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BellisimaJ. · 10-03-2006, 10:55 PM,

Quote:azsoftware4less (1357 ) View Listings | Report Oct-03-06 13:58 PDT 106 of 124
Try this again...
This thread is now the not so official "Randy" thread.

Anita

We aren't happy until you aren't happy.
LSOSB

azsoftware4less (1357 ) View Listings | Report Oct-03-06 14:17 PDT 107 of 124
Singing... If you only had a brain!!!:^O

Anita

We aren't happy until you aren't happy.
LSOSB

myfavorites4u · 10-03-2006, 11:17 PM,

I only ask because I'm suddenly in a pretty desperate situation and if there is no hope for my Ebay business then I have to dust off the resume and try to get a real job. :'(

Not an easy task for someone my age who hasn't held a real job for nearly 20 years.

BellisimaJ. · 10-03-2006, 11:29 PM,

[quote author=myfavorites4u link=topic=219.msg26371#msg26371 date=1159917457]
I only ask because I'm suddenly in a pretty desperate situation and if there is no hope for my Ebay business then I have to dust off the resume and try to get a real job. :'(

Not an easy task for someone my age who hasn't held a real job for nearly 20 years.
[/quote]

Linda,
Whatever you do with your business should not be based on what we here say about ebay. Essentially, we know nothing more than what you already know, and all we can do is give you opinions.
Beyond that, we can give you support and suggestions, but we can't tell you what is best for you and your business. Smile

That being said, it has been my opinion for a long time that ebay would like to get rid of stores. If this were to occur, you likely would not have much notice. They are giving you notice now in the sense that they are very clearly pushing stores out. You need to consider this possibility when making your decisions.
If you don't already have a website, you should consider beginning work on one now.
If you aren't listing in other venues, that is also a possiblity.

I feel for you sweetie, wish I could be more help. Just know that we are always here to talk and help in way that we can. Smile

myfavorites4u · 10-03-2006, 11:34 PM,

Bell...I didn't think anyone here really had any "inside" information or a working Crystal Ball. lol

But, I figured you have been tossing around ideas and opinions over the last couple of months and I could use some of those ideas and opinions to back up what I was thinking or to give some fresh ideas to whole the fiasco.

Yes, I'm working on my own website and going to be listing on a couple of other venues. But, they all seem rather dead. Especially for collectible type items.

Anyway...opinions, gut feelings and thoughts were what I was looking for.

BellisimaJ. · 10-03-2006, 11:40 PM,

Well, then you should probably go through and read the ebay forum. There is a lot of "junk" in there, but also some of what you are looking for.

Here is the link:

http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...d,2.0.html

I am sure others will also be along to offer their opinions. Smile

cranky_hippie · 10-03-2006, 11:47 PM,

Well, here is my opinion, for what it's worth. I think Ebay knows exactly what they are doing. I do not think that all of these inane and seemingly senseless changes are just mistakes on the part of the PTB who have lost touch.

I did think that way at first. What changed my mind was when so many people on the SB were wailing about "Pierre would not let these things happen if he were around." I started looking Pierre up on the web and concluded that he is fully aware of what Meg & Bill are doing and he goes along with it. I don't have solid proof but I did come across some statements that Pierre made which seem to support my opinion.

Add that to the fact that Meg is not stupid, no matter that it looks that way, and I find it hard to believe that she has just totally lost it of late. I believe there is a plan and, whatever it is, it won't be good for stores. In fact, I don't think it will be good for the purely auction sellers either. I think big changes are coming in the way that Ebay does business. I think that within a year, Ebay will not be anything like the Ebay that we know today.

Whether or not Ebay will become a shopping portal, as Randy has suggested, I don't know. But it will not be the same. Milk it for all it's worth while you can but do not depend on it.

myfavorites4u · 10-03-2006, 11:52 PM,

Quote:I think Ebay knows exactly what they are doing.

I had came to the same conclusion. That was when I started getting really scared.

They are definitely heading in some direction and I'm pretty sure they know exactly what they are doing.

I'm just still trying to figure out what that might be. I'm also pretty sure that it won't be very good for any of us.

I'm still a little confused on why they think half.com is more important to them than stores though. It would seem like just the opposite should be true.

thentavius · 10-03-2006, 11:54 PM,

Quote:I only ask because I'm suddenly in a pretty desperate situation and if there is no hope for my Ebay business then I have to dust off the resume and try to get a real job.

I don't want to come across as a jerk here, but I hate the phrase "real job."

Most professional sellers and small business owners hate having family and friends ask them when they're going to get a "real job," versus the supposedly "fake" job of working from home.

I'm a professional freelance writer and editor, and I can't tell you how many people have asked when I might consider getting a REAL job. It irks me to no end.

When I was selling online via my ecommerce websites full time, doing the freelance editorial work part time, I had family members who would drop by an old freakin' time, and people who kept asking me when I was going to go back to work--even though I was paying all my bills with my online occupation.

So please, please. Whether you consider yourself a hobby seller, pro seller, or stay at home who sells for fun--please call an outside job an "outside job." Most people really mean that when they say "real job." They just mean "employed by someone else."

Dust off your resume and get an outside job, or a non-self-emplyed job. Not a REAL job.

Also, some of us here DO have inside information, either through contacts and friends, or through extensive knowledge of the site, company, and goings on. Some of us have been selling on there, like me, since 1996 - 1997 or earlier.

thentavius · 10-03-2006, 11:58 PM,

As for your eBay business, work on the website. Work on other venues. Keep your options open. And heck, there's no reason you can't continue to make side income from your online endeavors, even if you have to start working at an outside job, right? I've done it before. Many of us have.

Don't give up. Just adapt. Thumbsup

You can DO it.

p.s. I seriously was not trying to sound like a jerk above. I have a great deal of respect for self-employed people, and I hate perpetuating the myth that self-employed business owners don't have "real" jobs. Wink

cranky_hippie · 10-04-2006, 12:01 AM,

One more thing, Linda. Ebay put me in a bind just as it has you. First the economy here went down the toilet and our business went with it. My husband went out and got a crappy factory job. At the age of 60 he is busting his butt for peon wages. Ebay was helping to pick up the slack.

When my items became invisible and the constant changes (and revising and revising and revising) got to be too much and it was getting near the point of Ebay making more money than I was, I decided that I'd had enough. I still needed the money but I wasn't making enough anyway. So I walked away.

We've had to tighten our belts and even sell some personal possessions but I'm not sorry. It isn't easy but at least I am my own person again, not a slave to Ebay.

As for Half, I think that has to do with the fact that somehow they need to keep all of the big media sellers. They probably did not fit into the new Ebay plan so Ebay hopes to shift them to Half. They also must try to keep them happy strictly because of their sheer numbers. I don't think it will work since they already killed Half off long ago but I think they need to try.