Advice for eBay From a Powerseller

The Problem With EBAY and How They Deal With It? or Not

October 3, 2012

Gloucester, MA, by Fitz Henry Lane, 19th C.

Months ago after dealing with YEARS of frustration in dealing with EBAY's apparent inability to develop a workable plan for aiding sellers who do business in Asia, in particular China. Despite numerous conversations with various employees of the Mega Site on what they could do, nothing ever happens to improve things and in fact things have gotten worse. So the letter below was written as a bit of friendly advice for eBay from a Powerseller, (ME), who has used the site since the 1990's.

They actually seem not to care all that much...which is a mistake and is costing Ebay millions upon millions a year in revenue, you would think they'd be interested. in making more money, right? You would think Ebay would be interested in learning from people who know much, much more than Ebay does about what's going wrong and perhaps listening for a possible solution. Or at least start working on a solution.

What To Do, What To Do?

Ming Dynasty Doucai Chenghua Covered Jar

I thought why not send a letter, yes a real letter, no email, no Twitter rubbish but an actual old school letter, you remember those..paper, envelope, stamp...put into the mailbox letter. So I did...alas, my pleasant, friendly, earnest correspondence has apparently either lost it's way, or Ebay's offices are so mismanaged that acknowledging a letter from an Ebay member who pays them $12,000 to $15,000 a year in fees... ins't worth much...I suspect the problem is both.

Any way, months ago I wrote to: Mr. Devin Wenig, President Global Marketplaces, he's one of the really big dogs there, his mailing address is not easy to find, but I found it.

I figured what the heck, take the initiative, reach out from my end and contact him. He's one office from the head of the company.

So, what did I hear back? ZERO, Nada, Crickets, "when your phone stops ringing, you know it's me", not even a Standard Office Kiss Off Reply..."we are in receipt of your letter dated....and we want to thank your for taking the time from your busy day to correspond with us. As a Valued Member of the Ebay Community we deeply appreciate your input."...etc..not even that much.

So I've opted to post it here for more input from Ebay Sellers and perhaps to hear from you on your ideas..

Qianlong Period Nephrite Jade, Circa 1750

So, here it is....

.October 3, 2012

Mr. Devin Wenig, President Global Marketplaces

Ebay Corp.

2065 Hamilton Avenue

San Jose, California 95125

Dear Mr. Wenig:

First off, I’d like to start by telling you I am a huge fan of eBay and have been a member, buyer and seller on the site since 1998. My area of business knowledge is totally focused on the antiques and fine art market, more specifically the Asian art market for over 35 years. Over twenty years of which were spent doing larger scale estate auctions and appraisals in the Boston area and on Boston’s North Shore.

My purpose in writing you is to offer some ideas that might not only increase eBay’s push into the Chinese market but simultaneously expand eBay’s seller community around the world in that market. Perhaps even enabling eBay charge to their full commission an all transactions instead of the $250 cap per item. $250 is a steal if you know you’re likely to get paid, which is not currently the case when dealing with China.

It’s no secret among dealers in the US and Europe who sell Chinese art getting buyers in China to complete transactions with a payment is a growing problem. It’s actually getting worse and worse. It is also no secret the Chinese art market is by far the strongest in the world, by multiples of any other. Luxury goods consumption there is still in its infancy. It is also no secret that 99.999% of the Asian Antiques being listed by Chinese sellers in mainland China are reproductions, yet they are being sold under the Asian Antiques category. “Antique” by legal definition must be 100 years old with the exception of Cars and some devices such as telephone.

Currently virtually anyone in China can register and bid on eBay, Pay Pal isn’t required nor is any other form of payment requirement. Some Chinese users have as many as 100 accounts to fall back on if they should be blocked for non payment or fail to meet the seller’s buyer requirements.

With Chinese art, rare porcelains, bronzes etc. the standard practice in China for many buyers is to Bid and win an item and then to go and try to re-sell it before paying the seller. If they cannot re-sell it, they simply walk away from the transaction. It’s a very common practice and a very frustrating one for the sellers. This is why you commonly see the majority of bids placed on an item by buyers is nearly all with newer accounts and very little to Zero feedback. They do not care if they get a non-payment strike, it means literally nothing, nor does losing the account all together.

Because eBay’s “Asian Antiques” section is so polluted with reproductions and mis-categorized items, higher end items never get listed and higher end buyers no longer bother looking. They instead do look on Sotheby’s, Christies, Bonhams, Phillips, Doyles and dozens of other Auction sites for objects. Last Spring Christies' 5 Day Hong Kong sale grossed 352 Million US. Sotheby’s grossed 316 Million at the same time in Hong Kong over 5 days. Most of which was Asian Art, but also included Luxury Goods, rare watches etc.

While getting the top items as were sold in these auctions might be tough for eBay ($500,000 to 28 Million US each), many of the less expensive items, those under $100,000 is entirely possible. At which point you could easily charge a full 10% of the selling price, as the major auction houses for this price level charge the buyer 22% and the sellers 5% to 15%. Much of the material in these high end sales come from dealers like me, I know I’ve done a lot of business with them for decades. We have to use them, they are the ONLY good reliable auction venue for things over $5,000 to $10,000.

The idea of having an alternative selling and buying venue for top end things is very appealing to dealers and collectors. None of us want to wait 5 months to a year to sell something rare or to buy, we only want to do business. The same holds true for real collectors. No one cares about who sells it, they only either, want to buy or sell.

Which all brings us to how to fix it. Here are few options many sellers and buyers would find attractive.

1. Do what every other selling site in the world does, including the Major auction Houses. Require a valid Credit Card registered on the site, credit cards in China are fairly common these days. Or a Funded Pay Pal account which automatically sets a limit on the buyer by its account balance. If the buyer does not send the payment within 48 hours, the invoice automatically gets paid.

2. You can set an initial Bidding limit on New accounts until the buyer proves him or herself. Rather like building a credit history. If a buyer backs out, he loses points or goes back to the original starting level. This will make the account valuable as a business tool, just like a line of Credit.

3. Start a Buyer Feedback Score, based on completed transactions as a percentage of purchases paid for. Enable sellers to set seller requirements based on a percentage figure.

4. Clean up the Asian Antiques site. I know it’s possible, because you have “Reporters” for eBay and have a tools their accounts to report and remove large numbers Misrepresented items. With a small change to this tool allowing items Mis-categorized to be put in a new category called “Asian Décor” or “Oriental Decorative Items”. It could easily be done, instead of deleting them and upsetting sellers, the items simply get moved. It would also give a better category for many sellers who honestly sell Asian Décor.

Currently there are over 125,000 items listed under “Asian Antiques”, less than 20,000 of them are remotely authentic. One seller has over 4,000 brand new copies of what would be $10,000 to $250,000 Tang Horses, other animals and jars if they were authentic. He is selling them all for BIN’s at $400 to $800, they are brand new fakes made in Chingdechen China.

Number “4” would require a person with careful judgment and a sense of fairness and a deep understanding of the Antiques business and Asian art, but it’s very possible.

Once the payment issues are resolved and the site re-gains a reputation for sellers with reliable, authentic Asian items. Higher end sellers and inventories will increase and better buyers will be happy to participate. From here better quality buyers will also make it a habit to buy in other areas of eBay as well. After all, a person who can afford a $10,000 to $100,000 vase, might want a Rolex, Louis Vuitton bag and who knows what else. Its all about money after all, for everyone.

Asia could be a massive market for eBay and very profitable.

Feel free to contact me, anytime.

Sincerely,

Peter L. Combs

Dealer-Appraiser