OT: Ebay Seller Strike

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Posted By: Joann

A few thoughts on the effectiveness of the strike ...


... at minimum, it's breakeven or better. It will either have some intended effect, or no intended effect, but it can't hurt. Point in favor.


... from ebay's side, it is breakeven or less wrt revenues (in a simple world). Best case they make the same, just distributed differently. Most likely they make less because some sales will not be made up later. Very unlikely that they will somehow end up ahead. Point in favor.


... A disruption of the revenue stream will be felt. Permanently? No. To the point that it really hurts? Probably not. But nonetheless ebay is staffed to handle a certain number of transactions per hour, day, week and month. Although a disruption of one week won't make them miss rent, it will probably be felt somewhere in the organization - maybe even if only that they have to pay some OT to catch up the next week. So maybe the right timing for this next time would be just before the holiday season so they'd have to pay double-time or whatever. Disruption of flow def a point in favor.


... undetermined cessation point. That, plus the widespread announcement beforehand, gives ebay the ability to gear up for it and minimize effect. I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't done some minor schedule tweaking to account for the low and then high. But I'm not sure how long something could go on indefinitely just because it's so hard to coordinate and get consistent info out to the many sellers. Point against.


... as a symbolic gesture, I believe it has worked. It definitely has ebay's attention and has generated some negative publicity. Also, as far as I know this is the first concerted effort by any group of ebay interested parties. Who knows what the next one will bring? How important is it that sellers may, for the first time, feel like they are not just out there grumbling on their own? It's a first, and the ripple effects among ebay customers is yet unknown (even if ebay does not overtly respond to this particular event). Strong point in favor.


Now we just have to wait for the dust to settle so we can start the buyer's strike. Now that would get their attention. Issues? Use of retaliatory negs in the feedback system and inability to get them removed (well, that's for both sides). Bidder ID's hidden over $200. Changes to default search results. Anything else?

J