout later this year, which eBay hopes will drive incremental purchases. eBay is still a disappointment, so hang on for more changes over the next few years.Ina paraphrasing John Donohoe:
Today we will share with you a different eBay...EBay you know is not the eBay we are or the eBay we will become...EBay has a storied past, but we have held on to that past for too long.I have to insert this here: What is his problem? You don't take a successful business model and run it into the ground.
Comment by MsFish213:
I think what alot of sellers arent seeing in all this, is that Ebay IS changing, it was planned, and its not going back. If anyone is still hanging on the hopes of the old Ebay, its not going to happen. That has been made clear today, IMO. Ebay will become one of many ecommerce platforms (they aren't even aiming for #1 anymore), and are going to focus on becoming the #1 internet financial institution..thats where the money/profit is now.Comment by Mutley:
Having scanned through parts 1-3 it's clear Ebay have decided auction format is not part of their strategic direction. This seems a strange decision - apart from live auctions, Ebay is about the only viable site which small sellers can run auctions with reasonable certainty that they will attain market value. Others have tried and failed, yet Ebay seem to see no value in having this unique selling point.Comment by shjames:
80% of my listings are unique, high quality hand made artisan items. I used to have more than 900 items listed on a regular basis...If ebay thinks I'm going to return to the days when I paid $8,000-$10,000+ a month for auction style listings in a category bloated with 35 cent, often misrepresented knockoff fixed price listings, they're crazy...When ebay introduced the Most Popular algorithm into Best Match last fall, my sales plummeted 65% in ONE week and have gradually declined since. People can't buy what ebay won't let them see...I've gone from Platinum to approaching Silver powerseller status in six months after being a Platinum powerseller for more than five years.Comment by Pam:
Same problem with Best Match, same fall in sales, same fee amount we were paying before being destroyed by the poor decisions made by this company. That's $18,000-$20,000 in fees per month from just 2 sellers that they have lost and I'm sure we're not alone. I do understand what others are saying about running off the small sellers, but I would not consider us small and they have destroyed us.
The last two comments were from large volume sellers—large in comparison to people like us, yet they have been destroyed by eBay. EBay does not want the small sellers or the bronze, silver, gold, or platinum Power Sellers. They want the large corporations—the diamond Power Sellers. They want to be Amazon.com.
From the comments made by representatives of eBay, they feel that PayPal is their strongest asset and plan to build their business model around it. For a long time, people have suggested that John Donohoe's plan involves breaking eBay into two companies and selling the part that contains the auctions. I am beginning to agree with that point of view. One person suggested that eBay will break into two companies, one for payment processing (PayPal.com and related parts) and the other for commerce (eBay.com). This person believes that the company will sell eBay.com when that happens. It would not surprise me.
2 comments:
All I can say is I agree with all the comments. Ebay management actually sounds embarassed about their "storied past". They want to transform the company into a copy of something else instead of keeping it the "original" it is (or was). As pointed out, ebay is running itself into the ground. Maybe splitting the business off and selling it to new owners/management who could appreciate the value that is there, and turn things around, would be the best thing that could happen. But it better happen soon - or they will completely screw it up and the sellers and buyers will go elsewhere never to return.
You are absolutely right about Donohoe's embarrassment over eBay's past. I had to search to find the quote I wanted. This is from the Genuine Seller blog:
December 18, 2007 – Silicon Valley Insider "A year ago, we had 14 per cent of global e-commerce, we're the largest e-commerce provider, and our home page still looks like a flea market," he says. "The world around us had changed. In particular our buyers' experience hadn't kept up."
Once Donohoe became CEO, he set out to change the "flea market" image. If he succeeds in the way he wants, we will no longer be able to use eBay.
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