EBay started in 1995 as an auction site, used primarily by non-professionals sellers to get rid of used items. As the EBay concept caught on and its sales began to grow exponentially, the selling population grew from virtual garage sale operators to more established retail businesses trading in more organised business formats.
Retail businesses began to emerge, selling overstock and other new items that could be obtained at a low price and auctioned or eventually straight out sold, using the Buy It Now option at a profit to the retailer as well as an advantageous price for the buyer.
As EBay came to understand this evolving marketplace and recognise where the greatest opportunity resided, its management began to mold EBay's policies to favour its preferred model and plan for the future. For EBay sellers, the continuing rule changes have sometimes made it difficult to participate, but since EBay boasts hundreds of millions of registered users, it is a marketplace that cannot be denied.
The newest changes have been hinted at by EBay management but not fully announced. In general the changes will continue EBay on the path it has been traveling for some time, to move away from the occasional seller in order to support established retailers with consistent availability of new products. But, some of the changes are really good for everyone.
Customer Feedback Ratings Change
EBay has a new way to calculate whether or not a merchant is providing sufficient customer service. eBay already asks every buyer to rate his or her experience on a scale of 1 to 5, based on factors such as shipping time and a product living up to its billing.
EBay used to insist that its sellers had to receive reviews averaging out to 4.3 in order to meet the sites minimum standards. This system created a good deal of animosity at the time because sellers were no longer able to rate customers as well, leaving sellers open to the whim of buyers who could not be satisfied or new buyers who did not understand the rules. Many sellers felt that the 4.3 point level was too high, suggesting that a rating such as 4 should be acceptable.
Now eBay is shifting the focus just onto really bad customer experiences. Starting in October, eBay says sellers cannot have 1 or 2 ratings for more than 3% of their transactions. In April 2010, standards will get even stricter, with no more than 1% of 1s or 2s allowed. EBay reasons that a rating of 1 or 2 is an indication of a problem and it is much easier to avoid the really bad experiences than it is to attract all 5s.
Search Algorithm Transparency
EBay also introduced changes to the best match search algorithm it uses to help shoppers find listings, including placing more emphasis on relevant titles and less emphasis on items that get lots of clicks but nobody ends up buying.
The company is offering software to sellers to explain why their listings are or are not showing up at the top of eBay's search results. The Search Visibility Tool, explains what sorts of attributes in a listing are helping or hurting and what the seller can do to improve ranking.
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