Category — Open Letters

May 19, 2010

Back when I first started using eBay in 2001, it was a close-knit community of like-minded, and respectful auctioneers. Everyone was looking for a good deal on a used video game or a hard to find artifact of generations past. I had much luck as both a buyer and a seller, lining my pockets with a few extra dollars here and there by hawking my old cameras, iPods, and laptops. I had a pretty good system going: new iPod comes out, the old one is going up on eBay, and when the final bid was cast, both parties walked away with a smile, each believing they had gotten the better end of the deal.

Cue in my last six months on eBay. Four non-payers, one winning bidder retracting after close, saying they misread the title and description of the item, and last but not least, one buyer who says they cannot pay for two weeks because they had their credit card stolen (now three weeks later, has still not paid). I have always prided myself on being an excellent eBayer. I lay my terms out clearly, I ship as soon as I receive payment, and I email tracking info as soon as it is in my hands. I have never received negative feedback and had always enjoyed the eBay experience.

To make matters worse, eBay could care less about a non-powerseller’s woes. Open up a non-pay case now, and you cannot even leave the deadbeat bidder negative feedback!? I may be mistaking, but it appears that eBay has done away with negative feedback altogether, because in all my recent nonpayer cases, I was unable leave any. Sure, they refund your auction fees, but I was always under the impression that winning an auction tied you into a legal binding between buyer and seller – I guess that is no longer the case.

eBay appears to be content with their move away from auctions and into marketplace type transactions. They care little about the sellers with feedback scores of <100, and no longer appear concerned with fostering any type of community at eBay.com. I will always long for the ‘olden days’ of eBay. Before the onslaught of .99-cent items with $6.99 shipping, the non-paying bidders with no respect for the auction process, and a company that was at least somewhat empathetic when it came to their users. Any nimble startups looking to get into the online auction game, now is your chance! eBay has lost its way.

July, 1st 2009

Haircut near Boston MA. Sushi near Cambridge MA. Dry cleaner near Lexington MA. Sound familiar? Well, for millions of Americans these concise search terms have entirely displaced the need for the dusty old phone book. However, this evolution of search for local business has gone far beyond a phone number and an address.

I believe it to be a fairly safe argument that the vast majority of my generation now expects to see any worthy local business, large or small, appear on the Internet. And this doesn’t just mean appear with a name and a phone number but with photos, reviews, prices, hours, directions, nearby parking info, etc.

When I perform a search in Google maps, I have come to expect the following:
1. Photos of the business, the more the better
2. At least a few user ratings, yes this may be a false sense of security, but if there are no user reviews or ratings, I’m most likely moving on
3. A business web site, I don’t care if it looks like a 13 year-old made it, as long as it contains the appropriate information
4. Street view of the location, this is not a deal breaker as local businesses have no control over where the Google street view car travels

Adding to the importance of web presence is the increasing number of smart phones on the street. The Blackberry Storm, Palm Pre, and iPhone have changed the way people get information. Many of these phones combine Google maps (or similar) and geo location to make local searches very easy to execute on the go. Say you are a few towns over from where you normally reside and are craving some great Mexican food. Pull up your iPhone’s maps feature, tap current location, type in Mexican food, and instantly you will have the names of all nearby Mexican restaurants. It’s just a matter of sorting through the results. The point of this story isn’t to sit back and say, “Wow, this is cool,” but rather stress the importance of being found in these searches.

Local business owners: if you don’t show up on an Internet search and you don’t have a website, how do you ever expect people to find you? Yes, there may be that trendy 10-table French bistro that prefers its patrons find it via word of mouth, but this boutique status is not common. Get registered with Google maps, get a website, encourage user reviews, and reap the rewards of being found.