tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post3219818505017377756..comments2008-12-31T16:38:26.698-08:00Randy Smythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271958472975660101noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-91079901530345362342008-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:002008-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:00I've read that 10% to 15% of Bill Me Later's revenue came from Amazon. When eBay acquired Bill Me Later in Nov. they projected $150 million in revenue for 2009 (before Amazon pulled out) <BR/><BR/>Amazon pulling out might make that projection light by $15 million or more in 2009.Randy Smythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271958472975660101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-50281479930780390522008-12-31T16:16:00.000-08:002008-12-31T16:16:00.000-08:00I liked bill me later. I think I used it on your Amazon website.mr. Patnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-13523742486863825982008-12-31T12:25:00.000-08:002008-12-31T12:25:00.000-08:00It's a common tactic with Paypal purchases on alternative sites, for a thief to move the decimal point and hope the seller won't notice. <BR/><BR/>That's because Paypal notification emails do not include an amount in the subject line. Unsuspecting sellers ship based on the email, without checking thier balance.<BR/><BR/>Does BillMeLater have this same shortcoming???versubhttp://www.ejectejecteject.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-56022938768403238772008-12-31T07:26:00.000-08:002008-12-31T07:26:00.000-08:00Anonymous,<BR/><BR/>On the BML (Bill Me Later) story, I don't have much more than everybody else has.<BR/><BR/>Ina Steiner speculated that it could be they didn't want eBay to have access to Amazon sales data but I'm not sure BML was that sizable a portion of Amazon's payment biz.<BR/><BR/>Amazon is all about the customer experience so if BML was really successful there, my guess is Amazon would still be using it.<BR/><BR/>Having BML owned by PayPal was just one factor in the decision not the main factor, IMORandy Smythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271958472975660101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-92093713413174892382008-12-31T07:19:00.000-08:002008-12-31T07:19:00.000-08:00Good luck to any new sellers attempting to get to the diamond level. It will be a huge challenge. If you already have an established feedback and good DSRS with enough FB to absorb some negs, then you can do it. If you start out from scratch, it's extremely difficult.ebay sellerhttp://www.2frogmedia.com/Books/details/88089.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-71612301354026076922008-12-31T06:22:00.000-08:002008-12-31T06:22:00.000-08:00Hey, Randy, Happy New Year!<BR/><BR/>What's your take on Amazon dropping BillMeLater so abruptly?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-30143175405439323072008-12-30T09:22:00.000-08:002008-12-30T09:22:00.000-08:00"Diamonds". Sounds like an Amway upline.<BR/><BR/>Hmm. Wonder how many in management graduated from that little insular, isolationist scheme.<BR/><BR/>Makes you wonder.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-22337617010485442922008-12-29T16:03:00.000-08:002008-12-29T16:03:00.000-08:002009,<BR/><BR/>That is exactly how the Diamond Seller program got started.<BR/><BR/>You are correct, eBay should have been celebrating homegrown Diamonds from the day the program was started, but because they set the DSR level so high, 4.8's across the board, nobody qualified.Randy Smythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271958472975660101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-8808915058670637692008-12-29T15:49:00.000-08:002008-12-29T15:49:00.000-08:00From a PR perspective don't you think they should have done this from Day One of the Diamond Seller program to smooth things over with the un-showered masses? Just could have found one or two existing sellers to bring up on stage?<BR/><BR/>But I don't think they could. Being at eBay Live for the Power Seller meeting, I got the distinct feeling that Diamond Seller was something put together last minute on Power Point to cover their butts from the building rage of the eBay community.2009 or Bustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-82348302904766509072008-12-29T14:36:00.000-08:002008-12-29T14:36:00.000-08:00@nadine - they are going to have to backpeddle and I think we'll see it right after they announce this quarter's earnings. Maybe they'll try to continue their Amazonification but they had best learn that small sellers need a break else they're off to build another site...and that site looks to be Bonanzle.<BR/><BR/>Christy - exactly - Ebay has shoved community aside and now they're about to pay for their ignorance. I suggest you wander over to Bonanzle and take a look at them. You might be pleasantly surprised :-)ms.pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09605816120834631344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-44709362346233851092008-12-29T14:19:00.000-08:002008-12-29T14:19:00.000-08:00Ebay has been on a bad path for a long time. <BR/><BR/>I just remeber Ebay being.... friendlier? <BR/><BR/>Now it seems like an awful place-- everybody hates everybody-- just read the increasingly negative seller TOS.Christy Pinheiro, EAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13850543169226777317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-86380043879657066522008-12-29T12:40:00.000-08:002008-12-29T12:40:00.000-08:00Yes, wouldn't we all be crying tears for eBay if Buy.com decided it wasn't worth the hassle? However, the imports, having gone through the start-up costs to join, probably won't jump ship as long as they are making any kind of profit. TWT<BR/><BR/>@ms. pat, I basically agree with tamebay that eBay thinks they are on a good course, and will be looking to continue it with only minor course corrections. So they will probably only rescind some of their more egregious stupidities that chased small sellers off the site, while continuing their Amazonification plans. It is their good fortune that they have such an abundance of stupidities to choose from.<BR/><BR/>There was an interesting recent comment on glassdoor.com which mentioned that certain new features had been held off during Q4 to avoid chaos. I think we can expect the switch to catalog pages soon. We can only hope that they have figured out, however dimly, that retail and collectible categories need different treatment.nadinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-16582062821627827512008-12-29T11:42:00.000-08:002008-12-29T11:42:00.000-08:00The company I am speaking about isn't showing up at DiamondHaus<BR/><BR/>There are several other companies that qualify based on sales but their DSR's are not quite there.<BR/><BR/>eBay needs more homegrown Diamond sellers because they may find the "imports" won't stay too long.Randy Smythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271958472975660101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-9619618561642528632008-12-29T10:41:00.000-08:002008-12-29T10:41:00.000-08:00I feel Ebay is finally being forced to pay some attention to small sellers. They've been hemoragging small sellers all year and it comes back as a two-edged sword. 1) they lose buyers because sellers are also buyers, and 2) small sellers make it their business to spread the word about Ebay and now even folks who have never shopped on Ebay know its "a bad company". I think this is finally beginning to hurt Ebay's bottom line...its revenue...and nothing else would make them pay attention. I think next year will see some loosening of the ridiculous restrictions ebay has forced on its small sellers and may actually see them as customers once again. That's my hope...if not, all the diamond sellers in the world won't help this company in 2009!ms.pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09605816120834631344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-89123071190912652872008-12-29T07:43:00.000-08:002008-12-29T07:43:00.000-08:00That's good to hear, Randy. Though I will never do that much business, I really felt for the long-term eBay sellers who had the volume to be Diamonds and were told by eBay that only eBay decided who got to go Diamond. Kicking your biggest long-term loyal customers in the teeth seemed to be incredibly short-sighted to me. When Griff said on the Auctionbytes interview that anyone could become a Diamond, I thought "liar, liar, pants on fire!" because I'd seen so many posts elsewhere to the contrary.<BR/><BR/>Doesn't change my mind about eBay for my personal sales, but I'm glad they finally got what they deserved.Brendanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-16118356694890710982008-12-29T04:59:00.000-08:002008-12-29T04:59:00.000-08:00If it's who Diamond Haus says, I've never heard them. Course, I can't afford Rolex watches.<BR/><BR/>I hope in 2009, I can find some good things to say about Ebay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-58683888821276927252008-12-29T02:34:00.000-08:002008-12-29T02:34:00.000-08:00Diamond Seller program WOULD be good if it was only for the "eBay type" sellers...but when they include places like Buy.com and others, If I was a big enough seller on eBay, I wouldn't want the title "Diamond Seller" ...Wouldnt want my customers to think I am just another "big boy" like Buy.com.Renagades Relicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00298698803356469018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-34630740438594937032008-12-29T01:34:00.000-08:002008-12-29T01:34:00.000-08:00ok, Randy, I just found one too but you'll have to visit <A HREF="http://www.diamondhaus.com" REL="nofollow">Diamond Haus</A> to see if it is the same one.ebuyerfbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810230519680611085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-70722431513050358702008-12-29T00:59:00.000-08:002008-12-29T00:59:00.000-08:00After canceling 2 ebay accounts with over 500 total feedback, 150 sales I tried ebay again a few weeks ago.<BR/><BR/>Made an offer that included shipping to a seller with 9000 feedback. Offer accepted then the next day seller notifies eBay that I made the offer by mistake and would like to cancel the transaction. Seller also stated that the price she accepted was below her cost.<BR/><BR/>I denied that I had nade a mistake and asked the seller to send an invoice for the correct total, which she refused to do. In fact she sent 2 invoices for $15 and $17 MORE than the offer she accepted.<BR/><BR/>When I contacted eBay about the incident they could find nothing the seller did wrong and told me I should be happy because I did not receive a strike against my account for an unpaid item!<BR/><BR/>The 150 items I sold on ebay averaged over $700 and my 350 purchases average over $500 and most items were sold for more then I paid for them but of course they were used.<BR/><BR/>cheersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-73318621268248649462008-12-28T21:43:00.000-08:002008-12-28T21:43:00.000-08:00Nadine,<BR/><BR/>I'm not ready to say that eBay has learned any lessons but they did handle this new "Diamond" the way they should have, though IMO they waited a long time to do it.<BR/><BR/>There are others that are close so hopefully they will welcome them with open-arms and celebrate the accomplishment.Randy Smythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271958472975660101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-44440062339101445712008-12-28T21:31:00.000-08:002008-12-28T21:31:00.000-08:00"Offering deals to outside companies without providing the same opportunity for existing sellers is wrong in my view"<BR/><BR/>Never mind wrong, it is egregiously stupid and greedy. It displays a management that has forgotten (if it ever knew) the most basic business axioms of customer care. Giving newcomers great deals on the sly while hiding them from longtime customers is the equivalent of running a "Customer Disloyalty" program -- because your existing customers are sure not going to feel very loyal once they find out!<BR/><BR/>Question: has eBay's management learned anything about customer care from this episode, or only that they must take this one step of offering diamond status to existing sellers who qualify?nadinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35530817.post-47260285100661448822008-12-28T20:57:00.000-08:002008-12-28T20:57:00.000-08:00Is it Monster Cellular? I tried contacting them a few days ago but did not get a confirmation nor denial.<BR/><BR/>We do need to see more Diamond Powersellers that are genuine eBay sellers.eBuyer Feedbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810230519680611085noreply@blogger.com