Update on auctions and my rant on the new My eBay

I have auctions which close tomorrow night. They seem to be doing quite well. As a side note, I’d like to discuss my opinion about the new My eBay pages which have rolled out some time ago, are currently optional to use, but will be mandatory on January 20.

My opinion is that the new My eBay totally sucks. Big time. I have read other eBay members’ comments about the new format, and many of them voice the same opinion. Furthermore, we are all deeply disappointed that we will be stuck with the new format whether we like it or not.

Common complaints about the new format are: (1) pages are much, much slower to load, even if you’ve got a broadband connection; (2) navigation is much more difficult to get to where you want to go; (3) features available in the current version are gone in the new version; (4) the new version has abandoned the simple spreadsheet format which would otherwise enable the user to see everything at a glance.

To illustrate how bad the new version is, I’ve included screenshots of each. The top version is the old (current) format. The one below it is the newer, crappier version. With the old way I can see everything at a glance, and more auction items fit on a page at one time. The spreadsheet-style format makes sense of the task of organizing the items.

The newer way places much of the information in blocks of text with wasted empty space to the immediate right of that. Fewer items fit on the page. There is a glaring red notice on one of the items indicating that so far I’ve not answered a “question” which another member asked me regarding that item...when in fact the “question” wasn’t a question at all, but a two-word statement that I currently have chosen to ignore (or not respond to). I don’t need that glaring red flag on the page.

And my favorite item I like to watch, every time I visit my Selling Page, is the total number of bids. This total is clearly visible in the old version (you see it as 137 at the top of the page). In the new version, eBay has decided to omit that total altogether. I was told not to expect to able to find that number anywhere at all. Watching my total number of bids increase was perhaps the most enjoyable part of selling on eBay, and the Powers That Be have decided to take that away from me.

My main concern is that my sales may be affected by the new format (with regard to my buyers having to tolerate its difficulties while doing business with me). eBay claims that 90% of its users are already using the newer format. I don’t believe this for one minute. If it is in fact true, those 90% probably don’t have a choice and are unable to “opt out.”

I’m really trying very hard to figure out what goals the Powers That Be at eBay have. It appears they are trying to reduce the number of their members to perhaps a more manageable level. Perhaps the goal is to get the eBay stock price to drop to such a ridiculously low level so that much of the stock can be repurchased cheaply, thereby beefing up their controlling interest. I suppose there are advantages to alienating the small-to-middle-sized sellers, but I am at a loss to figure out what they are.

I am currently hoping that Mr. John Donahoe gets a stroke, but that is wishful thinking. The damage is already done, and even in his absence, his ridiculous plans will continue to be carried out, until someone with a modicum of intelligence steps in to set things right again.

Rant over.