One of the guys I like to read and keep up with is Skip McGrath’s Auction Seller’s Resource. In his latest newsletter is a good article on what we all have known was happening, but Skip sums it up very nicely.

ARE EBAY AUCTIONS GOING AWAY?
At eBay’s annual meeting, CEO John Donohoe said that auctions now make up less than half of all listings on the site. And he predicted it could drop to as low as 30% by 2011. Just a few years ago, auctions made up around 70 percent of the listings on the site but in the last quarter they were only 45 percent.

This is not by accident. Since Donohoe took over, eBay has made a concerted effort to look more like Amazon…..

The very nature of the auction business is that it only works when there is a sense of community and a shared passion between buyers and sellers. Those are the traits that made eBay successful. And, these are the same traits that eBay has assiduously tried to kill over the last few years….

Once you learn how to sell on eBay successfully you have learned valuable skills that you can transfer to selling on other venues such as Amazon, Craigslist, Upillar and Bonanzle (both Upillar and Bonanzle are really growing fast) and your own website.

Read all of Skip’s article here. While you are there, sign up for his free “The Ebay Seller’s News” newsletter – you will be glad you did!

Buyer Protection cases penalize eBay sellers even if resolved happily or false in the first place
(The Whine Seller Blog)

eBay sent out a seller update out earlier today and most of it was “Yes, yes. Fine, fine.” Then I got to this part:

New seller standard: Buyer Protection cases counted along with low DSRs. You’re on the right track!

Opening a case with the eBay or PayPal Buyer Protection program is a clear indication of buyer dissatisfaction, especially when the buyer tries and is unable to resolve an issue directly with the seller. That’s why, starting in September, “item not received” and “item not as described” cases will be considered along with low DSRs to evaluate and reward seller performance.

The “You’re on the right track” bit is because I currently meet this requirement.

Um…. I’ve been selling on eBay for many years now and I have had lots of buyers start “Item not received” or “Item not as described cases”. But here’s the thing, eBay. Of all of those, only five were actually buyers whose item didn’t arrive or wasn’t as described or who had a problem at all for that matter.

All the others. Let me repeat, ALL THE OTHERS were buyer who opened the case because, as they told me, “They weren’t sure how else to email the seller to ask a question.”

So if this is going to count toward my freaking DSRs, are you going to make it clearer what the process is for? Better yet, is there going to be a way for buyer and seller to amicably close the case if it was started under newbie confusion?

Read the ENTIRE article here.

Bonanzle Raises $1 Million to Help It Grow
By: Ina Steiner (Thu Apr 29 2010 029:10:16)

Big news in ecommerce today comes from Bonanzle in Seattle, Washington: “Bonanzle announced this Thursday that it closed a $1 million round of investment, led by Seattle angel investor, and Voyager Capital Venture Partner, Geoff Entress, and with participation from Voyager Capital, Matrix Partners, Ignition Partners, Founders Co-op, Curious Office and other prominent Seattle angel investors. As part of the financing, Entress has joined the Company’s board of directors.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Quick summary and thoughts on eBay’s Summer release (aka the 10.2 release)

Yesterday (April 27, 2010), eBay announced the set of changes that will roll out this Summer (July 27, 2010) – this is their second set this year and they are already talking about a third set coming in the Fall. I would classify this release as very incremental – nothing earth shattering here, but as a package there are some good improvements that have a (hopefully) minor impact on sellers and a large positive impact on buyers.

Read the complete article here:
Quick summary and thoughts on eBay’s Summer release (aka the 10.2 release)