My name is Matthew Bredel and as of March, 2007, I am a full-time, work-at-home internet marketer.
For close to 10 years, I worked for a defense company which was an OK job, but I was so uninspired in life and frankly, I needed some more money. That is when I first discovered internet marketing! Now I admit that I didn't start making thousands in my first couple of months (in fact, I lost my shirt!), but I finally saw the "internet light"...
Back in San Diego (which has been bloody hot for the past few days) and I’ve had a chance to assess the damage (or lack of) due to the most recent eBay Live! event.
Now remember that I am not a true eBay guru in any sense of the word…I just play one here on my [...]
Back in San Diego (which has been bloody hot for the past few days) and I’ve had a chance to assess the damage (or lack of) due to the most recent eBay Live! event.
Now remember that I am not a true eBay guru in any sense of the word…I just play one here on my blog. I have reviewed a lot of eBay training products and I have had my little spells of selling an item or two (mostly for other marketing reasons) on eBay, but I am nowhere near the powerselling status that many people who I have met over the years have achieved.
So I return back home no better or worse for what is going on with eBay. But I also see that this is not the same for those who rely on eBay as the portal for their business and as an “outsider”, I can only imagine the frustration, anger and concern many of them are experiencing.
I did have a run-in with PayPal about 9 months ago. I still use them and the (stupid) issue was finally resolved but I have found myself needing to rely less on PayPal as a merchant and diversify my efforts a bit more.
This may be the trend we will start to see with eBay. eBay is unbelievable as a marketplace to provide you with lots of traffic and little technical know-how to getting it started. But you are at the mercy of this marketplace. And as we are seeing, eBay is playing god in this eCommerce empire and there is not really much anyone can do to change it.
I think that is really what the aftermath in this whole event is all about…despite the subdued atmosphere, the frustration and constant negative feedback focused toward eBay, I don’t think anything is going to change whatsoever.
The new DSR system will continue the way that they have redeveloped it. Though, like any major change, there will be a “dust to settle” period that still needs to take place. This is what happens with Google all of the time, right? Every algorithm change results in many of us scrambling to find our previous rankings and we worry about the future of our business.
And then, a few weeks later the “reputable” businesses seem to return right back to the place they were.
Plus from my own experiences, I have learned not to rely on search engine rankings on Google as the major source of my traffic.
eCommerce and the internet are multi-dimensional. I personally think that eBay is going the wrong direction with a lot of their changes and policies. In an internet environment of social growth and interactivity, the lock-down of eBay may help in patrolling the site but it is going to hinder the website and those who use it.
What do you do? Expand! eBay is a great place to find people and traffic, but develop yourself outside the eBay castle! Use eBay to get customers, but make them want to buy from you in the future, externally (your own eCommerce store!). And I am not talking about an eBay Store, either. Possibly a ProStore. Preferably some outside the eBay circle.
Something YOU have complete control over.
This was bound to happen. This is the dynamics of running a business and while many were just plainly ticked off at eBay Live! in Chicago, the true business people were channeling their energy around adapting and moving forward and not trying to change something (that really is not going to change).
For every negative comment about the conference, I also heard a positive one, too. I miss the way that eBay Live! was and I will miss the event next year…but times they are a-changing!
cheers…matt
A few links that people have sent me or that I have found over the past couple of days about the eBay Live event:
Red Ink Diary- How eBay Lost its Groove
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ebay dead 2008 was pathetic. Our fourth year. Attendance down 40%. Exhibitors down 40%. No excitement. ebay employees booed in many sessions. 2009 canceled because of lack of interest. I can’t imagine how a business model to penalize the paying customers will spin this perky. And lets remember even the stock is no Buy It Now!
June 24th, 2008 at 9:02 am