eBay changes from a buyers perspective
May 17, 2008
It’s easy to forget recent changes on eBay other than the most visible - the feedback changes. There are several others though, that should be well received by buyers.
- Feedback: The main thrust is that buyers can now leave honest Feedback without fear of retaliation and of course can also rate sellers in greater detail than ever before. The real benefit from buyers however, is that in future they can see how fast you ship, how accurately you describe your items, how good your communications are and how fair your postage costs are. If that information gives buyers greater confidence in buying from you it’s great news. With more than 7 billion Feedback comments left on eBay in the future a great feedback reputation will be more meaningful than ever.
- Buyer Protection: From the 3rd June every sale on eBay will offer PayPal and for buyers that choose to pay with PayPal they’ll have free protection of up to £500.00 on every purchase they make. Again buyer confidence should be increased, with about £900.00 traded worldwide every second on eBay buyer confidence is key.
- Customer Service: eBay is rolling out customer support via telephone for UK members. In the past this has been just for sellers, but top buyers are also being given access for instant help with any issues using the site. Over a million eBay users now have access to phone support.
- Business Registration: Business users are required to identify their status and also have to comply with certain laws regarding service standards such as accepting returns. Buyers can shop with more confidence in the service they should expect and receive when trading with a business seller.
- Protection from Fraud: eBay is constantly a target for fraudsters and eBay employ over 2,000 trust and safety employees around the world as well as working with local law enforcement. It doesn’t just stop there though, eBay have masked buyers IDs so that bidding is anonymous, protecting buyers from fake emails and false second chance offers.
eBay have committed to improving the site for both buyers and sellers. Mark Lewis when speaking at Catalyst 2008 talked about having “A deal to strike†between eBay and sellers. In return for eBay bringing confident buyers and providing sellers the incentives and tools to list, sellers would need to provide a great selection of products at a great price with fantastic service.
The selection of products, competitive prices and fantastic service is what buyers not only want but demand of online merchants today. If the recent changes give buyers greater confidence leading to increased purchasing, then it’ll prove to have been the turning point in eBay’s history.
Mark Lewis promises lower fees
April 21, 2008
Mark Lewis speaking at the ChannelAdvisor conference in London today gave an insight into eBay’s plans for 2008.
He spoke of recent changes as having “A deal to strike” between eBay and sellers. In return for eBay bring confident buyers and providing sellers incentives and tools to list sellers would need to provide a great selection of products at a great price with fantastic service.
To achieve this he highlighted several areas:
Lower Insertion Fees
Mark really focused on this point - more pricing discounts are on the way. The goal is to get to the point where there is no reason you wouldn’t put all of your inventory on eBay. By Christmas 2008 there will be new tools and new pricing to grow fixed pricing listings on eBay.
Free Gallery
In the Q&A Mark was asked if Free Gallery would come to the UK. His answer was that eBay are constantly looking and trying different pricing plans, but Free Gallery (at least going by a staw poll in the room) would be very welcome. Expect to see Free Gallery, according to Mark on pricing changes and free gallery eBay are looking at “How best to roll them out”.
By Christmas there should be a higher focus on fixed price listings enabling sellers to list more or all of their inventory. Changes to tools and listing formats are expected, lower insertion fees and free gallery are on the road map for the future.
eBay MD to meet sellers at CA Catalyst
March 14, 2008
ChannelAdvisor are poised to announce a major coup on Monday, they’ve secured new eBay UK MD, Mark Lewis, as a keynote speaker for the Catalyst conference taking place in London this April. eBay joins Google, Frooition, Vzaar and Royal Mail as sponsors of the conference.
Mark Lewis took over as UK MD in January this year, having joined eBay in 2004. This will be the first opportunity eBay users will have to be able to meet him face to face.
It’s expected that after the keynote speech, Mark will stay for an open Q&A session as well as participating in workshops and panel discussions throughout the two day conference. These sessions are liable to be lively as the changes to feedback and search roll out across the site and sellers begin to discover how they’re affected.
The long awaited 30 day DSR console is due to be released at the end of March, just weeks before the conference takes place and Mark will be participating in a DSR workshop at the conference.
Look for more news on the Catalyst website after the weekend and make sure you’ve booked a place. With no eBay Universities this year it will be one of the few opportunities to meet eBay employees in 2008. If you’ve ever wanted to quiz to eBay’s top management this is the event to attend.
Join Mark Lewis eBay UK MD on Q&A
March 6, 2008
Tomorrow Mark Lewis, eBay UK MD will step into the lion’s den, otherwise known as the Community Question and Answer board, and spend an hour chatting to eBay users.
Inviting questions he said “I would like to hear what’s on your minds” and, from the posts on the thread so far, it’s pretty clear what the current hot topics are much the same as usual - feedback, third party adverts, recent policy changes (in particular everything to do with selling as a business) and complaints that eBay don’t take action on listing infringements.
Some interesting questions have been asked along with a fair sprinkling of misinformation which should make the session lively.
If you’ve got something on your mind and would like to vent in a place where eBay will listen then head off over to Q&A at 3pm. It’s not often you can be certain that Mark Lewis will be reading your thoughts.
Why eBay are making changes
January 29, 2008
eBay have today announced a raft of changes, which will affect every buyer and seller on the site. From fees to feedback to search, in a few months time the way we trade on eBay will feel very different from today.
eBay have for ten years been the premier shopping destination for millions of buyers. At the same time millions of sellers have built successful businesses on eBay, some of which have diversified to other venues and their own websites.
The ecommerce landscape has both broardened and matured in those ten years and buyers are more demanding and more sophisticated then ever before. To remain the market leader eBay needs to change to accomodate those buyers needs and in doing so it is the best way they can serve the sellers who make their living using the site.
Buyers want three things: great deals, from a great selection, with great service. The changes eBay are making today aim to deliver those three criteria to the customers that trade with you.
- Mark Lewis, Managing Director, eBay UK
The changes will ensure over time that the best prices from the best sellers float to the top of search results. For the best sellers on eBay very little will change, apart from the fact that their products will appear at the top of search results more often resulting in more sales. Many thousands of sellers on eBay give superb service, often way better than from commercial websites, and those sellers will benefit from the increased visibility for their products.
eBay aim to incentivise this behaviour with a raft of fee benefits, lower insertion fees should encourage a greater selection of products. Search changes will ensure the best deals from the best sellers are presented to the buyers. Finally sellers will be rewarded for giving great service with discounts on final value fees. This achieves two things eBay have never done before - incentivising great service and offering discounts for volume sellers.
- Mark Lewis, Managing Director, eBay UK
Importantly discounts and feedback will be based on shorter periods giving better, more relevant, more recent, information to buyers and enabling sellers to improve in just thirty days to qualify for discounts. All sellers will effectively be able to ignore their feedback history and concentrate on offering great deals with superb service to their buyers and reap the rewards just one month later.
Finally todays announcment shows just how much eBay respect and value their sellers. For the first time eBay have revealed their roadmap for the year to site users enabling them to plan for the year ahead. Too often on eBay, complaints have been that changes occur too quickly and sellers have to constantly revise the way they work.
- Mark Lewis, Managing Director, eBay UK
eBay have given advance notice of their plans, to enable all sellers to streamline their businesses, for what should be a fantastic years trading in 2008.
Doug McCallum bids farewell to the UK
January 25, 2008
Congratulations Doug!
Doug the eBay UK MD is moving to head eBay Europe. Doug has been Managing Director of eBay UK since December 2001 and is one of the most approachable and likeable people that work for eBay. We wish him all the best in his new role.
Succeeding Doug as the UK MD is Mark Lewis the current Senior Director, Auction Marketplace. Mark has had various management roles at eBay since joining the company in 2004 - eBay for Charity, Support, and leading the Buyer Experience team. He is one of the lesser known UK eBay executives, but was present at the eBay Backstage party taking questions from the floor alongside Doug.
We look forward to Mark stamping his mark (ahem!) on the UK eBay business. He’s taking over at an exciting time with the forthcoming changes expected to be announced next week.
