Does ebay Realise It's Made A Mistake ?

[theelench]

Just noticed the Featured Posts on the SC, Forum Posts page.

"Seller Meet-Up in Wales"  Looks like 3 people in someone's living room.

"Seller Meet-Up in the Chamberlain Room, Birmingham".  A bit more ambitious with a couple of dozen chairs.

But it doesn't look like they're expecting a great turn-out.

Perhaps another track for the "Ebay advertising campaign theme" thread :  It's my party (and I'll cry if I want to).

[jonatjonatjonat]

EBAY SHOULD BAN STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY. GO BACK TO THE OLD SYSTEM OF TAKING PHOTOS.

[gjalp]

I saw those and thought ‘Id rather poke my eyes out with a cocktail stick than attend one of those’. Im sure some people love this kinda thing but these days, I feel more embarrassed to be selling on ebay as its no longer great business sense. I managed to raise my children while having ebay sales being my sole income. My business has adapted and changed over the years (I no longer sell what I started out on due to cheap Chinese ‘tat’) but despite having more time now my kids are adults, Im selling less with that decreasing since the free to sell came in, then BPF and now SD. It DOES affect business sellers. My buyers have told me they buy less as they are selling less as private sellers with some stating it leaves them with little or no funds for fripperies. I have repeat buyers disappear and these are buyers that have been my customers for years just vanish in the last couple of months. Im winding down myself because all the fun has been sucked out of it and I can think of far better things to do with my time. 

[selective_distribution]

Yes, I was thinking exactly the same thing. But I had to laugh at the `eBay for Business Awards` photo, which is clearly an AI generated image of a `Mixed Race Couple` (of course!), standing outside a Bricks and Mortar shop which is presumably theirs, and raises the question what has that got to do with Online selling. Also note the ridiculous length of the woman`s right arm, she is standing behind him but her hand is way in front of him. It must be some new stage of evolution that gives people right arms of about 6 feet long! Who approves this stuff, and more importantly, who do they think they are fooling?

[theelench]

I read something, probably on the BSB, with figures for ebay.uk showing that something (that went over my head) was down since these latest restrictions on private sellers were introduced by 10%.  It was mentioned that the 10% fall should be worrying the ebay bosses.

Someone replied that the 60% drop in something else should be worrying them even more.

Apparently .uk is the second largest division of ebay after .com and to lose even 10% of anything in a businesses second biggest market should be worrying someone.

[akemp1]

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@theelench wrote:

"Seller Meet-Up in the Chamberlain Room, Birmingham".  A bit more ambitious with a couple of dozen chairs.

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At least that one looks like a real photo of the venue which might help people who are nervous about attending the event and want to get comfortable with what to expect.

But yes ebay uses way too much stock generic photography. I guess it's the easy option if you sit in HQ but everyone knows it's not authentic so they should get out there and capture photos of real ebayers (if there are any happy ones left).

They are missing the connection with users and that's evident in the mistakes they have made this year. It's good they are running these events but I wonder if genuinely influential ebay uk managers really attend and talk to people. When I have engaged ebay people at their trade show stands (cardcon, etc) it just seems to be external promotion people who attend for ebay not anyone worth having a proper conversation with about how the platform is being run.

[bojangled]

@theelench This one ?

https://ahrefs.com/websites/ebay.co.uk

I saw that, but it doesn’t give stats for V**ted or Eb*d.

Jo

[moldosgifts]

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@bojangled wrote:

@theelench This one ?

https://ahrefs.com/websites/ebay.co.uk

I saw that, but it doesn’t give stats for V**ted or Eb*d.

Jo

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V**ted serious contender, Eb*d not even at the starting gate. Will that do as far as stats concerned?

[bojangled]

@moldosgifts point taken 😃

[akemp1]

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@bojangled wrote:

I saw that, but it doesn’t give stats for V**ted or Eb*d.

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It works for the first one if you edit the link.

[superchallenge]

Not that Ahrefs would even be worth looking at for this reason (I use it every day in my full-time job) because it doesn't take app traffic into account. Just web-based search traffic.

If you consider app traffic, Vinted's (you can say it) numbers would be considerably higher than stated by Ahrefs as they're mainly app-based. eBay's would be considerably higher too, given that 2.7m people downloaded the app in March this year alone, and eBid would still be the 250-1 longshot that grannies bet on because they like the name and think the horse has a kind face.

But yes, eBay's featured images are horrible, for sure.

[jonatjonatjonat]

For clarity there was 2.3m 'traffic' to V in May
Down 6.7% on Aprils numbers (ebays was down 8.8%)

[akemp1]

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@jonatjonatjonat wrote:

For clarity there was 2.3m 'traffic' to V in May
Down 6.7% on Aprils numbers (ebays was down 8.8%)

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Change the graph to 5 years and you will see the difference between the two.

[jonatjonatjonat]

That's come down with clouds on it!

[bojangled]

@superchallenge that’s interesting information.

Just as you mentioned app downloads, given that thousands were kicked off the app due to the upgrade in February I wonder how those numbers translate to only being able to access via the web on those older phones. 

Jo

[rainbowtrax]

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@akemp1 wrote:

It's good they are running these events but I wonder if genuinely influential ebay uk managers really attend and talk to people. When I have engaged ebay people at their trade show stands (cardcon, etc) it just seems to be external promotion people who attend for ebay not anyone worth having a proper conversation with about how the platform is being run.

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They (ebay) aren't running them though. All of the Seller Meetups are small regional gatherings set up and run by sellers for sellers. Ebay have now got involved in that they're promoting them here, and I believe they're arranging a few freebies for the events and maybe having reps attending but these events aren't the same as the Business Roadshows which ebay themselves run.

[rainbowtrax]

2.7m people probably downloaded the ebay app this March because that's about the time that ebay started throwing out endless £5 vouchers at thousands (possibly millions) of buyers - but only valid when the purchase is made through the app. It's likely to have skewed the stats a bit. 

I rarely touch the app, basically because it's pretty cr*p and lacks too much functionality compared to the full site. I really only have it the kerching noise when you sell something. I've never made a purchase on it apart from when I get one of these app only vouchers - which is every fortnight at the moment on two different accounts. I do all my searching and browsing and add things to my basket on my laptop using the proper website. Only when I'm ready to pay do I briefly switch to the app to apply the voucher and pay. Then back to my laptop for another fortnight until the next voucher pops up. Rinse and repeat. I'm sure that's not ebay's aim but I bet I'm not the only one. Throwing out regular app only vouchers doesn't make the app any better - which is what they should be doing. But it does help the app to appear more popular.

[gjalp]

I can say I have never used the app, mostly because I have never downloaded it and have no desire to. The only app I use is truecaller to block spam and junk calls.

[the_book_seekers]

I don't use the app as it doesn't work properly and never has. As you say the functionality is awful.

[varl131]

If you have poor eyesight  using a mobile 'phone for any task is a nightmare.

I also don't  want to be one of those robots that walk everywhere  with a mobile phone in front of their face.