eBay: What's behind the 20 cents promotion?

I am horrified to read these later posts, and it seems ebay is 'CORE' rotten to the core. This business needs a major investigation by the authorities, I wonder what they'll turn up, or will it get shredded before they arrive!

Hi again Mark,

In answer to your question, what's my beef with this guy:
http://tinyurl.com/jam8s

I suggest you take a closer look. Such as here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MY-CAKE-ATKINS-RECIPE-FREE-SHIPPING-JUST-0-01P_W0QQitemZ230028778666QQihZ013QQcategoryZ47103QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Rather strange don't you think? Where's the money to be made from 1p Ebooks? (have a closer look at 'purchases')

Ah! Its not about the money, its about 'selling feedback' to other users and building up your own in the process. What a good idea!

This way you can:
1) Sell feedback to wannabe scammers (so they apprear 'respectable' when they go for the kill).
2) Reach 'powerseller' status in no time.
3) Help ebay by boosting their auction listing figures (that's why they like ebooks!)

I'm not 'insinuating' that you do this at all; i'm just exemplifying how easily the system can be abused.

However, if you couldn't see that in the first place, and you claim you are an experienced 'powerseller', what hope is there for Ebay?

Mark,

Respect the points but, if it was unsurprising local promotions in your view, can you explain why the listing promotion in India DID NOT apply to www.eBay.in and ONLY applied to residents in India when they listed on www.ebay.com (the US Site)?

Graham

Uh oh....Here's ANOTHER promo!

This one is targeted at Canadian user id's that have never sold on ebay, 5 FREE listings each from Sept 17 - 23! And the kicker....the seller will be charged all the fees, not to be refunded until November!!

Anyone considering doing this, DON'T! There are people who haven't received their refunds from the last time they had that kind of listing special. There is no way I'd participate in a promo where ebay doesn't give the listing discounts right away, ebay has already proved we cannot trust them, why would it be any different now? They're not going to sit on my supposed to be refunded money to pay for advertising EE that absolutely stinks, or to pad their books for the 3rd quarter report.

Many sellers have posting ids so they're not known on the boards, so ebay is now going to try to target those people. Pssttt ebay...most of those people are already sellers.

Interesting how the promos are popping out of the woodwork, it wouldn't be so ebay can try to fatten the books a little would it?

It's no wonder that sellers are complaining about lack of sales. We have an eBay employee today admitting to not having a clue why the search order of core listings on www.ebay.co.uk has changed overnight to newly listed (from ending soonest).

When he's finished eating his fudge, he might get round to asking the technical team what has gone so badly wrong? (See attached links for context and clarification).

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n313/Core_Member/cockup1.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n313/Core_Member/cockup2.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n313/Core_Member/cockup3.jpg

A day later and still a dollar short at eBay Towers... With reference to my last post, a new day brings further confusion to the issue of search and browse order. Another seller mentioned to me that in eBay's higher echelons, the right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing... It seems they were right.

All the while, sellers who are listing on eBays core are losing money...
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n313/Core_Member/cockup4.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n313/Core_Member/cockup5.jpg

With reference to Christine's post concerning cheap listing days at #43, I have a UK example whereby insertion fee credits were delayed until August 31st this year. The CLD took place on Thursday 29th June with credits to be deferred. Sadly, I'm still waiting for my insertion fee refund as of today, 20th September.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/5pBIN06jun/

This is a copy of the small print, situated at the very bottom of the link (easy to miss)..

(Members will be charged the full Insertion Fee at the time of the listing but will be reimbursed for the Insertion Fee amount paid over £0.05 for eligible listings by 31st August 2006 by means of a credit on their eBay invoice. The invoice credit memo for qualifying items will read "Immediate Payment Promotion".)

For the past week, what has been going on with Ebay is nothing short of amazing. What has happened with the boycot, the amount of stuff that is being implicated as each day goes forward, and the seeming inability for Ebay to control itself.

This next month, from now until Ebay releases Q3 earings and Q4 guidance on Oct 19, should be real interesting. You know, it wouldn't be so bad if this management could sit up and recognize what is happening, make up with the disenfranchised, and impliment a serious policy change right now. It would pop the balloon, but the balloon wouldn't be very big. But it seems that management is just so inept and so out of touch, that this thing may be out of their control now. The longer this thing builds, and the worse it gets, the bigger that balloon is going to be when it pops. Maybe it pops right after Q3. Maybe not. Or maybe it pops after Q4.

Needless to say, everybody should be considering, planning, or implimenting an exit strategy now. I've already implimented mine, and I'm not buying back in until after this balloon pops and reforms.

One more note to shareholders out there. Shares of stock are a claim on the residual assets of the corporation. In a liquidation, all of the corporation's liabilities get paid first (whether or not it is debt or LEGAL BILLS), then any preferred stock grts paid at a certain price. The preferred stock gets paid off in full before any common stock gets paid off. Only then, after all liabilities and prefferred stock are paid do the holders of common stock get paid. Just something to think about when you are planning your exit strategy

What's behind the 20 cents promotion?

I think it was ebay's way of giving the ritual finger to US sellers.

As for that link.. http://tinyurl.com/jam8s

There is something really, really fishy going on there.
I have been repeatedly checking it out and printing out pages. I see so many strange things. I have been focusing not so much on the seller, but on the buyers.

However, on the seller.. On the last print out I did yesterday the Feedback score was 17095.
This morning the feedback score was 16827 with NO additional negatives added (both read 2 negs). The number is now increasing, as it was yesterday in the print outs I made.. but it still hasn't reached yesterdays numbers of 16897-17095.

On the buyers.. Click on the feedback number of some of the buyers.. especially the buyers with 0 FB.
Look at the dates joined in the little blue box on the right side.. some I checked dated back to 1999, 2003, 2005..? That is very strange.

Now click on the "Left for Others" feedback tab. ALL of the 0 FB members that I checked out had left multiple feedbacks for others.. one as many as 18 feedbacks..?????
All of the low feedback members that I checked had left a much larger (larger than normal) number of feedbacks for others. Again very strange.

In some of these feedbacks left by 0 feedback members there are usually other power sellers listed. Checking those you'll mostly find the same patterns.

And ebay is allowing this kind of manipulations???
Or is ebay assisting these manipulations???? Who can change your feedback number?
The seller certainly can't change that number.

Honest, hardworking power sellers should be screaming their heads off over this. No wonder so many people have ill-will towards power sellers when games like this are being played.

Keep an eye on this "soap opera"

Mike, Great post.. You are so right..
You mentioned the "assets of the corporation".

Certainly people realize that customers are a valuable asset.
And Goodwill is another valuable asset.. as ebay should know. One report says:


Skype was purchased in October 2005 for about $2.6 billion (that is not a typo - that is billion with a “b”)

of which an amazing $2.3 billion was booked as goodwill.

The remaining $300 million accounted for Skype’s tangible assets.

http://tinyurl.com/hzdsb


Thru the years ebay/paypal has seriously hurt many people and they have made little or no effort to reconcile differences with their customers.. as we have clearly seen in this situation.

Thus there has been a growing amount of ill-will. I think all this is catching up with ebay. And in turn it will eventually seriously hurt ebay.

You can't keep hurting people for years and still expect to grow in customers and goodwill.

ANOTHER SCAMMER USES THE CHEAP LISTING DAY ON EBAY UK TO AUCTION FAKES...

A watch maker has just pointed out this 1 day listing scammer on the ps forum who has handily enough taken advantage of the cheap listing day.

The watches are fake:

Item no 110035583339 price should be £80 not £30 BIN
Item no 110035590604 price should be £100 not £36 BIN

The sellers recent feedback is sufficiently old to not know where it originates from. However, 3 out of 24 are no longer registered with eBay and 1 seller he bought from has the suspicious user id of 1p_auctions.

Now I see what is happening. Feedback and the linking item details remain visible for 3 months. Outside of this window, the item hyperlinks can no longer be viewed. Only the feedback comments remain.

I suggest that this fraudster has left his account dormant for sufficient time as to remove links to the 1p ebooks he has purchased to plump up his feedback score.

Another apple rotten to the core.

ANOTHER SCAMMER USES THE CHEAP LISTING DAY ON EBAY UK TO AUCTION FAKES...

A watch maker has just pointed out this 1 day listing scammer on the ps forum who has handily enough taken advantage of the cheap listing day.

The watches are fake:

Item no 110035583339 price should be £80 not £30 BIN
Item no 110035590604 price should be £100 not £36 BIN

The sellers recent feedback is sufficiently old to not know where it originates from. However, 3 out of 24 are no longer registered with eBay and 1 seller he bought from has the suspicious user id of 1p_auctions.

Now I see what is happening. Feedback and the linking item details remain visible for 3 months. Outside of this window, the item hyperlinks can no longer be viewed. Only the feedback comments remain.

I suggest that this fraudster has left his account dormant for sufficient time as to remove links to the 1p ebooks he has purchased to plump up his feedback score.

Another apple rotten to the core.

In a way this is discriminatory. Selected number of sellers can post their ads for 20 cents less? Why? Is this called price gauging or what? If you ask me, the online auctions in reverse is the way to go. Check it out yourself http://www.oltiby.com

Ebay is a Republican company now I think. They hate all other political parties.