Overstock Loses Its Fucking Mind: Requires 'Make It Mine' Price to be 2X Opening Bid

[mandy]

Auctionbytes has an article on the changes at Overstock:

The new head of Overstock.com Auctions is going "back to basics," causing third-party sellers consternation at some of the changes going on at the auction marketplace. Despite apparent fears on the part of sellers that Overstock may be "deemphasizing" or phasing out auctions, Stormy Simon said her job is to create a healthy auction business with a lot of pleased sellers...

One change that had auction sellers steamed was the addition of tabs at the top of Overstock.com pages that they felt overwhelmed the one and only tab that led to auction listings.

Does the design/navigation change put auction listings at a disadvantage? Simon says no. "Every section and department now has an equal playing field. Auctions have the same opportunities as Bed & Bath or Jewelry & Watches. So I'm not sure that I look at it as a disadvantage toward Auctions. We made the changes to our tabs to match our brand, it goes along somewhat with our commercials. It wasn't to de-emphasize any department, it was more to bring all departments to life." Simon said she could not share traffic data, but said, "When you look at consumer behavior, they like the new layout."...

Another area of concern is the decision to remove seller IDs from search results pages. One Overstock.com auction seller said of the change, "Sellers fear that buyers will not want to open each item to see who the seller is."...

full article: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m11/i28/s01

[sneakymagenta]

Does the design/navigation change put auction listings at a disadvantage? Simon says no.

before: auctions was one of 5 tabs
now: auctions is one of 20 tabs

Sneaky says Simon :asshat2: is STUPID if she believes the extra tabs won't hurt auctions.

[amy]

Ditto what Sneaky said about auctions getting lost in the tab explosion. 

Another area of concern is the decision to remove seller IDs from search results pages.

I didn't know about that one until reading it.  :

Of course not mentioned among the changes are things sellers have been begging Overstock to do for 2 years: blocked bidder list, open up the site to international buyers

[iron_chick]

Amy or BBH - Since the big O is also doing away with the TM program, does that mean that BuySafe bonded sellers will no longer get main site exposure?

[amy]

does that mean that BuySafe bonded sellers will no longer get main site exposure?

They're dropping the TM name and logo but keeping all the benefits of the TM program.  BuySafe sellers will still get main site exposure.

[Powerbuyer]

Makes me glad I already had stopped using Overstock after I saw this one.  to a venue I won't come back to...

[maggie777]

I don't miss selling on auction sites.  :turkey1:

[bargainbloodhound]

Dear Overstock Merchants,

I write to address the changes that we are making to our auction program. I will preface this by saying that, while I'm sure all of you won't agree with everything I say, I do hope you'll respect my candor, and remind you that none of these changes are being made to discourage you from listing with Overstock or to damage your businesses: they are being made to save this program for all of us.

There are two reasons for our policy revision. One is that it is Overstock's core business to offer fixed priced product (that may be a reason for the MIM's low closure rate). The second reason is that we want to encourage a true auction model, in an effort to stay true to the Overstock brand of offering our customers great deals, and not just a long list of fixed prices offers (which is what MIM has evolved to be). I do apologize, however, for the abruptness of this change in the MIM policy. The "effective immediately" phrase was unnecessary. I know these things can't happen overnight and of course we'll allow the time necessary to make the changes.

As with most policies there will be exceptions granted: in this case, Enterprise Merchants such as Comp USA, Sharper Image, Guthry Renker, etc. will be exempted. We may also make exceptions for a select number of other merchants.

The Trusted Merchant Program: After reviewing the Trusted Merchant Program and meeting with buySAFE, we determined that the TMP was only reinforcing the bonding that buySAFE provides. The buySAFE program offers their 'seal of trust' to the merchants who qualify. However, if you don't qualify for buySAFE, the Overstock TMP could imply that other merchants aren't trustworthy. That's not fair: the TMP really contains no new information, other than that merchant is bonded by buySAFE. Therefore, the TMP is also being discontinued.

Search Listings: We recently removed the Trusted Merchant logo and buyers name from the search results. We did this after conversations with customers regarding what was most important to them when shopping on Auctions. They said product and price was what they were most interested in knowing. In order to encourage clicks to the product pages and to provide a fair opportunity to all of the merchants these pieces of information were removed.

There are more changes to come, all in the light of bringing you more buyers. It's our goal to make Overstock Auctions a successful portion of our business. When we started it, it seemed to be catching fire, but we believe that over the last two years it took some directions that hindered its organic development, and that is not good for any of us. For us to return this to a path of growth and opportunity for all of us, we needed to make these changes to simplify the program, and return it to its first principle: a true auction tab where peers can sell to peers.

I know I should have written you before now. I apologize: my first months overseeing auctions have been learning months for me. I had a mandate to fix this program, and I acted. Please remember that it is in all our interests to do so.

I sincerely hope you'll stick with us, and in any case, wish you the happiest of holidays.

Respectfully,

Stormy

[iron_chick]

If they want a "true auction", peer to peer site (which sounds too much like a bunch of sellers just selling to each other to me)  . . . why the exemption to the MIM policy for the Enterprise merchants?

[amy]

[quote author=iron_chick link=topic=6112.msg34170#msg34170 date=1164770539]
If they want a "true auction", peer to peer site (which sounds too much like a bunch of sellers just selling to each other to me)  . . . why the exemption to the MIM policy for the Enterprise merchants?

[/quote]

Her "peer to peer site" reference is a joke because it implies a level playing field which Overstock has repeatedly stated it doesn't provide--PeSA has been there from Day 1 and they've always received different treatment than very small part-time sellers.  Even the Trusted Merchant program was an unlevel playing field--we definitely weren't treated the same way as large PeSA members but we were definitely treated much better than non-TM sellers.

We may also make exceptions for a select number of other merchants.

Translation: The largest PeSA members will also be exempt

There are two reasons for our policy revision. One is that it is Overstock's core business to offer fixed priced product

I'll give her points for being honest about that reason.