Users Thoughts on eBay   by inreallife

#11182 in Business
Rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 13 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

INTRO

Lately, I've been collecting data on what eBay buyers & sellers are doing & saying in response to eBays recent changes. I thought I'd share them here. Check back - I'll update it as I get more info. If you buy or sell on eBay, click the link below to take the survey yourself! - your answers will contribute to an article!

LINKS 

Survey
Do you buy or sell on eBay? Take the survey reported here!
More detailed results
Click here to see more detailed results of this survey. These are continually updated.
eBay Subsidiaries
Check this out to see the companies eBay owns worldwide.

How Buyers Search 

Shipping cost & seller's positive feedback rating are the most important factors a buyer considers before bidding on an item The detailed seller ratings are less important.

Browsing the catgeory & searching by ending soonest and listed most recently are the main ways to search for items. Buyers rarely searched by cost, location or best match.

What Do Buyers Do? 

Do you mainly buy in auction format (rather than buy-it-nows)? YES 70.0% (21) NO 30.0% (9)
Do you always leave feedback for sellers? YES 73.3% (22) NO 26.7% (8)
Do you support eBay's new policy of masking bidders IDs for all auctions (e.g. a****b (77)) YES 0.0% (0) NO 100.0% (30)
Do you generally leave feedback for sellers before they leave feedback for you? YES 90.0% (27) NO 10.0% (3)
Do you generally complete the Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) when leaving feedback (DSRs address item description accuracy, shipping cost, seller communication etc)? YES 76.7% (23) NO 23.3% (7)
Before you leave a seller negative or neutral feedback, do you contact the seller about the problem or other issue? YES 100.0% (30) NO 0.0% (0)

Feedback 

70% of buyers have avoided leaving any feendback for sellers, rather than leaving a negative.

Are Sellers Leaving? 

Of the sellers answering, over half either already have, or plan to, leave eBay as their selling venue. Over 80% have already decreased the amount they sell on eBay. But most who have left would return if eBay undid its recent changes.

In descending order of importance, sellers are leaving eBay for the following reasons:
Feedback changes
Fee changes
Paypal 21-day hold
Search changes
Falling sales

What auction sites do people use? 

Folks buy & sell the most at eBay

PEOPLE MAINLY BUY AT eBay, Amazon.com, OnlineAuction.com, iOffer.com, Overstock.com.

And THEY MAINLY SELL AT:
eBay, their own websites, OnlineAuction.com, iOffer.com, eCrater.com.

About Sellers  

Only about a third of sellers leave feedback for all their buyers.

Most sellers who leave feedback leave it after a buyer has left feedback for them.

Only about a fourth of sellers leave feedback first.
About 80% of sellers have not left feedback for a buyer, rather than leaving a neutral or neg.

Great Stuff on Amazon 

eBay For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

eBay For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

by Marsha Collier

Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 10/16/2008)

Starting an eBay Business For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

Starting an eBay Business For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

by Marsha Collier

Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 10/16/2008)

Markets in Profile: Profiting from the Auction Process (Wiley Trading)

Markets in Profile: Profiting from the Auction Process (Wiley Trading)

by James F. Dalton, Robert Bevan Dalton, Eric T. Jones

Amazon Price: $40.95 (as of 10/16/2008)

Buy It, Sell It, Make Money: Your Guide to Finding and Reselling Luxury Goods for Personal Wealth

Buy It, Sell It, Make Money: Your Guide to Finding and Reselling Luxury Goods for Personal Wealth

by Nancy Baughman

Amazon Price: $17.95 (as of 10/16/2008)

Moonlighting on the Internet

Moonlighting on the Internet

by Yanik Silver

Amazon Price: $14.93 (as of 10/16/2008)