E-Commerce Times Talkback

Re: It Never Rains in eBay Land
Posted by: Keith Regan 2001-10-23 17:17:26

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eBay CEO Meg Whitman is smiling. And why not? The Internet powerhouse that she leads just
reported strong third-quarter earnings. But something tells me that she'd be smiling even
if eBay had stumbled badly. The eBay franchise, it turns out, isn't based just on its
community or its great tech platform or cool multicolored logo. It's optimism -- pure,
sugary belief that what it's doing is worthwhile and, above all, destined for success.

Re: It Never Rains in eBay Land
Posted by: rmorawic 2001-10-24 11:11:35 In reply to: Keith Regan

It is good to hear that Ms. Whitman is so upbeat, because the mood of her customers is quite different. Many long-time Ebay veterans are frustrated with near constant site "enhancements" and the hamfisted implementation of these features. The job of selling an item on Ebay has become complicated and confusing, and software glitches from new feature roll-outs are everywhere.

Added to this is a resentment by many users of Ebay's shameless pitching of their on-line payments service. It appears they will try anything to make that dog hunt. Ebay Payments is in second place on its own site, because - well - it is second rate. The success of Ebay cannot be argued, but many feel that it would be even more successful if all those upbeat folks in San Jose would get the hell out of our way and let us make them more money.

Morale in the front office might be high, but if Ebay doesn't address some of the resentment out here in the trenches, past performance may not guarantee future results.