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I’ve really got to question the thinking behind this.

Why would a self employed person go in strike? Who is going to feel the effect most from that action?

I won’t be listing, but only as I am on holiday, which is a shame as if the sellers strike is a successful as the protesters are claiming it will be, it would less competition and give me a lot more exposure to buyers, many of who are unaware of any changes. Even on the PS Board on ebay, there are still people with 10,000+ feedback coming on with the “OMG - feedback is changing” - 10 days after the news was announced. PSF may be a popular site, just as the ebay Q&A boards are, but do we really know what % of eBay members ever use forums or discussion sites? I would pushed to even believe 1% of all members have ever looked at or contributed to an eBay forum.

If these sellers can not cope with the change, then maybe ebay is not the best venue for them. It’s ebay’s site and ebays rules. We’ve all signed, and agreed to the T&C’s that say that they can change the rules as and when they want, and whilst we are playing with their ball, in their court, then we have to stick with it. If people want to leave, then that is their prerogative, but ebay has the biggest court to play on, and at the moment I am still happy to pay the price.

I’m even getting used to the feedback idea - afterall, how many other purchases online, or in B&M shops, do you make where feedback is left? I’m even wavering on whether to cancel my automated feedback - afterall, why should I penalise the vast majority of my buyers who cause no problem whatsoever? ebay maybe tarring all sellers with the same brush, but I am not going to drop to their level and do the same to my buyers.

Personally, the only people that will notice the sellers strike are those that are not listing. I very much doubt it will affect ebay, or their opinion, I doubt buyers will notice, but maybe some sellers may notice an upturn if their competition is reduced for a week. The whole thing has been a badly thought out and reactionary event.

Rather than not listing, and spending a week with the bottom lip out, grumping with other sellers, the whole idea would have been better organized as an exodus to Tazbar, 121bid, ebid etc, and sellers bringing their customers with them. These sites do offer better pricing and service than ebay, no doubt, but they do not have the traffic of buyers that ebay currently has.

What I am thinking though, is what will the striking sellers do after the strike? Come back to eBay, tail betwixt legs and saying very little? Surely any action should be a continual process until change or conformity is achieved.

Will there be ongoing strikes? Wildcat strikes? Work to Rule, overtime bans?!!!

It’s all very reactionary, and poorly thought out IMO. “Industrial action” needs to have a defined goal, and contingency plans. All I see so far is a few people saying “I’m not gonna list for a week” - but what then?

What are they going to do during that week?
What are they going to do afterwards?
Have they thought about alternative long term solutions?
If eBay don’t budge, then what happens?

Rather than a militant “I’m on strike, so there!” attitude, if a constructive plan of action had been put together, then it may hold a lot more credence.

Here’s an alternative proposal that may have had more credablity.

1. ebay Sellers spend the next week moving their inventory to one pre-agreed alternative - ebid, tazbar, 121bid, whoever.
2. That chosen site goes on a major offensive for new buyers, and all the sellers also contact their previous customers to let them know the arrangement.
3. All possible media is used to broadcast the fact that sellers are on the exodus, and where they are headed - BBC, Sky news, the daily national papers etc. A major PR exercise is needed by the sellers to attract buyers to the alternative venue.
4. Sellers strike goes ahead on the 18th, but continues until ebay decide to change policy.
5. Striking sellers in the meantime are helping to build a credible alternative to eBay, which may make them reconsider their market position.

eBay can easily survive a week without a handful of sellers, and since they have all said that they will be back on the 25th, ebay have not got long to weather the storm, or drizzle as it may turn out to be.

I’m not denying that ebay are without fault, far from it, but I just do not see the purpose in the strike in the way it has been organised.

Teddies are out of the pram, but on the 25th, it looks like they’ll all be quietly put back in again.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 10th, 2008 at 1:17 am and is filed under Selling on eBay, eBay Tips & tricks, eBay articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.