Sellers treated a bit like children at eBay Live 2008
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on Jun 23rd, 2008 | 23 comments…but I still LOVE the eBay opportunity. I can give you 84 million reasons why.
It was great meeting several of the readers of my blog and newsletter at eBay Live 2008 this year, but that was BY FAR the highlight for me.
There is a positive spin to all of this, but can I vent for a minute?
So, how was eBay Live 2008 Chicago you ask?
Insulting, poorly attended, boo’ing from the crowd at the keynote address, a “downer”, new restrictive policies coming out of the woodwork…seemingly “making it up as we go” attitudes from eBay presenters…should I go on?
eBay Live 2008 wasn’t the upbeat exciting event of the long lost “good ol’ days” of… oh, about 2 years ago, but I don’t think anyone expected much more than what it was since eBay has been changing policies and beating up sellers for seemingly for sport for the last few months.
One of the sessions I attended (seriously) had the title:
“How to keep from breaking the most commonly broken eBay policies”.
Are you kidding me? If you are going to slap us around at least call the class “eBay is so sorry for the hundreds of new policies”
I also saw some of the “best of the best” eBay sellers being treated to the unofficial “kinder friendlier” rules. eBay sellers that are BIG enough and have been around long enough get to do things that the rest of can’t do. Things like making your ID a domain name. Unfair.BUT…
eBay remains a MASSIVE opportunity and is still by FAR the best place to find an audience of eager customers. Until eBay figures out a way to mess that up it’s still the place to be…
I’ve just updated my book “Silent Sales Machine” to reflect the new policies of eBay. Some of the policies are so recent that I had to add on a 15 minute audio update on the resource page of the book.
I’m staying on top of all of it though so you don’t have to.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below…
23 Responses to “ “Sellers treated a bit like children at eBay Live 2008”
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Thanks for the audio update (on the resource page for SSM). It came just in time, as I was about to set up a few auctions and a classified ad to start “stealing” traffic from eBay.
When will the updated version of your book be available? I’ve been checking the resource page now and then to see if it’s there. FYI – The book cover image link is now broken, and the link to download the “eBay updates” audio redirects to the sales letter for the book.
[[reply from Jim]] : Thanks for the heads up on the resource page. We fixed that audio link (the new book is there too). FYI – only those that are members of MySilentTeam.com or owners of my book at SilentSalesMachine.com are eligible to access the resource page. Don’t worry though – we’ll have plenty of great free info in the newsletter and in this blog if you are still checking things out.
It seems as though it would be a real challenge to even attempt to start a business on eBay now.
Why do corporations have to have so many bloated egos hanging around screwing things up?
[[reply from Jim]] – Now is actually a GREAT time to start an eBay business! Please don’t misunderstand me. The only thing you DON’T want to do is RELY FULLY on eBay for income. They hold too much power over you, but I can tell you that you’ll be hard pressed still to find a lower hanging opportunity than eBay. Proceed boldly into eBay selling – there are 84 million waiting customers!
I really was disappointed to hear that ebay
was a downer…Like you say though its still the place to be for now…
Can’t wait for your new site for off line businesses…I live in a small town and look foward to the opportunity of this new venture…
[[reply from Jim]]: I truly believe that some of the EASIEST ways to make money with the Internet is to go “offline” and provide services to local small and mid sized businesses. Even if you just sell for them on eBay it can be HUGE. Stay tuned to my free newsletter for more details soon on a VERY INEXPENSIVE SITE that will give you all the tools you need to effectively reach local businesses with IM strategies.
Jim,
I also attended eBay Live! in Chicago and Boston the previous year. I agree that this year was a bit “odd” and underwhelming. However, I am pleased with some of the changes eBay is making. For far too long, some PowerSellers got to take advantage of their PowerSeller status and provide a terrible buying experience. Yet they still were featured very prominately within eBay. Those days are gone.
To the comment above about it being a challenge to start a business on eBay. Starting a business anywhere is a challenge, but I think it’s the perfect time to start an eBay business. As long as you have outstanding customer service and are a professional you will be noticed.
I’ve been a PowerSeller and eBay member for years and while I don’t support 100% of the changes, I think they are for the better. Each person will just need to be a bit more creative on how they market themselves within the eBay Framework.
Jeff Czyzewski
Internet Marketing & eBay Strategies Blog
http://www.webposter.com
[[reply from Jim]]: No doubt some of the changes are for the better. I have no issues with the whole “feedback” thing. It’s a non-issue to me (and strangely enough it drew all the boo’ing from the crowd). Stay creative and DIVERSIFY YOUR INCOME. That’s what it’s all about…
Jim,
In your latest newsletter emailed today (6-23), you said “-putting video in your auctions can get you great ‘off eBay’ exposure”.
Ina Steiner seems to disagree. According to Ina’s AuctionBytes blog, “Vendors are saying eBay has plans to ban active content on View Item pages, and they seem unsure exactly what will be allowed. Javascript, ActiveX, Flash and embedded video players will seemingly be banned.”
How can you put a video on your website if Javascript, ActiveX, Flash and embedded video players? Is it still possible?
ALSO, you mentioned there will be “no more links or references to any outside websites ANYWHERE.” Does that mean I can no longer host my pictures elsewhere, I can only use eBay’s picture hosting? That’s what “no more links” sounds like.
Just trying to get some clarification,
Rita
[[reply from Jim]]: eBay hasn’t said they are banning video yet…we’ll have to wait and see. It’s not that anyone is right or wrong…yet. It’s a matter of seeing how nuts eBay is about blocking things. I seriously doubt they will disallow video on their site – video sells…they know that. If they do ban video though we’ll be ready and let you know! Regarding putting links to “more pictures” off of eBay…I have been triple reassured that this WILL STILL BE ALLOWED UNDER NEW POLICY. That’s actually one of my key new strategies. They had to preserve this “loophole” because some great third party services provide that exact service for eBay sellers.
Hey Jim,
It was great to see you at eBay Live this past weekend!
I appreciate your words of wisdom on eBay’s recent and upcoming changes. As an long-time seller, I really hate to see them shoot themselves in the foot like this. It almost seems that they are developing a poverty mindset by trying to keep all the focus on them.
Whatever happened to the concept of building great relationships and making each transaction become the most positive experience it can be?
eBay is the Niagara Falls of traffic and would be hard to compete with, let alone replace, but I really think they are now opening the doors to competition.
If you hear of another site that operates like the old eBay did, let me know. Drew (who sells houses and backhoes on eBay) and I will be the first to check it out.
Thanks for your continual encouragement, vision and wisdom. You are a breath of fresh air in a polluted world.
Stay in touch and let me know what I can do for you!
Rhea!
who is an evangelist for Jim Cockrum
[[reply from Jim]]: Ladies and Gentlemen…Rhea Perry and one of the SHARPEST young men you’ll ever meet…her son Drew Perry. If you ever have a chance to meet them you’ll be so glad you did. They are the perfect blend of down south ethics and street wise business minds. Favorite customers of mine for nearly a decade…
What about putting phone numbers on ebay?
I have been using that to drive sales off of ebay for a while
(mu haw haw)
[[reply from Jim]]: allowed in eBay classified ads…not in auctions (that’s an OLD policy violation – but rarely enforced)….worth the risk? You decide.
I have recently closed my store on ebay. I do still sell in auction, and am doing fine. I have been selling for going on 3 years now, and have 5 other websites, along with ebay.
I closed because of all the new rules, and pricing. When I uploaded the new change they made to the site several months ago, it messed up everything. I jet 28 duplicate emails for every 1 email a customer sends. Ebay says it was me, I must have done something, but the duplicates only come from ebay. So then the advice was to turn off the email notices. This was part of the package.
Then when I thought, ok, I will open back up the store till the end of the year. Nope, my store is already taken by someone else, (in 6 days from my closing). EBay staes they will hold it for 30 days,,,not! Then some of my items were NOT lasting the full 7 days I was charged for.
I decided to not be so trusting, and check everything they say they do. Now I am considering taking it to a lawyer. They are ripping sellers off, and they don’t care.
[reply from Jim]]: Your persistence is admirable. If I were you I wouldn’t sweat the “ebay store” being gone…just open another one under a different name. Staying flexible and “rolling with change” is part of success in this business. USE eBay – don’t RELY on eBay…nice work.
I guess I’m going to be the downer here, but what ever happened to—”work smarter not harder” OR better yet “the less I do the more I make (I love that one because it’s so true)?” With all these new changes to ebay it seems that we will all be doing the opposite of what these famous sayings intend. But I do have 2 questions: 1. what does ebay say about mentioning your email address on your “about me” page; AND 2. if you sell your info. products on ebay instead of off ebay wont you be opening yourself up for huge competition? Also, just to be clear, has ebay completely done away with selling ebooks on ebay? And a question I just thought of right this second, I know that you can put phone numbers in classified ads but can you still put email addresses in a classified ad? Because if you can, couldn’t you direct people to your classified ad that would be able to still get email addresses? Just curious about this. Or if you are just allowed to have a phone number in the ad, couldn’t you just use a phone message to direct people to a site off ebay anyway?
[[reply from Jim]]: Using eBay in a creative way is THE definition of working smarter! There are so many customers there and it’s so easy to tap into all that activity! I don’t get your point on the “work smarter”, but I can answer your questions…
1. no more links to your email address ANYWHERE. That’s what’s coming Sept 1st. This LIKELY includes classified ads and DEFINITELY includes about me pages.
2. competition will be able to see what you are doing, but if you only sell your front end “loss leaders” on eBay you’ll be able to up-sell from that point without your competition having any clue. I’m not worried about competition anyway…the real money is in the back end so work on that…
3. eBay HAS NOT done away with ebooks…they’ve killed digital delivery though. Put it on a CD and you can sell away…
4. I’m 95% sure that once the official rules finally come out that you won’t be able to put an email address in a classified ad. VERY STUPID I KNOW, but that’s that rules…
There are still some highly effective strategies that DO WORK and will generate great leads. I’ve put all of those in a recording on the resource page of SilentSalesMachine.com. Get the book to get access to the resource page.
Hi Jim,
I’m brand new to marketing and, after reading SSM, I decided that eBay would be a great place to start but now I’m not so sure. You say USE eBay – don’t RELY on eBAy and I understand that. But if eBay keeps punishing us, repeatedly, instead of rewarding us for loyalty (and the huge profits they’re making from us) shouldn’t we be thinking about fighting back? Is complacancy really an answer to our growing problems? How about a petition or even a boycott to demonstrate how most (if not all) of us feel? Do you really think we should just TAKE what they’re dishing out? These are real questions. I’d really like a reply. Thanks for all the great work you’re doing. Most of us REALLY appreciate it even if we don’t more often say so.
[[reply from Jim]]: You do have a choice to make, but earlier today I was telling someone to look at it from a completely non-emotional vantage point. eBay has 84 million active users. As long as I can tap into that customer base I’m going to. If I get an occasional undeserved “slap” from eBay I’ll bounce back and get back in the game. Think of it as a game…it helps. Use eBay as ONE STREAM…not THE stream of income you rely on.
Okay, I’m playing devil’s advocate again. What is your work around for this statement from eBay?
“Allowed under the new policy are links to:
-Photos of the item for sale, as long as the page displaying the photos does not offer, or link to, a site that offers a product or service for sale off eBay.”
(http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200805191328272.html)
How will you be getting around this? I’m really interested.
Thanks.
[[reply from Jim]]: “get around it?” I don’t get around rules…I stay well within the rules while making sure I get the maximum ROI for the eBay fees I pay. I knew you’d like that answer Rita… :0) So here goes…if eBay won’t let us link to a site that sells something on the page where we show our pictures, then why not just have a FREE newsletter offer there? Nothing being sold if you do that! Bring ‘em on Rita! ;0)
Hi, Jim! I was wondering if Ebay says that you can only sell digital items through its Classified Ads, then why are they blocking external links throughout ebay including classified ads?. Thanks for any replies
[[reply from Jim]]: don’t drive yourself nuts trying to figure out why…it doesn’t make sense if they told you. Just focus on how you can get the most from eBay with the best ROI for the fees you pay.
Jim I thought that you couldn’t offer a FREE newsletter unless you went through ebay? But here is an idea I had with classified ads—couldn’t you use voicemail to direct people to your website being that you are still allowed to provide a telephone number in your ads?
Hi Jim:
I am new to your book and eBay business in general. I also got turned on to another eBay book recently. Not to give anything away for your competition, but it has the word annilation in it.
I am not new to Internet Marketing but I was getting stale and decided to check out eBay further. I also became a member of the eBay affiliate program through CJ. Then lo and behold, all heck broke lose.
eBay took their affiliate program in house and messed up many people apparently. The forum at the eBay affiliate site is full of unhappy campers. Apparently some of eBay’s bigger partners get to play by a different set of rules and commission hi jacking through the use, in part, of enlarging eBay pictures is acceptable to eBay.
Now according to your readers, eBay is messing with the sellers. Boy I sure picked a good time to decide on an eBay business and to become an affiliate to send my comic book visitors to.
You are one of the experts, so I will heed what you say, but it sure seems all of a sudden eBay is going to heck in a hand cart. And Yahoo & McAfee have entered the fray of falsely accusing some business websites of spamming, etc because their new software gives false positives. And they don’t care. Seems like the big dogs are starting not to give a darn about us little guys and are just rolling over us because it is much harder for us to develop any clout against them.
Yes eBay has some major traffic, but it seems the time is now ripe for someone else to start a business site to offer the services that eBay does. Are you up for it Jim? I will support you.
Anyway, thanks for letting me vent and thanks for your book. Although now I have to go back to the begining of the new revision. I was well into the last revision. Take care.
Dave
[[reply from Jim]]: I’ve been on eBay for nearly 10 years now. There has ALWAYS been some hurdles to overcome and there have always been new policies that aren’t necessarily in our favor as sellers. I remember when eBay told us years ago that we couldn’t link to external websites from within our auctions any longer. You should have seen the moaning and groaning…but those that stayed creative and paid attention went on to thrive. It’s a simple matter really – there are 84 million active eBay users. you can either get in front of them with an offer or you can do something else, but nearly anything else you do won’t get you the kind of exposure you can get on eBay for just about any product.
“Don’t start sweating before it gets really hot!” What I mean by this is, don’t get stressed out before you definitely know for *sure* what new rules eBay will establish and enforce. Only then we can find creative ways to still make it work for us.
You forgot to mention that the How To Stop Breaking Rules class was really helpful to a room full of people who otherwise didn’t know most or any of those things. How many of those did you know?
That class was taught by me and Cliff Ennico. We’re not eBay staff, and we have no reason to apologise for what the rules are. We’re only trying to help, and you might want to thank us for helping you and other sellers know what you didn’t know.
[[reply from Jim]]: Thanks for the great class – that’s not sarcasm, I mean it. I learned a ton as did the room full of people that were there.
It’s sort of scary though that a guy (me) who makes a living by attempting to keep up with eBay policy had so many questions though!
Here’s the real issue to me: What’s the plan to get the info from your class out before July 1st to the other 4 million active sellers that didn’t attend eBay Live?
If that question makes sense to you then you’ll get my point.
The very fact that the class was so needed is evidence that there have been too many changes too fast. I hope you can see the irony of needing a class at eBay Live that is all about all the rules we all keep breaking…as if it’s our fault as sellers that the rules are pouring out of eBay faster than anyone can possibly keep up with! I found myself educating several eBay employees on their own policies during the weekend.
A suggestion to eBay: Next year instead of a class that teaches us how to stop breaking rules how about a class that tells us what policy changes are coming and how to prepare for them.
Hey, Jim. Thanks for clarifying.
I completely agree… the rules are not easy to know, understand, or digest. I do my best to explain them in my blog, and we’ll be doing a webinar next week. I WILL be covering how to get ready for future changes. Someone on the phone just asked me how to keep up with these things… I can only do as much as I can do, especially considering I’m not eBay staff!
We’re now doing our RocketPlace conference twice a year to help people. People can follow my blog at aswas.typepad.com or my twitter at twitter.com/aswas. We’ll hold webinars more often if we find that helps.
I’m doing everything I can to keep getting new and veteran eBay sellers all the info I can once I know things are real and not rumours.
[[reply from Jim]]: happy to post your comments and get you some publicity for a fine effort as we try to DO EBAY’S JOB FOR THEM. Hopefully I’ll win you over some day to see that I’m not such a bad guy after all too. (I’m still not sure if you think I made up all my testimonials – you are the only one to ever say something like that to my knowledge…takes guts, but I’m still happy to let you pick any one of them and follow up on it for yourself if you’d like.)
Great reply to Debbie’s comment Jim. And with all these changes to ebay I really do appreciate the new updates/strategies you have for complying with the new policies; but I am still thinking that there have got to be better strategies:( Are you open to suggestions from your readship? And being that you’re the expert and more experienced, you can explain why some of the suggestions would/would not be viable? Because I do have a few more ideas but if you’re not open to hearing them I will just keep them to myself.
[[reply from Jim]]: of course we are all ears when someone has a good idea. I never claimed to have a lock on all creative eBay ideas…I just collect good ideas as a hobby!
Hey Jim. I didn’t say YOU made up all your testimonials, but I will say that you do get lumped in with people who I can prove had made up their testimonials.
Thanks for posting my comments and giving me the chance to respond!
[[reply from Jim]]: I’d be questioning the integrity of the “lumper” not me…I run a 100% clean shop open to all audits of any kind. When the ideas work you don’t have to make things up. People use the ideas I write, they go on to succeed and then they sometimes send in thank you notes. It’s CRAZY…I know…who’d a thunk it…?
Reminds me of an old saying…”the nice thing about always telling the truth is that you don’t have to remember what you said.”
Darn “lumpers”…what a lazy job they’ve got…who has time for “lumping” anyway? Can you get paid to do that?
Wise man say “always question the lumper not the lumpees.”
I’m having too much fun with this…I’d better stop before I get lumped in with sarcastic people.
Jim I did have a couple of ideas about how to stay within ebay’s rules but still get exposure to your off ebay site:
1. I know that ebay said that you couldn’t put links and email addresses anywhere in your listings or ‘about me’ page—what about directing people to your site by including the UNIQUE name of your product in your listings or ‘about me’ page, without trying to make it seem like you’re selling it—just mention it? This would require SEO keywords, but your keywords could be the title/name of your product as long as the title/name is unique so it would be at the top of the google results or the only result there for those exact keywords.
2. Or like I’ve stated earlier use an ebay ad including a phone number that they call and on a voicemail message leads them to your off ebay site.
Just 2 ideas that I think are a little easier than more listings/selling an infoproduct on a CD and keeps your competition from seeing EXACTLY what you’re doing on ebay. Tell me what you think, are the ideas stupid or not viable?
Hello is it still ok to use opt in forms in a classified ad?
[[reply from Jim]]: it’s looking like that WON’T be allowed once ebay starts enforcing the rules. They haven’t started enforcing rules from May yet though so who knows…my instinct is that eBay will be banning all opt-in forms anywhere on eBay, although they have said nothing about it on the about me page yet.
Hey Jim,
Anyway, was reading through this post and I have some info/clarifications that I’ve been able to get from eBay through the Certified Provider program (WhatDoISell.com is an eBay Certified Provider). This information is public and authorized for communication, by the way!
Sorry we missed each other at eBay Live – I ran in to a couple people who said “You just missed Jim!”
1. Links to additional photos or pages describing the item will continue to be allowed. (As long as nothing is being sold on the page or there are no links that lead off that page.)
2. Video in listings hosted by approved sources (such as YouTube) will continue to be allowed.
3. Off-eBay links are not allowed in Classified ads.
4. Phone numbers and Skype chat are still allowed in listings and your About Me page.
As a side note, a very small percentage of sellers provide phone numbers in their eBay listings, yet it is a great sales and conversion tool (if you have the ablity to staff the phone)so for those who have been thinking of adding phone support to their eBay business model, the summer is a great time to try it before moving into the busy holiday season.
Also, for anyone who is looking for more info – we’ve just released a 90 minute audio training product that includes a 21 page step-by-step workbook on all the current and upcoming eBay policy changes (including clarifications, analysis and new strategies) at http://www.policychanges2008.com
Lisa
I am not completely new to ebay – but their rules are rather daunting to understand.
“ebay will allow links to non-transactional sites from your “about me” page
what is a non-transactional site? I am getting a website together (not ebay) to see some items – can I mention my website name in the about me page? I will be putting a few items on ebay but questioning all this.