What the hell are ebay playing at?

I seem to be hearing this over and over, as people look on bemused and dismayed at change after change from ebay. (All in the name of safety.) But I think the main reason they can’t see what is happening is because they are not looking at the whole picture, and instead are just looking at these changes alone.

I have made it no secret that I was already leaving ebay before all this and this was kicking off as I was finalizing my online store. So maybe I have some idea what is going wrong with ebay, or at least I will tell you the way I see it.

When ebay first started making their changes, I like most people thought it was just greed, and I suppose to them it was working as the changes to them were making the bottom line shoot up. But they failed to look at the people it was hurting, which was us, both buyers and sellers. Before it tended to be the stupid that got ripped off, as they failed to read and assess what was clear to most, but now no matter how clever you are, you can be ripped off, shut down for fun, spite or even competitive malice.
Paypal will protect you. No they will not, buyers are being ripped off by rouge traders and sellers are being ripped off by rouge buyers. It is all such a mess and just keeps getting worse.

It was the introduction of the DSR’s that swung it for me and made me realize what it is that is wrong with ebay, and that is they have not got a single ebayer among them. They really do not have a clue what is happening inside their own community. This is because ebay is being run by statisticians and accountants, who see ebay as a brand like any other.
You can’t look at any business like that, we are all business people even the granny clearing her wardrobe, once she steps onto the auction stage, she is in business to make a profit. So we all have some idea how you have to keep your finger on the pulse and assess the situations as they arise but take away any info but your accounts and you will see what ebay is using to make decision after decision. But it is worse for them as due to the fact that none of them know the business outside of those books. They have no way of stepping back bad changes to the point that they had a working model, as they have no idea how it worked.

Ok ebay of old was never perfect and they were not making the billions they are making now but it all made sense. Anyone could sell anything, and you had to take precautions but they were never outside of what was possible, as they are now.

I have watched ebay change things for the worse over and over again and each time they try to change something else, to try and counteract the damage of the last change, it just keeps on getting worse.

The answer to this for me was to get out, hopefully leaving some of the scum behind that along with ebay had made ebay an unhappy place to be. But before coming to this decision I asked everyone I could, ebay, their forum and anyone else that I could think of: How do I run a business like this?
None of them had an answer

So what do we do now?

Get on with it is the best answer, start looking to see if you have the capital or the option to build a website of your own. Look at the alternative auctions, pick a few and try them out. See if you can get your customers to move with you and the best way to inform them.

This will all take time and will not be easy, as we are all finding out, but if we make use of the people around us and some of the great resources that are available such as the PSU, then we will all come out of this better for it and hopefully better off.

But now it is time to only mention ebay to inform and always end any mention of ebay with an alternative auction. No one cares which you chose or if you are still selling on ebay and have to wean yourself off but I would suggest you select a date and try to make it out by then.

I have selected the may 1st date, as have a lot of other people due to the fact it is when the other changes come in. Who wants to be around ebay then?

Whatever you choose good luck and I may see you either on the site or on ebid, tazbar, epier, blujay or plunderhere. Like I said end it with an alternative.