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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Hey eBay, you're not the boss of me!

I realize that title makes me sound like a spoiled 6 year old, but it expresses my current attitude so well I couldn't resist...

I let the new policies over at eBay throw me for a loop, I let them make me nervous, hell - I even let them scare me, for brief moments. But, I've officially broken on through to the other side, and remembered why I started my own business in the first place - to be my own boss. It's that simple.

In November of 2006 the newspaper I worked for for 10 years called us into a meeting and told us that they had decided to outsource the work of the entire department to India, effective April 1st, 2007. 10 years of work down the drain, in one 15 minute meeting given by a big wig I had never seen before.

I decided I was done. If my fate was going to be in someone's hands, I wanted it to be my own. No more depending on the whims of a corporate entity, no more having the rug pulled out from under me because it would help someone else's bottom line.

Sound familiar? It is exactly the situation that eBay has tried to put me in - and I'm not going to let it happen. I pay them for a service - I don't work for them. eBay isn't my boss!

So - I'm going to keep selling internationally. eBay's star system doesn't control my business, and I am not going to let it close an avenue for sales that I really need.

I also put this graphic into my new auction template:

I figured if eBay isn't going to educate my buyers about how the star system really affects a seller's standing, then I will. I am also working on an insert that I will include in my packages that has that graphic, as well as information about my return policy, my contact information, and links to my websites and other online shop(s).

I'm the boss! Say it with me now. :)

5 comments:

  1. Mitzi - A very sound and reasonable way to handle this.

    Food for thought...

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  3. Mitzi - Thought you'd be interested in my most recent post on this subject.

    Thanks for your rational and reasonable thinking.

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  4. Yikes Mitzi. The DSRs DO RUN your business. You can say they won't all you want, but they do. You can't control what people leave you and it is human nature to leave what people *feel* you deserve..not what you truly deserve. eBay has decided to run your business, and they are and will. The facts and rules show that. Anyone deciding to try and make it work is letting ebay control how you work. The proof from the MLA on down shows that as well. A positive outlook is one thing, ignoring how things work is another. Good luck to you, but I would be careful. I have to side with the experts on this one.

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