eBay Powerseller Does not Agree With New Policy Changes, Starts His Own Site
Published February 26th, 2008
Press Release
David Hoffman has been a member of eBay since mid 2000 and a powerseller for the past year. But, with eBay’s recent announcement that they are increasing fees, changing search results to favor the more established sellers, and implementing a new feedback policy that prevents sellers from leaving neutral or negative feedback to buyers, David has no choice but to abandon using eBay as a selling vehicle. Instead, he is moving his wares to other auction sites and has also opened his own auction web-site.
Sellers from all over the world are currently boycotting eBay and many buyers are joining the ranks everyday. David has been a loyal supporter of the initial week-long boycott (which began on February 18th and ends on February 25th), and, with eBay’s complete lack of response to sellers concerns, is now joining the next boycotting round that is scheduled to run from February 25th through March 3rd.
When asked about the boycott, Mr. Hoffman had this to say: “I couldn’t believe it when I first read the announcement from eBay. And, like a lot of other sellers, I was first overjoyed that they were lowering their listing fees and making gallery (the picture buyers see in search results) free, something I feel they should have done years ago. Then I got to the part about the final value fee (the fee sellers pay when an auction sells) being raised from 5.25% to 8.75%, that’s a 67% increase! It really seems like eBay is taking advantage of the small business person and ramming it right up their…,” Mr. Hoffman declined to complete that sentence.
He then added: “But what really rubs me the wrong way is how eBay is advertising this as a fee decrease. So I ran the numbers and the average seller will see an overall increase in what they pay eBay somewhere between 10% and 22%, it all depends on what price range your items sell for and the sell-through rate (The number of items that sell versus the number of items listed.) Yet, according to eBay, this is a price reduction. I really would like to know what form of math they are using.”
“But the real impact won’t been seen for months, with sellers raising their prices to compensate for the increased fees, the bargains on eBay will vanish and this means buyers will look elsewhere to find the bargains that used to be common place. So buyers will have to look elsewhere,” Mr. Hoffman added.
Mr. Hoffman has also gone a step further than just leaving the site. He has set up his own auction web-site titled NeoLoch, which is in the early stage of recruiting sellers and buyers alike. NeoLoch is also a play on eBay’s own name (NeoLoch is equivalent to NewBay), something Mr. Hoffman hopes will help bring the point across to eBay that sellers, and buyers, are furious about the recent policy changes.
When asked about NeoLoch, Mr. Hoffman has this to say: “I’ve actually been considering starting my own auction site for some time now, and eBay’s recent policy changes are what finalized that decision. NeoLoch, like many other small auction sites, doesn’t have the huge overhead that eBay does, and as a result can offer sellers a much friendlier and inexpensive selling environment. This in turn is passed on to the buyers.”
When asked if he would return to eBay if they changed their policies, Mr. Hoffman stated that he most certainly would, especially if eBay would stop focusing on their wallet.
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