Question
The full article is on Auctionbytes
Excerpted from:
eBay Angers Booksellers (again) with Category Changes
By Tania Anderson
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Booksellers and book buyers will undergo a whole new shopping experience when they log into eBay on Monday. That's when the Web site is expected to complete its latest round of changes to the books category.
eBay announced May 24th that it would consolidate fiction and non-fiction books into one category, prompting a flurry of angry responses from eBay booksellers.
The company made the decision, it says, based on input from buyers and sellers through direct communication and analysis of shopping behavior. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I am sure that many of those they consulted directly had trouble determining between fiction and non-fiction, and found the new extensive category structure confusing. Personally I will continue to list my non-fiction books under the categories that relate to the subject that they cover (to give them a chance of being found by relevant browsers). I would not consider listing fiction books at all unless they are by collected and well known authors and/or series which will definitely be searched for.
Obviously those who report on the boards that the hits and clearances on their auctions have fallen dramatically since implementation of item specifics and removal of categories do not comply with Ebay's overall figures, because Ebay would not undermine their FVF revenue, but I seem to be missing all the reports of users who are finding item specifics to be a boon to sales and a positive experience.
Since starting to use Sellathon's View Tracker, I have had about 2000 hits on photographic auctions that were listed using item specifics (I am now using item specifics because I assumed that people would now feel obliged to start using them when buying), and so far I have had NO hits through item specifics / product finder (literally zero), whilst of the current batch, 14% of hits have arrived by browsing the category and 13% by searching the category (ie: 27% of hits are coming from the category structure) while 43% of hits are coming from a search of all of Ebay.
I fail to see the benefits of item specifics for sellers or Ebay's bottom line. However, my outlook is likely antiquated and biased towards what I am familiar with, so let's hear some stories of the benfits that some of you are finding with item specifics.
Kevin
OOPS!, Edited because I also failed to determine the difference between fiction and non-fiction, which consequently made no sense of my own listing preferences.
Answer
Personally I will continue to list my non-fiction books under the categories that relate to the subject that they cover (to give them a chance of being found by relevant browsers).
That's what I do (and have done for ages). I'll put a book anywhere that it is even slightly relevent before I'd stick it in the "book" catagory.
Answer
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>The company made the decision, it says, based on input from buyers and sellers through direct communication and analysis of shopping behavior. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I want proof, eBay.
Where is the data? What surveys did you use? Where is the analysis - especially since everyone else using tracking software says the large percentage of hits come from keyword searches.
C'mon eBay. Just saying it doesn't make it true. I'd bet donuts to dollars that statement is a big fat whopping lie.
Walk into a b&m Barnes and Noble, or any other large bookstore. Are the books all sprawled out in one category, or are they in sections where people can browse?
This is a bad decision and lying about why it was made doesn't cut it. 800 pound gorillas don't have to lie. Until they get cut down to 300 pounds and that's a few years off.
Answer
I think that ebay has grown so fat and stupid that it cant see its feet, and whats more, has even forgotten they exist.
Particularly with regard to FVF. ALL their policies of advocating CHEAP over quality and the aiding and abetting of the massive destruction of the collectibles market shows that they only care about people LISTING, with no effort at all put into facilitating sales, much less better prices for items.
Just look at the Relist Page. They harp on CHEAP, even encouraging you to relist at half price.
But whats even crazier, is that with the destruction of the category structure, they also lose out with their attempts to scam people into double listing to get twice the listing fee.
The net result will be exactly what kevin suggests. Nobody will list the unusual or the truly rare - the kind of stuff unlikely to be searched directly for. Item Specifics are too dysfunctional for that kind of stuff.
And ebay will be full of nothing but cast off Harry Potter books, Beanie Babies, and Ginsu Knives.
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I got the newsflash from Auctionbytes about this yesterday afternoon. I truly thought it was a joke at first.
I suspect this just goes to prove one of my suspicions about the present PTB at eBay - that they are illiterate clods. Surely anyone who has ever been in a library in their lives knows that the primary distintion in books is fiction vs. non-fiction... don't they?
Or perhaps they are the sort of people for whom the line between fiction and non-fiction is fuzzy at best. That would explain the facility with which they spew fiction and claim it as fact.
Answer
Kevin-
Could you elaborate a little on what types of books you list in what type of categories. This sounds like a great idea, but I'm not quite sure what might work, and what might not.
Sue
Answer
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Could you elaborate a little on what types of books you list in what type of categories. This sounds like a great idea, but I'm not quite sure what might work, and what might not. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Some of the more obvious examples are Military related under the specific Collectibles:Militaria.... categories.
Business:Agriculture... for agricultural books.
Science,Medical:Mining .. for mining related books.... and so on.
Books on porcelain will now lose the advantage of relevant categories - because glass,porcelain and pottery are next to have their category system changed to item specifics (Oh joy! ).
Then there is the hit and miss prospect of putting sports related books under the actual sport in Sports:Fan Shop (whatever the hell fan shop means) - but they removed the sports from sporting memorabilia and seriously injured this area of sales, so I list under sports memorabilia as well if it has age. It is possible to see a pattern emerging in damaging the market on Ebay through screwing with categories that previously worked well, and making them as confusing as hell in order to justify removing them entirely.
Meg and her merry band of fools are destroying what could have been (arguably was) a fantastic international market place, at the cost of many livelihoods of faithful clientelle. (and I am getting worked up again as I type further into this response)
Screw 'em, Kevin