eBay has to be managed by its enemies... tell me more about other auction sites

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I just went to eBay and the "My eBay" page is changed, drastically! I've spent about 5 minutes trying to figure it out, to no avail; about as long again trying to email in a complaint, same results... I'll bid occasionally, but I think I'm about done with eBay. They seem in self-destruct mode. One of my wisest stock market decisions seems to have been to not buy eBay...

Anyone else frustrated with the new "My eBay" and the eternal loss of the old one?

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Posted By: Anthony S.

I noticed that earlier today. Not diggin' the new look. I checked the FAQ page and the change is indeed permanent. You can't default back to the old set up.

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Posted By: Rich Wetherbee

I was "surprised", as only eBay can surprise you (similar feeling as if you're kid came home with a story that starts, "Dad, about your car...."). The page seems very cumbersome, and it slows my computer to a crawl when I attempt to use it. What was wrong with the old My eBay? It had all the info I wanted, easy to navigate, etc. Leave it to the Einsteins at eBay to come up with another winner.

Rich W.

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Posted By: JDRUM

being "progressive" I guess. It doesn't necessarily have to be better, only different.

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

Just create a Want List on VCP and you get emails sent to you with links directly to the auction.

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Posted By: Scott Levy

Is anyone on net54 tech savvy enough to create a similar auction site for vintage cards? I'm really frustrated with ebay's brute force of slamming things like paypal, fees for dispute resolution, etc down their customer's throats. I used to think that only Verizon had a monopoly on antagonizing their customers this much -- but ebay is becoming on heck of a competitor!

-SGL

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Posted By: Andy Cook

Everyone who works at ebay should be required to sell 5 items each month on the site. I don't think any of their management actually ever use it themselves.

Andy

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Posted By: Jason

Well Scott I've been slowing probing a good friend of mine that is a top notch web designer about the idea of a website for vintage card sales. (He has worked on the CAT website and is working on a database for a major Canadian auctioneer at the moment)

It will take a bit to create but I'm hoping I'll have a nice database website that will allow collectors to sell and contact one another directly with either fixed price or auction formats.

I'm actually doing it with the intent of not making money. (Would be nice to not cost me either) Its in the early stages, but I'm sure you'll see a few choices for buying your cards in the future.

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Posted By: dan mckee

I locve the way the lady in charge says 90% of users are already using the now enforced Beta version. BS! It is slow as all helll! I hate it, I just missed an auction I wanted to bid on! I would have completed my 1987 Topps set.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I should have come to the forum and read this post before I went to my "my ebay" page. I just spent 10 minutes trying to find the "Opt out" option.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Scott, Andy, I agree!!!


Dan Mc, which 87 Topps do you need? Email me a want list.

Dan B, I couldn't find the opt out, I barely figured out how to leave altogether.

Jason, PLEASE let us know if/when you get something up and going.



The Pentagon folks should hire eBay management and send them to Bin Laden to help his cause. al-Qaida would be finished in a week.

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Posted By: Jim VB

From last May through October this was their test version (beta). They told us in November that come January 20, this would be the only version.


To me, at least so far, it looks different, but not necessarily worse. (I'll admit, I'm at the point in life where "different" almost always translates to "worse.")

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Posted By: Jim VB

Dan,

Same thing Frank said about '87 Topps. Send me a list. They may be in my garage.


(Adding- I asssumed you were kidding of course!)

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Posted By: leon

"(I'll admit, I'm at the point in life where "different" almost always translates to "worse.")"


classic line

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Posted By: Jim VB

Leon,

Yeah, well if you're not there yet, I'll give you another 5 years, tops.

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Posted By: leon

I think about 5 yrs is just about right.....I am not quite there but almost...

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Posted By: Max Weder

I must admit that when the beta version came in, I deliberately chose not to opt out, perhaps realizing the transition would be more abrupt on Jan 20. Today was thus for me just another slow decline in the ebay world.

I realize that ebay will do what it thinks is right, which is, ever more increasingly, not the right thing that made it successful in the first place.

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Posted By: Doug

It's almost like they are determined to keep changing stuff whether it's any good or not. I don't like the new auction pages either. I don't see how they think they're "making a change for the better" by making everything more complicated and tougher to use.

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Posted By: Rob D.

Whenever our newspaper does a redesign or makes significant cosmetic or functional changes to our Web site, the reader feedback is almost always negative by a ratio of about 8-1. Yet traffic and the number of unique users stays constant (and continually grows).

Then, down the road, when more changes are implemented, people clamor for the most recent way "it used to be."

Simply put, the majority of people don't like change. (Unless, of course, it's paired with "hope.")

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

True enough Rob, but this new "my ebay" seems considerably slower to me. Which is not the kind of change I was hoping for.

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Posted By: Rob D.

I agree, Dan. But having been on the other side of "re-launches" like this, I'd be willing to bet that the slowness issue will be corrected soon. No matter what IT people say, until you go live with something like this, you're never 100 percent sure what performances issues you're going to see.

As poorly as eBay has been managed from a business standpoint the past few years, I've thought its technical platform has been pretty solid considering the amount of users it has.

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Posted By: joe

Maybe I use ebay too often. I have been selling items for my daughter for the last 14 months and I don't have any problems. Have sold over 1000 items. My ebay has not changed or I just get used to it quickly. What are
the problems. Searching, selling ? I still sell and buy under my ebay id also. Sorry if I don't see all the problems.

Joe

Ty Cobb, Spikes flying!

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Posted By: Rhys

I noticed too that for some reason this is the ONLY site on the internet which makes my computer run slow and stall out. Unfotrunately the old saying "if it aint broke, dont fix it" doesn't apply to ebay. It seems to me that everyone and their mother was on there selling and genuinely enjoying themselves up until a few years ago and now with all the fixed price listings, the fee hikes, paypal only regs, etc. etc. it is simply not as enjoyable anymore.

Rhys

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Posted By: D. Bergin

Well, I still see they haven't gotten rid of the old item pages yet. When they make the new item pages permanent is when things will start going really sour.

I don't know how anybody would opt for the "New" pages. The layout is awful, it took me several minutes to find the "View Sellers Other Items" link and you need to click on 3 different pages to see all the info in the auction. It's also extremely glitchy, especially using Firefox where the "Description" page disappears if you click out of it to see the "Shipping Details". I hate to think there's buyers out there using the New Item pages and not knowing they can switch back to the old pages.

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Posted By: Bob

What ever happened to the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" mentality. Ebay is trying to modernize and keep in step with the times and all they seem to do is alienate their loyal customers and p.o. a lot of potential new users.
I too thought I had accidentally clicked on to the Beta version. I hate it. Interestingly enough ebay justifies it by saying that they polled their customers and this was their preference. I must have missed that email...

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Posted By: Richard

I also think the changes are negative. The format was fine before why go and tinker with a good thing. I hate it when this happens. They are driving themselves right out of business and that is what they deserve.

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Posted By: Roger

I just discovered if you log in to

ebay.ca -- my ebay page is in the old format.

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Posted By: Stephen Mitchell

Thanks to Roger for the tip that www.ebay.ca still retains the "old" format. But for how long? Hopefully at least until tomorrow. I spent at least an hour longer working with and against the "new" system today.

As an earlier poster indicated, the official word from eBay is that less than 10% of us apparently object (i.e. do not use) the new version (until mandated yesterday). Below is a copy of the official eBay edict:

Renee VonBergen
Hi everyone!
This is Renée from eBay Product Management. Last November we announced we would be retiring the old version of My eBay on January 20th. More than 90% of eBay members currently use the new My eBay already, but if you are one of the remaining 10% who have not made the switch, we encourage you to give it a try in the next few days.

I must say that the statement about "the remaining 10%" seems highly suspicious and smacking of official government statistics - especially as concerns inflation. In any event, I do not consider this Progressive in the truest sense of the term.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Ebay is most likely counting all of the accounts that are open, but inactive which I'm sure make up a large percentage of ebay accounts.

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Posted By: D. Bergin

Yeah, count me among the 10%. I didn't realize I was in such exclusive company.