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Wow guys. This is deep. My friend forwarded this information to me about eBay and their future plans that she found on a site written by a former employee who was brave enough to come forward and admit the truth about many issues. The post was originally posted in an eBay forum, but as you can guess, was deleted. Luckily the post was first written as a word document and the person was able to republish it.

I have read this article many times and I personally back everything stated in it. I have witnessed the changes on eBay and like many people I have wondered "WTF are they doing?!?! Do they NOT want sellers?! Why is eBay trying to destroy their own business?" - but after reading this my questions were answered.

Before you read the article, I think it is important that we commend this individual for spreading the truth. It is easy to sit back and do nothing. It is hard to come forward when you know you will be made fun of, ripped apart and called a liar. Trust me, I get it every time I write an article about a scam company.

Here's the unedited article -

"First, let me correct the record regarding the concept of sellers extorting positive feedback. While the violation was known to happen, the activity amounted to less than a tenth of a percent of the yearly transactions. Further, it involved sellers whose feedback percentages were below 80%. The absolute majority of sellers did not engage in such practices. Nevertheless, eBay could not resist the fact that promoting this notion of feedback extortion as a wide-spread phenomenon would be the perfect cover with which to hide the true intentions of the policy.

eBay wants to transform into an overstock warehouse venue. A kind of outlet store for the internet much like a cheaper and streamlined version of Amazon. From a strictly business point of view, given the size of eBay and the growing costs of doing business, it makes a certain kind of sense to shift gears. Think about it: when eBay started, sellers were about rare and unique items but here and now the majority of items are common, used counterparts of what can be found new online at retail sites. Truly rare and unique items are sold at real auctions; the “stuff in your attic” isn’t glamorous enough and won’t keep eBay afloat any longer.

The trend away from the rare and unique to the big box retailer is not new. Several years ago eBay noticed that the big “powersellers” were simply listing items that existed in their retail stores or inventories. Thus the concept of “buy it now”, “best offer”, and “eBay stores” were created. It was the nascent stage of the plan yet to be. Little by little, without the population noticing, the mechanisms required to replicate the average retail storefront were already in place - and with its rise came the slow, steady downfall of the auction format.

Yet outright pursuit of a retail venue would have led to a major problem that at the time could not have been surmounted. The vast majority of people, on and off line, know eBay as precisely the place for auctions of rare and unique items. The sellers and buyers held onto that perception too but in truth their opinion even involvement in new and improved version of eBay is irrelevant by a certain Machiavellian calculation made by ebay. As part of the plan, eBay calculated thus: even if they lost the sellers as part of the change, the buyers will be coming back to buy regardless of who or what operated within the retail-outlet venue.

No, it was the stock holders who the powers that be feared.

Only the stockholders had the power to change the direction set forth by the CEO and the board. So it became imperative to change the equation. Part of the plan is to devalue the stock gradually so that investors merely dumped the stock as opposed to wanting managerial change ala Yahoo. Then to buy back the stock at lower cost and to such a volume that no rebellion against the powers that be were possible.

By the end of July (Stocks dropped to $22/share from $50!) that phase of the plan will be successful and there est of the plan will be revealed without fear of backlash from those who otherwise would have had the power to pull eBay back from the brink.

Indeed, if you believe the current changes are obvious signals that small sellers are not wanted - be prepared - you have seen nothing yet.

So far what have they done? All they have managed to do is silence a seller’s ability to warn others about buyers (half of the purpose behind the original idea of feedback), burden you with higher and higher fees, dangle “treats” like discounts while setting the bar of eligibility so high that the rewards cannot be reached. and, by the way PayPal deals with “complaints” leave you vulnerable to fraud. What if worse was yet to come?

They know if you do not feel safe that you will not use eBay. The changes that have been enacted only eliminates the small sellers. Meanwhile they want to eradicate the mid-sized seller too. And they want to ensure that both do not return.

For the mid-sized seller the DSR became the tool of choice. The powers that be raised the level of what is a good seller artificially high. No manipulation is required; they know exactly the effect of the policy. This is why buyers are told that 4 is a good score and sellers are told that 4.9 yields discounts and higher listing placements. As long as that fractured point of view exists, eBay does not need to interfere with the DSR as has been suggested, the buyers will be killing the sellers naturally.

By August there will be no pretense and the intentions of the new and improved eBay will be clear. The following is only a partial list of the rules that will be imposed. It comes from a memo that circulated within my corner of the managerial department the week before Chicago. I cannot be too specific about certain items and I cannot reveal details of the latest additions without endangering my anonymity.

1. Neutrals will be converted to negatives complete with red icons and reduced feedback scores. Afterward neutrals will not be offered as a choice of feedback.

2. The entire process of feedback will be automated. Buyers and sellers will chose standard feedback from a list. For sellers this operation will be performed automatically upon the buyer winning. For buyers there will be an extra free line with which to add a few comments about the seller without restriction to content. Replies will not be allowed.

3. The implementation of a stricter rules regarding shipping. From the boxes, packing, labels and tapes to where you can buy postage. Orders have been placed for prototypes of “eBay” boxes. UPS and FedEx will be instructed not to accept “eBay” merchandise if it’s not inside “eBay” boxing. They will know, of course, because when sellers buy the “eBay” postage from the “eBay” source, a detailed list of contents with item numbers will be available to the shippers upon scanning a bar code. As for those who continue to use USPS, another level of quality control will be implemented - buyers will be asked, upon confirmation of delivery, if the seller used “eBay” standard shipping items. Naturally, no verification of the buyer’s truthfulness will be attempted, and continued ‘infractions’ will result in suspension. eBay will have other ways to check if a seller is not using the “eBay” equipment - as they will be required to buy at cost the supplies immediately after items are listed. (This is such a large scale operation behind the scenes that I feel comfortable sharing as much of it as I know.)

4. Sales taxes will be included automatically; shipping cost and sales taxes will be used to determined FVF.

5. Item descriptions will be “standardized” with templates which include the posting of a new, universal return policy. Only yearly subscribers to the retail-outlet venue can opt out of these universal return policies but even they cannot alter the template structures being devised.

6. Strikes against buyers will be eliminated as the whole concept of a buyer and bidding will be altered. FVF will be calculated when payment is submitted.

7. Time to Close will be eliminated entirely. Best Match will be the non-alterable default. Best Match is a system that caters to the needs of shoppers not bidders. ?This also makes sense - if "Time to Close" is gone, sellers will be FORCED to have perfect DSR ratings or they will lose all searh positions!/

8. Placement within Best Match will be determined by several factors, the most important of which will be the extra display features added onto the listing.

9. DSRs can be removed by retailers and powersellers who pay a certain yearly fee.

10. The end play itself which consists of four phases: a) the main focus shifts to retail sellers whose fees are on a per listing basis b) stores will be replaced by a classified section, fees will be based on yearly subscriptions and FVFs c) occasional auctions will be conducted for unique items (celebrity auctions, items that have been featured on the news, etc.) d) total elimination of auctions for regular sellers.

From the point of view of eBay’s agenda to change gears these alteration make sense. eBay wants to turn eBay into a retail venue format. Therefore the “buyer” must be changed - bidding and commitments to buy are part of the past. In a retail venue, the item is either in your cart or not and you only commit to buy when you pay at checkout. The seller is also redefined in the way they will be required to do business. They will be forced to copy the methods of retail stores.

The goal is to become Amazon Lite. Unlike Amazon the merchandise will be stocked by the retailers in their warehouses, eBay will be just an electronic centralized venue for outlet sale - a “trusted” name with a wide customer base and popular name recognition.

That is the future and as I write this I know that it cannot be stopped. There are no investors with enough clout and will to challenge the CEO. Stock holders will simply walk away. eBay will not sink, however, it will be exactly in the position its rulers intend it to be at.

Sellers, my advice is simple. You are not wanted. Leave. If you stay, you will be crushed. Leave. Go away. You cannot win.

I am sorry because for too long I have been a complicit tool behind the scenes. I was part of those teams and think tanks that spearheaded many of the “innovations” you know very well and which will be used to destroy you. I know I will not be believed. I will be mocked and ridiculed by the tools and even those who are real, actual people will be hesitant to accept what I have to say. What has been done to this community, the plots and schemes hatched in meetings and across memos, is far, far worse to endure within my soul than any treatment I will receive at the hands of the tools by posting this. You do not know how much they hate you. It is my conscience that I want to clear going forward. Again I apologize. There should have been a better way for the powers that be to effect the change they wanted for eBay - instead they succumbed to cloak and dagger deception."

If you are not an eBay seller you would probably disbelieve these accusations. If you are a seller, you have witnessed pretty much everything written about. Here's a few things I would like to point out:

1. It DOES make perfect sense that eBay wants to become more like an "Amazon.com". As the author (former employee) points out, eBay sellers have adapted to selling main stream items, as opposed to "junk"/"garage sale" items. People, like myself, have a wholesale license and were buying namebrand items (Victorias Secret, Revlon, etc) and reselling them. In eBays eyes, why should they allow a little seller like me to sell my wholesale items while they only take about 13% of each sale when they could sell them on their own and take much more?

2. The eBay postage. While I cant see eBay making us buy "eBay boxes" for the simple fact that it probably wouldn't work (We'd have to pay for them, pay for shipping, then ship in them?!?!) I CAN see eBay making us print a sticker with the eBay label for the boxes. I don't know if anyone had all ready noticed about 8 months ago the eBay logo WAS ON all of the flat rate boxes!!! In addition, eBay even appeared in a few USPS commercials - so for anyone to say the USPS has NOTHING to do with eBay is simply blind or stupid. An by making the seller claim what is inside the box the seller is now held to a higher degree of responsibility.
By claiming the contents inside the box you will be forced in many cases to purchase insurance...even if the buyer did not want it. I have had this happen to me two times because the item I was sending had a value over $200.
Also, if you sold an item that you discover after payment has been made that you can't ship it because it violates post office codes (such as seeds) YOU are the one that has to deal with the mess. Not eBay. It's the perfect way of putting all the blame on the seller.

I could go on and on. For those of you who read this and think it's a big joke - you need a reality check. In my last article I all ready exposed that Liquitity/Liquidation.com is eBay's biggest "inventory" station...and ironically is owned by...Pay Pal...who is eBay. They are all ready supplying their own inventory.

If you liked this article and want to read more, or if you just want to shake your head and say that none of this is true, go for it.

Labels: ebay plan, local access, localaccess, sell online

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