'Mary Celeste'

[yellerbelly]

Well we have all noticed and remarked how quiet it is on the forums just lately, and I have just looked at the front pages and noticed listing and merchandise value figures are down, hardly surprising even the comments on front on still out of date, this mornings comment was by Raindropsies, last week one was from Anniemcc3.

There are many theories regarding the Mary Celeste, one was that the captain abandoned for fear the ship was about to explode due to the type of cargo, I think the Captain here has already abandoned the ship and left the crew behind as no comments from management for some time now.

[BordersBargains]

It is indeed quiet because no one has anything good to say I guess

There's just nothing going on to make the site grow and its been that way for a while and the stupid thing is that places like eBay, Etsy etc have been pushing sellers to start using other platforms which is when places like this should cater for that change and gain what could easily have been 100 times the profits

It has the feeling that someone has taken over the site and just wants to do nothing while being happy with the profits they are making

I was on here years back and deleted my account after roughly 1 and half years then came back in 2018 - 5 years later I can honestly say it hasn't changed at all and should be doing 100 times better than it is

They have gained a lot more sellers over the past few years although many have left due to no action, the majority of the general public still don't know it exists while *buygumm a rather new site is common knowledge! But it is a horrible site

In its current state I am finding it harder and harder to even spend 1 hour a day listing here since the return has basically gone
My main account which had its last sale in Nov 2022 is now basically a listing saver for when listings drop off eBay while the other small account for books, audio books etc has had 2 sales this month which I'm ok with but there is no reason why it isn't better other than the lack of site awareness

All they need to do is fix the main page mess then provide a limited amount of branded tape like they did in the past. One seller with a roll of Ebid branded tape will result in thousands of people seeing the tape and visiting the site

I'm in a stage of life now that means I need to be tough and I just can't keep investing time in something that isn't being beneficial, so I will probably begin to ignore or delete the main account in the middle of the year, but I will keep the book one

[Policequilts]

I have also notice that there is not much activity on the forums.

I have seen, for the USA, sold items growing and a lot of different sellers getting those sales.

But it would be nice to have this site updated, and it doesn't have to be a lot :
changing the front to current information
a couple of payment options (cc use)
shopping cart updates and such.

I would love it if Gazza or eBid would make an announcement that they are working in the background doing a massive update . .
And it will be done by ? ? ? , or that they are a bit behind the updates or ? ?
Or they are working on something for this site.

Okay, that's wishful thinking.

[Tropical_Trish]

I too agree that this site has been abandoned by management.
My latest sales have been through coaxing buyers from t'other side which I guess that the management here want us to do - they won't promote eBid so their mantra is 'why bother, let others do it'.

There is no justification for excusing the management for not promoting this site, they have had opportunities for many years from well experienced sellers (especially postcard/sportscards/stamps sellers) to advertise in various events at fetes, newspaper ads etc. and never bothered to do so even though the initial cost was quite affordable and reasonable.
We all know that TV ads are completely out of the question due to the high price but for goodness sake - a few quid advertising in a mag/newspaper could be advantageous, not just for the so called 'management' but for us sellers too.
Long term sellers that have been patient and hoping that this site will one day be a real rival to feepay surely must feel that we have been let down, I know I do.

[BordersBargains]

Well Poshmark has started in Beta form in the UK and Whatnot is also coming soon

This will just make this site even less visible unless they do something

[Mandart]

I too agree that this site has been abandoned by management.
We all know that TV ads are completely out of the question due to the high price but for goodness sake - a few quid advertising in a mag/newspaper could be advantageous, not just for the so called 'management' but for us sellers too.
Long term sellers that have been patient and hoping that this site will one day be a real rival to feepay surely must feel that we have been let down, I know I do.

Total agreement, picking up just the occasional sale here and there really doesn't make it worth spending the time on here, the majority of my time is now spent on my own websites, I just use eBid for those items that don't have a natural fit into those sites. Agree with the feeling of being let down by the management.

[Mandart]

Well Poshmark has started in Beta form in the UK and Whatnot is also coming soon

This will just make this site even less visible unless they do something

Agreed, there's been another new startup too, UK Marketplace, quite a professional looking, but they only use Stripe as their payment processor and I dislike Stripe so I'll not be using it

[theElench]

I take a few crumbs of comfort from also being active on the obay boards. The ones I use (mainly the "Selling" boards) are also quieter than I've ever seen before. I wonder if the the decline on both sites is a generational thing? Community / Discussion boards were set-up when on-line commerce was new, with each site fostering what was supposed to be a sense of "membership" and "community". A generation later, both company management and a new generation of buyers and sellers have dispensed with such things.

Members have become "users" and community faded away as business bottom-lines were revealed as the guiding ethos behind all the sites. The next generation accept this, have no "relationship" with the sites beyond buying or selling. Don't leave FB and having seen through the "community" hype, just can't be bothered with it?

I don't use SM, but isn't there more chatter about ebid or obay on Facebook than on their boards these days?


I haven't quite given up all hope that there might be some sort of update in the pipeline.

The odd, to say the least, out-of-the-blue changes to the Account Conventions?

Also, I ask myself why the Front Page Categories suddenly sprouted negative listing numbers? And that they were fixed quickly. Perhaps something going-on in the background? (Although most of the Glass sub-categories are still hidden from public view.)

[sogobuymugs]

Agree with the above posts, come on E-bid get your act together.

[theElench]

To add to the above.

I started listing here when obay decided to start charging FVF on P&P, back in 2013. It's taken years but I now get regular sales and just before Christmas made my 100th, without any self-promotion. For several years I've sold more items here each year than on obay and mentioned this on their boards, if I feel it safe to do so within a discussion, without getting it censored or locked.

Having recently read on the obay boards a seller (who keeps spreadsheets of her business on various sites) who states that her fees on obay average 19% (some being voluntary Promotional fees), and another who was surprised that for a recent sale on esty, was charged 32%, that in all the years I've been here, not a single other seller with more than a hand-full of the sort of glass I sell has arrived to join me with a few hundred more listings. All the more surprising when ebay has recently wrecked sales of Collectables with chaotic new categories / IS and increasingly useless search.

I started here as a place to put items with higher P&P costs, to avoid obay fees. It's inexplicable to me that others on obay and now etsy, seeing their fees only ever increasing, don't see any point in using Ebid, even a second site, where sales might be slower but are a whole lot cheaper.

I'm not even a business and it makes sense to me to use each sites' good points to my advantage. It makes me wonder if "business" sellers on the larger sites are not as business-like as they think they are (with some exceptions) and are just good at playing obays / etsys' games? And, just like the sites they rely on, think more about short-term, quick returns than longer term overall gains like selling regularly at half the cost.

I sometimes think they are so risk-averse and happy to put up with anything, including being fleeced, in exchange for using corporate sites as a crutch. But as for going out on a limb and making a success of small site, it's not within them. I think the new sites mentioned above may well flounder just as ebid does, unless one or other becomes a fashionable, "shooting star", in which case they will flock to it, even if its backers are the same Wall St. Financial Funds with the same plan as used previously -- to grab market share and fleece the sellers.