Turmoil 

There is a great deal of turmoil emanating from within the ranks of eBay sellers since the numerous and ominous recent announcements and changes in the eBay policies and fee schedules. Some of this consternation is worthy of serious consideration.  Changes in feedback and seller ratings criteria, changes in fees and significant changes in the eBay consignment requirements have all caused quite a stir.

Fire Storm 

While within eBay management it seems the powers that be feel they will weather this fire-storm just as they have every other major upheaval from sellers due to fee hikes in the past, this round of announcements seems to have salted some very old wounds.  Sellers this time around seem to be more genuinely ready to look for alternatives to eBay.

Mistake? 

I will say that I personally agree with many of the sellers' viewpoints.  But alternately, eBay has its goals as well.  It seems that eBay is working hard to play catch up with Amazon, which in my mind is a mistake.  eBay is not Amazon and should never try to be Amazon.  Buyers go to each site for different reasons.  When a buyer lands on an eBay page they are aware of what eBay is, they are somewhat excited by the bidding process and exhilarated when an item they won at auction arrives at the door as promised.  eBay is - and always was - a scavenger hunt destination.  People enjoy the hunt and even though they do like to complain about this or that, they always come back because of the hunt.

eBay has been slowing morphing into a new version of Amazon with more new fixed price items than ever before.  This may seem like a good thing to eBay executives and board members because the major players in the fixed price market pay eBay fees on time and without complaint.  But what happens to those sellers when the buyers stop coming to eBay? When eBay is no longer a scavenger hunt, a place to find interesting or weird items and/or great deals, why will the world flock to its portal? 

If we want a new product and we want it delivered tomorrow, as a group of educated buyers we go to Amazon or Buy.com or one of the many hundreds of other new merchandise sites.  If eBay changes are meant to morph the site into another Amazon.com, why will anyone go to eBay?  It will simply become one of a hundred other sites and will diminish in stature over time.  Amazon has the lead in new merchandise sales and will probably retain that lead.  eBay should concentrate more on its core sellers and its original reasons for success.

Loyalty Shift 

Recent news articles and comments from the sellers themselves on eBay's own discussion boards may prove that this upheaval is different than recent similar outbreaks of revolt.  Talks of seller strikes may sound silly to the casual observer since they have been tried before without much success.  The real proof of a possible shift in loyalty comes from reports of an influx of new sellers on eBay alternative sites. 

Fortune CNN Reports 

Fortune Magazine reports in this article eBay rivals circle an influx of new sellers to multiple alternative eCommerce and auction sites.  We will review these and many more online selling sites for you in this publication in the coming weeks. 

Our view is:  check options, be open to change, evaluate inventory and costs and try new ideas.  I would never recommend leaving eBay altogether as other have openly demanded.  eBay still is a powerhouse of traffic generation and will continue to be a part of our business and a recommended tool for any business we work with.  But options are out there to explore and from our initial evaluation, some of these options may just be a viable alternative. 

Eggs 

I have always preached that no business should depend completely upon one outlet for sales.  There is no real reason to place all of your eggs in the eBay basket.  But do not abandon eBay completely because of some sort of seller upheaval.  Take a wait-and-see outlook and check your options.  Change, in the end, is almost always a good thing.  But change just for the sake of change can be dangerous.  Keep your eBay account, keep your customers happy and keep selling...