posted on March 25, 2002 11:30:16 AM
I have a tendency to bore friends to death talking about eBay.
Mostly about the concerns I have regarding the direction I consider present management is taking the service (See thousands of posts made by numerous sellers about hundreds of issues over the past three years for specific details).
I'll do the same thing to complete strangers, as happened this past weekend when an adjoining seller at the Flea Market foolishly asked "Oh, you sell on eBay? How's that working out?"
While the glazed eyes and facial signs of desperation to escape are quickly apparent, I seldom let them go until I've completed my rant of the day.
Unwilling to accept the suggestion that I just shut up, I would like some guidance in articulating the value of what, for lack of a better description, I express as the concerns of the "Quality of Life Sellers".
Most people, not involved with online selling, seem to view the conflicts between eBay and sellers as just another case of businesses fighting over potential profit. Much like any landlord/tenent squabble at a strip mall. Move on, find a different store to rent or get another way of earning income, seem to be the general tenor of the responses.
I'm hopelessly caught up in the belief that online trading is a revolutionary change and provides individuals opportunities that have never existed before in this magnitude. And that eBay, with it's domination of the marketplace, first fostered these opportunity and is now strangling them.
Who are these "Quality of Life Sellers"? This is where my ability to express myself fails me. I feel, with complete certainty, of their existence, but defining their common thread eludes me.
They are the people who because of illness or disability have few or no choices in working outside of their home. It might be themselves that are impacted by health issues or a child, SO or parent. Or people who believe deeply in home schooling or wish to be available at home for interaction with growing children.
Artisans who want to support a modest lifestyle while pursuing their dream. The elderly supplementing modest income. People limited by location, experience or opportunity who have found a way to avoid spirit crushing drudgery as employees by often working harder for less money but having the opportunity to grow as their own boss.
Others are hobbyist or collector who have been able to expand far beyond previous limits in seeking their own growth and satisfaction. Entrepreneurs who can start businesses without the previous barrier's of prohibitive start-up investment. Existing business that are given the chance to expand nationally and even globally which was impossible even just a few years ago.
This list is woefully short. Each of you are a chapter onto itself in this story. People with needs, wants and dreams who, in unlimited numbers, have been given an extraordinary opportunity to reach beyond their present self, in directions of their choice.
This is business and, appropriately, is about money. It's also about a lot more. Self expression, self esteem, opportunity, hope, personal growth, overcoming failure and mistakes, joining an international community, helping and being helped and caring.
To the extent that any of these and/or other choices, from a list of a hundred more characteristics, apply to you then you are not engaged in online selling for just the money. You see an opportunity for a Quality of Life that you want.
When negative changes or limitations occur, notably from the dominate service provider in the OAI, they don't just limit profit potential. Lost income can be replaced in endless way by most people. It erodes dreams and opportunities.
Lost dreams, hopes and opportunities are not as easily replaced as money.
"Quality of Life" is not just a landlord/tenant squabble.
What binds us together is not just the eBay actions we are against but, vastly more important, what we as a group want and are willing to work to achieve.
posted on March 25, 2002 11:47:50 AM
ebay sellers are not tied to ebay like serfs,many of us choose to sell on ebay for whatever reasons-quick turn around is one of the many reasons i can think of right now.
yahoo has 20,000 shops,you can stake your claim there if you feel it is for you.
amzn z shop allows you to list 40,000 items for 39.99
you can also choose to have your own site or join cybermalls like rubylane,collector on line,tias ,auction watch,ansdale storefronts etc.
to each his own.
of course if you have your own site,you will have to spend on marketing to drive traffic to your site.
posted on March 25, 2002 12:17:00 PM
<<Others are hobbyist or collector who have been able to expand far beyond previous limits in seeking their own growth and satisfaction.
This is business and, appropriately, is about money. It's also about a lot more. Self expression, self esteem, opportunity, hope, personal growth, overcoming failure and mistakes, joining an international community, helping and being helped and caring.
To the extent that any of these and/or other choices, from a list of a hundred more characteristics, apply to you then you are not engaged in online selling for just the money. You see an opportunity for a Quality of Life that you want.>>
Overall, I really enjoyed your post. I am a QL seller. I have been selling on the "internet" for over 10 years. It started with local BB's, who then hooked up together to form Fidonet, then there were the newsgroups, and now Ebay. It has been fun.
<When negative changes or limitations occur, notably from the dominate service provider in the OAI, they don't just limit profit potential. Lost income can be replaced in endless way by most people. It erodes dreams and opportunities.>
However, I have to depart company with you here. My family has had a prosperous pet store for decades. The headaches with B&M are much greater than cyber stores.
With cyberstores we have much less investment, we can move and change quicker, and we can get regular customers just as well.
Yes, eBay has done some things I don't like. Some are just silly, while others have made me scramble.
But, ebay has tremendous with value, so I use it. But, if ebay were to dissappear tomorrow, I would get along. I have an "internet" business, not an ebay business. Even if the internet dissappeared, I would then have to have a mail-order business. But, I would survive.
posted on March 25, 2002 01:01:57 PMjoining an international community
I won't even join my local community and have always believed in running my business the way I want to and doing things my way. I have to abide by certain laws and pay certain fees and I donate to different charities and groups but that's about as far as it goes for my involvement.
I have always been a bit of a loner with my own ideas and communities always seem to be headed by certain people or groups who think their ideas are the best ones or the only way to go. Perhaps I would be more successful and make fewer mistakes if I followed but I doubt I would be as happy.
Doing business on the internet is less costly than running a B&M with far fewer problems and less stress. But I don't view ebay or other auction sites or my website or my B&M store as my total future. Right now all of it is my survival though.
posted on March 25, 2002 07:37:21 PM
There's a new breed of sellers moving in from B&M stores and they like eBay just fine. It's clear, the bottom line is money, and everyone's okay with that. There's a new breed of buyers, too. No sense of adventure, they know that there are a million "collectibles" to be had at below-wholesale prices.
I think most of us fell into the trap of the eBay "community." We could believe in a community because the money was easy. Then eBay started to tilt the playing field. I remember when eBay banned auction management software from the Featured category, then began selling its own auction management software. That was when I realized the heart was gone. (Remember when the Support Board was one thread with one moderator? ) Did anyone anticipate third-party services offering an annual listing plan?
I wonder if Pierre had realized that he'd be raking in a billion dollars a year, would he have done things differently?
posted on March 25, 2002 09:59:59 PM
Good post, RR!
Selling on eBay is as close to the actual sport of fishing as I'll ever get. I enjoy the challenge, the bait, watching to see if I get a bite, reeling them in, etc. (not sure how far I can carry this metaphor!).
I love turning stuff no one in our family wants into cash. I enjoy interacting with strangers whom I can treat decently in a hit and run situation wherein I'll probably never encounter them again--but still, being kind to strangers helps make the world a better place (in my small way).
I enjoy working in my pjs, or overnight if I choose, and helping friends sell things they don't know how to unload.
Love it all, except for the packing part, and that just comes with the territory like (and here's my metaphor again) having to clean the fish once it's caught! ~adele
