Another ebay annoyance

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by SMPEP

But think about it from EBay's perspective ... they want you to buy something. Not look at listings they can't make money on.

And for many items other than baseball cards (which are very specific) it kind of make sense that if you lost the auction for the toilet bowl brush ... they show you another toilet bowl brush you can buy.

So from their perspective ... this is a great change to boost impulse sales.

Their perspective is flawed, though. This doesn't cause impulse buys, it causes frustration. They already give you a list of similar items when looking at completed items, no reason to route me to any single one. Also baseball cards is specific, but collectibles is not. This would be an issue with any collectibles.

Ebay was started for the collectibles market, specifically PEZdispensers, they have decided to go the opposite direction though and totally abandon the market share that helped them get to the point they have gotten to. Which is why they are going to lose in the end to Amazon and other Auction Houses. They have a large platform now, but there is no way they can compete if they keep going in this direction. They lost site of what made them stand out and the more they transform into a scammers' playground and resell shop for Amazon deals, the more they are going to lose traction.

[h2oya311]

I noticed this recently as well. Very frustrating. I don't believe this "similar item" issue occurs on the smart phone App, so that is another way to circumvent the craziness (at least for now).

[clydepepper]

Allow me to sum up this issue in two languages:


User-Friendly - No-Mas!

[JollyElm]

Just a supposition, and I'm definitely giving them much too much credit, but I'm wondering if ebay started doing this now to help knock out the possibility of some nefarious activity. Say a buy-it-now card sells for a low price (due to a seller not realizing what he/she has, etc.), usually the sharks will immediately contact the seller and offer him more money for the card. Then next thing you know (as has been documented countless times around these parts), the original sale is cancelled for a completely invented reason and the card is sold to the other guy. If listings disappear immediately, it now becomes much harder to do those sorts of things. Of course, where there's a will there's a way, but it will definitely help with the situation I highlighted here.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Just a supposition, and I'm definitely giving them much too much credit, but I'm wondering if ebay started doing this now to help knock out the possibility of some nefarious activity. Say a buy-it-now card sells for a low price (due to a seller not realizing what he/she has, etc.), usually the sharks will immediately contact the seller and offer him more money for the card. Then next thing you know (as has been documented countless times around these parts), the original sale is cancelled for a completely invented reason and the card is sold to the other guy. If listings disappear immediately, it now becomes much harder to do those sorts of things. Of course, where there's a will there's a way, but it will definitely help with the situation I highlighted here.

You're dreaming if you think eBay makes changes like this to stamp out shady behavior. It's all about driving traffic to active listings.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

You're dreaming if you think eBay makes changes like this to stamp out shady behavior. It's all about driving traffic to active listings.

Abso-freakin-lutely agree.

[robkas68]

Hey Paul,

With respect to the Clarkson, I was the high bidder. I believe the bid was a few dollars below your maximum bid and my maximum bid happened to be $2 above yours. With respect to redirecting the listing to another one, I agree it is annoying as hell and completely unnecessary. When you lose an auction you are going to look for a similar card, but their attempt to push you there is not helpful.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

You're dreaming if you think eBay makes changes like this to stamp out shady behavior. It's all about driving traffic to active listings.

+1
There is ALWAYS, ALWAYS one answer as to why ebay does anything $$, and this change is annoying as heck.
.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Leon

+1
There is ALWAYS, ALWAYS one answer as to why ebay does anything $$, and this change is annoying as heck.
.

Happened to me yesterday...it's a gnat...I move on.

[itslarry]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

Their perspective is flawed, though. This doesn't cause impulse buys, it causes frustration. They already give you a list of similar items when looking at completed items, no reason to route me to any single one. Also baseball cards is specific, but collectibles is not. This would be an issue with any collectibles.

Ebay was started for the collectibles market, specifically PEZdispensers, they have decided to go the opposite direction though and totally abandon the market share that helped them get to the point they have gotten to. Which is why they are going to lose in the end to Amazon and other Auction Houses. They have a large platform now, but there is no way they can compete if they keep going in this direction. They lost site of what made them stand out and the more they transform into a scammers' playground and resell shop for Amazon deals, the more they are going to lose traction.

But their stock is upday, and isn't that really what they care about?